On Monday, January 4 we launched a new web site.  The new eapps.com has a fresh look and makes it easier for visitors to find information about our company and services. Some of the many key improvements are:

• Services and Products – a complete list of products and services offered and supported can be found in the Services menu
• Supported Applications – a complete list of the available and supported applications, with versions, can be found on the Applications Index page
• News and Articles – an integrated blog, using WordPress, allows us to quickly publish useful and relevant information for you
• Details on Plans and Services – our new Plan Comparison Tool provides a powerful and easy way to analyze and compare details of our hosting plans

We hope you can take a few minutes to browse the new eapps.com. We welcome any feedback you have at sales@eapps.com. We are pleased to give a hat tip to MoiaGroup, a long time eApps customer that provided extensive site design and graphics development services on the project.

In the last issue of eAPPS upDATE we announced our acceptance into RIM’s BlackBerry Alliance Program. We are pleased to announce that we have now launched our BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) service for users of our Enterprise Email service.

The BES add-on service automatically encrypts email messages sent to and received from other users running on the world-wide BES network and allows for over-the-air synchronization of email, calendar, contacts, and tasks between the mobile user’s hand-held BlackBerry device and desktop. The service is running as a Beta program initially, and has active customers using the service successfully. There is no cost for the BES add-on service during the Beta phase. For information about the service, or to request participation, please contact sales@eapps.com.

The eApps Enterprise Email service has an add-on feature for archiving all inbound and outbound messages. The service is very flexible. Archiving can be activated selectively for one or more Email users and provides several options for the storage location of the archived messages. The add-on is priced at $1.95 per user per month.From now until the end of February, current and new users of the eApps Enterprise Email service can add the Archiving feature for any or all Email users at no cost. Users of the add-on Archive service would not be billed until April 1! To take advantage of this exciting offer, contact sales@eapps.com.

Best Post Winner:Each month we select at least one outstanding post on our Community Forum and award a $50 credit to the account of the selected contributor(s)! The winner for the January newsletter is  . . .

Override /icons per host – tudaen

Please stop by the forum and check it out, ask a question, offer a suggestion, or answer a question. You might just win a $50 credit in February!

Webinar: Enterprise Email featuring Zimbra, with Mobile Support and Email Archiving

The Exchange/Outlook compatible eApps Enterprise Email service is one of the fastest growing services that we have launched. The service unleashes the full power of your mobile device through over-the-air synchronization of Email, Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks between your hand-held and desktop.

For more information about Zimbra, check out this short, informative video tour. You can also sign up for an informative 30 minute Enterprise Email Webinar on Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 10AM Eastern or 3PM Eastern (GMT-5).

Updated/New Applications:Updated
versions of the following applications are now available, all for
CentOS 5 plans:

• Joomla 1.5.15
• Zend Framework 1.9.6
• Proftpd 1.3.2
• Java 1.6.0_17

New application, for all CentOS 5 plans: GlassFish v3 (major new version!)

If you are interested in moving to the new CentOS 5 environment, please contact billing@eapps.com.

When we started offering Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting services back in 2003, we knew one of the key advantages was the power and control our customers would have. A true VPS of course, means providing root access. Of course, “with great power comes great responsibility.”  One of the first things we did was ensure that all passwords pass the cracklib test. This single measure dramatically reduced the incidence of passwords being compromised. We also formulated important processes and policies which are recapped as follows:

• eApps will implement state of the art systems to aid in the detection of, and protection against, threats
• eApps will strive to provide secure versions of all applications that we offer and support
• Customers will ultimately assume responsibility for the security of applications that they build or upload
• eApps will reserve the right to take action as appropriate, based on severity and risk, to deal with any breach in a customer’s application

Security breaches are serious. Even though we do everything we can to prevent and protect the thousands of servers running on our network, we expect our customers to be our partner in helping to combat this threat. To help you, our customer, better manage your responsibility to be a “good citizen” of the eApps network, here are some tips.

1. Use Secure Coding Practices – resources abound on the web. Search for “secure coding practices” for relevant information
2. Verify that your app is secure – for third party applications, the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures organization provides resources and a link to the US Government National Vulnerabilities Database
3. Follow your app provider – each application provider has information on vulnerabilities via their web site or community. In many cases you can subscribe to a notification service that will alert you when vulnerabilities are discovered.

@eapps for news, updates, and exclusive offers

@eapps_status for eapps network status