We have posted a comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions and their answers via our eNlight Cloud section of our forum.

What is eNlight?
eNlight is a new product launched by us early this year that introduces pay-per-use autoscaling cloud hosting service. You only top up your credit balance when required, and pay only for the resources you need. With your eNlight Virtual Machines, you can increase the CPU and RAM allocation at any time, and even so, you will only pay for the amount of that maximum allocation from your pre-paid credit balance.

To learn more about eNlight, you can refer to the following knowledge and blog articles that provide more elaborative details about our new platform:

Further Frequently Asked Questions Regarding eNlight

Introduction of eNlight Cloud from eUKhost Ltd.

eNlight User Guide

How does eNlight Cloud differ from other forms of cloud hosting?

Key Features of eNlight Cloud Hosting Service

How to Configure Time Sync for a Cloud VM ?

The following are the steps to configure Time Sync for VM’s in Cloud. This should enable administrators to synchronise the time by the node despite rebooting of the server.

How to Configure Time Sync for Linux ?

Step 1 : Log into the server via SSH as administrator
Step 2 : Use the following command in the command prompt :

vmware-guestd –cmd “vmx.set_option synctime 0 1″

How to Configure Time Sync for Cloud Hosting Platform using Windows 2008 R2  ?

Step 1 : Access the server using RDP – Remote Desktop Protocol (Make sure you have administrator rights on the server)
Step 2 : Go to the command prompt.
Step 3 : Use the following command:

w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:pool.ntp.org,0×8 /syncfromflags:MANUAL
net stop w32time
net start w32time

Since its a VM withing Hyper-V, one must disable time sync by going to VM settings >> Management >> Integration Services >> uncheck Time Synchronization.

Step 4 : Check if the VM syncs the time on reboot, use the below command for that:

schtasks /create /tn TimeSync /tr “w32tm /resync” /sc onstart

Step 5 : You might be prompted to enter your username and password to re-establish connection for Remote Desktop.

Some might receive an error trying to sync time, for example : “RPC Server is Unavailable”, you should use the following to troubleshoot :

A. Use the following command to Stop the Windows Time Service (WTS) :

net stop W32Time

B. Use the below command to Unregister the WTS :

w32tm /unregister

C. Following is the command that would help you re-register the WTS :

w32tm /register

Note: You might at times be required to reboot the server before re-registering the service.

D : Re-initiate the WTS and ensure that the service is running well, use the following command for the same:

net start W32Time sc query W32Time

Comparison of Dedicated Server and Cloud Hosting

Q. Can you please help me with making a choice between Cloud Hosting and Dedicated Hosting ?

Ans. Choosing a Dedicated server or a Cloud hosting package purely depends on what you wish to host/run. Our Dedicated server would provide you with complete privacy, while with Cloud Hosting package you would experience high scalability . So if you expect reliability, scalability and redundancy for your website and applications, a Cloud Hosting plan can be a perfect choice.

You may choose between different dedicated servers, but with Cloud, you are not allowed to choose the hardware. Though, with our Cloud package you would get to experience all the features of a Dedicated server.

Q. Why is the Cloud Hosting package priced higher than a Dedicated Hosting plan ?

Ans. A Plain Cloud is much cheaper than our entry level dedicated server ie. £ 33 GBP and £ 55 GBP respectively. But as you go on increasing the resources to the default configuration, the applicable charges get added to it. This is applicable to all the other packages as well.

Q. Can you please explain the working of eUKhost Cloud Hosting ?

Ans. There are multiple benefits that eUKhost Cloud Hosting servers offer over traditional hosting. Each cluster is setup using multiple dedicated servers and SAN storage’s. All servers and storage’s are dual powered for redundancy. In a Cloud only 60% resources of each dedicated server is utilized and just 40% of SAN storage space is used. This is to cover up the chances of an unexpected failure of components in the architecture. If any of the dedicated servers in the cluster goes down, there are enough resources on other servers to occupy all the accounts that are present on the malfunctioned hardware in the same cluster. The in-house architecture is designed in a way where in case of such failures, all the Cloud VM’s are migrated automatically without causing any downtime to any of the sites, yet providing an optimum performance to all of them. We would still be left with enough spare resources to cope with spikes and resource requirements from all the websites hosted over the cluster.

Q. What type of server hardware is used to create a Cloud cluster?

Ans. The server hardware configurations used for setting up a Cloud is such that it would address every need of the users.

Eukhost has partnered with few of the leading brands in the industry such as Dell and Cisco, for offering best-of-the-best performance to the customers.

Specifications of the servers used in a Cloud are as follows :

• Server Hardware : Dells R410 Servers ( Dual Quad Core Intel Xeon X5650, 2.66 Ghz – 6 Core, 12MB cache, 32GB RAM, 2x146GB SAS 15k rpm ) .
• Switches used in Eukhost’s Cloud : Cisco Gig Network Switches.
• Hardware Firewalls : Cisco ASA 5500 series Firewalls.
• SAN Storage : 2 Dell MD3000i SAN’s.

Q. What are the total number of accounts hosted in a Cloud ?

Ans. There is no limit set by us on the number of accounts on Cloud Servers. This is due to the very basic fact that different accounts have different requirements and since the Cloud is a cluster of multiple dedicated servers, availability of resources for each account is not a concern. Having said that, you would get the usable resources what you have paid for. Further, if you purchase a control panel with the Cloud Hosting package, you are granted with an unlimited software license using which you can set up multiple accounts based on your requirements. However, this should not be misunderstood as you are allowed to host infinite accounts under a single Cloud account. Ample resources are offered to set up number of accounts at each package level, but once you reach a certain level of resource usage, you need to consider an upgradation of your currently available resources. The upgrade process is smooth and free of any hassles. Once you pay the difference in the amounts, your account would be set-up based on your requirements hence the time taken for it might vary accordingly.

Q. I have not used a Cloud hosting server before, but have a dedicated server currently. Shall I switch over to a Cloud ?

Ans. If you already are using a dedicated server and are happy with its performance, we would not recommend you to downgrade to a Cloud plan. Despite all the other facts, dedicated servers still hold the top position in the hierarchy. Since you are the only one using the server, you are at a privilege of using it as per your requirements. Unlike Dedicated servers, cloud is based on a shared hosting methodology where multiple dedicated servers are connected in a network and the resources of all are combined together to serve the requirements of websites/applications hosted in it. Complete isolation of each account is maintained hence giving it an upper-hand than shared and VPS hosting solutions.

Q. What are the Differences between Dedicated Hosting and Cloud Hosting ?

Ans. Following is a list of differences between dedicated hosting and Cloud :

• Usually, the dedicated hosting servers are equipped with storage space that is enough for hundreds of websites. But, it involves a large financial investment, only if you are able to match investments with returns, you should opt. for it. Dedicated servers are usually preferred by large businesses having huge requirements.
• Cloud hosting on the other hand offers more-or-less the same features as that of a dedicated server, but are much affordable as the architecture cost is shared between number of accounts set-up in there. Plus you get to choose the resources according to your needs.
• Incase you have a business with specific requirements of hardware or software necessary for the functionality of your website, a dedicated server can be an appropriate choice. But if you do not have any such expectations in particular and are more concerned about the uptime, scalability and reliability, choosing a Cloud hosting package can be the most viable solution to best suffice the needs.

Q. What software do you specifically use for offering a Cloud functionality?

Ans. At eUKhost we use HyperV and VMWare to setup a Cluster of Cloud.

Please click the following link to know more about the VMware versus Hyper V comparison.

Q. What are the OS platforms available over a Cloud ?

Ans. You may choose between Linux and Windows for Cloud Hosting.

The following Linux distros :

• CentOS 5.x
• Debian 5 (cPanel not supported)
• Ubuntu 9.x (cPanel not supported)
• Fedora Core 10

The following are the Windows versions offered with our Windows VMware Cloud

• Window 2008 Standard (32 bit)
• Window 2008 Standard (R2 x64)
• Window 2008 Enterprise (32 bit)

The following is a list of Operating Systems offered with our Windows Hyper-V Cloud

• Windows 2008 Standard Edition (32 bit)
• Window 2008 Standard (R2 x64)
• Window 2008 Enterprise (32 bit)

Note : The default price of the packages would defer with the choice of Operating System.

Q. What are the control panels supported with Cloud Hosting Package ?

Ans. The following table describes the control panels supported with each Cloud Hosting type :

If you wish to to know anything more apart from the information mentioned above, please visit the following pages :

• Cloud Web Hosting QAs
• eUKhost Cloud Hosting Features
• Cloud Servers/Cloud Hosting FAQs

How to install Softaculous in cPanel ?

Softaculous similar to Fantastico is an auto-installer that holds multiple scripts within that can help users with installing applications, softwares with just few clicks. There are 194 scripts which include scripts for Blogs, CRM’s, Forums, eCommerce, social publishing, social networking, Wikis etc. that are included with Softaculous

Requirements of Softaculous

The basic requirement for Softaculous to be installed on your web hosting uk server is that, you are required to have a cPanel installed over the server. Moreover, you must have root/SSH access to be precise.

Furthermore, before proceeding with the installation of Softaculous you must get assured that Ioncube is enabled on the server. (At eukhost, Ioncube loader is enabled as a default feature on Dedicated Hosting Server, Cloud Hosting, Virtual Private Server and Semi-Dedicated ). Incase you find that it isn’t enabled, you can enable it through WHM. You must login to WHM >> Go to Tweak settings >> Enable.

Having done that, you can now proceed with the installation of Softaculous.

Step 1 : Login to the server as root and run the below commands.

[root@localhost ~]# cd /usr/local/cpanel/whostmgr/docroot/cgi
[root@localhost ~]# wget -N http://www.softaculous.com/ins/addon_softaculous.php
[root@localhost ~]# chmod 755 addon_softaculous.php

Step 2 : Login to WHM

Step 3 : Go to Plugins and hit the Softaculous options. Having done that a page stating “Congratulations, Softaculous was installed successfully” would appear. This confirms that Softaculous has been installed over the server.

The scripts included in Softaculous would be downloaded automatically. Against each successful download, you would see a check mark.

This concludes the installation of Softaculous over your web hosting server.

Q. What is Offsite Backup Hosting ?

Ans: The Offsite Backup Hosting is a remote backup solution based on the R1Soft’s Continuous Data Protection (CDP) which ensures continuous protection of all your website data stored on the server. The R1Soft’s CDP Solution is an advanced backup software application that allows disk-based data protection and disaster recovery for servers and workstations which are running the operating systems like Windows and Linux. Our CDP server protects disk volume data through replication & synchronization over the network storing point-in-time snap-shots into disk-based storage. The backups can take seconds to minutes to complete.

Q. Under which hosting packages can I perform the Offsite Backups ?

Ans: The offsite backups can be performed under the Hyper-V based Virtual Private Server Hosting, Dedicated Server Hosting and Cloud Server plans only. It is not possible on the Virtuozzo based VPS, because it uses the nodes Kernel and doesn’t have its own. The offsite backup is only possible on the Hyper-V and VMware based VM’s as they have their own Kernel. Backup plans from eUKhost can be ordered as an add-on with the above mentioned web hosting plans.

Q. Which systems are compatible to perform Offsite Backups ?

Ans: eUKhost’s offsite backup plans are compatible with both Windows and Linux servers based on Hyper-V and VMware. These Offsite backups are not compatible with Virtuozzo based servers as mentioned above.

Q. How does backing up data affect the operation of other services on the server ?

Ans: While the disk sector synchronization is executed on an online server, it doesn’t interrupt the input and output requests or the operation of other services even if the server is busy.

Q. Does Offsite Backups put a heavy load on the OS ?

Ans: No, the offsite backup process is carried out very smoothly and doesn’t put any heavy load on the operating systems.

Q. What is included into Offsite Backup solution offered by eUKhost ?

Ans: eUKhost’s Offsite Backup Hosting solution offers unlimited bandwidth, disk based data protection, disaster recovery, differential backups, incremental backups, scalability to upgrade backup plans, end-to-end strong encryption, point-in-time snapshots and ability to restore specific files/folders.

Q. Where the backed up data will be stored ?

Ans: The backups performed using the R1Soft’s CDP backup software will be stored on the offsite servers.

Q. Every time do I have to perform Offsite Backup tasks manually ?

Ans: No, the offsite backup tasks cannot be performed manually. You can schedule the backup tasks Daily, Weekly or Monthly according to your requirements. You can also set up a recovery point as per your needs, so that the backups are recovered accordingly.

Q. Is it possible to compress or encrypt the backup data ?

Ans: Yes, It is possible to compress or encrypt the backup data. When scheduling the backup tasks you can decide and enable whether to compress or encrypt the data.

Q. Are the Backup Plans scalable ?

Ans: Yes, all of our backup plans are fully scalable, so that you can experience the flexibility of upgrading your remote backup plan very easily.

Q. Is R1Soft Backup Software difficult to setup and use ?

Ans: The R1Soft’s CDP Backup Software would be installed and taken care by our technical experts.

Q. Can Offsite Backup solution be used for home backups ?

Ans: No, the R1Soft’s backup software is used only for backing up the data on the servers and cannot be used for home backups.

Q. Do you offer technical support for Offsite Backup solution ?

Ans: Yes, we do offer technical support for the Offsite Backup Hosting solution.

Q. Do you offer trial on Offsite Backup plans ?

Ans: No, we do not offer any trial on the Offsite Backup Hosting plans.

Eukhost’s Cloud Hosting platform, is designed and developed in-house using the Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware technologies, hence bringing in incomparable benefits in terms of redundancy, flexibility and scalability.

Cloud Web Hosting Questions and Answers

Q. How is Eukhost’s Cloud server maintenance been scheduled and are they equipped with the Updates ?

Ans : We feel proud in saying that our clients would face little or almost no effect while the maintenance task is in action. Despite that, we make it a point to keep our clients updated about every scheduled maintenance before-hand.

We are fully aware about the vitality and security of Eukhost customers. Hence, we take care of inclusion and management of patches and updates as a regular part of our services.

Q. What hardware is used for building the Eukhost’s Cloud?

Ans: For ensuring reliability and responsibility of offering optimum performance, Eukhost uses worldwide recognised and trusted brands for Shared Cloud,Private Cloud and Public Clouds, hence have partnered with Dell and Cisco for our infrastructure:

• Switches used in Eukhost’s Cloud : Cisco Gig Network Switches.
• Hardware Firewalls : Cisco ASA 5500 series Firewalls.
• Server Hardware : Dells R410 Servers ( Dual Quad Core Intel Xeon X5650, 2.66 Ghz – 6 Core, 12MB cache, 32GB RAM, 2x146GB SAS 15k rpm ) .
• SAN Storage : Multiple BlueArc Titans with a storage interconnect.

Q. Does Eukhost’s Cloud solutions come equipped with a DNS system ?

Ans : With a control panel, you can manage DNS. Hence, we do not offer any other domain name management application with any of our web hosting packages.

Q. Can you explain scalability of Eukhost’s solutions?

Ans : We consider Scalability to be of prime importance. Hence, at any point of time, you can opt for an upgrade.

The upgrade process is simple and smooth. You simply need to send an email to our Billing Department (billing@eukhost.com) stating the package that you intend to upgrade to.

Q. What are the network provisions for the data centres in which the Eukhost’s Cloud resides? Who are the network carriers?

Ans : Eukhost partners with the the fastest network providers in the UK, aggregates bandwidth from the multiple tier 1 bandwidth providers. This guarantees our ability to offer 100% Network Uptime. For more, please visit : UK Data Center

Q. How can a customer go about upgrading or downgrading the Eukhost’s Cloud plan?

Ans : At the first instance, a client should get in touch with our billing team via. Live Chat or Ticket and seek assistance.

eUKhost is a comparatively very old company in the web hosting industry, serving the corporate industries since the year 2001. It launched cloud server hosting services based on VMware virtualization technology in January 2010. Following are a few aspects that make eUKhost a unique and reliable cloud hosting service provider in United Kingdom.

In 2010, eUKhost became one of the very few companies offering cloud servers that enables clients to utilize the most best-selling cPanel / WHM and Plesk hosting control panels on the cloud environment.

eUKhost offers Linux & Windows VMware cloud servers and Windows Hyper-V  cloud servers in UK. Websites of cloud hosting customers are hosted on high-end servers which provide security, offer optimum performance and greater reliability to customers.

eUKhost is amongst the very few companies that offers Cloud Hosting with a well-known WHM interface so customers can even resell hosting similar to reseller hosting.

Compared to the prices of other cloud hosting providers, eUKhost costs only £ 33/month for both VMware Cloud and Hyper-V Cloud servers along with 100% guaranteed uptime.

eUKhost’s Cloud Hosting Features:

• 20 GB Disk Space
• 500 GB Premium Monthly Bandwidth
• 100% Uptime Guarantee
• VMware® High Availability (HA)
• VMware® Fault Tolerance
• Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS)
• Fully Managed
• Fully Redundant Network
• Best UK Data Center
• VMware
• Root SSH / RDP access
• Dedicated Disk Space and Monthly Bandwidth
• Dedicated RAM / CPU
• Free Unique IP Addresses
• Ability to Host unlimited domains
• Instant Server reboot capability
• Backup and Restore Utility
• cPanel – WHM / Plesk Control Panels
• 24×7 Customer and Technical Support

The system of eUKhost associates a number of processing servers to a storage area network. The cloud setup is based on VMware for Linux-Windows and Hyper-V for Windows that enables to associate max 32 nodes for VMWare and 16 nodes for Hyper-V in the cloud cluster.

eUKhost offers cPanel / WHM and Plesk control panel options with their Cloud Servers. All account holders have their websites hosted on high-end servers, whose data is basically replicated on a Storage Area Network (SAN) to offer more redundancy. The resources are shared by many processing servers. The company guarantees the continuous availability of all the services running on the nodes even when additional servers need to be associated in the cluster setup.

What is Cloud Hosting ?

Cloud Computing or Cloud Hosting environment is a set of multiple servers connected together over the Internet to deliver pooled computing resources on demand. Instead of limiting to a single server like what we have in traditional hosting services (dedicated/shared hosting), the users now have access to multiple servers and scale on demand.

The Cloud delivers a hosting environment that doesn’t limit a user or an application to a specific set of resources. A user can scale his server dynamically depending upon his/her requirements and increase the share of resources on demand.

How does eUKhost Cloud Hosting work ?

eUKhost Cloud Hosting offers many advantages over traditional hosting service due to the number of servers that are being used for a single cluster. Each Cloud Hosting cluster is setup with multiple servers and two SAN storage’s. All servers and storage’s are dual powered for redundancy. Only 60% resources of each server are utilized and only 40% of SAN storage space is utilized in a Cloud. In case of failure of one or 2 cloud servers or a storage within the cluster, all services would automatically migrate from the failed server to other live servers. There will be absolutely no downtime due to power outage, or due to failure of servers or storage.

Why use Cloud Hosting ?

Scalability, High Availability and Cost Efficiency are some of the commonly known advantages of Cloud Computing. Cloud Servers are easy to scale to meet your demand. As the technology is highly scalable, upgrades can be done with minimum limitations. Multiple redundant servers and storage’s setup in a cluster ensure 100% uptime guarantee even in case of hardware failure. Cost is another huge plus associated with Cloud Hosting. You can choose the amount of CPU, Memory, Web Space & Bandwidth you require and pay accordingly.

What technologies does eUKhost use to setup Cloud Servers ?

We use VMWare and Hyper-V virtualization technologies to setup Cloud Clusters at eUKhost. VMWare based Cloud Servers are available with Linux as well as Windows Operating System options while Hyper-V based Cloud Servers are Windows only as it is a Microsoft technology.

What can I host with a Cloud Server?

Anything you want to host as long as the content/application is legal and all the system requirements are supported. Each Cloud Server is a fully unrestricted root access Linux and/or Windows environment, anything that you could run from a traditional dedicated server can be run here.

How many domains can I host?

There is no limit set on the number of domains you can host on a Cloud Server. The only restriction is the amount of resources allocated to you since you are in control of everything on your Cloud Server.

Do you provide a control panel with the server ?

We do not offer a control panel like Plesk or cPanel/WHM as standard with the server. Control Panel is an addon and has to be ordered with the server. cPanel/WHM and Plesk control panel are the available options for Linux Cloud Servers while for Windows Cloud Servers, only Plesk control panel is available.

Can I upgrade resources on my server anytime ?

Sure – resources like CPU, Memory, Web Space & Bandwidth can be upgraded as and when you need. The upgrade process is pretty simple and doesn’t involve any downtime for the server. All you need to do is get in touch with our billing department and we take care of the rest.

How long does it take to get additional resources?

Resources like CPU, RAM, hard drive and bandwidth can be upgraded on an individual cloud server within minutes. These additional resources will then be available to use instantly after the upgrade is completed.

What is my Cloud Server running on ?

eUKhost Cloud Servers use the industry-leading VMware and Hyper-V virtualization platform, Dell PowerEdge servers, and industry leading data center and networking infrastructure.

Do you maintain backups of Cloud Servers ?

Yes, we maintain weekly backups on all Cloud Servers individually on the storage device attached to the Cloud Cluster. This storage device is also equipped with RAID 10 for redundancy. In addition to this, if you wish to maintain separate daily backups yourself, you can opt for our R1Soft offsite backup solution to automate backups. R1Soft backup plans and information is available at http://www.eukhost.com/backup.php

Where will be my website data stored in cloud?

All of your website data will be stored on a Storage Area Network (SAN server) for a VMware Cloud Server, shared among all ESX servers. It is recommended to opt for a SAN storage, if you want to have High Availability (HA) as VMs are needed to be stored on shared storage accessible to all the hosts. However, there are other storage alternatives available, but we recommend to opt for SAN storage as it is able to meet the input/output requirements of the VMs.

Is my data stored on a shared SAN visible to other clients on the SAN?

No, every VM has its own virtual disk file configured which is assigned & viewable only by its respective VMs only.

How often the cloud servers are monitored?

Yes, eUKhost regularly monitors all the clients cloud servers using a Centralized Management System. Basically, our cloud Server are monitored for the availability (ie. ping) and the dedicated server resource such as Web space, RAM (Memory) and CPU. If a customer need any additional services like HTTP and FTP, possibly it can be configured via opening a ticket at our Help Center. The monitoring alerts are sent to our clients via their email address provided.

FAQ’s on E-commerce Cloud Hosting Solutions:

1. Does eUKhost provide cloud hosting solutions for small e-commerce shops?

Ans: Yes, we do provide cloud hosting services for all types of e-commerce websites. Our cloud solutions are ideal for small as well as large e-commerce businesses.

2. Does cloud hosting cost more for larger e-commerce websites?

Ans: Cloud Hosting is an ideal solution for e-commerce due to the recurring nature of the business. Most of the online stores, vendors and retailers usually have huge amount of traffic to their online shops during the launch of new products and holiday season, that needs additional resources to fulfill their increased necessity for a very short-term. Our cloud hosting services allow businesses to add computing resources to cover their additional needs. Customers can upgrade resources like CPU, Memory, Space and Bandwidth on their Cloud Server anytime. This is why this service is known as a perfect solution for e-commerce.

3. Does eUKhost’s cloud hosting aid e-commerce business during their peak times of the year?

Ans: Yes, we do help our clients in all possible ways. An e-commerce business might see a huge increase in traffic during the peak times ie. in the month of November and December. Our Cloud Hosting enables the companies to upgrade their required resources for those months to meet their traffic necessity and once the demand period is over, they can downgrade those resources.

4. Why many of the large e-commerce sites do not use cloud services?

Ans: Many of the biggest e-commerce businesses are not aware of new technologies coming in web hosting industry, and the lack of knowledge may be one of the reasons they are unable to switch to cloud services. It is being said that by the end of year 2012, around 80 percent of businesses would be running on cloud hosting services. Hence, switching now to cloud hosting would be good decision and will help you in gaining knowledge about the new technologies in cloud computing.