Stefano Sordini, CEO at NetShop ISP, reflects on a year of big investments and major changes for the data center and server hosting provider in 2022. SBC Leaders Magazine Issue 24 (Jan 2023)

Updated 26 January 2023

Stefano Sordini, CEO at NetShop ISP, reflects on a year of big investments and major changes for the data center and server hosting provider in 2022. The following part of the interview has been originally published at sbcnews.co.uk (22 December 2022).

Download for free a digital copy of SBC Leaders Magazine Issue 24 (Jan 2023)

SBC: Stefano, we have seen a number of updates and product launches from NetShop ISP throughout 2022. Can you name the most important of them which relate to the hosting services offered to igaming companies?

Stefano Sordini: Yes, 2022 was a really busy and exciting year for us. We made some major investments and implemented key data-driven decisions that have proved to be very beneficial for our igaming clients.

We started out the year with the expansion of our Secure Private Network (SPN) in Europe, Asia and the United States, to effectively allow our customers to interact with their servers without the use of an additional VPN or secure tunnels.

In April we carried out a casino games audit for igaming software provider and game development company, Fugaso. The successful completion of such a complex technical evaluation was a great accomplishment for our team and the optimisation recommendations proved extremely valuable for Fugaso, allowing it to gauge its overall performance and implement the necessary technical suggestions.

Another major update in 2022 has been our expansion within Asia and South America with three new data centres. Our two new Asian locations are in Hong Kong and Tokyo, and our very first data centre in LatAm is located in São Paulo.

This year we also began providing hands-on support to our clients looking to obtain a Curaçao eGaming licence. The licensing process in Curaçao is known to be relatively straightforward in comparison to other jurisdictions, but a thorough understanding of the legal and regulatory requirements is crucial.

SBC: In terms of inquiries for hosting by gambling companies in 2022, has there been a booming jurisdiction this year? Which one was the most popular based on your existing customers’ preferences?

SS: We’ve most definitely seen an increase in inquiries for Curaçao hosting over the last year. As mentioned in the previous question, Curaçao is well-known for its straightforward gambling licence procedure, and remains as one of the most attractive jurisdictions for both established and start-up online gambling operators.

The affordability of obtaining a Curaçao Gaming licence, as well as the jurisdiction’s unique zero tax rate on all foreign-sourced revenue, makes entering the market extremely feasible. In addition to that, its ‘one-licence covers all’ approach makes diversification of offerings a lot simpler for operators in the long run.

Generally speaking, Curaçao has always been highly welcoming for online gambling operators, and we’ve noticed a peak in interest in 2022, which could also be down to the challenges faced by Malta during the year.

SBC: Online gambling is gaining more and more popularity in certain regions within Latin America and will continue to evolve over the next few years. How can NetShop ISP serve sportsbook and online casinos to establish a presence in the region?

SS: The sheer size of the LatAm market, growth data and future projections are what prompted our decision to move forward with deploying private network infrastructure in São Paulo, Brazil. The main service we offer here is bare metal dedicated servers which are ideal for sportsbook and online casinos seeking to solidify their presence in the region.

As well as a database server being required in the region for regulatory purposes, hosting your website on a dedicated server here is also recommended to guarantee faster access for users and low network latency with local game providers and data feeds in Brazil.

SBC: Out of all the Latin America regions, what has driven NetShop ISP to establish a data centre presence in Brazil specifically?

SS: Brazil is truly an up and coming igaming hotspot. It has a population of over 200 million, and a staggering 75% of that comprises internet users. Not to mention the country is known for having a huge passion for football, amongst other sports, with its national team being considered one of the greatest of all time. This, in itself, makes Brazil one of the biggest esports markets in the world, and thus extremely attractive for igaming operators.

SBC: In addition to NetShop ISP’s global infrastructure expansion, you also mentioned DDoS Attacks protection earlier. How is this related to your products/solutions offerings for igaming operators and suppliers?

SS: We offer protection against the most common amplification DDoS attacks by default, with no further reconfiguration required on the customer side. This is already included in billing plans at no additional cost. The filtering engine drops the malicious amplified packets, leaving the rest of the traffic intact. Some attacks covered by our solution are NTP amplification, DNS amplification, SSDP amplification and SNMP amplification, to name a few.

The mitigation is implemented completely on our network equipment and adds no latency to your packet round-trip time. In Amsterdam, we’ve got over 500 Gbps of bandwidth to implement that mitigation, and we could use upstream BGP flow spec rules.

SBC: Finally, please share any new exciting plans for 2023. Can we expect further expansion into new regions or any innovative solutions to be launched in the near future?

We’ve got some exciting plans in the works and are really looking forward to another great year at NetShop ISP. Of course, we are always working towards implementing innovative hosting solutions to cater to the bespoke needs of our igaming customers and partners. In terms of expanding into new regions, that is most definitely on the cards for 2023.

The full interview will feature in the next issue of SBC Leaders magazine at ICE in February.

This article provides an easy, step-by-step guide on how to remove/delete SSH keys from a linux server.

This article provides an easy, step-by-step guide on how to remove/delete SSH keys from a linux server.

Prerequisites

• Steps in this article apply to Linux and BSD servers
• You have one or more SSH Keys added on your server in OpenSSH format
• You have ssh access on the server

Four Steps to Remove SSH Keys

1. SSH to your server
   ssh <user>@<server ip>
   
2. Edit file ~/.ssh/authorized_keys using your favorite editor (e.g. vi, nano, pico)
   vi ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
   
3. Remove the line that corresponds to your key
   
4. Save the file and exit (command below applies to ‘vi’ editor)
   Hit ‘Esc’ button, then type wq! and hit Enter

That’s it!

How To Assign SSH Key to your Linux VPS Server

Adding one or more SSH keys to your Linux VPS server can now be done easily, with the click of a button via myNetShop portal.

• Login to https://my.netshop-isp.com.cy
• Go to VPS management page
• Click “SSH Keys” from the actions toolbar
• Click “Add new SSH key” (or choose from existing)
• Click on “Use SSH key” to assign your key to the VPS server

You can also refer to the article How To Enable SSH on Debian 11 Server if you wish to do the entire setup manually.

In this article we demonstrate an easy, 4-step guide to install cPanel/WHM on Ubuntu 22.04 (LTS) Server.

cPanel is one of the world’s most popular control panels for Linux servers. Although it is not the cheapest option available out there, its user-friendly UI along with the huge variety of plugins and tools that come with cPanel/WHM, make it the best control panel software IT admins and webmasters prefer in 2023.

Although cPanel and WHM are two different portals, there is only one installation process that will deploy them both. Let’s see the main features of cPanel and WHM before proceeding to the rest of this tutorial.

cPanel Features

• Domains / Addon Domains / Subdomains Management
• E-mail accounts administration
• Log files and Statistics
• Database management
• File Manager
• SSL Certificates and other security settings
• … and more

WHM Features

• Server configuration and monitoring
• Services fine tuning (mail, ftp, apache/nginx, php, etc)
• Backup settings and Migration tool
• 3rd-party plugins installation and management
• Manage cPanel Own branding
• Resellers management
• … and more

Easy Guide to Install cPanel/WHM on Ubuntu 22.04 Server (4 Steps)

Let’s take a look on how you can install cPanel/WHM on Linux Ubuntu 22.04 (LTS) server in six (6) easy steps.

Step 1 – Disable firewalld and Update system

If you have an active firewall, disable and stop it prior installing cPanel. Upon completion of the installation you can re-enable it.

root@ubuntu22.04:~$ iptables-save > ~/firewall.rules
root@ubuntu22.04:~$ systemctl stop firewalld.service
root@ubuntu22.04:~$ systemctl disable firewalld.service

Then, update the server’s packages using the command below:

root@ubuntu22.04:~$ apt update && apt upgrade

Step 2 – Set Hostname (FQDN)

cPanel requires that the server is associated with a fully qualified domain name (fqdn) for the installation to begin and complete without errors.

Let’s say your desired hostname is cpanel.netshop-isp.com.cy and this sub-domain points to your server’s IP address, then we are going to set it on the server as follows:

root@ubuntu22.04:~$ vi /etc/hostname

When the hostname file opens delete any entries and enter your hostname cpanel.netshop-isp.com.cy. Then save and close the file.

Now, open /etc/hosts file and add the following entry (replace the IP with the real IP of your server):

192.168.1.1 cpanel.netshop-isp.com.cy cpanel

Once done, save and close the file.

Step 3 – Install cPanel/WHM

Once all the above steps are completed, you are now ready to download the official script and run it for the installation to begin.

root@ubuntu22.04:~$ cd /home && curl -o latest -L https://securedownloads.cpanel.net/latest && sh latest

If no errors come up, the installation should be finished in a couple of minutes.

Step 4 – Access WHM/cPanel GUI

You can now access your WHM GUI by typing the hostname or IP address on your browser, in any of the following ways:

https://[server-ip]:2087
https://[server-ip]/whm
https://fqdn-hostname/whm
https://fqdn-hostname:2087

Extra Step (if needed) – Activate License

cPanel licenses are IP-based, meaning that upon order of a cPanel license you need to enter the server’s IP so that it can automatically activate it once you install it on a server.

If you have a valid license purchased and you still see the message to “Purchase a License” or “Continue with Trial”, execute the following command on your server. The command will refresh the license activation over the internet.

root@ubuntu22.04:~$ /usr/local/cpanel/cpkeyclt

In this article we will demonstrate an easy way to install a language pack on Windows server 2019 using an ISO file that contains multiple languages which you can choose from.

Installing additional languages on your Windows Server can be a laborious task and some times unsuccessful as various errors may come up during the process.

In this article we will demonstrate an easy way to install a language pack on Windows server 2019 using an ISO file that contains multiple languages which you can choose from.

Steps to Install Additional Languages on Windows Server 2019

Before proceeding to the remaining of this tutorial, please check that the following pre-requisites are satisfied:

Pre-requisites

1. Windows Server 2019 edition installed (the steps may also work with 2016 and 2022 editions)
2. Active internet connection on the server
3. RDP access to the server with full Administrator account

Step 1 – Download ISO file

Open the Internet Explorer, Chrome or a browser of your choice on your Windows Server and navigate to this link to download the ISO containing multiple language packs.

Step 2 – Mount ISO

Once the ISO file is downloaded, you need to mount it so that it shows up as a DVD Drive. Most of the times the ISO is auto-mounted by double clicking the downloaded ISO File. If not, just right-click the file and click mount as shown in the screenshot below.

Step 3 – Copy language files locally on Server (faster method)

To expedite the installation of your additional language we recommend that you copy the language pack to the Desktop or any other folder on your Windows Server.

Go to DVD Drive’s contents and navigate to \x64\langpacks. Then Copy your language files and paste them to the folder of your choice.

Step 4 – Install Language(s) with LPKSetup.exe

Go to Start menu, type lpksetup.exe and click on the result. This will open a new window for installing/uninstalling display languages as shown below.

Click on “Install display languages”, then click “Browse” to choose the language packs you have copied from Step 3, and then click “Next”. Accept the Terms and the installation will begin.

This is it! You have now successfully installed additional language pack(s) on your Windows Server 2019. Enjoy!

Leading Cyprus-based hosting company, NetShop ISP, has been shortlisted at the prestigious Ultimate Fintech Awards 2023 for “Best Connectivity Provider – MEA”.

Leading Cyprus-based hosting company, NetShop ISP, has been shortlisted at the prestigious Ultimate Fintech Awards 2023 for “Best Connectivity Provider – MEA”.

The UF Awards 2022 recognise top brands in the B2B & B2C online trading and fintech industries with the aim to provide traders and businesses with an industry benchmark of the best companies to trade and do business with.

NetShop ISP has been established in 2004, providing since then unparalleled infrastructure hosting and global connectivity services in Europe, Asia, Middle East and the Americas. With more than 100 Forex brokers as customers and numerous technology providers, NetShop ISP is among the most reliable and well-known suppliers in the Fintech industry.

“We are delighted to see NetShop ISP competing head-to-head with industry’s giants. The UF Awards nomination as Best Connectivity Provider, is the result of hard word and dedication to providing the best hosting and connectivity services to Forex brokers, Liquidity providers and other technology firms in the fintech sphere”, said Stefano Sordini, CEO at NetShop ISP.

The results of Ultimate Fintech Awards 2023 will be announced on the 18th of January 2023.

Vote for NetShop ISP at UF Awards 2023 “Best Connectivity Provider – MEA” here.

NetShop ISP, a leading web hosting provider based in Cyprus, announces, today, a major release update of the myNetShop client portal. The new release features an updated and highly sophisticated engine, as well as a new, intuitive design interface for both desktop and mobile devices.

NetShop ISP, a leading web hosting provider based in Cyprus, announces, today, a major release update of the myNetShop client portal.

The year 2022 has seen an accelerated uptake of hosting services and digital products, as well as a remarkable increase in the time an average customer spends daily in the portal. Comparing to the previous year, in 2022 there has been a 43% growth in the number of customers who are using myNetShop on a daily basis, as well as a notable 31% increase in the number of API calls per minute for activities such as DNS management, OS re-build for VPS, Password reset on Dedicated Servers, and remote deployments of Forex VPS servers.

The new release features an updated and highly sophisticated engine, as well as a new, intuitive design interface for both desktop and mobile devices.

myNetShop Engine New Features

Some of the new features introduced in this version are:

1. Backup/snapshots creation and management for VPS servers
2. Multi-factor Authentication (MFA)
3. Real-time inventory check for Dedicated Servers (in/out of stock)
4. Revolut added in list of accepted payment methods
5. USDT (Tether) added in list of accepted payment cryptocurrencies
6. Quote Estimates now visible to customers with ability to approve or reject
7. Clients can now Invite Users (other myNetShop registered clients) to view information on their Account
8. Option to send encrypted message via ticket for sensitive data exchange
9. “Emergency Button” available for customers subscribed to Premium SLA and/or Managed Services

In addition to the new functionality enhancements, there have been important UI changes to enhance the user experience – from signup to product ordering, payment and service management.

New User Interface

The new UI is a result of an in-depth analysis of the users activity throughout the years and their engagement with the tools to order or manage their services.

Here are the most important changes one can see in the updated myNetShop portal interface:

1. Left Sidebar Menu – all offered hosting services are visible by default, with navigation to order or manage in one click
2. Top Menu – quick access to important tools such as Support, Invoices, Notifications and User Menu
3. Accessibility – improved contrast between background and foreground elements, as well as navigation improvements from mobile devices
4. Dashboard – New, widget-based interface design.
5. Single Management Page per Product Category – Easier navigation to a product category’s management page. Different products (e.g. Cyprus VPS, UK VPS, Singapore VPS) can now be viewed and managed from a single category page (e.g. Virtual Servers)

“I am honored to be leading NetShop ISP, a hosting company of choice for more than 3,000 customers worldwide. We are committed to building out the myNetShop portal as a hub for centralized and efficient administration of all services used by our customers; from website hosting, domain names and backups, to cloud, dedicated servers and co-location hosting. Stay tuned for many new myNetShop features scheduled to roll out within Q1 and Q2 2023”, said Stefano Sordini, CEO at NetShop ISP.

In this article we will explain how to change the RDP Port on Windows Server 2016/2019/2022 via regedit and then make the necessary changes on Windows Firewall for allowing inbound connections to the new RDP port.

The remote accessibility of a Windows server is managed by the Remote Desktop Services (given it’s enabled) which “listens” to port 3389 and its open by default. Whilst this is an essential communication protocol for establishing connection to remote Windows machines, it is often used by hackers to deliver a ransomware or a DDoS attack to a single server or a distributed network of inter-connected machines.

One of the best security practices we follow when setting up Windows Servers is to change the default RDP port ‘3389’ to a custom, non-standard port. Have in mind that ports ranging from 1 to 1023 are called known or standard ports, while ports 49152-65535 are dynamic/non-standard. You are free to use any ports from the dynamic range but not one from the known/standard range as the latter may be in use by another Windows service.

In this article we will explain how to change the RDP Port on Windows Server 2016/2019/2022 via regedit and then make the necessary changes on Windows Firewall for allowing inbound connections to the new RDP port.

How To Change RDP Port on a Windows Server

Pre-requisites

• Tutorial steps can be applied (tested) on Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server 2022
• Access on Windows Server using Administrator or any other user with admin privileges
• Out-of-band access on the server such as iDRAC or iLO – useful in case you lose remote connection to the server over the public network

Steps to Change RDP Port from Registry (regedit)

1. Type regedit in the Search box
2. From the left navigation bar follow this path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp
3. Find PortNumber
4. Right-click Edit, then click Modify, and then click Decimal
5. Type your new desired port number, and then click OK.
6. Close the registry editor and restart your server*

* Proceed with server restart only if you are sure there is no Firewall on your server. In any other case, read further below how to whitelist the new RDP port on Windows Firewall.

Allow Custom RDP Port on Windows Firewall

Depending on your Windows Firewall state, you may need to add the new RDP port in the Inbound rules to ensure new connections will be allowed.

1. Open Windows Firewall on your Server (type firewall in the Search box)
2. From the left-hand navigation, click Inbound Rules
3. Click New Rule in the right-hand pane to open the New Inbound Rule Wizard.
4. In the New Inbound Rule Wizard, under the Rule Type section, select Port and click Next
5. In the Protocol and Ports section, select TCP. Next, select Specific local ports, enter the custom RDP port as you have set it in Registry and then click Next
6. In the Action section, select Allow the connection and click Next
7. In the Profile section, select all appropriate profiles for when this rule applies and click Next
8. Finally, give your new rule a descriptive name so that it is easy to find later, and click Finish.
9. Reboot your server if you haven’t done so after the registry changes

Verify New RDP Port with PowerShell

Once your server has been rebooted you should be able to access it with the newly added RDP Port. To verify the newly set RDP port number, open PowerShell and run the following command:

Get-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp' -name "PortNumber"

Sample Output:

PortNumber : 61489
PSPath : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp
PSParentPath : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations
PSChildName : RDP-Tcp
PSDrive : HKLM
PSProvider : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry

This is it! You have successfully changed your Windows Server’s Remote Desktop Port and allowed it through your Windows Firewall.

The AlmaLinux project became the first public RHEL-based distribution that has released a stable build based on RHEL 9. Deploy AlmaLinux 9 Stable on VPS and Dedicated Servers.

The AlmaLinux project became the first public RHEL-based distribution that has released a stable build based on RHEL 9. This new distribution is fully binary compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux which means you can use it as a replacement for RHEL 9 and CentOS 9 Stream.

New Features and Changes in AlmaLinux 9

There are quite a lot of exciting features introduced by the AlmaLinux project. Here are the best six features we have pinned down and sharing with you.

GNOME 40 and GTK 4 Library

The desktop edition of AlmaLinux 9 is based on GNOME 40 and the GTK 4 library. A noticeable change one can notice is the virtual desktops in Activity Summary mode that have been changed to landscape orientation and are displayed as a continuous scrolling chain from left to right.

GRUB Boot Menu

By default, GRUB boot menu is hidden if it is the only distro installed on the system and if the last boot was successful. To display the menu during boot, simply hold down the Shift key or the Esc or F8 key several times.

OpenSSL and OpenSSH Updates

Security updates could not have been neglected, of course. AlmaLinux 9 distribution now uses a new branch of the OpenSSL 3.0 cryptographic library, which means more secure cryptographic algorithms are in enabled.

Additionally, the OpenSSH package has been updated to version 8.6p1 and Cyrus SASL was moved to the GDBM backend instead of Berkeley DB. The NSS (Network Security Services) libraries no longer support the DBM (Berkeley DB) format and, finally, GnuTLS has been updated to version 3.7.2.

Python 3

AlmaLinux 9 is now fully migrated to Python 3 with default branch set to Python 3.9. Python 2 has been deprecated.

SELinux

SELinux performance has been significantly improved with reduced memory consumption, as there is now support for setting “SELINUX=disabled” to disable SELinux in /etc/selinux/config has been removed (the specified setting now only disables policy loading, and in fact disabling SELinux functionality now requires passing “selinux=0” to the kernel).

Deploy AlmaLinux 9 on VPS and Dedicated Servers

The stable edition of AlmaLinux 9 is now available for deployment in all our VPS plans.

Deployment is instant and all you have to do is choose your favourite VPS plan, choose AlmaLinux 9 and proceed with order.

Similarly, you can choose AlmaLinux 9 from the Operating system drop-down list when ordering a Dedicated server of your choice.

Stefano Sordini, CEO at NetShop ISP, speaks to Fazzaco in an exclusive interview, about the impact of Server Hosting in Trading Performance and Latency for Forex Brokers.

The article has been originally published on the 8th of December 2022 by Fazzaco.

NetShop ISP, a European-based Hosting & Data Center provider, has more than a decade of presence in the IT industry, servicing companies in the Fintech, Banking, iGaming, Forex, Blockchain and IT industry. 

​Today, we have the honor to invite Stefano Sordini, CEO at NetShop ISP, for an exclusive interview with Fazzaco, covering numerous topics such as server hosting​, proxy servers, DDoS protection and server deployment.

Fazzaco: What exactly are server hosting and proxy servers and how do they work for forex brokers?

Stefano: Server hosting, in a nutshell, is required to ensure that content like websites and emails can be accessed via the internet. There are different types of hosting like shared hosting, dedicated hosting and VPS hosting, each with different benefits depending on the specific needs of the client.

A proxy server acts as an intermediary between a user’s computer and the internet. The proxy server effectively hides your IP address, providing heightened security, privacy and performance which is essential for any Forex business, especially those using MetaTrader 5 (MT5). In this case, the proxy server will act as a gateway between your clients’ trading terminals and the trading server, meaning your MT5 server will only receive requests from the proxy server, ultimately enhancing the MT5 server’s security.

In addition to security, a proxy server will also become necessary for brokerages as their trading volume increases, as well as those targeting traders in different areas of the world.

To help you understand the benefit of introducing a proxy within MetaTrader’s ecosystem, let’s take a look at the following scenario. A forex broker operates an MT5 Main Trade server hosted in London (UK) whilst the majority of their customers/traders are based in Malaysia.

Without a proxy in place, an order placed from a trader in Malaysia will ‘travel’ across to London to reach the UK-based Trading server where the order will be executed. In Forex trading, execution speed is everything so due to the physical distance between the two countries, it’s almost certain that the trader will suffer from slippage.

On the contrary, if the same Forex broker had a Proxy/Access server deployed in Asia, let’s say Singapore, then slippage would be avoided. This is simply because the Malaysian trader would connect to the Singapore-based Access Server as the MT5 terminal would detect a better latency/connectivity. Orders will eventually be executed in the Main trade server in London, however as they are passed through the Singapore proxy, the price at which the order was placed will be the same as the executed one.

Fazzaco: Can you explain some important parameters in hosting, such as cores, remote access, CPU processors, IP address, etc., and how they would affect transfer speed for forex brokerage business?

Stefano: Any successful brokerage business heavily relies on the sophistication of its server infrastructure. It’s highly recommended that your trading platform is hosted on dedicated servers, more specifically two dedicated servers each located in different data centers, one being used as the main server and the other as a backup. Ideally, the data from the main server should be backed up in real time, and configured similarly to that of the main server.

Some more specific technical requirements for Forex brokerages running either MT4 or MT5 include a minimum of 8 GB RAM, at least 100Mbps Internet connection for both download and upload and Intel i7 4th Gen Quad Core. These specs consist the minimum requirements a Trading server could have in order to operate and usually are the specs startup brokers would go for.

The more traders a Forex broker acquires means higher trading activity, and therefore, the trading server must be upgraded (in terms of hardware specs) to cope with the increased demand.

Having said that, I don’t want to give the impression that any server meeting the minimum hardware and network requirements is good for hosting a Trading platform. The majority of the recently onboarded Brokers, reach out to NetShop ISP as they are facing issues with slow orders execution, frequent network disruptions and unexpected server reboots. What we have realized is that some of these Brokers were running their Trading platforms on either virtual machines or quite old bare metal hardware. What I would advise everyone who is facing problems with their trading servers or looking for a reliable hosting provider, is to request more information about the type of server they will be given, and not just the specs of the server. Even if everything looks stable in the beginning, a poor choice of a trading server infrastructure will eventually impact the entire trading experience for the traders with impact, of course, to the Forex broker.

Fazzaco: How helpful is it in reducing latency?

Stefano: Not only is it extremely helpful, it has become absolutely essential to integrate the right trading architecture. In fact, the right hardware could potentially reduce latency up to 50%. When we talk about latency it’s important to understand that latency is not just about the “distance” between the trader’s network and the trading server’s. The trading platform should ensure the minimum latency with its Liquidity Bridge, and subsequently the Bridge needs to have as lower latency as possible with the liquidity provider. In an ideal trading environment, latency across between the trading server and the liquidity end should be as low as below 2ms. On the other hands, an acceptable latency for a trader to avoid slippage is up to 50-60ms. As well as the said hardware and networking requirements, the location of your server is also something that plays a huge role in reducing latency. It’s suggested that Forex Brokers opt for a data center situated in a strategic financial location for the most optimal environment to attain low latency.

Fazzaco: How can you help with DDoS protection?

Stefano: By default, we offer protection against the most common amplification DDoS attacks, like NTP amplification, DNS amplification and SSDP amplification, with no further reconfiguration needed on the customer side. The filtering engine drops the malicious amplified packets, leaving the rest of the traffic intact. This is already included in our billing plans at no additional cost.

Protection against sophisticated and expensive DDoS attacks could also be designed through our partner technology (including MT5 trading server protocol protection) if needed. Pricing for a solution like this could only be estimated after the initial solution engineering process.

I understand that DdoS attacks mitigation services can be expensive (starting from 2-3,000 USD per month) and not all Forex brokers can afford it as a preventive solution. NetShop ISP offers a wide-range of solutions which have provenly helped numerous customers of ours to strengthen their trading infrastructure security whilst keep their expenses low. Some of the solutions we offer are protection via Premium DNS, Web Application Firewall (WAF) and Security Hardening for both the network and servers of a customers. These solutions combined will drastically improve the overall security of a trading infrastructure and, in most cases, Brokers did not have to go for the expensive solution of DdoS Attack mitigation service.

Learn more about NetShop ISP’s DDoS Protection services >>

Fazzaco: What’s your recommendation for forex brokers and start-ups when it comes to server deployment? Should they select a physical one or a virtual one, or both combined?

Stefano: Forex Brokers of any size are highly recommended to go for dedicated servers when it comes to hosting their main trading server. Dedicated resources will guarantee heightened performance, and a dedicated server also ensures increased security and overall flexibility when it comes to the configuration.

Of course, my personal recommendation would be to have the following components as dedicated servers: main trading and history server, main trading backup server. The proxy server can be provisioned as virtual as it does not require high and dedicated specifications to run.

However, for startup brokers with a limited budget, I guess a virtual server can be used for their backup trading server; but in all cases, without a doubt, the main trade server should be physical/dedicated, for all of the aforementioned reasons. 

A good physical server does not always have to be expensive. At NetShop ISP we offer dedicated servers with specifications above the minimum that the MetaQuotes software require, at a price which is very reasonable for startup brokers. Of course, as the broker grows along with its clients’ trading volume, they should never forget to revise the infrastructure of the main trade servers, and do any adjustments or upgrades needed to ensure stable and reliable performance.

In this tutorial we will guide you through the simple steps of installing PostgreSQL on AlmaLinux 9 Operating system.

PostgreSQL is a object-relational, open source database system that can be used for both small and large-scale projects; from simple websites and intranet applications to complex, ‘big data’ projects.

When a new server is installed, PostgreSQL’ s settings are very minimum as they are designed to run on the least amount of hardware possible.

In a survey conducted by Statista in August 2022, PostgreSQL is ranking second (just behind MySQL), in terms of the most used database technologies available. The main reason for PostgreSQL’s popularity, in addition to being open source, is the fact that it requires very minimum requirements on the hardware it will be installed at.

In this tutorial we will guide you through the simple steps of installing PostgreSQL on AlmaLinux 9 Operating system.

Install PostgreSQL on AlmaLinux 9

Before going through the rest of the article on how to install PostgreSQL on AlmaLinux 9 Server, please make sure you check the pre-requisites.

Pre-requisites

1. VPS or Dedicated Server with AlmaLinux 9 Operating System
2. Access on the server with a root or sudo privileges user

Step 1 – Update AlmaLinux 9 Server

Once you have access your newly installed AlmaLinux 9 server, update the packages to the latest versions available by executing the following command:

root@almalinux-server:~$ dnf update && dnf upgrade -y

Step 2 – Install PostgreSQL

At the time of writing this article (December 2022) the latest stable PostgreSQL version is 15.0. This version is not available, yet, in the default repo of AlmaLinux 9, so type the following command to install the official PostgreSQL repository in our system:

root@almalinux-server:~$ dnf install -y sudo dnf install -y https://download.postgresql.org/pub/repos/yum/reporpms/EL-9-x86_64/pgdg-redhat-repo-latest.noarch.rpm

Then, update the index of your server’s packages with the following command:

root@almalinux-server:~$ dnf update -y

Now, you can install the PostgreSQL server with the following command:

root@almalinux-server:~$ dnf install postgresql15 postgresql15-server

As soon as the installation completes, execute the following command to initialize the newly installed database:

root@almalinux-server:~$ /usr/pgsql-15/bin/postgresql-15-setup initdb

Sample Output:

Initializing database … OK

Once database has been initialized, enter the following commands to start the PostgreSQL service and automatically enable it on startup:

root@almalinux-server:~$ systemctl start postgresql-15 && systemctl enable postgresql-15

To verify that the service has been started without errors, enter the following command:

root@almalinux-server:~$ systemctl status postgresql-15

Sample Output:

postgresql-15.service – PostgreSQL 14 database server
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/postgresql-15.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
Active: active (running) since Fri 2022-12-02 21:03:15 CEST; 1min 25s ago
Docs: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/15/static/

Step 3 – Set or Change the PostgreSQL User Password

Upon successful installation and first startup of the PostgreSQL database service, you can change the default user password for PostgreSQL as follows:

root@almalinux-server:~$ passwd postgres

You will be prompted to set a new password and then to re-type it.

Sample Output:

Changing password for user postgres.
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.

Step 4 (optional) – Allow Remote Access to PostgreSQL Database

By default, PostgreSQL is configured to listen to local connections only.

If you need to access the database remotely (e.g. from your computer or from a software in another server) then do the following:

• Open the file /var/lib/pgsql/15/data/postgresql.conf
• Replace the line listen_addresses = ‘localhost‘ with listen_addresses = ‘*“
• Open the file /var/lib/pgsql/15/data/pg_hba.conf
• Add this entry at the end of the file: host all all 0.0.0.0/0 md5
• Save and close the file

For the changes to take effect restart the PostgreSQL service as follows:

root@almalinux-server:~$ systemctl restart postgresql-15

This is it! You have successfully installed PostgreSQL 15 on AlmaLinux 9 Server. Enjoy!

In this article we will demonstrate how to install the latest Python 3.11 version on an Ubuntu server via the apt package manager, and also how to set the default Python version in case you have multiple versions installed on your server.

Python is one of the most popular and fastest-growing object-oriented programming languages. Python is mostly used for building websites, applications for mobile, web and desktop. It is also the programming language of choice for automating tasks and conducting data analysis.

At the time of writing this article (December 2022) there are two main Python versions being used; Python v2 and v3. Whilst Python 2 will see no major releases, the v3 is under active development and has already seen a lot of stable releases. Currently, the latest stable version is 3.11 which was released on Oct. 24, 2022.

In this article we will demonstrate how to install the latest Python 3.11 version on an Ubuntu server via the apt package manager, and also how to set the default Python version in case you have multiple versions installed on your server.

Install Python 3.11 on Ubuntu using apt

In this tutorial we will be using the “deadsnakes” repository as it contains the more recent Python versions ready for Ubuntu.

Pre-requisites

1. root access (or any sudo level user account)
2. Ubuntu server (in this tutorial we are using Ubuntu Server 22.10)

Easy Steps to Install Python 3.11 on Ubuntu

Login to your Ubuntu server and type the following commands:

root@ubuntu-server:~$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa
root@ubuntu-server:~$ sudo apt update
root@ubuntu-server:~$ sudo apt install python3.11

By adding the repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa allows us to install other versions as well. See below the commands for installing old python versions.

root@ubuntu-server:~$ sudo apt install python3.11
root@ubuntu-server:~$ sudo apt install python3.10
root@ubuntu-server:~$ sudo apt install python3.7

Finally, type the following command to see all Python binaries installed on your Ubuntu server.

root@ubuntu-server:~$ ls -l /usr/bin/python*

Sample Output:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root      10 Dec 2  2022 /usr/bin/python3 -> python3.10
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 5901416 Dec  2  2022 /usr/bin/python3.10
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 6705016 Dec 3 09:45 /usr/bin/python3.11
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root     960 Dec 2  2022 /usr/bin/python3-futurize
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root     964 Dec 2  2022 /usr/bin/python3-pasteurize

In our system, the default Python version used is 3.10, as indicated by the symlink:
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Dec 2 2022 /usr/bin/python3 -> python3.10

We can also verify the current Python version by executing the following command:

root@ubuntu-server:~$ python -V

Sample Output:

Python 3.10.4

To use Python 11 whilst maintaining an older version as default, type the following command and hit 'Enter':

root@ubuntu-server:~$ python3.11

By doing so you will enter the Python Shell. To exit the Python interpreter, type the following commands within the shell and then press ‘Enter’:

quit()
OR
exit()

Change Default Python Version on Ubuntu Server

In the case you have multiple Python versions installed, you can change the default version as follows. In our example, our Ubuntu server had as default Python 3.10 and we will change it to Python 3.11.

root@ubuntu-server:~$ python3 --version
root@ubuntu-server:~$ sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python3 python3 /usr/bin/python3.10 1
root@ubuntu-server:~$ sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python3 python3 /usr/bin/python3.11 2
root@ubuntu-server:~$ sudo update-alternatives --config python3
root@ubuntu-server:~$ python3 --version

That’s all! If you followed all the steps above you have successfully installed Python 3.11 on your Ubuntu server!

In this tutorial, we will demonstrate two easy ways to to install Node.js and NPM on a Debian 11 server. For the purpose of this writing this tutorial, we have used and tested all commands in a VPS server running Debian 11 64-bit.

Node.js is an open-source JavaScript library built on Chrome’s V8 engine and is primarily used for back-end API services and other server-side applications. Along with React, Node.js is one of the most popular technologies in the world of front-end web development in 2022.

In this tutorial, we will demonstrate two easy ways to to install Node.js and NPM on a Debian 11 server. For the purpose of this writing this tutorial, we have used and tested all commands in a VPS server running Debian 11 64-bit.

Tutorial Pre-requisites

• Linux machine running Debian 11 OS
• Root access (or alternative user with root/sudo privileges)

2 Easy Ways To Install Node.js and NPM on Debian 11 Server

First connect via SSH on your server, and ensure all Debian packages are up-to-date. You can do so by executing the following commands:

root@netshopisp-vps:~# apt update && apt upgrade -y

Now that our Debian 11 environment is fully up to date we can proceed to installing Node.js and NPM. We will demonstrate three different, easy ways.

Method 1: Install Node.js and NPM via Debian Repository

The following command will install both packages at once. This is the simplest and most reliable way.

Note that at the time of writing this tutorial (November 2022), Node.js version 12.22 is included by default on Debian’s repositories.

root@netshopisp-vps:~# apt install nodejs npm

As soon as both packages are installed, you can verify their version by executing the following commands:

root@netshopisp-vps:~# node -v

root@netshopisp-vps:~# npm -v

Sample Output:

Method 2: Install Node.js and npm from NodeSource

The second method requires a bit more effort than the first, however in case you want to install a specific version of NodeJS and/or NPM, then this method is preferred.

NodeSource maintains an APT repository with multiple Node.js versions.

First command will install ‘curl’ in our system:

root@netshopisp-vps:~# apt install curl -y

We are going to download and run the Node.js installation script for version 16.
If you want another version of Node.js  (for example 14.x) just change the setup_16.x with setup_14.x.

root@netshopisp-vps:~$ curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_16.x | bash -

Now, install the Node.js version 16 with the following command:

root@netshopisp-vps:~# apt install nodejs

The Node.js package contains both the node and npm binaries. Once installed, verify the installed version of Node.js with the same commands as mentioned earlier in this tutorial.

root@netshopisp-vps:~# node -v
root@netshopisp-vps:~# npm -v

Sample Output:

Congratulations! You have now installed Node.JS and NPM on your Debian 11 server. Both two methods we demonstrated are easy and fast to install.