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Cardanos ADA Is Now the Third-Largest Cryptocurrency by Market Cap – Yahoo Finance

March 2, 2021 | Author: admin

TipRanks

The market pendulum has been swinging from one extreme to the other recently, making a difficult environment for investors to track. The ups and downs of the fast-changing situation are the exact opposite of what investors want to see. What investors would most like to see, of course, are returns. And whether the markets are up or down, following the analysts top picks makes a viable investment strategy. The Wall Street pros can do the footwork, and their published reports can inform our market decisions, acting as a set of guideposts for investors. Weve opened up the TipRanks database to take a closer look at three of these top picks. These are all names providing dividends, a sure-fire way to ensure a steady income no matter what direction the market is heading in. If thats not enough, all three received enough support from Wall Street analysts to earn a Strong Buy consensus rating. Ellington Financial (EFC) Well start in the financial sector, where Ellington Financial inhabits the real estate investment trust niche. Ellington puts its energies into a wide range of real estate activities, including commercial and residential mortgage loans, equity investments, and mortgage-backed securities. The company uses a series of risk management tools to mitigate the natural risks of mortgage-backed securities, and ensure profits for investors. Ellingtons recent quarterly report, for 4Q20, showed the third consecutive increase in EPS, which was up 38% from Q3 to reach $1.44. For the full-year 2020, EPS came in at 39 cents per common share, down 15% yoy, on net income of $17.2 million. Like most REITs, Ellington pays out a regular dividend and Ellington has been able to maintain regular dividend payments throughout the corona crisis year, despite a cut at the height of the panic. The most recent declaration, made in early February for a March 25 payout, was for 10 cents per common share, the same as the last three payments. The company pays out the dividend monthly, and has been increasing it gradually after last years cut. The current payment gives a yield of 7.5%. In his coverage of Ellington, Maxim analyst Michael Diana writes, EFC's equity is allocated 85% to credit assets, and almost all have done well. Of particular note are non-QM loans and reverse mortgage loans. Not only has demand for these credit classes been high, but EFC also has material equity stakes in the companies that originate these loans; thus, EFC profits twice. With smaller mortgage companies going out of business during the pandemic, competition has decreased, leading to favorable pricing. At the bottom line, Diana says simply, EFC remains our top pick under our mortgage REIT (mREIT) coverage. To this end, Diana rates EFC a Buy and his $19 price target suggests a one-year upside of ~20%. (To watch Dianas track record, click here) There is general agreement on Wall Street that EFC is a quality investment, and the analyst consensus rating shows that: it is a unanimous Strong Buy, based on 4 recent reviews. The shares are priced at $15.77, and their average target is $17.25, implying a 9% upside potential from current levels. (See EFC stock analysis on TipRanks) OneMain Holdings (OMF) Sticking with the financial sector, but in services rather that REITs, well take a look at OneMain Holdings. This companys subsidiaries offer a range of financial services, including consumer finance and insurance, to a customer base that normally gets neglected by the mainstream finance industry: retail customers who lack access for whatever reason to the regular banking and credit financing industry. The importance of this market segment should not be ignored, and OneMain showed that in fiscal year 2020 by bringing in $4.4 billion in total revenue. Closing out the 2020 calendar year, OneMain reported $1.23 billion in top line revenue for Q4 and $2.67 in earnings per share. While revenues were flat sequentially, EPS was up 43% from the previous quarter and up 39% year-over-year. Like EFC, OneMain pays out a dividend but unlike the REIT, OneMain uses a unique supplemental dividend policy. Each second and fourth quarter, the company pays out its minimum dividend per common share but in the first and third quarters, it adds a one-time supplement to the payment. The minimum payment is currently set at 45 cents per common share; the last common share dividend paid, on February 25, was for $3.95. Analyst Michael Kaye, of Wells Fargo, is impressed with OneMain, and doesnt hold back in his comments on the company: We believe OMF is one of the best stories in consumer finance and that it is surprisingly still under the radar of many financial investors. OMF is a unique excess capital return story, in our view, and we expect $8.30 of dividends to be paid in 2021 which would equate to a 14.5% dividend yield. We also view the new credit card initiative positively as it should drive incremental growth, add value to their franchise, leverage their underwriting, distribution and servicing capabilities. OMF remains our top pick in our coverage. Kaye rates OMF shares an Overweight (i.e. Buy) and his $65 price target implies an upside of 34% over the course of the next year. (To watch Kayes track record, click here) Its not often that the analysts all agree on a stock, so when it does happen, take note. OMFs Strong Buy consensus rating is based on a unanimous 10 Buys. The stocks $63.60 average price target suggests a 31% upside from the current share price of $94. (See OMF stock analysis on TipRanks) Devon Energy (DVN) For the last top pick stock were looking at here, well switch over to the energy industry. Devon Energy, with a market cap of $15 billion, owns mineral rights that is, the right to explore and drill on 1.8 million acres in Texas and in adjacent areas of Oklahoma and New Mexico. This is one of North Americas most productive oil regions, and in recent years, the output here helped make the US a net exporter of fossil fuels. Devon also controls production areas in the mountain state of Wyoming. All told, Devon has over 10,000 wells in active use and an estimated 752 million barrels of oil equivalent worth of proven reserves. In the fourth quarter of 2020, Devon showed a series of strong performance metrics. Production averaged 333,000 barrels of oil equivalent daily, boosted by a 7% quarter-over-quarter increase in crude oil output. Operations yielded a cash flow of $773 million for the quarter, of which $263 million was free cash flow. In conjunction with the earnings report, Devon announced a regular dividend payment of 11 cents per share, along with an additional variable dividend of 19 cents per share. Both are payable on March 31. Scotiabanks Paul Cheng reiterates his decision to make Devon a top pick, writing, We still see significant fundamental upside despite the YTD outperformance and the stock now trading at >4x its 2020 trough We see little reason to expect that relevance, size, liquidity, etc concerns will prevent the stock from re-rating higher. As the company continues to deliver attractive fundamental results and execute on its shareholder-friendly strategy in the coming months and years, we expect DVN to outperform as the market gains further appreciation for the story and begins to more fully reflect these fundamentals in the share price. Chengs Outperform (i.e. Buy) rating is supported by a $30 price target implying a 12-month upside potential of 31%. (To watch Chengs track record, click here) Overall, there are 19 recent stock reviews of Devon Energy, and they break down 17 to 2 in favor of Buys versus Holds, making the analyst consensus rating a clear Strong Buy. DVN is selling for $22.83 per share, and the average price target of $24.89 suggests ~9% upside from that level. (See DVN stock analysis at TipRanks) To find good ideas for dividend stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

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Cryptocurrency: Still on the sidelines – The Financial Express

March 2, 2021 | Author: admin

India has always been a cautious player when it comes to adopting new revolutionary technology.

By Kaushalya Venkataraman

This week has seen revived global interest in cryptocurrencies, with Elon Musk breaking headlines by investing more than $1.5 billion in Bitcoin. In India, however, cryptocurrencies (such as Bitcoin and Ether) are currently trading at a discount.

This is largely because cryptocurrencies have been operating in a regulatory grey area. In 2013, the Reserve Bank of India raised concerns over the potential financial, operational, legal and consumer protection risks emanating from crypocurrencies. In 2018, the central bank issued an order stating that banks and financial institutions shall not deal with crypto-related businesses, and all regulated entities falling within the purview of RBI shall stop providing services to such platforms. The Supreme Court struck down the provisions which literally banned crypto-trade in 2020.

Meanwhile, the government has sought to introduce draft bills to regulate/ban cryptocurrencies. The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 is to be tabled before Lok Sabha in this session. The latest bill seems slightly more positive and forward-looking than the previous one, titled the Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2019. It seems to suggest that instead of an outright ban, the government intends to regulate cryptocurrencies. Though the text of the proposed 2021 bill is not yet out, the gist of the regulations available on the Lok Sabha website seem to highlight that this is indeed not the case as under the 2021 bill only RBI will be empowered to create an official digital currency. The fate of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether is murky as the 2021 bill seeks to prohibit private cryptocurrencies though it is not clear what would be considered as a private cryptocurrency.

India has always been a cautious player when it comes to adopting new revolutionary technology. This is even more so when it concerns technologically advanced financial products. In this space, RBI has always followed a conservative approach that some argue has stifled innovation in the fintech space, while others state is a necessary evil.

In developed economies, such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, cryptocurrency is not banned but rather regulated in varying degrees. In the United Kingdom, the government is currently conducting consultations to understand how to regulate crypto-assets to ensure consumer protection, financial stability and market integrity. From a tax perspective, they are treated as an asset and gains, if any, are subject to capital gains tax. In Australia, the government regulates every person involved in the life cycle of crypto-assets from issuers, intermediaries, miners, exchanges and trading platforms. From a tax perspective, it is treated as an asset similar to the UK. The United States of America has been the pioneer in cryptocurrencies, and the government regulates them to a limited extent. From a tax perspective, cryptocurrencies are treated as assets similar to the UK and Australia.

Currently, there are only a handful of countries that have banned cryptocurrencies (eg Morocco), and even in those countries, the ban has not prevented individuals from trading in cryptocurrencies because of the decentralised nature.

Therefore, an outright ban on cryptocurrency by the Indian Government may not be the most practical option since not only will it stifle innovation in this space but will also fail to curb Indians from investing and trading in cryptocurrency in offshore jurisdictions (as was the case with foreign exchange derivatives as investing offshore would fall into a grey area).

Regulation of cryptocurrency would be a middle ground and would provide the regulator with oversight into the operations of the players and would also help in protecting the consumers and curbing money laundering concerns.

The author is Partner, Chandhiok & Mahajan Advocates and Solicitors. Views are personal

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Failure to report cryptocurrency on your tax return can lead to trouble with the IRS – CNBC

March 2, 2021 | Author: admin

Avishek Das | LightRocket | Getty Images

Got bitcoin or other crypto? It could come back to bite you if you don't let the IRS know about it.

Regardless of how you interacted with any cryptocurrencies last year, you're expected to include the information on your 2020 tax return. And for those who had income from virtual currency whether due to selling at a profit or getting paid crypto for work performed failure to report it may haunt you.

"It could be a real tax mess for folks who try to hide crypto earnings from the IRS," said Kathryn Hauer, a certified financial planner with Wilson David Investment Advisors in Aiken, South Carolina.

More from Personal Finance:Tax season is upon us. Heres whats new These taxpayers get until June 15 to file their returnsHow Social Security benefits are handled at death

For instance, "just because in one year an entity that paid you doesn't report that payment, a year from now when the entity gets audited and issues late 1099 forms, the IRS will expect you to have reported what you earned," Hauer said.

The IRS has put crypto front and center for this tax-filing season. High up on the first page of your tax return, a yes or no question is posed: "At any time during 2020, did you receive, sell, send, exchange, or otherwise acquire any financial interest in any virtual currency?"

In other words, no matter how it came into your possession, you are expected to tell the IRS about it.

While the price of bitcoin has dropped this week, falling to below $48,000 on Tuesday after hitting about $58,000 on Sunday, its upward trajectory last year likely means there are capital gains to report. One coin was worth roughly $29,000 at the end of 2020, after starting the year out at about $7,300.

Of course, if you owned, say, bitcoin, but engaged in no related transactions last year (i.e., you just held it), you had no taxable event. Nevertheless, you would answer yes to the tax-form question.

In 2019, the IRS sent letters to more than 10,000 taxpayers with crypto transactions who may have failed to report income and pay taxes owed.

Now, especially with the question on page 1, it's a lot harder to say you didn't know you were supposed to report it.

Knox Wimberly

CEO of Taxaroo

"At that point, the IRS said 'We'll let you fix this,' but is less likely to do that moving forward," said Knox Wimberly, an IRS enrolled agent and the CEO of Taxaroo.

"Now, especially with the question on page 1, it's a lot harder to say you didn't know you were supposed to report it," said Wimberly, who also is a fellow with the National Tax Practice Institute.

Assuming you aren't getting paid crypto for work you do (more on that further below), the IRS generally views bitcoin and its brethren as property, not currency, for tax purposes. This means that whether you sell any crypto for cash, trade it for another digital currency or use at a merchant that accepts it as payment, the difference between what you initially bought it for your cost basis and its value upon sale is either a gain (profit) or a loss.

"The taxable transaction is not only when you convert to U.S. dollars," Wimberly said. "It can occur at any point you sell or exchange it."

Depending on the crypto exchange you use and how many transactions you engage in and the aggregate dollar amount you may receive a Form 1099-K. Even if you don't receive it, there are reporting requirements.

If you have a gain, you'll be taxed on it. As with other other investments like stocks, if you held it for one year or less, any profit you made is considered a short-term gain and is taxed as ordinary income. Depending on your tax bracket for 2020, that could range from a rate of 10% to 37%.

Any crypto held for more than one year that generates a profit when sold is taxed as a long-term gain at a rate of 0%, 15% or 20%, depending on your income.

If there's a loss, you can generally use it against other income or investment gains, up to $3,000, and carry over the rest to subsequent years.

If you received any virtual currency as pay for work performed, you are expected to report that, as well.

The difference is that, in that scenario, the crypto is treated like wages which are subject to ordinary income taxes, as well as self-employment taxes for those who are paid as a nonemployee and receive a 1099-NEC from the business that paid the crypto, Hauer said.

Again, even if you don't receive a form, that does not relieve you of your responsibility to report the income and pay any taxes owed.

If you need to report crypto income both because you had 2020 gains and you received it as compensation, the amounts gets entered in separate spots on your tax return.

For example, say that last year you sold bitcoin for a gain of $10,000 and also were paid by a business with $20,000 worth of bitcoin.

"On your 2020 tax return, you would add $10,000 as a capital gain to any profits from stocks that were sold and $20,000 as income to any other wages or 1099-NEC income that was earned," Hauer said.

Also, anycryptocurrency that you mine must be included in your taxable income.

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Why now is the right time to invest in European quantum computing – Sifted

March 2, 2021 | Author: admin

John Martinis, the lead scientist who built Googles first computer to achieve quantum supremacy, recently left the tech giant to join Silicon Quantum Computing, a 2017-founded startup based in Sydney.

Meanwhile Terra Quantum, a Swiss-based quantum computing startup, has celebrated another big hire with high-profile physicist Valerii Vinokur from the Argonne National Laboratory in the US.

There is a trend for academics going to startups now, and it is a good sign when the seasoned professionals start joining.

Both moves are a sign that smaller startups are able to compete with the big players in the brewing war for talent in the quantum sector, as the industry begins to get out of the lab towards commercial applications.

Markus Pflitsch, cofounder Terra Quantum, says that big shot professors joining startups is a sign that smaller quantum companies are being taken increasingly seriously. He adds that the field is so new that new companies may well be just as successful as the likes of IBM, Google and Microsoft.

There is a trend for academics going to startups now, and it is a good sign when the seasoned professionals start joining, says Pflitsch.

Competition is fierce though.

European governments recent moves to pour funding into quantum projects (France recently pledged to spend 1.8bn in the sector and Germany 2bn) is partly motivated by a desire to avoid leading academics from the region, says Christophe Jurczak, founder of Quantonation.

The French government feels very strongly that the country is suffering from a brain drain in the field of AI, and they dont want that to happen with quantum while there is more time to prepare, says Jurczak, who was instrumental in helping formulate the French plan.

Quantum computing companies are raising ever-larger funding rounds and using the money for hiring.

Riverlane, a Cambridge-based startup which raised a 14.6m last month, is looking to double its team of 26 this year. Cambridge Quantum Computing, which raised a $45m early VC round in December, has gone from 37 employees in 2018 to close to 90 now and is hiring for 30+ more roles. Finnish superconducting quantum computer maker IQM, which raised a 39m Series A round in November, has more than doubled its headcount in the last year.

The shortage in the industry is no longer the money, it is the brainpower, says Pflitsch, who now has a staff of around 80 at Terra Quantum. The talent is so important, we cant do it without these guys. If you have those brains at Google or Terra Quantum it doesnt matter, it is a fair battle.

Big advances are still happening at relatively unknown teams at labs all around the world. In December a group based at the University of Science and Technology of China demonstrated quantum superiority the Holy Grail of the sector by getting a photon-based quantum system to do in 20 seconds what would take a supercomputer 600m years. The demonstration outdid Googles 2018 demonstration of quantum superiority by several orders of magnitude.

Small companies can compete in quantum if they have a breakthrough.

If a lab can do that it shows that small companies can compete in quantum if they have a breakthrough, says Daniel Carew, principal at IQ Capital.

French photonics-based quantum company Pasqal is thought to have achieved a record in the simulation of quantum systems with 196 qubits in the lab. If confirmed, this would give Europe a quantum advantage.

With so much still undeveloped, the quantum computing world still has an amateur enthusiast flavour to it with big developments able to come from unexpected places, much like the early days of the personal computer in the 1970s.

Its a bit like the homebrew computer club, says Steve Brierley, chief executive of Riverlane, referencing the early hobbyist computer club that ran in a garage in Californias Menlo Park between 1975 and 1986, and which became the training ground for tech entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

Theres a lot of tinkering. Its happening over the cloud rather than in someones shed, but there is that same excitement.

It is still not clear which kind of quantum computing will be the dominant technology. Many of the big bets are on superconducting quantum computers, which operate at temperatures close to absolute zero, but there is investment going into photon-based systems, where photons are bounced into a quantum state by a series of mirrors, systems using trapped ions and silicon-based systems which dont have to operate at quite the super-low temperatures of the superconducting systems.

Researchers from Microsoft and the University of Sydney recently announced they had developed a quantum computing system that uses the same kind of complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) chips already used in classic computing.

If they have baked the wrong technology, some companies may disappear overnight.

It is still early days of knowing which style of quantum will prevail, says Pflitsch. If they have baked the wrong technology, he says, some companies may disappear overnight

Much of the big investment so far has gone into superconducting qubits, in part because the refrigeration technology needed for this is more established and available. But if there are big breakthroughs in one of the other areas which would make the qubits more reliable or scalable this could become the dominant technology.

I think atoms and ions will be dominant first, they have many advantages as for scalability (atoms) and fidelity (ions). In the longer term, solid-state approaches (superconducting qubits, spins, photons) should catch up, says Christophe Jurczak, founder of Quantonation, the quantum-focused VC fund.

It is also entirely possible that we could end up with multiple types of quantum computer co-existing, each with a particular niche it is best suited for.

The big dream of a general quantum computer may not be what happens, says IQ Capitals Carew. It may be more like the early days of microprocessors where you had a lot of different types each with a specific function.

This is part one of a series of four articles we are running this week on Europes quantum computing industry. Part two, on Frances quantum strategy, will be published tomorrow.

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Quantum Computing Startup IonQ in Talks to Go Public Through Merger with DMY SPAC – Data Center Knowledge

March 2, 2021 | Author: admin

Gillian Tan(Bloomberg) --IonQ is in advanced talks to merge with blank-check company DMY Technology Group Inc. III, according to people with knowledge of the matter, creating one of the first public quantum-computing firms.

The combined company is slated to be worth about $2 billion and a deal is set to be announced in coming weeks, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Silver Lake, MSD Partners, Bill Gatess Breakthrough Energy and an affiliate of Hyundai Motor Co. are in talks to participate in a so-called strategic private investment in public equity, or PIPE.

Related: Data Center Provider Cyxtera to Go Public Via $3.4B Starboard SPAC Deal

Shares of the SPAC surged 15% at 10:24 a.m. in New York.

DMY Technology is discussing raising additional equity from institutional investors, and new equity from strategic and institutional investors is set to total around $300 million, one of the people said. Existing IonQ investors are expected to roll their equity into the transaction, according to one of the people.

Related: Quantum Teleportation Makes Progress, But Toward What?

As with any deal that hasnt been finalized, its possible terms change or talks fall apart. Representatives for IonQ and DMY declined to comment, as did spokesmen for Silver Lake and MSD Partners. Representatives of Hyundai and Breakthrough Energy Ventures didnt immediately respond to requests for comment.

The SPAC, led by Chairman Harry You and Chief Executive Officer Niccolo De Masi, raised $300 million in November and said at the time it would pursue a target in consumer technology.

College Park, Maryland-based IonQ was founded in 2015 by Chris Monroe and Jungsang Kim and is led by CEO Peter Chapman. Its investors include AmazonWebServices, Samsung Catalyst Fund, GV (formerly known as Google Ventures), NEA, Lockheed Martin Corp., Airbus Ventures and Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH. IonQ in October unveiled what it describes as the worlds most powerful quantum computer.

Quantum has long been touted as the next frontier in technology. Such computers would be capable of simulating and understanding phenomena in the natural world instantly and providing the basis for systems that are unhackable. Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp., among other companies, are also working to advance quantum computing. The technology also has potential implications for producing new materials or creating new drugs.

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Google Teams With D-Wave in Massive Quantum Computing Leap, Cracking Simulation Problem – The Daily Hodl

March 2, 2021 | Author: admin

Google and D-Wave Systems say theyve achieved a new milestone in the world of quantum computing.

In a press release, D-Wave says its quantum device has far outpaced a classical computer in a direct competition to complete a difficult computational problem.

The device successfully modeled the behavior of a spinning two-dimensional quantum magnet, and was able to complete the simulation at breakneck speed.

In collaboration with scientists at Google, demonstrating a computational performance advantage, increasing with both simulation size and problem hardness, to over 3 million times that of corresponding classical methods.

Notably, this work was achieved on a practical application with real-world implications, simulating the topological phenomena behind the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Quantum devices leverage the unique properties of quantum physics to perform certain calculations at revolutionary speeds.

D-Wave says its study proves that quantum computers can more efficiently and effectively tackle tough simulations.

What we see is a huge benefit in absolute terms, with the scaling advantage in temperature and size that we would hope for.

Quantum computing threatens to break the cryptographic algorithms that keep the internet and crypto assets secure. Ripple CTO Davis Schwartz, says he believes developers have about eight years to develop quantum-proof methods to keep digital infrastructures secure.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/Yurchanka Siarhei

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SD Times Open-Source Project of the Week: PennyLane – SDTimes.com

March 2, 2021 | Author: admin

PennyLane is an open-source, cross-platform Python library for differentiable programming of quantum computers. Differentiable programming refers to a programming paradigm that leverages automatic differentiation. PennyLane tries to bridge the gap between quantum computing and machine learning. According to the projects GitHub page, PennyLane enables users to train quantum computers much like neural networks.

Xanadu, the company behind PennyLane, explained: Were entering an exciting time in quantum physics and quantum computation: near-term quantum devices are rapidly becoming a reality, accessible to everyone over the Internet. This, in turn, is driving the development of quantum machine learning and variational quantum circuits.

RELATED CONTENT: How quantum computing will impact software development

The projects key features include:

AWS recently announced it would be joining the projects steering council for variational quantum computing and quantum machine learning. Our goal is to help build better tools for developers and researchers by bringing together ideas and concepts from machine learning (ML) and quantum computing (QC). Together with our partner Xanadu, we want to continue to evolve PennyLane as an open, community-driven project, and we are inviting contributors from QC, ML, and other fields to join us, the company wrote in a post.

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Speed Up Your Website with the Best Cloud Server Applications – GISuser.com

March 2, 2021 | Author: admin

Are you searching for ways to speed up your website? How about you shift your website to a cloud server application? If you dont want to lose potential conversions, cloud server is the best reliable option for your business. An effective cloud server can ensure your website loads faster as it is loaded with fast processors & best quality solid state drive (SSD) storage units. By opting in for a cloud server storage, your websites SEO and customer satisfaction readily increase manifolds and bring more business profitability.

Cloud servers on the other hand enables you to deal with the best customer service practices. At the same time, if your business observes an increased traffic, you can easily scale up your cloud as per requirement. As your business grows, so does your hosting plan and helps you to adjust with the increasing market demands effectively. However, to have a website experience which can offer you the best results, you need the perfect cloud server application. So in todays article, I am going to highlight some of the best cloud server applications in the market. Choose one that fits your requirements.

Server Choice

Not many have heard the name, but Server Choice is one of the reliable cloud server applications in the market. Server Choice offers customers variable options for effective cloud hosting. It comes with colocation services with PCI compliance making sure your website gets a smooth experience.

Server Choice also features SSD VPS hosting where its cloud servers work on the SSD technology. Server Choice brings free server management giving absolute control & flexibility on server resources.

You may find other remarkable features such as free cPanel license, CentOS & LAMp stack. There are also manual backups on Server Choice offering a great deal of benefit to those who want reliable service.

If youre searching up a cloud space for your business, Server Choice is one of the reliable options.

BlueHost

Who doesnt want to host their website with a company in whom they can completely rely & trust? BlueHost is one such name in the cloud market. BlueHost brings a great many benefits for businesses who are working in the online space. The company has operated since 2003 and has helped countless small businesses to start from scratch and transform into fully equipped medium scale & enterprise level organizations. BlueHost has countless server options for customers and comes with a ready room to upgrade & expand server resources as per requirement. Not only is the platform reliable but brings a great many other extensive features to make your hosting experience as seamless as one can expect it to be.

What makes BlueHost unique?

HostNoc

Looking for a cheap dedicated servers environment where your site resources remain only yours? HostNoc is one such platform which can offer you just that. There are several cloud server packages which you can get from HostNoc. They offer VPS hosting, shared cloud servers, dedicated cloud servers, and many other great options. When it comes to dedicated servers, HostNoc can offer you cheap dedicated servers on requirement. The platform offers reliable backup options which you can scale up or down as per requirement. You also get an agile DDoS protection to keep unwanted traffic away. The platform claims a 99.99% uptime with blazing fast response from their emergency teams.

If you want a dedicated server space for your business, then HostNoc can be a somewhat considerable option. Feel free to host your website in the cloud environment of HostNoc & provide us with details.

InMotion Hosting

In Motion hosting is one of the many hosting platforms in the market which offers you reliable hosting services. What makes In Motion hosting a class-apart from the rest in the online stratosphere, its the incredible customer support which the hosting platform brings to its customers. It is quite popularly recognized for its shared hosting & VPS hosting services. The customer service of InMotion hosting is available to access around the clock to provide any kind of technical assistance for its users. Besides, In Motion hosting has countless other benefits including but not limited to, unlimited email accounts, backups, free domains, unmetered CPU cores, root access and other such relatables.

In comparison to other hosting providers, In Motion hosting lacks in RAM speed which is capped around 8 GB. The bandwidth of the hosting is also very limited which creates hindrances in peak traffic hours.

DreamHost

Last but certainly not the least on our list for the day is none other but DreamHost. It is quite a reliable platform which makes cloud hosting service accessible for just about everyone. The plan starts at a fairly reasonable price and extends up gradually. It also provides you with unmetered bandwidth, 16 GB of RAM, 4 CPU cores and also a free SSL security certificate. DreamHost is an incredibly reliable platform but just like other cloud applications, DreamHost also has its fair share of downside. With DreamHost, your storage space is capped around 100GB limiting you to grow your website.

If your business expands on a larger scale, then you will have to shift to a better hosting provider.

So there you go, here are my top 5 cloud server applications which I would like to share with our readers. No matter what your requirement is, all of these hosting platforms hold significant potential.

Are you searching for one with the top quality, then we recommend you go with HostNoc. Otherwise, they are all equally amazing! And can provide you with maximum results for hosting your website.

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What Is the Best Windows Server for Business Security? | Avast – Security Boulevard

March 2, 2021 | Author: admin

When it comes to choosing a server, security should be a top priority. As servers are usually utilized within enterprise environments, its important to keep the data of your business and clients secure. In this article, well discover which is the best server for security.

A server is used to respond to requests made in a network. The device that has made the request is referred to as the client, and servers are rarely turned off, as they are constantly dealing with these client requests.

Servers can come in the form of either hardware or software if a business is using a physical server, they will store it in the office space, while software-based servers are located in the cloud. Cloud servers will still take a physical form, but these are in data centers and are managed by a third party.

Servers have become a crucial element of modern business environments. Whether you set up your business server on premises or are connected to the cloud, utilizing a server can enable you to store your data, back up your network in case of emergency, and engage in collaborative working. Ultimately, servers can help businesses become more secure, efficient, and productive saving time and money over the long run.

Servers run on operating systems, just like desktops. Two of the most common are Windows and Linux, but others include macOS, Unix, and Fedora.

In general, Windows server operating systems offer the most range. They tend to be more expensive than their competitors but provide greater integration with Microsoft products, which are often used in work environments.

Most companies find it easier to install and run their network on Windows, as opposed to other operating systems, such as Linux. Linux is open-source meaning, it has been developed and is supported by a community. Windows, however, offers its users a greater level of formal support. So, while Linux is cheaper, its users can spend more money resolving issues.

Windows operating systems also enable remote desktop access, while Linux servers are command-line based.

There are plenty of factors to consider when choosing your Windows server. For example: How much support will you require? Are you or members of your team tech-savvy, or will you need help with using your server and fixing any potential issues?

Here are three top considerations:

Windows security is vital for anyone, but is especially crucial when running a business. In an enterprise, you will have a lot more sensitive data on the web to protect than commercial users and will be a greater target for cybercriminals. So, when youre selecting your solution, you want to keep security in mind. After all, 63% of cyberattacks target small and mid-sized businesses, and this number only continues to rise.

The best Windows Server for security will be the latest version. Microsoft prioritizes updates to server security procedures, such as patch management and anti-malware. If you havent updated Windows Server 2008 to the latest version, this is worth considering.

What is your budget? And what is the scale of your network? The larger your operations, the more expensive your server solution will be. You could opt for a cheaper operating system, but may find you face additional costs further down the line. Microsoft Server is available in three editions: Essentials, Standard, and Datacenter. Essentials is ideal for small businesses, covering a network of up to 25 users and 50 devices, while Standard is designed for physical or minimally virtualized environments. Datacenter is perfect for highly virtualized data centers and cloud environments.

Finally, do you want a physical server or would you prefer to connect to the cloud? There are pros and cons to both, including the above concerns server security, cost, and adoption. Using the cloud, you rely on the third party to keep your data secure while benefiting from collaborative working and instant backup. With a physical server, you have a dedicated piece of equipment for the role, which will not be shared by any other businesses. With less outside interruption, applications can run smoother and faster.

Learn more about choosing the best server for your small business.

Windows Server is ideal for business. Microsoft regularly updates its operating system to ensure it is equipped with the latest Windows security measures.

Despite the built-in security features of Windows servers, there are still measures you can use to keep your systems as safe as possible.

The first three steps you should take to secure your Windows server are:

With features specific to Windows servers, including Sharepoint Server Protection and Exchange Server Protection, Avast Business offers a comprehensive server antivirus solution to help protect your business against threats.

Comprising threat intelligence and cloud-based technology, the software includes powerful tools such as malware scanners and data encryption to protect your server and connected endpoints. Check out our website to discover our server antivirus solutions.

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What Is the Best Windows Server for Business Security? | Avast - Security Boulevard

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Proact disaster recovery service protects businesses from disruptive events – Help Net Security – Help Net Security

March 2, 2021 | Author: admin

Proact is launching a new version of its managed disaster recovery service, which allows customers to continue operating their businesses following disruptive events, regardless of where their data is located.

Proacts new and updated disaster recovery solution protects data from customers data centres, from Proacts newly updated PHC (Proact Hybrid Cloud) platform and from business servers sitting in public cloud platforms, such as AWS and Azure.

In addition, the updated disaster recovery service covers customer data in physical servers and clusters, and in volumes within NetApp filers.

The updated solution means that Proact customers can now simplify and consolidate their disaster recovery strategy and efforts.

They can ensure they are cost-efficient, keep better control of their administration and quickly take action via one single partner if data needs to be restored.

Proacts multicloud-ready Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) provides an off-site, off-network infrastructure thats ready to power on.

It offers fast and efficient replication, a regular, structured and documented testing process, and transparent pricing with no additional charge if recovery is invoked.

With this DRaaS update, combined with our PHC (Proact Hybrid Cloud) platform update just a few months ago, our customers can really start benefit from combining on-premises infrastructure, private cloud platforms, managed cloud platforms and public cloud platforms into one multicloud ecosystem without having to worry about security, data control and administration, says Per Sedihn, CTO and VP Portfolio & Technology, Proact IT Group AB.

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Proact disaster recovery service protects businesses from disruptive events - Help Net Security - Help Net Security

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