The .org domain is one of the original TLDs or Top Level Domains and has been around since 1985. Generally it’s used for non-profit organisations and there is no restrictions for registration, which makes it quick and simple to register.

Sometimes the .org domain is adopted where an entity does not fit into any other category which often includes non-commercial organisations.

Some examples of where a .org domain is used include:

Schools/Colleges
Charities
Open Source Projects
Personal Sites
Communities
Associations
Clubs

You may also consider registering a .org domain as part of your brand protection strategy along with other TLDs.

Hosting Ireland offers registration for all domain types, but to mark the 28 years of the .org we are offering a 50% discount on all .org registrations. So now you can register a .org for only €4.95!

In addition if you register along with purchasing hosting you can get further discounts of 25% with Cloud Lite hosting, 50% with Cloud Business hosting and with our Cloud Ultima hosting your .org will be FREE.

Remember ID protection is included only when domain registration is through Hosting Ireland.

Don’t hang around, this deal is only available until 28th February 2013..

The Data Protection Commissioner has started to take action by sending out letters to companies who’s websites are not compliant to the Cookie law that came into effect from 1st July 2011 as part of the ePrivacy Directive.

In principle, there has been a legal requirement since the above date that all websites must provide information and capture consent for dropping or accessing cookies or other information on a user’s computer equipment when a user visits their site.

If your website is not compliant we would strongly advice that you make this a matter of priority, seek advice if need be and take the necessary steps to get compliant.

For more information visit www.dataprotection.ie

Well it’s the start of another year and Hosting Ireland is continuing in it’s quest to deliver the best hosting services and solutions in Ireland. There are three main reasons why you should consider using Hosting Ireland if you’re not already doing so..

1. Products and Services
Hosting Ireland always endeavours to deliver the very best web hosting backed up with industry leading service standards. We’re always investing in new products and technology, such as the Cloud, making sure that we can continue to offer reliable, robust and secure hosting into the future.

2. Value for Money
We don’t claim to be the cheapest, as we believe customers want value for money. Our pricing is simple and we reward our customers where we can with discounts. For example if you buy a domain and hosting package at the same time we will give a discount on the domain price, with some hosting packages the domain even comes free.
We also give our customers the options on how and when to pay. Pay annually or pay monthly and spread the cost through the year. Choose to pay by debit card, credit card or direct debit, whichever is easier for you.

3. Customer Support
Our customers tell us time and time again that we have the best customer support and backup in the industry. We’re not the biggest, which we feel is an advantage, as we endeavour to be the best. All our customers can get in touch by phone or email. In fact, although some of our competitors would prefer their customers to submit an email, we love to speak with our customers.

Go on why not try Hosting Ireland in 2013…..

We had the pleasure in attending the IEDR Optimise event at the Conrad Hotel in Dublin on Monday 10th December…. Here are a few pictures..

This article is designed to answer some common questions regarding SSL Certificates – if you have other questions regarding SSL, please ask them in the comments below.

What is an SSL Cert?

SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer, as the name suggests an SSL adds an extra layer of security to your website and the way the server handles your websites data.

If a website is not using an SSL certificate – any user information sent from an online form to that websites server is transmitted in plain text, which obviously means if anyone gets their hands on that information; it is human readable.

If a website is using an SSL certificate – any information sent is encrypted using a key that is unique to the website, the server receiving the information is the only recipient that has the key required to decrypt the information.

This is why (n.b Only if if your entering data into a website) looking for the green bar and the address starting with https:// is so important.

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I have a website, do I need an SSL certificate?

If your website contains a form of any kind (especially a form that requests credit card / personal details) then I would say yes, you need to have an SSL certificate installed on your website. This could be clarified as overkill if you only have a contact form that requests basic details like name, email, message for instance, but in this case it would be up to you.

However, if you run an online shop or any type of client login area then having an SSL certificate should definitely be high on your todo list.

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Where do I get/activate an SSL certificate?

Most hosting companies have the facility to provide you with an SSL certificate (including us! See our range of SSL certificates here.) You can also find companies via Google that offer just an SSL certificate service, if you buy your SSL certificate with your hosting provider usually nothing more than clicking an authorisation email is required (except EV SSL Certs which require further information confirmation).

If you purchase your SSL with a seperate company they will issue you with your certificate (usually in a zip file including a CRT file) this is used by your hosting company to install the certificate on the server.

Once installed it is then the job of you or whoever updates your website to change internal links to pages that handle sensitive data to point to https://www.[yoursite]/securepage.html instead of the current http://…

With a lot of eCommerce platforms this can be done quite easily through the config file that includes a HTTPS path.

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Why are there so many different types of SSL?

Basically because there are different levels of security and uses for SSL certs, below we discuss some of the main types :

Positive Certificate – This is a domain level security cert that offers protection for one domain (e.g www.mydomain.com), this certificate is the basic security cert but even so it does securely transmit data from your users to the server so is ideal and cost effective for many small businesses and low volume websites.

UC Certificate – Unified Communications Certificates are used to secure products such as Microsoft Exchange or other Server types, this certificate allows you to secure multiple domains and/or sub domains under the one certificate.

Wildcard Certificate – When you have purchased a domain (e.g www.mydomain.com) you automatically have access to set up multple sub domains (e.g sub1.mydomain.com, sub2.mydomain.com) a sub domain replaces the www part of your domain. A wildcard SSL cert will secure an unlimited amount of sub domains for one domain.

EV Certificate – An Extended Valuation certificate authorises not only your website address but also your business details, this gives your customers the extra peace of mind that they are dealing directly with the correct company. This makes it unlikely that any Phishing attempts would be successful as the Phising site would never pass the tests involved in getting an EV cert.

Well what a great night at the Web Awards in Dublin last night! Great to see so many from the industry made the effort to attend and make a great evening.

All at Hosting Ireland would like to congratulate Entertainment.ie for winning the category Best Entertainment Site, Well Done!

All the familiar faces!

We’re already looking forward to next year!

We’re pleased to announce our sponsorship of this years Web Awards which will be held in Dublin at the Mansion House on Thursday 1st November 2012.

The Web Awards is now a fixture in the diary for anyone involved in the web and this year is going to be one of the best industry nights ever!

Hosting Ireland is delighted to sponsor ‘The Best Entertainment Website’ category. Everyone has their own favourite entertainment site, but now there are so many credible competitors all trying to capture out attention. Whether a high profile site that we’ve been use to experiencing the best in entertainment or a newcomer that’s looking to wow us, this years has a great short list of finalists.

‘We love everything to do with hosting websites and so its a great fit for Hosting Ireland to sponsoring the Web Awards… says Jonathan Bate – Managing Director Hosting Ireland. ‘The Best Entertainment Website’ category is one that everyone will be watching with interest…’

Why not consider joining us at this years awards and celebrate everything that is the web!

We’re always looking at ways to give our existing and new customers great value for money, so we’ve decided to extend our domain sale.

Continue to save 50% on the following domains:

.org €9.95 NOW €4.95 FREE Whois ID protection until 31st December
.co €29.95 NOW €14.95 FREE Whois ID protection Until 31st December
.mobi €19.95 NOW €9.95 until 31st December
.eu €9.95 NOW €4.95 until 31st October
.pro €9.95 NOW €4.95 until 31st October
.in €27.95 NOW €13.95 until 31st October
.es €29.95 NOW €14.95 until 31st October

BUY NOW