This new option enables customizable forms authentication for any website, providing greater online security. The Windows Server 2008 password protection is offered as a free option for customers.

Customizable forms authentication enables users to selectively restrict access to particular areas. When an unauthenticated visitor lands on a restricted page, they are automatically re-directed to a login form or a registration page.

“This provides an optimal, flexible development environment for our customers, which has always been a priority for us,” says Easy CGI president Dan Richfield. “Where many other providers still only offer solutions with no method of customization, and often cannot secure all content equally, Easy CGI offers a cutting-edge, fully customizable Forms Authentication solution for all of its Windows 2008 customers.”

Microsoft’s Windows Server version 2008 with IIS 7.0 offers a more easily configured forms authentication model than older versions. It can be configured at any level of a customer’s website, protecting any type of resource from unauthorized access, without making any changes to the site’s existing content. This advanced solution can be easily administered in the customer’s Easy CGI hosting control panel.

Password protection is an important feature when it comes to administration pages, image gallery, account page and other online applications and resources. Easy GGI says the solution enables developers to customize their own forms authentication solution.

The Linux plans are a new venture for the Microsoft partner, which had previously only offered hosting based on the Windows platform.

On Friday, May 9, Easy CGI added the two new Windows VPS plans, which brought its total number of VPS offerings to five. The Dedicated X10 and Dedicated X20 plans offered 100 and 200 GB of disk space respectively, along with two and four GB of RAM, and two terabytes of monthly bandwidth each.

Easy CGI says it limits the number of virtual servers per node on all its VPS plans, a promise that is a bit of a rarity in the hosting business.

On Saturday, Easy CGI said it had introduced five VPS plans based on the Linux environment, roughly equivalent in features to their counterparts on the Windows platform. The company says it had previously offered Windows hosting exclusively.

“Although we are a Windows Web hosting provider,” says Dan Richfield, Easy CGI president, in the release, “we pride ourselves on flexibility and our ability to deliver what customers want. There’s a definite market out there for Linux-based hosting and we are one of the few hosting companies offering dedicated VPS on both Windows and Linux platforms.”

The new DNN release fixes some 50 minor bugs and provides many new enhancements like integrated pipeline support for IIS 7 and support for implementing breadcrumbs in custom designed skins.

“We have a strong commitment to being the premier DNN host provider,” says Ted Beckwith, vice president of Easy CGI. “This dedication helps us focus on what the DotNetNuke developer community is looking for and addressing it with our product offering.”

DotNetNuke offers Easy CGI customers support for multiple portals or websites off one install, easy management of website hosting, design, content, security and memberships as well as access to technologies like ASP.NET 2.0, Visual Web Developer and SQL Server 2005 express.

The upgrade enables current customers to take advantage of all the new features of the updated .NET Framework, including enhanced duplex messaging, better support of Web protocols, formats and services, the ability to author services as a workflow, expansions on previous versions with ASP.NET AJAX and the ability to use Language Integrated Query. Visual Studio 2008 can also target .NET Framework 3.5 or previous versions.

“Many of our customers stay in tune with the latest technologies, so we anticipated a large number of requests to upgrade to Framework 3.5,” says Ted Beckwith, vice president of Easy CGI. “Now, our customers have all the new features and tools of .NET Framework 3.5 to push boundaries in their developments.”

“We’ve increased disk space and bandwidth to satisfy demand for customers who want powerful virtual environments – such as Web host resellers and application developers looking for a more exclusive hosting platform,” says Dan Richfield, president and CEO of Easy CGI.

Easy CGI offers Dedicated, Dedicated X2 and Dedicated X4 VPS hosting plans. Disk space and monthly bandwidth for customers with dedicated plans have increased from 15GB and 250GB, respectively, to 20GB and 500GB. The Dedicated X2 plan rises from 20 to 30GB disk space and from 450 to 1,000GB bandwidth. The Dedicated X4 plan rises considerably, going from 30 to 50GB disk space and from 750 to 2,000GB bandwidth.

Easy CGI’s VPS plans are designed to provide a flexible hosting environment, enabling users to install any application compatible with the Windows OS. Users have complete control over the configuration of their websites and can administer their entire virtual server with the Plesk 8.2 control panel or the Virtuozzo control panel.

SitePal Talking Avatars are customizable, talking characters that can be adapted from a wide range of characters or created from photographs. Users can add Talking Avatars to their websites to help convert sales at higher rates than conventional online sales formats by engaging visitors with the interactive characters. The avatars can provide knowledgeable sales or customer support information, or direct visitors to other informational areas on the website.

The Avatar’s eyes follow onscreen mouse movements and the lips synchronize realistically with speech. Voices can be instantly created, or users can have their scripts read by voice professionals in various styles, accents and languages. SitePal’s Talking Avatar is one of the many tools that Easy CGI offers to customers to improve the functionality and performance of their Web sites, says the company.

“Our Advanced shared-hosting plans are designed to give our customers easy-to-use tools to build a successful online presence,” says Ted Beckwith, VP of Easy CGI. “SitePal’s easy-to-use interface and easy integration with an existing Web site means our clients have one more, hassle-free way to drive more online traffic and sales.”

Easy CGI says it has added PHP 5.2.4 support for customers who want increased levels of interactivity, greater speed and enhanced usability features. The company is enabling customers to choose either version of PHP on any directories within their websites since legacy PHP scripts may not run on the newest version of PHP.

The Web host says it has done significant testing to ensure that adding PHP 5 support will not negatively affect any of its hosting customers. It also provides customers with a Web-based hosting control panel that enables them to toggle easily between the two PHP versions. By supporting both versions of PHP, Easy CGI says that customers can mix and match different types of Web pages, or gradually migrate their pages from PHP 4 to PHP 5.

“The decision to support both versions represents a departure from industry norms,” says Ted Beckwith, VP of Easy CGI. “For most hosting companies, when new versions of applications come out, it becomes a challenge to support current customers while catering to new ones. Easy CGI is able to accommodate both by offering the best of both world’s when it comes to PHP.”

“Easy CGI has always been dedicated to providing a secure network for its customers.” says Dan Richfield, president and CEO of Easy CGI. “Being a part of the Hacker Safe network is a logical step in our mission to provide a secure platform for our customers to conduct their online ventures.”

Hacker Safe Enterprise enables organizations to significantly reduce risk by providing a fully managed solution to find and repair network vulnerabilities on a continuous basis.

ScanAlert says its site is the largest Web site security certification service in the world, and is considered an industry standard for security. The company’s patent pending security technology is used by over 75,000 Web sites, including over half of the Internet Retailer Top 500, to protect them from hackers and certify their security to their customers and business partners.

The Internet marketing solutions company has provided marketing services to Easy CGI for years. The new partnership now provides Easy CGI customers with access to this same expert advice and innovative marketing solutions to help promote their online efforts.

“Easy CGI has had a long lasting relationship with eBridge,” says Ted Beckwith, vice president of Easy CGI. “We’ve found great success with them and now our customers can utilize their services and enjoy the same satisfaction.”

eBridge Marketing Solutions provides Internet marketing solutions for both Web advertisers and Web publishers, enabling them to effectively meet their online marketing objectives and advertising needs. eBridge’s marketing agency specializes in the developing and managing cost effective Internet advertising campaigns.

This is the second time in less than a year that the Web host has upgraded its shared resources for its customers. All current Easy CGI customers have received this upgrade in shared resources for free.

The shared resource limit for the Advanced Plan has been increased from 100GB to 350GB disk space and 1000GB to 3,500GB of bandwidth. The limit for the Advanced X2 Plan has been improved from 200GB to 500GB of disk space and 2,000GB to 5,000GB of bandwidth. Finally, the limit for the Advanced X4 Plan has been raised from 300GB to 750GB of disk space and 4,000GB to 7,500GB of bandwidth.

“This is our second massive increase in disk space and bandwidth capabilities for our customers in less then a year,” says Dan Richfield, president and CEO of Easy CGI. “Our current customers continue to benefit from our desire to provide the most resources at an affordable price, while our new potential customers have yet another reason to choose Easy CGI over other hosting companies.”