For any corporation that requires dedicated web hosting but doesn’t have the expertise to oversee and maintain it, a managed dedicated server plan is the perfect option. To date there are no industry standards to clearly define the management role of dedicated service providers, with hosts offering varying levels of support for a wide variety of prices. Services on offer include operation administration, firewall and antivirus updates, security audits, data back-ups, disaster recovery, and general system monitoring.

The choice of managed dedicated servers on the market is vast and it is important for a corporation to feel they trust in the knowledge and integrity of the web hosting provider. After all, a reliable and dynamic website is vital for customer loyalty. There are a number of key essential features to look out for that help ensure value for money and reduce the risk of choosing an under par website host.

Acquisition and installation

A managed host should provide a dedicated server package that caters to the client’s specific requirements. It is vital to ensure the server provider can offer the kind of scalability and bandwidth the organization requires.

What services are included?

Some services are included in the monthly fee and some are additional. It is also important that a host can react quickly to implement and install new requirements for one-off special projects.

Performance guarantees

The major managed website hosts now commonly offer 99.99% network and data-centre power uptime. This is only possible if the host has an adequate power back-up system in place and a dedicated team of support and monitoring staff.

Help and support

Many of the top managed servers offer 24 hour help and support, 7 days a week, 365 days per year. One way to test the support desk is to search the various review forums online, which have endless customer reviews with honest accounts of their experiences with a provider. An essential consideration is whether the host provides a dedicated support team. If not, it is likely you’ll spend ages on hold getting through to a different customer support worker every time. The ideal situation is direct access to a dedicated service representative who only works with a handful of accounts.

Hardware replacement time

The fastest offers on the market are for hardware replacement within 15 minutes of a failure, with more companies offering replacement within one hour.

Premium brand hardware

Hardware failure is still one of the largest causes of IT service failure and use of premium brand hardware is a must with the inclusion of RAID, which provides two or more redundant disks in the event of failure.

Application monitoring

One key feature of a managed dedicated server is the regular monitoring of the website, network, and server to ensure optimum performance.

Regular data back-up

Regular data back-ups are vital to protect website and customer information in the event of crashes.

Security monitoring

The host should be responsible for keeping updated on all of the latest security updates to ensure all reasonable steps are put in place to prevent a security breach. In the case of lost data, the host should be able to react quickly to recover lost information and prevent compromising customer security.

Power efficiency

One final consideration is to analyse the power efficiency of the managed server provider. Nowadays customers judge companies on their ability to minimize the impact they have on the environment. By selecting a server provider which aims to cut its energy consumption as much as possible and use renewable energy sources is a positive public relations exercise for any corporation.

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It is true that many companies fall into a trap when they decide to try to manage their own hosting. They may try to use employees already on staff and find that these employees are spending all of their time with the managed hosting instead of their regular duties. Then again, the business may have to hire additional employees. This means that more wages have to be paid. So here we have two situations that shows work being sacrificed in one area and the business having to pay out more money to pay the new salaries. How can this be avoided?

This is the point where the business may consider outsourcing their managed hosting. This is where you can make sure your employees are doing the job that they are hired to do and the company you are outsourcing to may not be quite as expensive as having to hire one or more full-time employees to manage your hosting.

Here are some things to consider:

- Consider the fact that by outsourcing your managed hosting, the outsource supplier is the one who will be carrying the risks. This means that they are going to do all that they can to make sure everything stays up and running and that everything is secure.

- Your company does not have to fit the bill for equipment costs if you run servers on your own property. You are using the servers of the IT Company that you hire to take care of your managed hosting. This is another area in which you can save money.

- Your company can stay up on the most up-to-date technology. The company you have outsourced to relies on staying up with the latest technology, which means that your business will follow in that respect.

- Since environmental issues are taking shape this day and age, many IT companies are employing practices that are more favorable to the environment.

- Know that they will do all they can to keep everything up and running. If you have ever noticed, the press covers huge outages and that can hurt a reputation. Most of all, it can hurt the IT Companys reputation if the problem is traced back to them. Chances are they are managing the managed hosting of more than one company and that can cause a huge problem. These IT Companies employ methods that will keep them up and running even if the world around them is not.

As you can see, there are some things to consider when outsourcing your managed hosting. Smaller businesses may have to evaluate these items more thoroughly because outsourcing may be a big price to pay for them. Larger businesses, on the other hand, may have never imagined that they would fully outsource their managed hosting and other IT operations. However, the more affordable and practical it becomes, the more businesses are outsourcing such operations so that they can keep their minds on the task at hand and not worry about the technical aspect of it.

That is why there are so many businesses that are finding success. They rely on the security of an IT outsource company to take care of their websites and other technical aspects so that they can focus on wooing their customers and keeping the money coming in faster than ever.

In the end, you end up with an efficient company that is at the top of their game. At that point, outsourcing their managed hosting may seem like a drop in the bucket compared to what it used to be. That makes looking at outsourced managed hosting something to consider.

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Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a security feature that was developed by the major credit card companies to help businesses that process credit cards prevent credit card fraud through various security vulnerabilities that would exist otherwise. All companies that store, transmit, or process credit cards must be PCI DSS compliant in order to process these transactions. If they are not, then they can lose their ability to accept credit cards.

If you are not sure how these actions can protect your credit card transactions, below are the security standards that must be employed in order to make sure these transactions are secure:

Not using password defaults or other security measures that are provided by the credit card machine vendor. They are usually all the same and make the system vulnerable.

Install and maintain a firewall to keep intruders out.
If cardholder data must be transmitted over public networks that are open, the data must be encrypted.

Business need-to-know must be used to restrict access to cardholder data.

Physical access should be restricted to cardholder data.

Each person that has computer access, which means they may be able to access credit card numbers, should be assigned a unique username and password. This is so any accessed data can be traced back to the person who accessed it.

All access to network resources should be monitored, as well as access to cardholder data.

The system should be tested on a regular basis. This means all processes should be tested as well.
Maintain an information security policy. Enforce compliance with this policy and discipline if it is deviated in any way.

There are also certain pieces of information on a persons credit card that can and cannot be stored. The pieces of information that can be stored are the card number, the cardholders name, the expiration date, and the service code. Pieces of information that cannot be stored are the magnetic strip, the PIN number, and the CVV code on the back of the card. PCI DSS standards require that information that is permitted to be stored is stored in a secure manner. Auditors will check for compliance in all of these areas. If it is found that the business is in violation in any way, the business could risk losing their privileges of taking credit cards or could face a heavy fine.

A worse scenario is that if a business is found to be in violation of PCS DSS requirements when cardholder information is stolen. This holds the business liable for ensuring that customer information is not compromised and to take measures that are appropriate in case that information is.

Even if you are a hosting provider, you have responsibility such as making sure the connection is secure when accepting credit cards. PCI DSS requirements do not apply to just in-store environments. It is true that it is impossible to verify that the person using the card is indeed that person, but what is possible is to make sure that information is protected so that outside parties do not access it. The internet is crawling with hackers and those looking for insecure connections. Abiding by PCI DSS regulations makes it less likely that such a breach will occur.

So now you can see how PCI DSS protects your credit card transactions. It is very likely that information is stolen when PCI DSS is followed closely. As long is it is followed, you have no security breaches to worry about and no bad audits that could result in trouble for your business.

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Developed by the major credit card companies, PCI DSS stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, and was designed to prevent credit card fraud when retailers and other organizations process or store credit card information. It is mandatory that a business that stores, processes, or transmits credit card data be PCI DSS compliant. If they are not, then they can lose the privileges which allow them to process these transactions or be severely fined.

Here is what PCI DSS does for an organization that processes credit card transactions:

Protects cardholder data that is being transmitted through the installation of a firewall system.

Protects cardholder data that is stored within a system.

Does not allow physical access to credit card data.

Networks through which credit card data is transmitted are encrypted.

Does not allow Business need-to-know access to cardholder data.

All merchants and organizations using PCI DSS must periodically validate their compliance with the system. This is usually done via auditors. However, smaller companies that process less than 80,000 transactions annually can simply fill out a self-assessment questionnaire.

Consumer protection

The credit card has become the primary way in which many people pay for goods and services. Consumers are concerned about the security of their accounts due to fraud and high profile security breaches reported on in the news. Consumers understandably want to protect their account information in order to prevent identity theft. They want the confidence of knowing that their information is secure and this is exactly what PCI DSS does for the customer. It secures their information so that no other parties have access to their name, address, phone number, social security number, license number, and other pieces of data that can lead to strangers taking this information and using it for their own benefit.

The consumer can feel secure that PCI DSS regulates the policies, procedures, network architecture, design of the managing software, management of the security standards, and all protective measures used to protect the consumer. It is true that PCI DSS does offer protection for the business, but it is the consumer that is the target by those who wish to steal information. As a result, businesses may be attacked by individuals wishing to steal information, but having PCI DSS in place prevents access to this information.

Business protection

A business that houses and transmits large quantities of consumer credit card data can be the target of hackers wishing to gain access to that information. Without PCI DSS in place, this information would be easy to access. However, a business must employ PCI DSS or they risk losing their credit card privileges and be forced to pay large fines. They could lose a lot of business this way since a majority of consumers use credit cards to pay for their transactions.

The business is protected by using PCI DSS because they are able to accept credit cards thus increasing their profitability while simultaneously protecting businesses from disputes if fraud is ever alleged. PCI DSS compliance is designed to prevent fraud from occurring, however if a breach were ever to occur, detailed records are kept allowing businesses to resolve any dispute quickly.

PCI DSS is put in place to benefit the consumer and regulate the business in respect to credit card use. Without it, performing a transaction via credit card would be a risky transaction and that is why the credit card companies put PCI DSS in place. The consumer and the business should be able to be confident about all phases of the transaction and that is what this security system does.

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A managed service provider is a company that makes a business of taking care of the business applications or services that other companies wish to outsource for a variety of reasons. Many of these services are provided via the internet and cover such tasks as IT services, remote data backup, desktop and security monitoring, and technical assistance. It is also common for a managed services provider to also manage a companys web hosting and maintain their websites.

However, managed hosting is perhaps the most common function of many managed services provider. The provider bills the business they are providing the services for a fixed amount on a monthly basis. They provide IT services that would otherwise be provided in-house by existing or additional staff. They backup any data that is on the website and any data offered by customers visiting the website to provide security as well as to benefit the business in the event of a website crash.

The protection of customer data is important in order to maintain your customer database and allow you to stay in touch with those that drive your business. The managed services provider also continuously monitors the website in order to prevent security breaches. That way if there is a security breach, the managed services provider can rectify the issue right then and there. The managed services provider is also there to provide any technical assistance to the business or the customer if any issues arise out of the web hosting.

Managed services providers can provide a wide range of services to the business they serve. MSPs are a great solution for businesses that are looking to go outside their company for services while simultaneously increasing efficiency within their organization. Additional tasks that they perform include managed remote access, network monitoring, network management, scanning for vulnerabilities, firewall management, securing the e-mail and messaging system, tracking incidents, and server management; Just to name a few of the many tasks companies may consider outsourcing when hiring a managed services provider.

Benefits to the business

A managed services provider takes many tasks off of the hands of the business. In fact, the different payment models that managed services providers make available to the businesses that they serve is usually cheaper than having to hire one or two full-time employees to take care of these tasks or having existing employees add these tasks to their work loads. There may be times in which issues come about and those employees must focus on the managed hosting while putting their other job responsibilities on the backburner. However, some managed hosting operations are so large that it takes a number of employees to manage the system and everything that comes with it. This avoids having to pay higher salaries, additional salaries, training costs, and prevents staff members from being overworked. When resources are scarce managed service providers are an efficient and cost effective alternative.

Another benefit is that a managed services provider focuses on the task at hand because their job is to manage services for the business so that the business can focus on customer satisfaction, monitor costs better, save money by not having to manage their managed hosting, protect vital information, and focus on making the applications satisfactory for the customer. MSPs have no additional tasks to focus on apart from ensuring the success of their clients managed hosting.

Overall benefits

So the overall benefits are quite obvious in terms of convenience and cost. Managed service providers are third parties whose sole purpose as it relates to your business is to manage the service that is outsourced to them. They have the ability to be single minded while freeing up the resources of their clients so that they can focus on customer service. Successful managed hosting means the business can be more profitable and the consumers view of their business will be one of trust and satisfaction.

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A data center is an outside location that houses equipment and information that is used for your business. This information or equipment can be accessed from a remote location. Many businesses use a data center, especially when customer information must be retrieved. This is especially true with customer service centers. When you call with a question or problem, you may get a different call center each time. However, they are able to pull up the same information every single time. This is because they are pulling that information from a data center. This allows for retrieval of information from all authorized parties at any time, which also results in consistency.

With such access, this may make one wonder how secure a data center really is. All of this information is being transferred to and from using a computer can seem somewhat dangerous, especially since much of the information is very sensitive.

That is why it is important that each data center be equipped with top-of-the-line security features that protect that information:

1. Encryption: Encryption is a code that cannot be cracked. The information is transferred in this encrypted form that only the computer it is going to can decipher. The information that leaves the computer is once again encrypted to be stored in the data center. This is what prevents a lot of the information that is going back and from being stolen by hackers.

2. Password protection: It is important for the password to remain protected. If the password is entered incorrectly, then it is important to have a security feature that locks someone out after three attempts. This prevents someone from intruding and in order to unlock it, they must answer a security question.

3. Individual security: This is when each individual receives their own username and password to access the data center. This means the encryption key for each user is unique.

4. Redundant power: A data center that runs on redundant power is one that is going to survive such incidents as blackouts. This means they are running from separate sources of electricity and they also have backup generators. That way, if the power goes out there and not at your facility, youre still in business.

5. Verification at each end: Every single time a file is written to disk at the data center, their integrity is verified. They are verified each time they are written to the disk. If verification fails, it is transmitted to an identical server.

6. Protocol security: Protocols such as HTTP are vulnerable to hackers, so a secure data security system uses one that hackers do not target.

7. Firewalls: The firewall that is used should be similar to those used on home computers so that the business can connect with backup software and not be locked out.

8. Restricting remote access: This only limits access to certain IP addresses. This is so someone cannot access the data center from another location when they arent supposed to.

9. Virus protection: Viruses come in all shapes and sizes and the data center must be protected as well. Virus protection keeps the data center virus free.

10. 128-bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL): This is what you want to see to make sure information is not retrieved or corrupted in any way.

So if youre looking for a data center that can make your business as successful as you want it to be, these are ten security features that you can look for that will make a large difference in how securely you do business. You can also confidently ensure your customers that their information is safe.

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A dedicated server is a powerful server that is just for your website or business and no one else. This means that your server is not shared with others like shared hosting is. It is ideal for those who need reliability, high performance, better security, and the websites that are being operated are at an enterprise-level. In other words, a dedicated server is for those who need a lot of power and have the money to spend.

There are several advantages to operating a dedicated server. These advantages are:

The website performs better
You dont have to purchase equipment
If other websites that share the same server have problems, your website is unaffected because you are not sharing.

The server is also owned by the web host, so you are more or less renting it from them. You do have the ability to customize your server based on whatever your needs are, but what it comes down to is the fact that the host owns it. This can be a good thing, though, especially if your business does not have the administration capabilities to take care of various tasks that you need performed.

Experience

Some companies may have the experience and others may not. If a business has the experience in-house, then that individual or individuals can take care of any changes that need to be made to the website. Some go to college to be able to do this and have no problem at all managing the server. Depending on the type of changes that must be implemented depends on what type of experience and individual should have.

Then again, there are some who just know how to manage servers without any schooling in the area and can do it. It is important to gage what type of tasks must be performed on the website, especially if it is a high performance website that requires a lot of maintenance and manipulations.

On the other hand, there may be no experience required at all. This is where you can choose managed web hosting through your provider. This is where they can maintain and monitor your operating system, dedicated servers, and applications. This way you can still have everything that you need without the experience to go along with it. Unmanaged dedicated hosting may be a cheaper solution for some businesses, but if the experience and knowledge is not there, then managed dedicated hosting is the way to go.

Is it the right decision?

Whether or not your business has the experience to manage a dedicated server, it is important to make sure the business needs it. If you are prepared to take on the cost that is associated with using the hosts equipment and you know that they can provide you with the necessary technical support, then it may be the right decision. It is just important to make sure that your website or potential website is large and powerful enough to require such a server. However, many business websites are and using a dedicated server allows them to make their website even more powerful. If that is you, then dedicated hosting could be the right decision whether you have the right experience or not. Dont let the lack of experience deter you because there are solutions to that problem.

In the day and age where the website defines the company, choosing a dedicated server and using unmanaged or managed hosting can be a large decision. If you dont know where to start, simply ask the various companies offering dedicated hosting and see who is more willing to help you understand. That can be a good indicator that you may be starting a nice business relationship.

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Being PCI DSS compliant is extremely important when a business or organization accepts credit cards for their products or services. In fact, being able to accept credit cards makes an organization more profitable in a world where credit cards and debit cards are the way to pay. Credit cards allow an organization to accept payments in many different ways. A consumer can make a payment via credit card over the internet and even over the phone. This gives organizations more ways to bring in money and PCI DSS makes accepting payments even more secure.

Being PCI DSS compliant helps organizations by:

Protecting the customers personal information in order to avoid disputes that could be costly to an organization.

- Increases customer confidence in your payment methods allowing clients to feel secure when purchasing items from you.

Protecting the organization from remediation costs and other financial losses.
The organization is provided a check on their system every so often to make sure that the system they use to store and transmit their customers data is not compromised in any way.

Increases payment security which in turn makes sharing personal information such as credit card numbers less strenuous for customers.

Another thing to point out is the fact that PCI DSS continues to evolve as credit card fraud becomes more sophisticated. It is fair to say that any business that must store or transmit credit card data is a target of those wishing to access the personal information of customers for their own benefit. Thieves then use the customer information in order to use their credit and commit fraud. However, PCI DSS stays up-to-date on the latest threats in order to keep the consumer information secure. This minimizes the risk involved with the organization accepting credit card payments and minimizes the risk to customers.

Business regulation

As stated before, PCI DSS keeps businesses up-to-date with the latest security updates and threats in order to prevent security breaches from occurring. However, different organizations may have different requirements when it comes to PCI DSS. Lets take a grocery store, for instance. A grocery store is a point-of-sale transaction where credit card information does not have to be stored. The protection that PCI DSS offers is in the transmission of the data and not in data being stored since a grocery store has no reason to store credit card data.

An online store or organization, on the other hand, may store consumer data so that the consumer does not have to enter their payment information every single time they do a transaction. What this does is allow the customer to complete the transaction with a few clicks of the mouse instead of getting in their wallet and having to enter all of the information all over again. This is where PCI DSS can become especially important. If the system were to be breached, which is very rare, there could be millions of credit card numbers accessed. However, PCI DSS stays up on the most sophisticated methods that thieves use to access these credit card numbers in order to protect both the business and the consumer.

PCI DSS for better business

When a person knows that their information is secure with your organization, they are more likely to spend their money with you. PCI DSS compliance is mandatory for any business or organization that record credit card data, however, not all consumers know this. It is especially important for those consumers who give online organizations their personal information and permission to store their credit card data for future transactions. It is very important that they know their information will not be accessed or mishandled in any way.

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Managed hosting offers many benefits to a business wishing to expand their operations or make themselves accessible to their customers online. By having an online presence, a business can increase their exposure to a local, national, or worldwide audience.

Nevertheless, a business that has a website is a business that can accomplish a lot more because they are allowing customers to learn more about them and gain wider access to what it is they have to offer.

There are several definitions that describe what managed hosting is. The service that is provided really depends on the needs of the business and how they handle their managed hosting. These definitions are:
A single website hosted on a web server that is supported by a managed hosting provider.

A service in which the dedicated server is managed for the business by a managed service provider.

Managed hosting manages and maintains the dedicated server.

Managed hosting is performed by a web host in addition to providing many services for the dedicated servers that they provide.

The business doesn’t have their own dedicated server, but they are using the servers that belong to the host, which means the host is maintaining shared-servers. However, the business still maintains the privacy of its website although the servers are shared and receives all of the benefits they would have and possibly more than if they had their own dedicated server.

It is easy to see that there are many different forms of managed hosting. Depending on the needs of the business the MSP provides services to, different services can be provided. Not every business has the money to hire IT professionals and train them or train existing employees to take care of their web hosting. That is why it is feasible to outsource the jobs to managed hosting. It is actually cheaper to outsource because there is a fixed monthly rate in which the company pays that usually does not add up to the monthly salary of a single employee.

What this does is maximize profit and allows the business to focus on their customers satisfaction rather than having to spend time managing the website. If a business only had time to manage their website, they would not have time to serve their customers. In the end, there would be little impact on person-to-person sales. The idea is for the website to enhance both person-to-person sales and Internet sales, if applicable.

Other benefits

There are many more benefits of managed hosting such as security and up-time. It is very important that the website stay secure so that people with malicious intentions are unable to disrupt business on your website. Malicious activity can result in many hours of trying to bring the website back up and this also results in down-time. There is nothing more aggravating than going to a website with poor up-time either because of security breaches or issues with the server.

Managed hosting performs continuous security scans and also continually checks for issues that may interfere with the sites up-time. That is why many websites that are managed by managed hosting have 100% up-time.

So if you are not sure whether or not you need managed hosting, ask yourself these 5 questions:

How would my business benefit from a website?
Does my business have the money to operate and maintain a website?
Do I have the manpower to continually monitor a website?
Do I have the money to hire and train additional employees?
How much would managed hosting cost me compared to doing it on our own?

Asking yourself these questions will put you on the road to finding the best solution for your business.

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The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard or PCI DSS levies requirements on credit card merchants to safeguard consumers’ credit information from malicious behaviour from identity thieves.

The payment card industry providers such as VISA, MasterCard and American Express are now enforcing PCI compliance. Non-compliance can result in fines, restrictions or possibly permanent expulsion from card acceptance programs. If your business depends on accepting credit cards, then you have no choice than to become PCI compliant.

The new Payment Card Industry (PCI) data security standards are network security and business practice guidelines developed by Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover Card. They were developed to establish a ‘minimum security standard’ with regards to the protection of cardholders’ account and transaction information.

What are PCI DSS requirements?

The PCI Data Security Standard represents a common set of industry tools and measurements to help merchants and credit card processors that store, process or transmit cardholder data ensure the safe handling of sensitive cardholder information. The standard provides an actionable framework for developing a robust account data security process that includes preventing, detecting and reacting to security incidents.

What are the benefits of working with a PCI Compliant Service Provider?

By working with a PCI compliant service provider you can ensure that cardholder account data being processed across your technical environment is protected. PCI DSS protects cardholders and minimizes the risk to your business.

The main benefits of implementing the PCI CSS for your organization and working with a provider that is compliant are:

- Protecting customer personal data
- Increasing customer trust by demonstrating your commitment to the security of their personal information
- Protecting your business from financial penalties
- Leveraging a hosting provider’s existing PCI DSS compliancy investment i.e. your technical infrastructure resides in a data centre that has already been audited
- Potential savings starting at $100,000 in capital expenditures by outsourcing to a managed service provider that is PCI compliant

Who has to comply?

The credit card companies have made it clear that ANY entity that stores, processes, or transmits cardholder data regardless of their transaction volume, are required to comply with the PCI requirements. Failure to comply with the PCI security standard may result in substantial fines or permanent expulsion from card acceptance programs.

Recent studies on financial fraud have indicated that hackers are increasingly targeting small, commercial Web sites, increasing the need for all merchants and service providers to become fully compliant with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS).

What do I need to do to meet the PCI standards?

The PCI standard comprises two basic steps:
1. Pass quarterly remote vulnerability scans conducted by a Visa and MasterCard “Qualified Independent Scan Vendor”. Scans are required for all Internet connection points whether they are office networks or home/office connections (dial-up, DSL, cable or wireless) or permanent Internet servers such as your web site and email server, etc.

2. Successful completion of a security self-assessment questionnaire. The self assessment questionnaire asks specific questions about your internal security practices, both on your web site and in your office.

For e-commerce sites that involve online credit card payments, this PCI DSS certification will provide greater security features for business and customers. PCI compliance service providers assure that your confidential data is totally protected.http://www.fusepoint.com/english/html/pci.html