5 Sure-Fire Ways to Secure Your Cloud-Based Server

With the ease of use offered by cloud computing services, it can be hard to imagine what could go wrong. Just because cloud computing makes things easier, that doesn't mean you should let down your guard. You need to secure your data in the cloud and make sure any threats to security are handled properly. Here are five sure-fire tips for securing your cloud-based server.

Backup Everything

There are those who say that cloud-based servers are prefect and infallible. But security measures still need to be taken for the cloud. Just like you would with a physical data center, it is important to keep thorough backups of all your data stored on your cloud servers. It may feel redundant at the time, but when disaster strikes your cloud server, you will be glad you had a backup copy of all your business data.

Take Security Audits Seriously

It is important that you and your cloud service provider take security seriously. Ask questions about the standards that apply to data for your industry. If you are involved in financial services, make sure your data center provider complies with Sarbanes-Oxley regulations. If you handle payments, make sure your service is PCI compliant. If you work in the health industry, make sure everything is HIPAA compliant. If the provider gives you a run-around about compliance, then it's time to find another provider.

Ask Other Clients

Don’t be afraid to ask around about your cloud services provider. Contact their existing clients and ask some questions. Do they have a history of quality customer support? How did they handle a major emergency? How quickly do they bounce back from outages?

Know Where Your Data Is

It important you know exactly where in the physical world your business data resides. Your cloud services provider should be able to point to a single machine or a bank of machines and tell you that is the exact place where the bits and bytes of your business data sit. Using a cloud-based server as a marketing cloud can only be successful if you have instituted proper security measures and know where to go in case of a malfunction.

Test Relentlessly

No matter how much your test your systems, test them some more. Stay current with potential security vulnerabilities. Roll out new testing procedures as new threats emerge. And if they are no new threats, try to hack your systems with your own team.

No system will ever be 100% secure. That's just a fact of life in the digital age. For that reason, you need to remain aware. You need to ask questions. You need to stay on top of potential vulnerabilities. Stay vigilant and your cloud server will do right by you.

Cloud Apps That Can Make You Better Web Design Professional

Cloud computing has virtually revolutionized the way people transact their businesses. Internet usage is taking a trend that is totally different from the one many people have known it. Web designers and Internet users are finally making their work a lot easier through cloud computing. Cloud Apps and Services have made it possible for business operators to access their files at distant places from their offices. Website developers and designers are also able to come up with quality work within a very short time.

Nevertheless, for a web design professional to come up with quality website they need to be conversant with certain apps. These cloud apps can make you a better web design professional. Among the famous apps being used today are the following:

• iPlotz: This application enables a web design professional to create navigable, clickable mockups and also wireframes for a prototyping application or website. They let you add pages of a wireframe, create projects and even share your creations or discuss them with others. This application can improve your work as a web design professional  by providing you the possibility of sharing with others what you have designed, get feedback and be able to improve as well as gaining popularity on the way. You also get ideas from other professionals on how to improve your projects or build new ones.

• Colors scheme designer: This is an application that enables you to generate different color schemes for your project. Each color scheme has a single base color. This is supplemented with other colors enabling it to give an excellent optical impression. With this app, you can design any color scheme for your project. A web design professional can use this app to come up with attractive websites by using the right color combinations.

• Kodingen: This app is basically the cloud IDE used by many web design professionals. It is used in editing Perl, PHP, Ruby, Python and django. A web design professional is able to accomplish this from their browser. With this application you can accomplish different tasks from any location.

• MockFlow: Using this application web designers are able to design and collaborate on different mockups for user interfaces for websites and software applications. This makes it possible for a professional to be more efficient in his work and even come up with easy to use websites and software.

• Kuler: Kuler is a web-hosted app used in generating different color themes. These are very important in inspiring a project. Regardless of what a web design professional is creating, kuler makes it possible to experiment. You can browse different color themes on kuler.

• Forrst: This app links the designer to a community of professionals who are passionate about their work. These are determined to achieve better designs and also help others.

• OpenID: This app makes it possible for web design professionals to login to different websites in a faster, safe and easy manner. This implies that even when one cannot recall their passwords, they can still login to a website.

• Codeanywhere: This is an app that makes it possible for to code from wherever they are. You just need to login using a smartphone or computer and you will be able to gain access to anything that you want from your files, servers, and all that you need to be efficient.

The list of cloud apps that can make you better web design professional is quite long. All you need is to know how to chose the right ones for your work and use them in the best manner possible to deliver quality and efficient services to your clients. 

Author Bio:
Biljana is a technology writer, researching the world of web design and promotion, to deliver news and best deals on apps, gadgets  and online service offers available like the cloud server providers' latest.
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