In today’s world where networking technology updates almost on a daily basis, it is necessary to stay protected from digital prowlers lurking on the Internet. Virtual private network (VPN) is a virtual secured tunnel between communicating devices and a network provider. It is used to protect your web traffic from being tracked. Be it for personal or commercial use, a secure network is absolutely necessary to protect your data from anonymous trackers who can filter into your network and steal sensitive information.

Here are some factors to consider in order to pick the best VPN services.

Selecting the best VPN based on communication protocols
Since we have already established that VPN is a secured tunnel, it is important that we secure it by making the tunnel robust. You can do the same by adding security protocols to the communication or the network layer of the system.

In such cases, PPTP or Point to Point Tunnel Protocol is more secure than L2TP /IPsec Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol. This is because the Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol provides security to layer 2 of the networking protocol, unlike PPTP where it provides security on point to point basis.

Decide if you want to connect to the home network or to the cloud
If you are planning to connect to VPN through home or office network, then you might need a router which will act as a VPN endpoint. However, this is not going to be the same if you are using cloud-based services. A VPN service provider will provide anonymous browsing using their own network.

VPN services with the best privacy policies
The best VPN services will offer you maximum independence of managing your web traffic. Their iron-clad privacy policies will let you remove the web traffic information from their database. Look for those services that have servers out of the reach of such oppressive regimes.

A VPN with a user-friendly interface
The setup and user interface of a VPN service provider should work on all main platforms like Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. Even if the user is not tech savvy, they should be able to navigate freely on the main interface of the VPN service. The navigating options should not have jargon that is difficult to understand for regular users. Apart from this, you can also look for VPN service providers that allow you to connect to their services on multiple devices.

VPN services with good capacity
The last thing a user would want is to be cut off from anonymous browsing because they have used too much of data. The best VPN service providers would provide higher capacity data usage to their users when browsing privately. Check their terms and conditions to find out how much bandwidth is throttled in their VPN service. VPN servers with a maximum number of servers provide higher capacity for private browsing.

Say no to free VPN services
If you are a small business owner, you might be stringent when it comes to investing in anonymous browsing. VPN companies require funds to run their services. Hence, the best VPN companies will not offer their services for free. If a VPN company is offering you free services, there is a high possibility that the data security is compromised. Some of the best VPN companies offer services at as low as $10 a month. You can also save a few dollars off your bill if you decide to prepay for a year.

Beware of fake services
When you are selecting a VPN provider you are trusting the company with your personal data. Scammers or fake VPN providers can prey on that trust. Fake VPN services can grab your data as it passes through just like fake antivirus vendors, email messages, and other smartphone apps.

Whether you are starting a new business, product, or service, you will need a website through which you can reach your audience. In today’s world, there is a significant percentage of audience that can be reached through the Internet. When you are planning an advertising model that is based on online advertising with popular platforms, a website becomes a basic necessity for you. Getting the domain name of your choice might be a little difficult if you are running on a tight budget. In such a case, you might also have to resort to web hosting services that will help you in hosting your website through their servers. To make this process easier for you, following is a list of the best web hosting plans by top web hosting services.

Hostinger
When you choose Hostinger, you will not face any kind of roadblocks. Irrespective of the category of your website, this web hosting service will help you in setting up a website. This is a cheap website hosting service that has some of the best web hosting plans for your needs like an online resume, portfolio, or even a blog. You do not need to worry about the page being live either; even if you do not access it for a long time, the page will still be active. The plans start at as low as $2.15 per month and go up to around $15.90 per month. The plans are divided as the Single Shared Hosting, which is the cheapest and has limited services, followed by Premium Shared Hosting that gives you unlimited bandwidth, disk space, and a number of websites but costs around $3.49 per month. As for the Startup plan, it has all the features of the first two plans as well as the speed boost, 24/7 support, uptime monitoring, and a 1-click installer, among other attractive features.

Bluehost
If you are testing a website on WordPress and are looking to transform it into a professional website, then Bluehost is ideal for you. They are home to over 2 million websites and have some of the best web hosting plans. Another interesting perk for this website hosting service is its provision to use any other CMS and still function smoothly. As for the plans, they have a shared plan, which is the cheapest and starts at $2.65 per month. They believe this is the best web hosting plan if you are planning to start a small website with limited content and pages. A virtual private server is the next offering from this host allowing you to exercise more control over the activities. Moreover, the prices starting at $14.99 per month approximately. A dedicated website with enhanced servers and absolute control is a part of the final plan for this host. It gives you exclusive and absolute control over the website and starts at around $69.99 per month.

TMDHosting
This web hosting service is ideal for personal websites as they have one of the best web hosting plans and the cheapest shared hosting services. They have a high number of data servers that are spread all around the world ensuring that your website is live all the time. Moreover, if you select the premium membership, you are also eligible for a free application and components installation, free updates as well as free templates. The attractive facet of this web hosting service is that their premium plans start at as low as $2.95 per month. The cheapest plan gives you access to host one website with unlimited bandwidth and SSD space, which is a steal at the price. The second plan, the business plan, is priced at around $5.95 per month and gives you access to host unlimited websites, a 60-day money back guarantee, premium support, and many other services. The final plan, the enterprise plan, gives you access to all the features of the starter and business plan and three times better performance for the websites you host.

If you are starting a small business of your own, then the internet service is something you need to pay close attention to. Today, both large and small businesses require fast speed internet to get almost all their work done. Not just that, you need to have one of the best cloud email services that will help you bring together your clients, vendors, and staff all under one virtual space.

It is true that you can use the free web-based cloud email services for your business but if you look from a long-term perspective, it is always better to have your own personal cloud email host. One of the main reasons for this is that if you work with a free web-based email provider, you will have to give up control and let the third party take all the final calls regarding your email services. Hence, it is best to select the best premium cloud email service that will allow you to run your small business according to your terms.

Choosing the correct cloud email service is essential as every email service offers you something different. So, depending on the nature of your business, you must choose the best cloud email service.

If you are not able to decide which is the best cloud email service for your business, then keep reading to find the top three companies in the market that are known to provide the best cloud email services.

Google Mail
Google Mail is one of the best cloud email services that both small and large business can use today. If you are already aware of how the free version functions, then it won’t be difficult for you to get familiar with the premium version. By getting a paid version, you agree to enjoy 30GB of inbox storage and an ad-free emailing experience.

The paid version of Google Mail also gives its users free 24/7 customer service, where the staff will help you to have a smooth emailing experience. You will have to pay $5 per user per month if you want the 30GB storage plan. For those who are interested to subscribe to the unlimited storage plan, you will have to pay $10 per user per month.

Amazon WorkMail
Amazon WorkMail is another cloud email service that is gaining popularity amongst the emerging small businesses. It is a secure and well-managed email service and calendar provider that can be integrated with Microsoft Outlook. This cloud email service allows users to access their emails, calendar, and contacts through their web browser, iOS or Android apps. One of the many reasons why many businesses are considering Amazon WorkMail over other email service hosts is that it provides additional features of enterprise-grade security and it gives you the luxury to choose the location where you want to safely store your data.

Amazon WorkMail also allows users to first try the free version for 30 days for up to 25 users before they subscribe to the paid version. For $4 per user per month, you get 50GB storage per user.

Rackspace Email
Rackspace Email is one of the best cloud email services that is gaining popularity amongst small businesses because of its high-quality security and well-managed email services.

This email service provider boasts of offering its customer a premium email filtering that keeps your inbox free from viruses and spam. The email service provider 100% UpTime Guarantee, along with free migration service that lets you shift from your existing email provider without any additional cost.

The mailbox of Rackspace Email comes with 25GB of storage space and you can send messages that are up to 50MB in size. While the price starts from $2 per user per month, you can get an upgraded unlimited storage plan by paying $3 per user monthly.

The best way to pick to choose the best cloud email service is to first understand the nature of your small business and to know what exactly you want your email service provider to offer you. Once you are clear on what you are looking for, do a comparative research about the best cloud email services and pick one that is affordable and has a great customer satisfaction rating.

Identity fraud is one of the most common types of cyber threats that individuals and corporations face on a daily basis. Hackers and identity thieves can access, download, and manipulate sensitive information for their personal gain making identity protection a must-have service.

Your digital identity, if compromised, can be used to steal money, take out loans, and authorize financial transactions in your name. The damage is already done to a significant extent by the time you realize your identity has been compromised.

Some of the best identity theft protection services will offer tools that safeguard your identity against hacks and intrusions. Identity protection proves to be a beneficial investment as it also offers monitoring services for your credit report with major credit bureaus. The services perform common identity scans across public databases to check for any fraudulent use of your digital identity and notify in case of any discrepancies.

The 3 best identity theft protection products and services
The first step in identity protection is to secure your credit information with all major credit bureaus to ensure there is no misuse of your financial information. Most services will offer comprehensive protection for single users to secure information online, monitor activity, and detect any possible theft and misuse.

Identity Guard
One of the best identity theft protection product that offers comprehensive support to protect your information online. Identity Guard offers protection from synthetic ID theft, child ID theft, new account fraud, credit card fraud, account takeover fraud, and even tax fraud. Common monitoring systems provide artificial intelligence support, case management, risk management, and mobile application monitoring. The product also effectively detects any personal information misuse, tracks high-risk transactions, monitors bank account takeovers, and blocks sudden requests to open savings and checking accounts without authorization. Moreover, Identity Guard offers credit score protection, real-time alerts for changes made in your credit information, and provides access to your annual credit report. You can choose from three different packages available including value, total, and the premier package. The price range is between $8.99 and $34.99 per month depending on the package you nominate.

IDShield
The product is considered among the best identity theft protection services for providing comprehensive support for affordable pricing. It is also the only service that offers access to expert licensed private investigators to help track and restore your stolen identity. Although IDSheild monitors your credit from one of the major credit bureaus only, the services offered for information monitoring and recovery makes it worth the investment. The product includes basic protection features for ID monitoring, fraud alerts, consultation, credit freeze, recovery, and restoration all backed up by a $5 million service guarantee for customer satisfaction. The guarantee barrier is yet to be broken as IDShield manages to deliver on its promise time and time of being the best identity theft protection service in the market. IDShield mainly offers two distinct plans and pricing options for both single and multiple users. For just under $10 per month, you can purchase the basic plan for a single user or pay approximately $19.95 to cover multiple users.

Identity Force
The product offers an UltraSecure and Credit combo that maximizes its potential. The Identity Force unique combo offers daily monitoring across all three credit bureaus. Basic services include identity monitoring, fraud alerts, assistance for a credit freeze, reimbursement insurance of up to $1 million in case of theft, and assistance for identity recovery. Identity Force also features public record checks for similar offenses and offers a support staff for restoration and recovery assistance. The product can also take pre-emptive actions combined with automatic processing to protect your personal data and prevent any misuse of sensitive information. Among basic services, customer support is important and Identity Force offers 24/7 support for grievance redressal. You can purchase the ultra-secure version for a monthly charge of $17.95 or opt for the ultra-secure credit option for $23.95 per month. An array of features offered for an affordable price makes Identity Force one of the best identity theft protection services among popular alternatives.

Before you can compare affordable Internet plans, you must understand the different types of home Internet services available in the market. You have the option to choose from a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), cable connection, satellite, and fiber-optic services. Each connection will have varying speeds depending on the service and service provider. While DSL connection may not offer super high speeds, a fiber optic service can be too expensive for a residential connection.

Consider the following points before subscribing to an Internet connection:

• Speed is of paramount importance so chose a connection that offers high-speed broadband plans.
• Data cap limits can be confusing, so it is better for you to opt for an unlimited connection.
• Check to see if there are any additional costs you might incur for installation of the modem or router.
• Bundled services are always beneficial as you get cable, phone, and Internet in one connection.
• There is no need to pay for additional services like a dedicated firewall or antivirus provided by the service.
• Your service provider must have an impressive service coverage in your area so choose a local provider.

Top 5 high-speed internet providers 

AT&T
One of the popular names in the telecommunications industry, AT&T is one of the top 5 Internet providers for best overall service. The service offers both DSL and fiber optic connection to provide a high-speed connection. Internet speeds vary in the range of 50 Mbps to 1000 Mbps for some of its premium fiber optic connections. If you have access to AT&T in your local area or community, you must consider the service to enjoy a high-speed connection. One of the key highlights of AT&T is customer support. In terms of pertinent factors like performance reliability, cost, billing, and communication, AT&T top the list of some of the best high-speed Internet providers.

FIOS by Verizon
When it comes to fiber optic Internet, FIOS by Verizon is a reliable name and considered among the best high-speed Internet providers in the market. The service is available in only nine states but provides quality internet to over thirty-three million customers within its coverage area. Popular plans for FIOS internet services start at $39.99/month going upwards of $94.99/month for the more premium plans. The price will also vary depending on the type of bundle you choose including support for multiple devices.

HughesNet
FIOS may be well known for providing premium fiber optic services but HughesNet is one of the best high-speed Internet providers for satellite services. HughesNet has been providing satellite Internet connections and plans that offer a decent 25 Mbps connection. Note that the high speed will dip after you cross the fair usage data cap limit so choose your plans wisely. One of the popular plans offered by HughesNet is the Gen5 satellite Internet priced at around $49.99/motnh. You also have the option to upgrade or downgrade plans at your convenience making HughesNet one of the popular satellite services in comparison to premium alternatives available in the market.

Frontier
If you can’t afford a satellite or fiber optic connection, you can always opt for Frontier Internet services. It offers affordable DSL line Internet connection with plans that start at just $20/month. The service has some special offers that include a yearlong subscription to Amazon Prime, a free Wi-Fi router, and free installation of the service. Frontier also offers bundle plans with affordable combinations of voice and Internet plans starting at $42/month.

Spectrum
Spectrum is one of the best cable Internet service and one of the alternatives you can consider among the best high-speed Internet providers. It is one of the services that provide unlimited data, high speeds, and also a $500 contract buyout option. Your basic Internet plans start at around $44.99/month with speeds that go up to 100 Mbps. Charter Spectrum bundle plans allow you to enjoy the combination of high-speed Internet and television services with prices starting at $79.98/month.

When it comes to urban areas, the main categories of Internet service providers fall under three types: cable, DSL, and fiber-optic. The companies offering these type of connections sometimes skip over the requirements of those living in rural areas and do not set up their connections there. Therefore, the only options that remain in rural areas are dial-up or satellite. Herein, we provide a look at how satellite Internet works, and whether you should choose it as the answer to your needs.

The functionalities of satellite Internet
Before looking for the best satellite Internet provider, you need to start by understanding how this particular service functions. The service provider sets up a satellite that revolves in the geostationary orbit that is around 23,000 miles above the equator.

The consumer chooses a provider and sets up a dish in his or her own house. The dish receives signals that are transmitted by the satellite and transfers them to the router of the consumer.

Why should you choose satellite Internet?
There are various reasons for people to choose satellite Internet providers. For example, there may be no alternative available. In some cases, the network points of the satellite Internet provider are very closely situated, in which case, the customers can also get a connection set up in their residence ensuring the best of service. However, this happens in very rare cases and a lot of negotiation is required.

Another reason to opt for the satellite Internet is the ease of installation. The technician does not spend a lot of time to mount the dish in the house and just needs to align it properly. Only the connection to the router is the tricky part, and once that is done, your connection is all set. The reason to pick the best satellite Internet providers, in this case, is to ensure that there is no delay in the setup and the connection is made as fast as possible.  

What are the technical limitations of satellite internet?
Satellite internet comes with its own shortcomings. The main issue is the data allowance, which is restricted as compared to its counterparts. Since the data signals need to be transmitted through the satellite to the computer to the ground servers, the speed can sometimes be a big issue. 

Bad weather is another big problem for people who have a satellite Internet connection as the signal delivery gets highly compromised. Bandwidth provided by satellite Internet comes under the fair usage policy, making it difficult to use more Internet than the assigned limitations.

There aren’t a lot of satellite Internet providers in the country, but when it comes to the best satellite Internet options, you can consider Viasat as well as HughesNet for great service and efficiency.

Private cloud hosting is one of the topmost services in the cloud computing sector that offers similar advantages as the public cloud and these include scalability and self-service via an organized proprietary architecture. Private cloud hosting is now the easiest way of deploying and executing cloud computing. The cloud resources, such as servers and storage, are around and under operation by third-party cloud service providers and provided through the Internet. The following are two of the most popular private cloud hosting services that offer great features.

Microsoft Private Cloud
Although Microsoft entered the cloud and virtualization arena a little later than the others, the software pioneer has spent substantial resources to meet up and provide groundbreaking experience to remove some of the most common mistakes that service providers in this sector have made so far. Microsoft’s private cloud software is part of the System Center 2012 R2. This System Center while delivering different products under one roof also includes services such as operations management, endpoint protection, data protection manager, and virtual machine manager. Even though the components in the package don’t go hand-in-hand with every feature when compared to other services, the Single SKU layout really makes an exception when it comes to services, such as licensing and purchasing, a lot easier. Microsoft’s System Center encourages the support and mainly manage windows 12 Hyper-V hosts as well as third-party Hyper voices to cater toward Citrix and VM Ware. However, KVM is an important exception that is not being offered at this point in time. Now since the hypervisors are compatible, the present lack of the involvement of active third-party network providers is worth noting as it has resulted in gathering fewer customers.

OpenStack Private Cloud
OpenStack is the latest open source cloud operating option that is in trend today. It has the capability to manage networking, storage, and computing and provide these services in a convenient way. Moreover, this feature is limited to the dashboard. Compared to VM Ware and Microsoft, OpenStack doesn’t have a hypervisor of its own.

OpenStack is compatible with VMware ESXi, Microsoft’s Hyper-V, and Citrus Xen; however, it is often commonly employed with KVM which is an open source cloud computing solution too. Nowadays, OpenStack APIs are most likely to encourage more implementation when it comes to private cloud h0sting.

OpenStack supports a wide variety of hardware and software due to its distinct nature of being open source private cloud hosting service. This is apt for a flexible framework that mainly supports the age-old tradition as well as the latest hardware platforms. In the present world where there are numerous community developers and the presence of regular user feedback, the hassles of installation and operation have reduced more than you can possibly imagine. OpenStack is primarily focused on the cloud platform and does not comprise of additional features that reduce complex executions.