OpenJason

Hostingcon in Chicago a recap for all

Guest Writer: Preeti Pradhan, blogger at Web Hosting Search

Hello all. I randomly met Jason online through this blog. Because I am a blogger and went to a really cool convention on hosting, I thought it would be cool to offer a little inside tidbit into what happened. He agreed and here I am.

Hostingcon is a large convention that takes place every year in Chicago, IL. Hosting providers, software companies, and hardware providers meet and greet at this three day affair. I went to the convention with a couple colleagues to better understand the market. There were a few main issues at the convention and here they are:

Cloud computing- It is possibly the most overused expression of the conference since I have not grasped this concept beyond its basic form. There were four sessions dedicated to cloud computing and no one had a clear understanding and explanation of it. It is important to know that hosting providers are moving towards cloud computing for cost and efficiency of resources.

IPv6- IPv4 will finally run out in the next couple years and IPv6 will take over. IPv6 is not implemented the same way as IPv4 and hosting providers, software developers, and companies will have to modify their existing code to be able to read IPv6. In just four years, IPv6 will be the only option for addresses from ARIN (American Registry for Internet Numbers) and there still companies and providers who are not ready for the full implementation.

Social Media- It is an important source for marketing, connecting with consumers, and rapidly responding to issues. There will be a dedicated post to this topic very soon.

Spam- We hate it, we loathe it, and yet we are at the mercy of thousands of spam mail everyday. Spam is not just a nuisance for personal users but also for hosting providers. Spammers can waste a large amount of server resources because spammers send a never ending stream of mail. There is hope, new anti-spam companies proclaim to combat the majority of spam. Some of the anti-spam is hardware based (e.g. products from Easy Antispam), others are software based MailChannels .

In all, it was an amazing week to meet hosting providers, visit the exhibitors, and learn more about this industry. The sessions however were not great; the companies that hosted a session were basically sales-pitching under the guise of an intelligent discussion. I think next year the conference committee should review the session speakers.

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