Purplenova (http://www.purplenova.com) has announced the release of Purplenova 3.1 – The Easy Web Server, which allows users to web-host any content directly from an Internet-connected PC. Purplenova 3.1 supports domain names, and also supports hosting of web services and web applications. With broadband connections becoming faster and reliable, and with powerful machines residing in people’s homes and small offices, Purplenova makes a case for “unlimited hosting” directly from end-user machines.

“There are upward of 100 million broadband connections today, with most providers following a bucket pricing model. A broadband subscriber with even a mid-level PC configuration can now get more from his/her broadband and his/her PC by using the infrastructure to directly web-host content” says Milind Pandit, VP of Business Development at Purplenova.

Purplenova has been designed for ease-of-use keeping the lay-user in mind. Web-hosting is as easy as a drag-and-drop, without having to worry about server configurations, IP addresses, or type of the network. Purplenova works off computers that are behind Firewalls, Routers or Network Address Translation Devices and overcomes the drawbacks of solutions such as dyndns.

A new feature of Purplenova is the ability to support domain names. “A lot of our subscribers have home.username.com point to their home computers and office.username.com point to their office computers.” adds Pandit.

Security being a key concern for a self-hosting solution, Purplenova technology ensures that only content explicitly selected for web-hosting becomes accessible. Readers do not obtain access to the entire hard disk on PCs running Purplenova. Furthermore, content-owners are firewalled behind Purplenova’s Master Proxy, and therefore protected from malware.

Finally, Purplenova puts content owners in control of their content. The content always remains fresh and there are no upload hassles – and users can host as much as they want. (They are only limited by the size of their hard disk).

Broadband providers and hosting service providers bundle Purplenova as a value-added service to their end-users. The company has already signed up partnerships with several hosting providers and web communities.