Our email server was put on a couple of blacklists this morning because of a compromised email account being used to send out spam.  We have disabled the offending account and have requested that our server be delisted from the appropriate blacklists.  Usually, it takes around 1-2 hours for all of the servers using these lists to refresh their listings.  Between now (8:00 am) and the next couple of hours, it is possible that our customers may see some messages rejected because of this listing.  In most cases, the sender will receive a “failure notice” quickly after the email is sent.  If one of these is received, we recommend waiting an hour or two and attempting to send the message again.

We apologize for any inconvenience this causes.   If you have any questions, please contact us at support@internetpro.net or call 256-547-6817.

Update Sept. 19, 2013 – This happened again, and we expect to be off all of the major blacklists by 5:00pm on Sept 19.

This morning we had an issue which affected our Legacy Webmail Interface for a short time.  The issue did NOT affect our newer, more modern web interface located at https://webmail.internetpro.net nor did it affect any client email programs.  The issue arose from a problem with our system which attempts to block hackers from guessing user passwords.  Our system locks out IP addresses from which numerous bad password attempts are made and keeps the IP blocked for up to an hour.  Unfortunately, that system malfunctioned and blocked ALL users.   The issue has since been cleared up.

Network Solutions, Inc. does also recommend using our NEWER, better web interface at https://webmail.internetpro.net which also allows you to store contacts (with pictures), features drag-and-drop folder support, a better WYSIWYG interface, and many other enhancements.

If you have any questions, please contact us at 256-547-6817 or email support@internetpro.net.

One of our servers had an issue today starting at approximately 1:30 CDT and lasting about 30 minutes.  The issue resulted in sites being unavailable.  The server houses our main page (the site you are on right now to read this) as well as some other customer sites.  A file system check was necessary, which delayed the resumption of service.   As of this writing, all services seem to have returned to normal.

If you have any questions or find an issue which you think my be related to this service interruption, please call us at 256-547-6817 or email support@internetpro.net.

We have updated all of our managed WordPress sites to version 3.6.  From the WordPress press release:

User Features

• The new Twenty Thirteen theme inspired by modern art puts focus on your content with a colorful, single-column design made for media-rich blogging.
• Revamped Revisions save every change and the new interface allows you to scroll easily through changes to see line-by-line who changed what and when.
• Post Locking and Augmented Autosave will especially be a boon to sites where more than a single author is working on a post. Each author now has their own autosave stream, which stores things locally as well as on the server (so much harder to lose something) and there’s an interface for taking over editing of a post, as demonstrated beautifully by our bearded buddies in the video above.
• Built-in HTML5 media player for native audio and video embeds with no reliance on external services.
• The Menu Editor is now much easier to understand and use.

Developer features

• A new audio/video API gives you access to metadata like ID3 tags.
• You can now choose HTML5 markup for things like comment and search forms, and comment lists.
• Better filters for how revisions work, so you can store a different amount of history for different post types.
• Tons more listed on the Codex, and of course you can always browse the over 700 closed tickets.

We recommend that you check your WordPress site for issues. If you have any problems or concerns about this update, please contact us at support@internetpro.net or call 256-547-6817.

July 17, 2013 9:15am – We are getting numerous calls from customers of Network Solutions, LLC.  Apparently, they are experiencing a large outage that is affecting many customer web sites and services.  Their main homepage is also unavailable, so many people looking for answers are coming across our page and contacting us.  Please note that although we are an internet provider, Network Solutions, LLC is an entirely different company and we have no control over their systems.   We will, however, try to provide updates here as we get them.

We see that they are posting updates via their Facebook account at http://www.facebook.com/networksolutions.  As of this writing, there is some information about some accounts which had been compromised, but no mention of the large outage.

Update: 9:59am – According to their Facebook page:  Network Solutions, LLC. is experiencing a Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack that is impacting our customers as well as the Network Solutions site. Our technology team is working to mitigate the situation. Please check back for updates.

Update 12:00pm – They seemed to have either mitigated the attack or the attack has been discontinued.  Although there has been no update from Network Solutions, LLC. on their Facebook page, their home page is now available and we have stopped receiving calls from their customers, so we assume that all services have been returned to normal.

July 10, 2013 – 8:30 am – We have noticed that Google.com is unresponsive from several locations which we have used to test.  Other services being affected include Gmail.com and news.google.com and Youtube.  Testing from phones seems to work though.  The Google interface on our home page (bottom right) is also not working.

Note: Our website is slow because it is using fonts.googleapis.com which also seems to be down.  This is causing a timeout on our page.  This is also affecting MANY WordPress-based sites.

Update: 9:00 am – This is not a completely global issue.  We have found some people for which Google (and Youtube) work.  They are located in Birmingham and Atlanta.  However, we have contacts in Arizona and Mississippi who are also having trouble with Google services.  We can also confirm that all Comcast and AT&T customers in the Gadsden area are having issues.

We are working to find out what is going on and will post updates as quickly as possible. Please note that this issue is NOT caused by any problems on the Network Solutions, Inc. network.  Google.com is also not accessible from networks completely outside our control.

Update: 9:08am – Looks like Google is back online for many.  It is working for some AT&T customers.   Many Comcast customers are still having trouble, however.

Update: 9:34am –  CNN has posted a story about the outage. They say it is primarily a Southeastern US issue.  http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/10/tech/web/google-down

Update: 9:43am – Comcast customers in the Gadsden area are now able to get to Google services. Our contacts in other areas are also indicating that the issue has been resolved for them as well.

If you have any quesions or concerns about this issue, please contact us at support@internetpro.net.

July 8, 2013 – 5:15pm -Network Solutions, Inc. is experiencing an internet outage for two providers which is affecting most customers.   We have contacted both providers and have been issued trouble tickets.  However, there is no current Estimated Time to Repair (ETR) or explanation of the issue.  We are working on rerouting traffic and will be posting updates as we have them.

Update: 5:55pm  – Looks like someone cut some fiber while doing a building demolition.   This fiber is close to our datacenter so is affecting our providers.  We are escalating the ticket, but still have no ETR.

Update: 905pm.  – Everything has come back online. We still have not gotten a definitive answer as to the cause, but we are still going to be in contact with AT&T to try to get some answers.  We will continue to update as we get more information.

We didn’t really get any definitive answers from AT&T except that they indicated it was NOT a fiber cut, but rather equipment failure in the central office feeding our datacenter.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this issue, please contact us at support@internetpro.net or 256-547-6817.

We’re happy to release a new desktop sync client for our NetSol Cloud product.  This version is a real improvement and addresses several features such as conflict file creation and support for large files (over 512MB).  As always, the new clients can be download from our Desktop Sync Clients page.

Highlights of the changes in this version:

• Upload/Download of big files is now supported
• Upload/Download of files can be resumed   (Woohoo!)
• No more conflict files when a file is locked
• No more conflict files when a time stamps differ but content is identical
• Legitimate conflict files are only created on the client
• Proxy support has been significantly improved
• SOCKS5 support has been added
• Logging options have been improved

We recommend that everyone using the NetSol Cloud service sync client upgrade to this version as soon as possible.  If you need assistance or have questions please contact us at 256-547-6817 or email support@internetpro.net.