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All You Need to Know About Hypervisors

Sitting at the core of virtualization is a well-known but little-discussed technology called the Hypervisor. The hypervisor is a layer of software which enables single hardware to host multiple, isolated virtual machines. It also helps with the management of those virtual machines. But before we talk about how the hypervisor works, the types of hypervisors and the benefits of this technology, let’s put some basic definitions in place. We’ll start with a technology that is tied very closely to hypervisors – virtualization.

What is virtualization?  

Virtualization is the creation of a “virtual” form of a resource, such as a server, a desktop, an operating system, storage space, network or files. With virtualization, traditional computing is transformed, as these resources become scalable as per a client or organisation’s needs. Virtualization has been around for decades and is now split into three distinct types – Operating System (OS) virtualization, hardware virtualization and server virtualization.

Virtualization is used to consolidate workloads, systems and multiple operating environments on one single physical system. Essentially the underlying hardware is partitioned, and each partition runs as a separate, isolated Virtual Machine – which has its own Operating System. Now, this is where the hypervisor comes in.

What is a hypervisor?

The function of partitioning, or more specifically, abstracting and isolating these different OS and applications from the underlying computer hardware is what the hypervisor does. Therefore, it wouldn’t be incorrect to say that virtualization is enabled by the functions of the hypervisor.

What this means is that the underlying hardware (which is known as the host machine) can independently operate and run one or more virtual machines (known as guest machines). The hypervisor also helps manage these independent Virtual Machines by distributing hardware resources such as memory allotment, CPU usage network bandwidth and more amongst them. It does this by creating pools of abstracted hardware resources, which it then allocates to Virtual Machines. It also can stop and start virtual machines, when requested by the user.

Another key component of hypervisors is ensuring that all the Virtual Machines stay isolated from others – so when a problem occurs in one Virtual Machine, the others remain unaffected. Finally, the hypervisor also handles the communication amongst Virtual Machines over virtual networks – enabling VMs to connect with one another.

How does a hypervisor work?

To understand how hypervisors work, it’s important to understand – what are the types of hypervisors? How do they work? What is the difference?

There are 2 types of Hypervisors. They’re also referred to as Native or Bare Metal Hypervisors (Type 1) and Hosted Hypervisors (Type 2).

Type 1 Hypervisors:

Type 1 hypervisors run on the host machine’s hardware directly, without the intervention of an underlying Operating System. This means that the hypervisor has direct hardware access without contending with the Operating System and drivers.

Type 1 is widely acknowledged as the best-performing and most efficient hypervisors for enterprise computing. The ability to directly assign resources makes these hypervisors more scalable, but the advantages go further than that:

  1. Optimisation of Physical Resources: Organisations often burn funds quickly by buying separate servers for different applications – an endeavour that is time-consuming and takes up data centre space. With Type 1 hypervisors, IT can utilize server hardware, which frees up data centre costs and real estate and cuts down on energy usage.
  2. Greater Resource Allocation: Most Type 1 hypervisors give admins the opportunity to manually set resource allocation, based on the application’s priority. Many Type 1 hypervisors also automate resource allocation as required, allowing resource management to be a dynamic and customised option.  

The best-known examples of Type 1 hypervisors are VMware’s ESXi and Microsoft’s Hyper-V.

Type 2 Hypervisors

Typically, these hypervisors are built on top of the Operating System. Because of its reliance on the host machine’s underlying Operating System (in direct contrast to Type 1), it is referred to as “hosted hypervisor”. The hypervisor runs as an application within the Operating System, which then runs directly on the host computer. Type 2 hypervisors do support multiple guest machines but are not allowed to directly access the host hardware and its resources. The pre-existing Operating System manages the calls to the CPU for memory, network resources and storage. All of this can create a certain amount of latency.

However, this is only the case for more complex and high-performance scenarios. Type 2 hypervisors are still popular home and test labs.  Furthermore, Type 2 hypervisors come with their own set of benefits, like:

  1. Type 2 Hypervisors are much easier to set up and to manage as you already have an Operating System to work with.
  2. It does not require a dedicated admin.
  3. It is compatible with a wide range of hardware.

Examples of type-2 hypervisors include Oracle Solaris Zones, Oracle VM Server for x86, Oracle VM Virtual Box, VMware Workstation, VMware Fusion and more.  

KVM

KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) a popular and unique hypervisor – seeing as it has characteristics of both Type 1 and Type 2 hypervisors. This open sourced virtualization technology is built into Linux, and more specifically turns Linux into a hypervisor.

To be clear, KVM is a part of the Linux code, which means it benefits from every Linux innovation or advancement, features and fixes without additional engineering.

VM converts Linux into a Type-1 (native/bare-metal) hypervisor. It is a secure option, that gives you plenty of storage, hardware support, memory management, live migration of your VM (without any service interruption), scalability, scheduling and resource control, low latency and greater prioritization of apps. KVM also creates more secure and better isolated Virtual Machines, while ensuring that they continue to run at peak performance. Excited to use all of these features? Well, when you sign up for a Linux VPS Hosting plan with us, KVM will automatically become a part of the packages you create. Check out our array web hosting packageshere.

Is it worth investing in Disaster Recovery?

Investing upfront in the mitigation of potential disasters will save your company and network in the long run. In the world of reliable hosting, for example, each infrastructure deployment includes all kinds of high availability (HA) and disaster recovery (DR) solutions. Investing in HA and DR solutions upfront will enable business continuity, avoid a lot of stress, and save you from the potentially devastating recovery costs.

What is disaster recovery?

According to TechTarget, “disaster recovery is an area of security planning that aims to protect an organization from the effects of significant negative events. DR allows an organization to maintain or quickly resume mission-critical functions following a disaster.”

This means that implementing DR requires a different approach for every organization, as each organization has its own mission-critical functions. Typically, some mission-critical functions run on or rely on IT infrastructure. Therefore, it is good to look at DR within the context of this (hosted) infrastructure; however, it should be part of business continuity planning as a whole.

Important questions to ask when you plan and design your mission-critical hosting infrastructure include:

  • How much time am I prepared to have my mission-critical functions unavailable (RTO)?
  • How much data am I prepared to lose, i.e. the time duration for which you will not be able to recover your data (RPO). For example, if you safely backup your data once a day, you can lose up to one day of data when a disaster happens.
  • How much money will it cost the organization (per hour) when the mission-critical services are not available? DR measures include prevention, detection and correction.

Disaster recovery for common failures

Most hosting services include disaster recovery for most common failures such as failure of a physical disk, server, network switch, network uplink connection, or power feed. This is referred to as High Availability (HA).

A redundant setup solves failures as if an element fails, another infrastructure piece takes over. Redundant networking devices and cabling, multiple power feeds, seamless failover to battery power, and separate power generators that can run forever play an important role in keeping IT infrastructure and thus your software services up and running. Also in case of a fire in a data center, the fire is typically detected early and extinguished through gas (reduction of oxygen), without even affecting most equipment in the same data center hall. This means that most ‘disasters’ are being recovered without impacting the availability of the infrastructure services.

One of the most commonly used tools in DR is creating a frequent backup of your data. If a disaster occurs, you can then restore your backup and relaunch your mission-critical functions and other services.

For faster relaunch of your services after a disaster, replication of your application servers and data can come in handy, as it is readily available to relaunch, compared to backups that would first need to be restored (which takes more time).

Preparing for critical disasters

To mitigate risks of larger disasters which are much less likely to happen, an alternative IT infrastructure environment to run your mission-critical functions can help to enable your business continuity.

Some choose to backup critical data to another location. Others replicate application servers and data to another location, with available hosting infrastructure, to be able to relaunch application services quickly or to have a seamless failover without service interruption.

In case you need to mitigate the risk of failure of the entire environment, the common solution is to include a failover data center site in your IT infrastructure setup. Disaster recovery by means of adding an alternative data center (also called Twin DC setup) also requires a tailored approach to identify the right setup for your applications and mission-critical functions.

Another important facet is to implement applications that can deal with infrastructure failures. Where in the past it was more common to trust on the underlying infrastructure for high availability, it has become more popular to implement applications in such a way that underlying (cheaper) infrastructure may (and will) fail, without impacting the availability of the mission-critical functions.

This means finding a balance between investing in more reliable hosting infrastructure, applications that deal with failures in the underlying infrastructure, and planning and preparing failover to an alternative infrastructure environment.

Making optimal use of DR investments

To make optimal use of DR investments you can choose to use the extra resources in a second datacenter even when there is no failover due to a large disaster in the primary data center location. You can spread workloads between both data centers, for example with half of the workloads running in each data center A. During a disaster, non-mission-critical services can be stopped to make space for mission-critical services to failover.

Another example is when all applications run in the primary data center, and only those applications and data related to the mission-critical functions are replicated and fail over to a second data center in case of disaster (active-passive).

The main takeaways

As every business is different when carrying out business continuity planning every organization should have their own approach to disaster recovery. The challenge for these organizations is going to be balancing the tools and methods available. The goal, however, should be clear for everyone – invest upfront to prevent higher recovery costs in case of a disaster.

E-commerce: Your website and infrastructure can make or break your business

Running an E-commerce business is a daunting task, and trying to ensure its success is even more difficult due to the highly competitive world of digital marketing. Companies are tasked with determining what strategies will work best for their businesses and then need to be able to adapt to overcome various challenges to become successful. 

The importance of scaling 

To thrive as an E-commerce business, it is imperative to master the ability to increase traffic to your website. Successfully incorporating proper scaling into your e-commerce shop is a challenge many online store owners are unable to implement adequately. Having the ability to do so helps your store maintain loyal customers and acquire more new customers than the competition.    

Your website needs to be able to scale up to handle spikes in traffic which occur around busy shopping periods. The revenue from Black Friday 2018 was an astounding $6.2 billion, a 23.6% increase year over year. The revenue made from this day alone is a significant contributor to whether an E-commerce business has had a successful quarter or not – so you don’t want to miss out on any opportunities. It is important to make sure your website is functioning properly on these promotional occasions as there might be a lot of new website visitors who are having their first encounters with your brand, so you’ll want to make a good impression. Most website visitors will be looking to take advantage of the available promotions, so you’ll want to make sure this transactional process is as smooth as possible. I remember an occasion when I was shopping online, and I wasn’t able to complete a purchase because the systems were too busy. This resulted in me getting the item elsewhere, and driving a customer to a competitor is exactly what you don’t want as an e-commerce company.  

Visitor trust is important 

Establishing trust with online visitors is essential. Not everyone who visits your site will be set on making a purchase. Some users will be visiting for the first time and may be hesitant to make a purchase from an unfamiliar site. Establishing trust, even in tiny increments, is the key to keeping more customers at your site during the early stages of the buying cycle.   

A huge factor in gaining trust is having a system that works. If your customers leave due to busy systems or a slow-loading website, chances are those customers will not return, as they perceive you as an unreliable brand. A stable, well-performing e-commerce platform will give your customers a good experience, and they will happily return to purchase more. This means you need to support your website with infrastructure that performs well and can scale up to meet seasonal peak demands.  

One more trust factor is security. As an e-commerce company, your customers trust you with their personal and payment data. Making sure that data is kept safe is vital for your customers, employees, brand, and reputation in the industry. It pays to have measures in place to ensure your infrastructure is secure and monitored.   

Before you should ever consider a redesign for your site, it is important for you to analyze any potential defects in the existing conversion funnel. The lifeline of any e-commerce site can demonstrate what is causing a decrease in sales. You need to track down what is leading to the decline in sales and remedy the problem immediately in order to keep your business alive. There are several ways you can optimize your website to increase sales, and actually most of those have to do with the usability of your site, as well as the accessibility of your checkout and payment processes. If the shopping experience is tedious, your products are difficult to find, and paying for them is a hassle – your customers will go elsewhere.   

Four steps to a better customer experience  

  1. Begin by making sure your website runs properly

The website should load fast, allowing customers to view products and switch from product to product without any downtime. Long waits for pages to load often cause customers to abandon their carts to find websites that function better. Kissmetrics found that 40% of consumers abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load.This means you need to ensure you run your website on infrastructure that can deliver the best possible latency, but can also bring the performance and scalability you need.  

  1. Ensure your website is easy to navigate

Visitors should be able to maneuver from product to product without any issues, and they should be able to locate what they are looking for easily. Customers need to have information easily accessible, as this will keep them happy and encourage them to buy more products and services from you.  

  1. Create a painless checkout process

Examine your existing checkout process. If you have a process that is overly complicated, requiring the customer to go through several steps just to place an order, chances are more customers will abandon carts instead of purchasing items they are interested in. Unexpected shipping costs, requiring customers to create accounts, security issues, and various other factors are leading culprits for abandoned carts. One often-forgotten aspect of the checkout process is the integration of your payment provider. If you have good connectivity, your checkout and payment processes will most probably run smoother, giving your customers a better experience. 

  1. Make security a top priority

If visitors do not feel safe using your website, they will not feel confident in providing their credit card or personal information to you in order to make a purchase. Make sure you choose a trusted hosting partner for your site. 

Trust and usability are key  

If you have an E-commerce aspect of your business, you need a quick and easy shopping and checkout process, and a dependable system supporting everything. Choosing the right type of infrastructure, supported with a set of services that keep things safe and speedy, can make a huge difference in the success of your e-commerce business. 

How to create a 3-2-1 backup system

Remind me, what is 3-2-1 backup? 

The 3-2-1 backup rule means that you should have 3 independent copies of your data – 2 of which are stored on-site for fast restore and 1 is stored off-site for recovery after a site disaster. There are many different ways to create this system, particularly when looking at the on-site options. It’s also worth noting that distinction between replica ‘ready-to-run’ copies and more traditional backup copies is becoming less and less clear, and the terms backup and replication are often used interchangeably. 

Backup vs. replication 

The onsite copy of your data can be a backup copy or a replica of the server you are protecting. The difference between backup and replication is that backup refers to copying files (or data blocks) to some external media, while replication is the creation and synchronization of an exact copy of the server in the native server format. 

A replica is ideal for direct spin-up, while a backup copy usually requires a restore process before it can spin-up. A major benefit of having a backup copy is it typically contains multiple restore points in time. You can go back to the state of the data one week ago or one month ago, for example. 

Designing your 3-2-1 backup combination 

At Leaseweb, there are a number of ready-to-use products which can be used to create a 3-2-1 backup of your server and data. See some examples combinations below.

IaaS Onsite original data Onsite copy Offsite copy 
Virtual Server Virtual Server  Acronis Cloud Backup 
Dedicated Server Dedicated Server other Dedicated Server Acronis Cloud Backup 
Private Cloud Apache Cloudstack Private Cloud Instance  Acronis Cloud Backup 
Private Cloud VMware vCloud Private Cloud VM Veeam Backup Acronis Cloud Backup 
Private Cloud VMware vSphere (single tenant) Private Cloud VM Veeam Backup Acronis Cloud Backup 
On-site storage 

For the original data storage, the infrastructure services are already equipped with redundant storage platforms that have high availability features. Dedicated Servers are typically ordered and delivered with multiple disks in a redundant RAID5/6 setup to protect against disk failure (failed disk hardware replacement included). 

For storing an onsite copy, a Dedicated Server can easily be setup with Private Networking to connect with a Dedicated ‘Backup Storage’ Server. You can choose any available OS feature (or run a software application of your choice) to manage the replication of the data. Examples are Linux DRBD (automatically replicates all data) and Linux rsync (manual file-based replication). For Leaseweb VMware platforms only, Leaseweb offers Veeam Backup which currently functions as a solution for onsite backup. This service does not require a software agent and comes with a self-service management portal. 

Off-site storage 

The offsite backup protects against a complete site disaster. Some backup providers give the option to test (or even run) the off-site backup copy directly within the offsite cloud environment, without the need to restore first to your onsite server infrastructure. 

The offsite copy solution is offered as an add-on self-service. This service is powered by the Acronis Cloud Backup software agent and a self-service management portal. 

Note, for advanced setups, some enterprise customers enable both fast restore and site disaster recovery in one through a twin data center setup, whereby an offsite/twin data center replica enables both fast restore and site disaster recovery. 

Wrapping up 

As you can see from the table above there are various ways to design a 3-2-1 backup using Dedicated Servers and Cloud services. Some companies employ an even more expansive backup strategy, using more than one off-site backup partner to create a 3-2-2 setup for example. There is no such thing as a perfect backup system but diversifying and having different options is only going to improve your chances of a smooth recovery from a disaster. 

Mail Server 101: POP3 vs. IMAP

When it comes to technology, there are many things that many of us never stop to think about. Like how a microwave heats food so quickly. How in the world a Keurig works. Or the process by which email ends up on your phone, computer, or tablet each morning. Luckily, this post is here to dispel some of the mystery behind at least the last of these technological enigmas.

Email gets transmitted amongst and between servers and ends up in your inbox through one of two processes: POP3(Post Office Protocol version 3) or IMAP (Internet Messaging Access Protocol). While you may have seen either of these two terms before when setting up mail on a a new device, we’ll break down for you exactly what is happening with these two distinct actions.

POP3
POP3, which was the first of the two, downloads information from the server onto your personal computer and subsequently deletes the data from the server. Though this process is great at conserving space on your server, it makes it pretty difficult to access your data across multiple devices.

IMAP
Inversely, while IMAP requires significantly more disk space on your machine than POP3, this process also provides increased flexibility when it comes to accessing your email across devices. IMAP leaves information on the server and synchronizes read and unread messages, folders, and spam across any device in which you’d access your email.

While IMAP has emerged as the leading method for mail delivery, both processes have their advantages and disadvantages. Read more about IMAP vs. POP3 in our Knowledge Base.

3 Ways to Prevent Email Abuse

Over 100 billion emails get sent per day. Everything from out-of-office alerts to billing summaries gets transferred across the web, from server to server. While we expect the things we send and deliver to remain secure, we know it isn’t always the case. There are various ways mail servers can be compromised, however, there are also a number of things that you can do, as a hosting provider, to prevent email abuse on your cPanel & WHM server. Here are a few of our easy-to-administer tips.

Require a Minimum Password Strength

We all know….well, we all should know the difference between a secure password and an insecure one:

Less secure: amy1234

More secure: ~4my0n3tw0thr334

With that in mind, ensuring your mail account holders are using secure passwords is one of the simplest ways to protect their information. While capitalization, symbol usage, and spelling all factor into password security, as a hosting provider, you can set a character minimum to ensure that all of your users have a base level of protection.

Learn more about Password Strength Configurations>>

Enable cPHulk

Familiar with the 2012 Marvel film The Avengers? In the final battle sequence, a seemingly unstoppable (keyword) alien army attempts to take down NYC — that is of course until the neurotically lovable Bruce Banner turns into his not-so-jolly green alter ego.

cPanel & WHM includes its own secret weapon that was developed to defend against the onslaught of brute force attacks. By enabling cPHulk, you can drastically prevent brute force attacks from affecting your users, your accounts, or your machine. Simply toggle the feature on from your Security Center and prevent malicious software from trying to muscle through your password security.

Find out the full power of cPHulk by reading our Documentation Site>>

Enable SMTP Restrictions

All online activity happens through a series of rules called protocols. For mail, SMTP, or Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, is the method used to submit messages to mail servers for delivery to the recipient.

With SMTP Restrictions, a feature you can enable straight from WHM, you can prevent spammers from directly interacting with your remote mail servers or even working around your mail security settings.

Curious about SMTP Restrictions? Find out more here in our Documentation>>
There are, of course, many more ways you can up the security on your mail server and protect your customers. If you found this article helpful, be sure to share it with others. If you have a few tips for mail security worth mentioning, let us know by leaving a comment below.

How to Create a Spam Filter

Let’s be honest, no one likes spam, not hosting providers, not web users, and certainly not us. That’s why it has become a reoccurring subject on the cPanel Blog. So, using one of our favorite features, Apache SpamAssassin, we want to equip you, the cPanel user, with a nifty trick to keep spam out of your inbox.

Apache SpamAssassin™

Preloaded into the cPanel dashboard, SpamAssassin is an open-source tool built to filter and classify emails while blocking spam. Through a combination of subject line and body text analysis, Bayesian filtering, and DNS blacklists, SpamAssassin drastically limits and can prevent spam from touching your inbox.

Creating a Spam Filter

In the Email section of your cPanel account, choose Apache SpamAssassin. (If your hosting provider hasn’t already enabled this feature, select Apache SpamAssassin and then switch it on.)

Now you’re ready to set up email filters and specify how powerfully you’d like SpamAssassin to gate and vet incoming messages.

First, head to the “cPanel Email” section, navigate to “Global Email Filters,” and select “Create New Filter.”

Then, select “Spam Bar” from the first menu in the “Rules” section and then choose “Contains”from the second menu in that same section.

In that field, enter a spam score using a series of (+) symbols, with 5 being an adequate number for an individual user. Select “Deliver to folder” from the “Actions” section and enter the name of the folder to which you would like to direct spam.

Finally, click “Create” to activate the spam filter and, voila, your first filter is set up! (Be sure to check to occasionally check this folder to ensure items that are NOT spam aren’t being flagged.)


To learn more about creating spam filters or Apache SpamAssassin in general, head over to our Knowledge Base.

Choosing a Domain Name

Your domain name is more than your online address—it’s your online identity and the public face of your brand. A creative, memorable name plays an important part in drawing visitors to your site, but a dull, generic one can also drive them away. Picking the best domain name for your personal or business presence online is one of the most important decisions you’ll make, and getting it right can be a challenge. Keeping your brand in mind and thinking like a visitor can help you find the domain name that perfectly represents your online self.

Why Do Domain Names Matter?

Domain names are a user-friendly way to avoid dealing with a website’s true online address, the Internet Protocol, or IP, address. The IP address, which is the site’s actual unique locator, is a string of numbers that might have a few other characters thrown in. These addresses are difficult if not impossible for most Internet users to remember and type into a browser search bar.

A site’s domain name stands in for that unwieldy IP address with a word-based format that’s easier to remember and type. Domain names consist of a subdomain name picked by the site’s owner, plus a Top Level Domain, or TLD, that’s designated by a domain extension such as .com, .net, or .net. Within those parameters, a user is free to choose just about any name for a website or business as long as it isn’t already in use. Users can run a domain search to see if the name is available. But, with that freedom comes the responsibility of selecting a name that conveys the right image and enhances the value of a brand over time. It’s a task that can (and should) take some time. Here are some tips for finding your ideal domain name.

Think Like a Visitor

To start your search for the perfect domain name for your brand or business, it can be helpful to think like a potential visitor to your website. What kinds of domain names related to your niche are easiest to remember or type? Which ones stand out for their originality and accurate representation of the brand behind the site? Consider the most important features of your brand and the message they convey, and look for phrases, words, and keywords that might help express those ideas.

If you are having trouble choosing a domain name, to get a better idea you can create a web address with a domain name generators tool.

Make Your Domain Name Brandable

People form an impression of someone within seconds of meeting them, and the same is true when they encounter your domain name. The name you choose is the online representation of your brand, so it’s important to make it stand out from the competition and speak clearly not only of the service or product niche you’re offering, but also of the values and mission behind those things.This will help potential customers remember
your business easier.

It’s also important to think long-term about your domain name. Since that name will be used all over the internet, and potentially offline too, it can be difficult to make a change later if it appears that your name doesn’t really express what your business is about, or if your company opts to expand into other areas. While it’s important to incorporate keywords where possible, stuffing your domain name with generic keywords not only makes it less interesting and memorable, but it also creates limitations if the business changes focus later on.

Make Your Name Memorable

Studies have shown that the most familiar domain names in the world, such as Google, Apple, Facebook, and Twitter, share some key characteristics: they’re creative, instantly recognizable, easy to pronounce and spell—and short.

While keywords can help with searches for your domain, use them sparingly. Consider getting creative with an obscure word or phrase that evokes the spirit of your brand, or using an existing word in a new way. The most memorable sites online typically have short, punchy names that are between 6 and 14 characters long, which makes them easy to remember and type into a web browser.

Word spreads about a brand in a variety of ways, even word of mouth. Domain name experts recommend choosing a name that is easy to say as well as to type. That means avoiding names that contain numbers, hyphens, or other special characters that make them hard to pronounce, as well as hard to remember. If your company or brand has a long name, though, consider using its initials, perhaps in combination with a single relevant keyword.

Choose the Best Domain Extension

The extension, the part of your domain name after the “dot” that designates a top level domain, can also help or hurt your name. The most recognizable extension in the world is still .com, even though many more are now available, and because of its familiarity and association with commerce and reliability, .com remains the best choice in most cases.  If .com is not available, consider other neutral extensions such as .net or .info. While new extensions like .church or .photo can help to instantly convey what a site is about, more fanciful choices such as .me or .pizza may not convey the right image—or stand the test of time.

Claim Your Name in All Possible Ways

Since a domain name represents its owner everywhere online, claiming it in every possible way keeps it visible and avoids confusion. Research possible alternatives to the desired name and purchase those domains if possible—including potential misspellings of the name. That also includes variations used for social media accounts, so that a brand is consistently represented everywhere it might be found.

Do Your Research

The Internet is home to more than 1.3 billion websites, so there’s a good chance that any domain name, however unique and creative it may sound, has been taken in some way. Research your domain name carefully using domain name generators, keyword searches, and trademark searches to be sure that it avoids infringing on other existing uses, which could lead to legal action and the need to start over with a different name.

Choosing the right domain name to be the online face of a brand or company can be a challenging task. But, with planning and careful consideration, you can create an unforgettable domain name that stands the test of time.