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Whats With The 500 Internal Server Error

Surfing from one website to another is something everyone does very often. When performing this act, everybody must have at some point in time come across the ‘500 internal server error’. Once this error pops up, you will not be able to view the contents of the website. 

Most of the viewers after seeing this, will just go on to the alternative sites, but only a few have stopped and wondered what this “500 Internal Server Error” actually is. If you are one of those people, you are in the right place! Continue reading to know about ‘500 Internal Server Error’, its causes as well as possible ways to fix this error.

Overview of 500 Internal Server Error

When a site is facing internal issues, it often results in a ‘500 Internal Server Error’. Before diving deep into this topic, knowing about the working of the HTTP request is a must. Here’s what happens:

  • A request is made to the website (to view its contents)
  • The request is passed to the DNS server (this is where the desired site is found)
  • A response is sent to the browser of the client.

This is how a request is processed on the internet. So, technically the ‘500 Internal Server Error’ occurs on the server side and not on the browser of the client. So, this brings us to the next question – what are the reasons behind the occurrence of 500 internal server error?

Reasons Behind The Occurrence Of 500 Internal Server Errors

  1. Substantial server overload: The web server may reboot while you are working intensively on your site, briefly resulting in the ‘500 internal server error’. Try refreshing the site after a while if you think the server is under a lot of demand.
  2. File permission error: One of the issues that can be brought on by incorrect file permissions is the 500 error.
  3. PHP on the web server is out of memory: Heavy tasks might occasionally generate a 500 error and go over the PHP storage limit defined in the website hosting parameters.
  4. Corrupted or missing or .htaccess file: Due to the fact that it permits configuring and privilege changes for each directory, this file is quite crucial. Multiple failures such as the ‘500 internal server error’ can happen if that file includes incorrect information.
  5. Unable to connect to the respective database: Make sure the database is configured in your web host’s control panel and that your WordPress file system is established appropriately.
  6. Problems with themes and plugins: Your WordPress website could become unresponsive due to plugins and themes as well, and you might receive a ‘500 internal server error’. Try disabling them (themes and plugins) manually if this problem appeared after you recently installed a certain plugin or theme.
  7. Corrupted or invalid database: Your database may be having issues if you receive the ‘500 internal server error’. Make sure the database is built, prepared properly set up (the systems), and point to the appropriate database.

Fixing The ‘500 Internal Server Error’

When the web server encounters problems but is unable to tell what or where exactly the issue is, it will return a ‘500 internal server error’, which is commonly known as the HTTP error. You may have to try a variety of approaches before you discover a fix for the ‘500 internal server error’ issue because it is very generic. Given that you currently have accessibility to the web host control panel, you have additional options for fixing this mistake if it occurs on your website.

  1. Clearing the cache of the browser: Having to reload the website and emptying your cache of the browser can be helpful.
  2. Clearing the DNS cache: You may have to empty your DNS in addition to clearing the cache in your browser. To delete your cache, launch a window of a command prompt in Windows and enter ipconfig /flushdns, preceded by the enter button. Start a terminal window and then enter the following commands on macOS El Capitan or later versions- sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder; sudo dscacheutil -flushcache. Next, enter the required password and click the return key.
  3. Connection error to the destined database: The very same ‘500 internal server error’ frequently appears when this WordPress-specific problem occurs. Ensure that the WordPress configuration file is configured properly.
  4. Permission error: Your WordPress implementation requires particular permissions for each file. The file privileges must be set to 644, which grants the owner (you) read-write permissions while granting everybody else read-only access. To modify the permissions of the file, utilize your local FTP client or the file manager provided by your web host service.
  5. The memory limit of PHP is reached: Try altering the value using the control panel for your site hosting services.
  6. The core of WordPress must be re-installed: Reinstalling all of it on our WordPress dashboard is the last resort.

Final Verdict For The 500 Delusion

Now that you have come to know about the causes and the fixes for ‘500 internal server error’, you can try them out the next time you face this issue.

The Top 8 Reasons Behind Website Crashing

Website crashes can be frustrating. Most of the websites must have been through websites crashing at some point in time. There are various reasons behind a website crash, these reasons might be because of common or complex issues. Website crash affects the users of the site by making it not accessible to its intended users. 

The longer your website stays down, the more users and revenue the e-commerce site is going to lose. It is also going to break the trust of users in the long run. More than 45% of website users do not visit sites with low performance. 

“Website Crash” – What Does It Mean?

When a website stops functioning and displays an error message you can be sure that the website has crashed. After a website crash, the data or information on the website like pictures, videos, contents, etc will not be made available to the viewer. The browser will completely stop working if the website crashes. 

Possible indications that occur when a website crashes:

1. A server error message will be displayed. If there is an issue with the hosting server, “server error” will be displayed when you try to open the site link.

2. Domain Name System (DNS) error. If the DNS gets infected by malicious software or if it gets compromised the hosting provider will block the domain, which might result in the crashing of a website as well. 

3. Server down! The entire configuration settings must be changed if this happens. When a mail server is down, the mails which you send will not reach their destination. 

4. If the website is hosted on a shared server, the problem faced in one website will affect all the other sites on the server. This will cause all the sites to crash.

As you continue reading you will come to know about the various causes of website crashes and the methods which should be undertaken in order to prevent a website from crashing. 

Reasons For Websites To Crash

Mentioned below are some of the common reasons which cause a website to crash.

1. Virus or malware Attack

Virus attacks take place frequently over the internet. Virus attacks are not easy to handle, rather they are quite tricky. In order to prevent a website from crashing because of a virus attack, you should make sure that your website is secure. Check with your hosting provider, regarding the security measures that will be taken to keep the website running in a safe environment. A website should be hosted on reliable servers that are known to have high-end security features before purchasing and hosting the website.

2. Error in code

When the codes used in developing a website are not properly formatted or if they are not correctly coded, there are great chances for the site to crash. It does not matter whether there is a flaw in the front-end or the back-end code, even a minor flaw can cause a website to crash.

3. Domain Expiry

In case the domain you are using is outdated or has not been updated in a long time, There might be issues a website might face because of this reason. Owners do not automatically renew their domain before the deadline, they just wait for any update alerts before actually updating the domain. This gives room for numerous things to go wrong, website caching is one of them.

4. Hackers!

Hackers nowadays are off the leash. They infect and attack everything on the internet. All they need is a small loophole and they are in! The best way to avoid hackers crashing your site is by tightening your security measure and constantly monitoring the site’s activities.

5. Plugin Error

When incompatible plugins are added to a website or using plugins that are not up-to-date can cause a site to crash. The common solution that overcomes almost all these reasons, is to keep everything updated. 

6. High traffic

One of the most common reasons for a website to crash is when the site gets flooded with large traffic. This can easily occur to all the newly developed websites. High traffic can also be caused by Denial of service attacks (DoS) and distributed Denial of Service attacks (DDoS).

7. ISP Error

Servers might stop functions if the hosting provider faces any inconvenience. So, whenever a service provider is faced with a serious issue, servers stop functioning which will result in a website crash. This usually happens when the service provider fails to update their hardware and software applications. 

8. DNS Error

DNS stands for Domain Name Server, this server manages and maintains all the outcoming and incoming requests from the domain. If there is any hurdle in this process, users won’t be able to access the website.

Ways To Prevent A Website From Crashing

“Prevention is better than cure”- Preventing a website from crashing is far better than having to repair the site after it crashes. Once the website goes down the revenue goes down with it. It is not quite easy to gain users’ trust once that happens. 

Half the web users often expect a website to load within three seconds. So, try to prevent the site from crashing by following the below-mentioned pointers:

  • Make sure to renew your domain at regular intervals.
  • Never forget to update the plugins that are used. Always keep your website updated along with all its tools.
  • Make sure to check if the software is updated regularly as well.
  • Backup is a must. Be sure to backup all the data that your website owns, this will be helpful when you want to rebuild the site again from scratch.
  • Purchase the most reliable and reputed website hosting services. Check for added security features before making a purchase.

Conclusion

Website crashes might lead to a huge revenue loss. You can try to prevent it from happening by taking extreme measures but if the website still crashes because of complex issues, it is best to hire an expert to bring the website up and running in no time.

Best Ways to Secure Your Ecommerce Website

An eCommerce Website will allow a customer to purchase a product from the internet rather than buying it from a local store. Customers can place orders, carry out payments, view shipping details of the product, and are provided with customer service. 

Why Is Securing An Ecommerce Website Important?

Security is one of the important features that should be present in order to build a reputed eCommerce website. A secure e-commerce website will increase the traffic to the website. It also promotes the brand name and provides credibility to its customers. 

Ways To Secure An Ecommerce Website

In order to develop a reputed brand name and acquire the trust of customers or clients, it is necessary for an e-commerce website to be secure. As there are a huge number of attacks being carried out every second by different hackers around the world, securing a website is very important. Secured e-commerce can be safe from various malware and viruses and other vulnerability attacks. There are several ways through which an e-commerce website can be secured. 

1. SSL Certificate

SSL certificate is said to be a digital form of a certificate that is used to authenticate the identity of a website and provides a connection that is encrypted. SSL is abbreviated as Secure Socket Layer. It is a security protocol that builds an encrypted link from the web browser to a web server. It simply means that it enables a secure connection between a client and server. There are three categories of SSL certificates that are well recognized, they are:

  • Extended Validation (EV)
  • Organization Validation (OV)
  • Domain Validation (DV)

The Certificate Authorities (CAs) issue the SSL certificate. It is necessary for all websites that ask for personal pieces of information like name, address of residence, contact number, email address, card details including CVV number, etc to the customers. Both paid and free SSL certificates can be purchased. 

As an SSL certificate creates a secure link between the client and the server by encrypting the data that is being transferred it is required to have an SSL certificate to have a secure e-commerce website. SSL certificates protect the website from unnecessary concerns. They make it hard for hackers to intercept the data and avoid man-in-the-middle attacks. So it is advised for all the websites that store the personal information of customers to have an SSL certificate in order to save the privacy of their customers. 

2. Detecting Bots As In Robots

A bot is short for an internet robot or web robot. Bots are software applications that carry out automated tasks in cyberspace. Bots are used to carry out large-scale attacks or used for sending numerous messages. Bots are often used in the web crawling process. Most of the web traffic is said to be carried out by bots. Bots are developed to stimulate an activity that is very similar to humans. They can run even without any instructions from a human. There are several different types of bots that are developed to carry out various functions or attacks. 

Bot Detection Technology

This is a technology that is used to detect attacks that are suspected to come from an automated robot. They detect the presence of automatic bots and block the traffic that is caused by the website. 

Using Bot Detection technology is needed to detect the presence of bots. Bots commonly carry out Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks and Denial of service attacks (DoS). These attacks are intended to bring down a system or a network and make it inaccessible for intended or legitimate users. To make the e-commerce website available to its customers at all times Bot Detection Technology should be used. 

3. Update On A Regular Basis

Regular updates should be carried out in order to maintain an e-commerce website in a secure manner. Updates carried out regularly will avoid vulnerabilities as they will be patched. Hackers usually carry out attacks on outdated or unpatched websites, regular updates will avoid such attacks to be successful. Even a small loophole will be enough for a hacker to perform a deadly attack. A website with continuous breaches or frequent malware attacks can not be a website with credibility. 

In order to maintain a reputed website where the customers feel safe in sharing personal information, it is necessary to keep the website updated and away from all types of viruses.  It is advised to ensure that all the extensions and websites are updated regularly. Unwanted or unnecessary concerns can be avoided by simply keeping the site updated.

4. Web Application Firewall (WAF)

WAF is abbreviated to Web Application Firewall. These firewalls are used in content filtering, monitoring the outbound, and inbound flow of requests, blocking the request from suspicious activities, and maintaining the proper flow of website traffic. It is said to have a better focus on application traffic. It also provides an analysis of data flow. Web Application Firewall makes sure that all the unwanted requests are blocked and keeps the website away from unwanted bot requests. Web Application Firewall blocks Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks and Denial of Service attacks (DoS). 

Blocking viruses and malicious software is one of the main features of the Web Application Firewall. Many cyber attacks can be prevented with the use of these firewalls. They provide in-depth security to all its users. Web Application Firewall focuses on protecting the site at all costs. Malicious site traffic is also blocked through WAF. Since the Web Application Firewall (WAF) has numerous advantages it can be made use of to the fullest and ensure that the website is secured at all times.

5. Captcha

Captcha is said to be a test, where the computer determines whether the user is a human or a bot. Captcha is a challenge-response test mechanism. A Captcha test can be of different types. Some Captcha tests involve words whereas the other involves pictures. In the case of the word Captcha, the user will be asked to enter text in a box, the text might include numbers and lower and upper case alphabets. 

In the case of picture Captcha, the user will be asked to select several pictures from a group of options. If the user clears the test they will be allowed to visit the website. This is a great way to avoid bots, as bots will not be able to move past this, as they can not clear these tests so they get blocked. 

6. Encryption Of Sensitive Data

Sensitive data might include financial statements, personal information like name, address of residence, contact numbers, mail address, card or bank details, account number, PIN, CVV  number, etc. A website should not only collect these types of sensitive data in a safe manner but also store these in a secure manner. 

Storing data in a secure manner can be carried out by encrypting them. With the help of a fine algorithm and hashing techniques, sensitive data can be encrypted in a fine manner. When the data is encrypted it will be hard or nearly impossible for attackers or hackers to decrypt them. 

Conclusion

As the security guard is important for the building all these security measures that are mentioned above are very important when it comes to protecting the digital space as this prevents any potential attacks on the website like brute force, a man in the middle, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks and Denial of Service attacks (DoS), etc.

As all those threats put the user’s privacy and safety at risk, the website owner should take proper measures to keep them safe and provide the best possible security for their customers.

The First Website Of The World And Its History

At this point in our lives, the internet seems like an element that is deeply ingrained in our collective daily routines. It is almost as if it has always been a part of our lives. No doubt, the dependence on this source of information has become even more natural in the world after the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost every aspect of our lives today is somehow related to this powerful tool in some way or the other. It feels bizarre to imagine an economy where this isn’t utilized on a daily basis, which is why it is almost weird to acknowledge the fact that the first website on the internet was created in 1991! 

Ever since its creation, the World Wide Web has known no bounds and it has only grown forward. This is only proved by the fact that there are approximately 1.9 billion websites on the internet right now. The first website led to major developments in the world of the internet. 

First Website

The address of the first website on the World Wide Web was info.cern.ch. It was a simple page containing elementary information about the World Wide Web project. August 6, 1991, was the day that the website was launched. In the next three decades, more and more sites flooded the internet. The World Wide Web was a result of the collaboration among the various governments of Europe working together for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). 

The webpage of the first website now displays a self-description as the first website. However, if you were to open the same page in 1991, it would open up a vintage domain. CERN has also uploaded a more updated version of the website in a format that modern users would find easier to follow. The website contained information explaining the way that hyperlinks could be put into use and be connected to a certain type of content. It also gave the resources which would better explain how HTTP, HTML, and URLs functioned. 

How It Was Created?

Tim Berners-Lee was a British computer scientist at CERN who was leading The World Wide Web project. CERN was a community of scientists from over 100 countries. The scientists are required to spend some of their time on the CERN site but they mostly carry out their activities at the universities and laboratories which were present in their native lands. This distance calls for fools of communication that are reliable. The aim for Berners-Lee was to create a pathway through which one can dispense information to different locations simultaneously. 

The first web page laid down the instructions guiding how to use the World Wide Web. Through this, people could learn hypertext or the way to build their web pages successfully. For Berners-Lee, the motivation behind this innovation was the desire to make life a little bit earlier for everyone, which he did. It was in 1989 that he made the suggestion for an invention that would function as an information management system. He did this in front of his managers at CERN. The system would work on the basis of such a process that would link the data on different computers, on the condition that they are all connected to the internet. While they appreciated the idea, the managers surprisingly rejected his proposal. However, Berners-Lee worked harder than ever for a complete year, after which he approached the managers again with a new and significantly better idea. This was formalized as a proposal in November 1990 with the help of Belgian systems engineer, Robert Cailliau. 

This proposal defined the most basic concepts for the idea and how viewers could use “browsers” to view “hypertext documents”. The managers were then impressed and granted him the permission to not only work on this project but lead it as well. The whole team worked extremely hard to execute the idea fruitfully. During this period, Berners-Lee had managed to start the development of HTML (HyperText Markup Language), HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) as well as URL (Uniform Resource Locators). Finally, in 1991, the site was complete and ready to be launched. Berners-Lee had developed the code for his server on his NeXT computer, which he had labeled as a server in red ink so that no one would ever switch it off. It has been 3 decades since then, and all of these innovations are more relevant than ever. 

While the web was initially being developed for intellectuals in institutes and universities to share their ideas, it later became a common man’s handy tool. CERN released the World Wide Web software to the public on 30 April 1993. This helped to increase its use and hence, its success. The World Wide Web originated from a single website and it has not looked back since then. The number of web pages in this 3-decade period has increased exponentially. Google was launched in 1996. 

What would be interesting to know is that the world’s first website was lost for a while there. A lot of first sites were not archived by computer scientists. However, in 2013, there was a project at CERN which aimed to restore the very first website and it was successful in doing so. 

The algorithm of the World Wide Web provided access to information and certain pages linked to data that was relevant for scientists from CERN. In the early years, since search engines did not exist, you had to rely on keywords for searching. 

Conclusion

The first web page was, therefore, a huge step towards the development of not only the internet but for the development of humans and their future as well. It showed the importance of initiative and hard work, which led to an amazing creation that proves helpful and relevant for millions of people throughout the world. August 6, 1991, was an important milestone in the history of the internet due to the launch of this site. 

How Does VPS Hosting Guarantee A Customizable And Scalable Setup For Your Website?

VPS Hosting has become the leading choice nowadays, particularly for developing and high-traffic websites. The essential factors that made this conceivable were account isolation, control, scalability, and adaptability presented by the VPS Hosting design. However, first, we need to understand what is VPS hosting

What Is VPS Hosting?

VPS (Virtual Private Server) is a facilitating administration that utilizes virtualization innovation to give you private or devoted resources over a server with multiple clients. VPS is a safer and more stable arrangement compared to shared hosting where you don’t get a devoted server space. 

Also, it’s more limited in size and less expensive than leasing a whole server. VPS facilitating is normally chosen by site proprietors who have average traffic that exceeds the constraints of shared hosting servers and simultaneously do not need to bother with the resources of a devoted server.

VPS Hosting – How It Works?

A server is basically a type of PC to which the web stores the documents and data set needed for a site. Whenever a web-based guest wants to visit your website, their programs send a plea to your server. Your server then moves the data required through the web. The VPS hosting provides you with a virtual server that reproduces an actual server. However, the reality is that the machine is distributed amongst a few users.

Utilizing virtualization innovation, the hosting supplier can introduce a layer over the head of the operating framework or system of your server. The significance of this layer is that it separates the server into various segments, which in turn allows every user to download their OS and programming.

In this way, a VPS( Virtual Private Server) works as both; a virtual server and a private server since users have unlimited oversight. It is separated from other users of the server on the OS level. As a matter of fact, Virtual Private Server innovation resembles making allotments on your own personal computer, when you want to work with more than 1 operating system (say Linux and Windows) without a reboot.

Running a VPS permits users to set up their sites inside compartments, which are fully protected and have ensured resources including memory, circle space, CPU centers, and so on. Consequently, users don’t need to impart to different clients. With VPS hosting, you have root-level access that is similar to that of a devoted server but at a very pocket-friendly price.

What Role Does VPS Play In Scalability?

Scaling a VPS is typically done through vertical scaling. Vertical scaling alludes to the method of adding resources to a current server. These resources might be crude memory, CPU cores, or RAMS.

In a Virtual Private setup, scaling up is a simple errand that should not consume more than a couple of moments. Users simply need to open their cPanel dashboard, then add the resources that they want. With great hosting organizations, many resources are provisioned to users immediately.

Once more, this is empowered by the hypervisor. In this way, when you put in a solicitation for, say extra 4 GB RAM, the hypervisor captures that solicitation. It then checks to see if the server has spare RAM accessible. Assuming there is, 4 GB will be dispensed to your website.

What Are The Available Customizations In VPS Hosting?

The majority of the customization choices in a VPS plan come from root access. ‘Root’ is a client of a Linux machine that has total admittance to the framework. There are no limitations when you have root access. Root access is plausible in VPS Hosting in light of the fact that every site is autonomous of different sites on the server. Consequently, any progressions that you make are restricted distinctly to your website. This implies that you deal with the functions of your site while not influencing the websites of any other person on the server. Root access basically permits you to customize anything that you need about your VPS. 

  • First off, you can introduce server-wide applications. In most shared hosting arrangements, when you need to introduce an application that isn’t locally upheld by your hosting organization, you need to get their consent. With VPS, that isn’t true. You can introduce any application that you pick.
  • Second, you can do a ton of port administration to get your site. Open ports that aren’t being utilized act as a huge security danger. With root access, you can close all open ports that aren’t being utilized. All that needs is a couple of moments to get it done. Moreover, you can likewise change the default port numbers to get even better protection from cyberattacks sent off by bots.
  • Root access likewise permits you to modify admittance to clients. It is quite obvious that not everybody should have root access. One can possibly erase or alter framework basic records prompting loss of significant data or more awful still, a complete site crash. Along these lines, to avoid the occurrence of these issues and to redo client access, root clients can make a hierarchical order. They can designate which client approaches what highlights, in this manner ensuring information security.
  • VPS with root access essentially permits you to tweak everything on your server. You could introduce outsider security programming or applications. Furthermore, you can likewise modify security arrangements, make execution-related changes (e.g., impair hotlinking), and basically redo your server and site working to your definite preference.

This makes VPS very well known on business sites. It permits your framework administrators to execute your vision of your organization’s site. Regardless of whether you have an in-house IT group, you can bit by bit move gradually up to utilizing root access in VPS. If you would rather not use pull access for the occasion, that is fine as well, considering that VPS plans accompany simple-to-utilize dashboards like cPanel that work very much like some other programming.

Some Advantages Of Using VPS Hosting Over Shared Hosting

Here are some advantages of using a VPS hosting environment over shared hosting environments:

  • It’s quicker and more solid than a shared hosting server.
  • As server resources, for example, memory or handling power is very reliable and secure there are zero to negligible chances of any fluctuations arising in the available resources.
  • Issues and traffic floods of other server clients don’t influence your site.
  • Clients get superuser (root) admittance to your server which has many advantages.
  • You have better security, as your records and information bases are locked from other server clients.
  • It’s a simple to-scale administration. As your site develops, you can undoubtedly redesign your server resources (RAM, CPU, plate space, transmission capacity, and so on.)

Should I Consider Shifting To VPS Hosting?

You should shift to VPS hosting in the following scenarios:

  • Your business is extending past the limitations of shared hosting servers.
  • You are expecting a significant expansion in site traffic in the following couple of months. For instance, your site is intended for another advertising exertion or special mission, or then again on the off chance that you’re venturing into different business sectors.
  • You could have sufficient data transfer capacity to deal with a solitary site when using shared hosting but not for two or three. Assuming that you anticipate hosting a few sites soon you will require more resources. Also, on the off chance that your current shared hosting account is eating through the resources and your host is requesting that you consider upgrading, now is the ideal time to think about VPS.
  • Your site needs better protection and execution contrasted with what’s accessible with shared hosting.
  • You need full command over the server, things like custom designs, root access, and installations are not possible with shared hosting.

Conclusion

VPS-style hosting is the most ideal way to keep up with the working of any site going through quick development and extension. The following best arrangement can manage the cost of some type of adaptability. With VPS, not only exclusively do you partake in a gigantic measure of capacity and data transmission (that is altogether yours), but also it’s a savvy answer for satisfying the needs of a bustling site.

While choosing the kind of VPS, consider how hands-on you need to be, or whether you can utilize another person to do the truly difficult work for you. Assuming you like the sound of running your own server, go for unmanaged VPS. However, if you would like some assistance with server support, mechanized reinforcements, and programming refreshes, choose the managed version.