Good morning. Recently we experienced some difficulties with network connectivity that affected hosting services. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, and have already began to rectify the issue. Systems are currently stable.

We will be working hard to increase uptime availability by adding enhanced hardware to the system. Thank you for your patience.

Good morning,

Last night we experienced some challenges with our hosting services due to a DDoS attack. This affected:

• Some outgoing e-mails being undeliverable
• Websites appearing slow to load or unavailable

If you received an “e-mail undeliverable” message, otherwise known as a “bounce-back” with any outgoing e-mails, please try to re-send the message at your convenience.

This will not be an issue going forward, as we have found and resolved the cause of the difficulties. We apologize for any inconvenience and want to thank you for your patience. Please check back for any additional updates or to contact the Helpdesk if you have any questions or further concerns. We will be happy to help you.

Welcome to the latest Technology Tip from your local, friendly staff at Cazarin Interactive and Artropolis! Stay tuned for more tips and tricks from time to time to help you get the most out of your technology, along with website and e-mail hosting with us.

The Scenario

Today, I would like to discuss outgoing e-mail. Many of us have seen it: a perfectly drafted message is just waiting to be sent; all it will take is a quick click of the “Send” button to launch it into cyberspace. But, something unexpected happens: the email sticks in the Outgoing folder of your e-mail program like peanut butter on a jelly sandwich.

Common Reasons

There are a few things that can cause this. Here are the more common reasons:

1. No internet access (obvious, right?)
2. Outlook or your computer are having a hard time keeping up and need to be restarted
3. Your internet service provider (Qwest, Bellsouth, etc.) is blocking e-mails from sending
4. The anti-virus software on your computer needs some additional settings to let email send

Let’s talk briefly about the last two common reasons in the list.

Internet Service Provider (ISP) Blocking E-mails

It has become common practice for ISPs to block e-mails on a certain “port number”. Without getting overly technical, a port number is what makes certain things work on the internet: e-mail, websites, multiplayer video games and the like. It also powers your business on the web.

This challenge is most common on DSL internet providers like Qwest and AT&T. If you suspect your ISP is blocking e-mail, there are two ways around this:

1. Change your port number from “25″ to “587″ for outgoing e-mail or use https://webmail.cazarin.com
2. Call your ISP and request that they unblock port 25

Anti-Virus Software Blocking E-mails

If you have an anti-virus or internet security software on your computer, it might cause some problems with blocking legitimate e-mails. Usually making some tweaks to the anti-virus software can fix this problem. The fastest way to test this is to uninstall the program from your computer and restart, and then try to send a message again.

To get around this problem, most anti-virus software companies offer direct support for modifying the program to get it to work correctly with your e-mail program. Another work-around is to use our Webmail system.

As always, we’re here to help! Please feel free to contact us by e-mail or support chat and we’ll be right with you. Thanks for reading!