Points to Consider While Selecting a Web Host Server

Managing a web server is in reality not a child’s play as it is a full time job, where one must constantly monitor its performance and security and it sounds, it is really exhausting task, especially if one is already having other responsibilities. There are several advantages like one no longer have to wait for technical support or approval to install a script onto the server. In addition, one can have as many websites and databases he/she requires but condition is, as long as his/her hardware can handle it. One no longer has to go into the discussion forums and search for the best web host. Over all one can even begin hosting family & friends personal websites. Thus after looking at these advantages it really sounds interesting. Isn’t? But wait just read more.

One should ask him/her self, how technically advanced he/she is? Quite often one needs not to be fully learned, but it’s necessary that he/she is possessing resources. One must know how to resolve issues and how to handle problems and that too quite quickly and efficiently. Thus it means it needs to be in real meaning Internet savvy. In this case just surfing wont help as one who surfs aimlessly wont be of any use, rather one who can always find what he/she is looking for is the right person. This is a main requirement, as with any server environment, one is going to run into problems and finding the answers are most consummate online, using multiple resources, search techniques, and engines. Now if one is sure that he/she can hire someone to fix one’s problems then too it’s not at all considered a best option to get done from anyone else. In next paragraph is the test to see if one is ready to find solutions. Requirement is of a solution to a Microsoft Windows 2003 Server Event Error – “Event ID: 1056” it’s a DHCP Server Error. Now how one would search for this?

In order to find the solution the first that one would take is to go to Google which can be seen as a good and a common effort also it is a good place to start, but usually it is best to start at the developers’ website. Thus in this case “microsoft.com” would have been the first option because Google would more than likely provide with the solution from Microsoft and other sources, but if one is not interested in getting inaccurate information from other sources, then surely he/she should choose going to Microsoft directly. It is a common practice to get information from Microsoft that not only helps resolving one’s problem, but also helps saving time. Now again one should search the error and should go to the Microsoft site and find the solution.

After going this one will find this link-http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx? Scid=KB; en-us; 282001 (Event ID 1056 is Logged after installing DHCP)

Now after seeing the above what search phrase should one use? The answer is Event ID: 1056, because the Event ID is the correct and most exact error; it helps in providing the exact solution for one’s problem without broadening the search. Sometimes it may happen that the error description is also appropriate to search, just the error description by itself or in combination with the Event ID. It all depends on one’s error, his/her search feedback, his/her ability, and last but not least technique. For the above discussed example error description is not included.

Now after Microsoft, the second option one should take is Google or Yahoo, which are considered as two largest search engines. Thereafter one should search other smaller and niche search engines and then the next one should search within forums and discussion groups. If one is well known of Internet and have a plentiful or few forums and discussion groups, which he/she uses quite frequently, then he/she should visit those places before visiting Google or Yahoo. One can also visit those before visiting the developer site since it is a trusted source, but its not very recommendable as going first to developers’ site would be considered as a best option. So now after knowing little about search engines and internet one can think of purchasing a server.

Consider These Factors While Choosing the Web Hosting

Web hosting is the term we used several times. As we know that web hosting services are of many types such as free web hosting, paid web hosting and shared web hosting. For the beginners who are not aware of these things we are going to discuss them and their utility.

Shared Web Hosting

This hosting is suitable for anyone who is looking for an economical Web Hosting solution with total Web Space Requirement not exceeding 2 GB.

User should decide his/her requirement before going for anything. User should know in advance that which hosting plan he/she requires as well as which software is best for him/her. If a user has already purchased a hosting account with a web hosting company and then starts looking around for the required one, then this decision is not at all going to be a right one. When a user chooses the software after selecting the hosting company then mostly it happens that the software is not compatible with the web hosting account. Generally in a Shared Hosting environment, any kind of customization is not possible.

The conclusion of this problem is that the user should make the decisions of all the requirements before choosing the Web Hosting Provider.

What are the requirements of the user?

If one is new to web hosting and just starting out with his/her online Web Presence, then there is no requirement for him/her to start off with a fancy Hosting Account. He she can begin with a Basic Hosting account and upgrade with the increase of the requirements.

E-Commerce site

An E-Commerce site requires the web-hosting services that are somewhat different from the plain vanilla hosting services. Problems like SSL set up and Payment Gateway Integration are critical and needs to be solved. These two stated problems are quite critical for a user but are easily sorted by the web-hosting company. The most concerned point is compatibility between what is required and what Web Hosting Company is offering. Have a look on the example of Payment Gateway Integration. One might have decided to buy Payment Gateway services from one service provider whereas the Web Hosting provider would be in a position to provide Payment Gateway Integration for another service provider.

Qualities of good hosting company:

There are number of companies present in the market and claiming for providing the best services, but it up to the user to select the best company. The criteria for choosing best company is that the company should offer Unlimited FTP Access, 24*7 Web Support, and Uptime guarantee, Money Back Guarantee in case of non-satisfaction. Some of the other expected features are No Set Up Fee, Web mail with email, Web Based Site Admin, Email Forwarding, Unlimited Email Aliases, Email Auto Responders, server anti Virus Protection, etc.

Deciding Criteria

One should not make decision in a hurry; rather he/she should collect all the information about the company he/she desires to choose. He /she should look at the past record of the web hosting provider, number of years in web hosting business for the service provider, type of clients they have, their SLA, location of Data center and technical specifications of the hosting servers that are being offered for his/her shared hosting. If the service to be signed up includes some advanced features like Tomcat support, look for compatibility between the requirements and the hosting features offered by the Hosting provider. Look at the Control Panel offered by the Web Hosting Provider and what exactly is offered in that Control Panel.

These are the important features one cannot afford to miss if he/she wants to have a reliable as well as supporting web hosting service.

Should you Just Pick an Inexpensive Web Hosting Provider or are There Other Factors to Consider?

A lot of web hosting companies offer affordable web site hosting services. But when you sign up with a hosting provider don’t concentrate on the price factor alone. Every provider’s hosting plan is different. Apart from price you also need to concentrate on a few other features of the hosting plan. Here are some of the key aspects that one needs to look into before signing up with a web hosting company:

Purpose: Is the hosting for personal or business use? Think about how many websites you are planning to have. Bear in mind that just because your web site is for personal use it does not mean your requirements will be any less. The next thing to think about when determining the purpose is what exactly is your website going to do? Is it going to transfer music or video files or are you go to blog or is it just an information site.

Storage Space: This is similar to your computer storage. The storage space offered by the hosting provider should be able to accommodate all the files of your web site. The more the storage offered the better. These days a lot of hosting providers offer a few Giga Bytes of storage.

Data Transfer: This is basically the size of your files multiplied by the number of visitors to your site. Again a lot of hosting providers offer data transfer that runs into atleast a few hundreds of Giga Bytes. If your hosting company does not offer a reasonable amount of data transfer then they will charge you an extra amount whenever you exceed the data transfer you originally signed up for.

Reliable Customer Service: You will need their help more often than not. You don’t want to end up with some one who signs you up and then completely forgets you. You need someone who has a good reputation in the industry. If they have received customer service awards then that is a good indicator of their service levels.

Multiple Domain Hosting: You might start with one site and then might soon add another one. You never know. Sign up with some one who offers multiple site hosting. The last thing you want is to pay for every additional site you put up in the cyber world.

Email Creations:

Look into how many email accounts you are entitled to have for every website you host with them. You should have the ability to download your email to your computer (POP3). The facility to check you email online (through a browser) would be nice. Another feature though not essential for home users is the IMAP Support to your email accounts – basically this means the mail resides on an IMAP server and you can check your email from any computer. This is useful for businesses.

Database Support: The host should support databases of some format. Even if you might not need one today you might need one in the future. If you are choosing a provider for your business then this requirement is a must.

And finally the pricing structure: The whole web site hosting providers’ industry has become very competitive. A lot of companies offer heaps of features with their hosting plans at an extremely affordable place. Affordable Web Site Hosting Services has almost become the norm of the industry. So look around. Understand the features offered. Ask them if you have any questions. And finally when you find the right one remember that these days you don’t have to pay lots to get a good provider.

Hosting Your Own Web Server: Things to Consider

Are you disgusted or disappointed with your current web host? Have you switched web hosting companies too many times? Have you thought of hosting your own website(s)? Do you have the ambition to control and manage your own web server?

If you answered ‘yes’ to the questions above, then you may be ready to host your own sites. This article will give you things to consider while making the switch.

When being your own web host you should be technically inclined and have basic knowledge of operating systems, understand technical terms, understand how to setup a server environment (such as: DNS, IIS, Apache, etc.) have basic knowledge of scripting languages and databases (PHP, Perl, MySQL, etc.), be familiar with current technologies, and have a basic understanding of hardware and server components.

You should realize the pros & cons. It is one thing to say, you want to host your own web server and it is another thing to actually do it.

Pros:

*  Own sense of responsibility

*  Awareness level raised (you are at the frontline of all server happenings)

*  No monthly hosting fees/accounts

*  Incompetence no longer exist

*  Non-shared environment (dedicated server)

*  Unlimited websites, databases, content, storage, etc.

*  More bandwidth

*  No more waiting on someone else time

*  Complete control

Cons:

*  Exhausting at times

*  Faced with server/hardware problems

*  ISP business account (monthly business/broadband expense)

*  If server goes down then the website is offline

*  No technical support team

*  Software, hardware, and network expenses

There could be many more pros & cons but I??ve pointed out some of the major ones. Managing a web server starts as a full time job, you must constantly monitor its performance and security. This can sometimes be an exhausting task, especially if you currently have other responsibilities. Though, the control you will have over your website and its performance is rewarding enough. You no longer have to wait for technical support or approval to install a script onto the server. You can have as many websites and databases you want, as long as your hardware can handle it. You no longer have to go into the discussion forums and search for the best web host or rant about how much you hate your current host. You can even begin hosting family & friends personal websites.

Ask yourself, how technically advanced are you? Many times you do not have to be a tech guru or anything of the sort, but you must be very resourceful. You must know how to find resolutions and answers to problems, quickly and efficiently. This means you must be internet savvy. Not just the average surfer, who surfs aimlessly, but you must be the surfer who can always find what they are looking for. This is key, because with any server environment you are going to run into problems and finding the answers are most accomplished online, using multiple resources, search techniques, and engines. Sure you can hire someone to fix your problems, but as we should have learned from the “web hosting”, having someone do it for you isn’t always the best option. Here is a test to see if you are ready to find solutions. I need a solution to a Microsoft Windows 2003 Server Event Error – “Event ID: 1056?? it??s a DHCP Server Error. How would you search? Go ahead find the solution.

Did you first go to Google? If you did, that was a nice effort and common for most, plus a good place to start, but usually it is best to start at the developers’ website. In this case “microsoft.com” would have been the first option. Why? Google would more than likely provide you with the answer from Microsoft and other sources, but you don’t want to get inaccurate information from other sources. It is common to get information from Microsoft that would not specifically resolve your problem, but the developer should always be your first place to search for the answers. Now search the error again and go to the Microsoft site and find the solution.

You should had found this link: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid (Event ID 1056 is Logged after installing DHCP)

What search phrase did you use? It should have been Event ID: 1056, because the Event ID is the exact error, it pinpoints your exact problem without broadening your search. Sometimes the error description is also appropriate to search, just the error description by itself or in combination with the Event ID. It depends on your error, your search feedback, your ability, and technique. For this example I did not include the error description.

Google or Yahoo! should have been your second option (the two largest search engines). Then search other smaller and niche search engines. A good search site which makes use of Google??s operator tags is http://www.soople.com/. Next you should search within forums and discussion groups. If you are pretty internet savvy and have a plentiful or few forums and discussion groups which you frequent then you might actually visit those places before visiting Google or Yahoo!. You can even visit those before visiting the developer site since it is a trusted source, but I wouldn’t recommend it, I still would go to the developers’ site first. Okay, so now we have planted our feet and have familiarized ourselves with being internet (search) savvy. We are ready to purchase a server!

When making a server purchase you need to consider a few things before doing so. What to buy? A top of the line, quadruple processor, and super fast turbo server is always ideal, but many times it is not logical or affordable. Therefore, you need to weigh your options (sensibly).

What to buy?

*  First determine your budget. Be realistic and expect to spend at least $2,500 for a low-end server. For a low-end, quality server with other needed equipment and services I spent a little over $4,500 easily.

*  Determine your ISP (broadband) provider. Research and speak with several different vendors before deciding which broadband solution best suit your needs. Each provider plan is different and has different benefits, determine the best one which fits your needs. Bandwidth should be put into consideration when choosing your ISP.

*  A backup device should be purchased before implementing a server install. The backup device should be double the server storage space. This could be a standalone unit like an external hard drive or network storage device or the backup device could be multiple devices such as: backup tapes, disc, etc. The reason the backup device should be larger is because you want to be able to have months worth of backups and not just weekly or monthly backups. You should have at least 24 weeks of backups without the concern of storage space. The backup device or safe deposits should also be external, removable, and portable. This is so the backups can be stored in a remote location. Usually for safe-keeping, in event of a theft or disaster.

*   Determine your daily traffic goal (the daily traffic which you hope to see within 1 year ?C be realistic), divide that number by the daily traffic you currently receive, and then multiply that number by 5. That is the total number of GB space you need.

Example:

Daily Traffic Goal: 10,000 (Divided by) Current Daily Traffic: 500 (Times X) 5 = 100GB

In the example you should purchase a 100GB Hard Drive, it is best to buy 2 or more drives oppose to 1. In this case, since 50GB drives do not exist or harder to find, you would buy two 60GB drives giving you a total of 120GB. 2 or more drives are usually needed in a server to configure the proper RAID option, in some cases 3 or more are needed. Your backup storage space should be a minimum capacity of 200GB (or 240GB, optional).

*   Determine your memory. If your web server daily traffic goal is 500,000 then I would recommend at least 2GB worth of memory. If it is a shared server, meaning it also has other server services running on the machine, especially a mail server or database server (which is not recommended) then your memory should at least be 3GB or more. Otherwise you can think small and upgrade as needed, a 1GB memory stick should be fine for starters.

*   Determine your network components, which NIC card best performs under high traffic levels and which router best performs for your LAN / web server. It is best to get a router which has a built-in firewall (commonly known as a ??hardware firewall??). Your ISP may provide you with a router or hardware firewall, this is how they are able to authorize your traffic on their network. Like a cable box does for cable television. The router also shares your IP address with other clients on your network. This enables you to share your internet connection without having to get a different IP from your ISP. The hardware firewall is simply a router with a built-in firewall, which means it shares your IP address as well as provides added protection to your network. It blocks bad addresses and ports at the forefront, before it can even make it to your computer. It is not recommended to rely only on a hardware firewall for security, this is just the first step. It is recommended to also include a software firewall (firewall software which installs on your computer) and it is recommended to continue timely security practices, such as updating and patching your system on a scheduled routine.

*   Determine your processor speed and power. Regardless of the amount of traffic you are expecting I would recommend a dual processor or greater. A dual processor or greater is best because if your website unexpectedly take off then you will be well prepared and if you host other server options or websites on the same server then you will have better performance. At the time of this writing the 64-bit platform is the processor direction. 3.8GHz is the most available speed. If your pockets can afford the latest technologies then that is ideal, but keep in mind at this particular time a 64-bit compatible processor is not necessary, without having many applications that require or deliver on that platform. That is a lot of speed going no where fast. Also, remember the power of the 64-bit platform and the greater the processor speed the more heat it produces, therefore it must be cooled much more rapidly and efficiently. At this time a dual 32-bit, 2.8GHz ?C 3.2GHz processor will suffice (even that is way more than enough). Though, if your pockets can afford it then the latest and greatest would be fine, you will be well prepared. Otherwise, do like most people and upgrade when the time comes.

*   Make sure you have a CD/RW drive. A floppy disk drive is not needed, but I do recommend it for making system restore disk. The CD/RW drive is needed because you need some type of removable storage device. You never know when you need to install a driver from a different location??like a ethernet driver. An external CD/RW drive is the best option, especially if you have multiple machines.

*   Choose your operating system carefully. Choose the vendor which you are most comfortable with. Do not choose a MAC if you never used a MAC before. Just because your friend suggests it and says it is a piece of cake does not mean it will be for you. You are trying to get a web server online not re-learn a whole new system. Stay focused and grounded. If you are comfortable with Microsoft then go with Microsoft, regardless if the IT person at your job says Microsoft products are unsecure, Linux or Unix is more secure and much better for a web server. If you have never used Linux or (especially) Unix then you will be in for a ride of your life. Your web server experience will soon become a nightmare and you will have wasted thousands of dollars on equipment. Go with what you know, not what you are told. Each platform has its pros and cons: Microsoft is the user-friendly of them all; Mac is the web/graphic developer of them all; Linux is the open-source/developers paradise of them all; Unix is the most secure of them all. Each of them can be tweaked in ways to provide a solid, quality platform, it is best to stick with what you already know.

*   You should install on your system all the web services (such as: Apache, IIS, etc.), applications (such as: backup device software, RAID (Array) Manager), scripting languages (such as: PHP, Perl, etc.), CGI, Database (such as: MySQL, Microsoft SQL, etc.), and a web log analyzer (such as: weblog expert, nihuo, etc.). It is also recommended to perform system updates, security patches, and firewall installs and configurations. It is sometimes best to leave the security installs and configurations for after you have the system functioning properly to avoid any uncalculated problems. This way when you install the firewall and something stops working properly like connecting to your website from outside your network, you can troubleshoot assuming that it is the firewall, therefore you would begin by opening port 80 on the firewall. This method can save you a lot of hassle, but can sometimes be considered the unsecure method, especially if you don??t have a hardware firewall already in place.

Next, there are a few things to consider before installing and configuring a server. Where to put it? A secluded, cool location is ideal, but if this cannot be accomplished then adjustments can be made.

Where to put it?

*   Locate a location within your home that is static-free, we do not want to put the server on the carpet, near curtains, or anything else that can produce a static reaction. The reason for this is that you do not want the server internal components to receive a static charge and short circuit.

*   The location should be a cool environment, preferably below room temperature. The reason for a cool area is because servers (as well as desktop computers) produce large amounts of heat, the more heat it produces the more it needs to cool off. If the server is not kept cool, then this can lead to the server hanging and then eventually crashing. It’s the same result of when a car overheats, it stops running. You can keep a server internal components cool by keeping the room cool, additionally you can add more fans to the server which cools the server internal components, you can also position a standalone fan directly at the server back panel and constantly have the fan cool the server internal components. Depending on how cool your room is and how much heat your server produces, getting more fans for your server may be a must and not an option.

*   It is suggested that the server is at a higher level within your house (mid-floor), because if it is in the basement and a flood occurs it could ruin it. If it is in the attic and the sun beams on the attic for hours the server could overheat. Mid-floor level is usually the cooler place within the home, but these recommendations is optional and you should put the server in the most comfortable and convenient space following the rest of the guidelines.

*   Be sure the area you choose is not damp or wet (no leaks, moisture, near any liquids, or near a window ??especially open??). We all know what can happen when electrical components get wet.

*   The server should sit at least 4?? inches from the ground

*   Be sure a working electrical outlet is near. It is an important to have a power supply, a good brand is APC. Having a power supply can save you from electrical outages, blackouts, and brownouts. Having a power supply helps the server keep its power, remain stable, and unaffected when there is an outage, as well it protects your server against electrical shock. If your outage remains more than 5 minutes it is recommended to begin backing up anything deemed important and shut the computer down voluntarily as well as any other electrical attached devices.

*   Have a LAN line near and also a phone jack (if you plan on using the server for any dial-up services). It is not recommended to use your web service with a dial-up connection. A broadband connection or greater is recommend for optimal performance. The LAN line should never come from your wall and plug directly into your server, it should plug into a hardware firewall (usually a router with a built-in firewall).

*   Depending on the size of the server and the internal components the server may be extremely noisy and loud, especially with the fans going. It is suggested to have the server in a secluded location which is not near any peaceful area of the house, such as: bedroom.

Those are all some basic things to consider before hosting your own server. Hosting your own server is not an easy task, but once you have had some time and experience with it, it becomes a breeze. You will have a better web hosting experience, you will be more in tune and reliant to your customers, and you will gain greater technical aptitude. Hosting your own web server is rewarding, useful, and gives you the opportunity to host unlimited websites, databases, services, etc.

If your web traffic becomes too great for your server then it is recommended to choose an offsite web host. It is recommend to purchase a dedicated server with a quality web host. If you choose a server with the above recommendations then your server traffic should be fine for at least up to 25,000,000 page views per month. It could be greater or less depending on your operating system, your server configuration, performance, applications, and services. The point is you should be well in a position to purchase dedicated server space by the time your traffic gets too high, because if you are getting anything close to 1,000,000 page views a month you should have some competitive advertising or ecommerce income. And plus, with the knowledge you will gain from the experience you will be able to support your own server at a dedicated server (remote) location, thus cutting more overhead.

The biggest disadvantage of hosting your own web server is the uptime reliability. If your web server powers down for any reason then your website is offline. Usually web hosting companies have methods and networks to prevent this failure from affecting your website. Usually if the system goes down they have a mirror location where your site is rejuvenated and doesn??t experience much downtime. Some web hosts do not practice this method or any other fault tolerance. Imagine if a blackout or power outage occurs, then your web server could be down for hours or even days, this can affect your business greatly. There are some hosting companies who provide mirror web hosting for a small fee, I haven??t found one that is reliable yet. Or you could cross your fingers and hope for the best, until you are able to host your server outside your home on a larger network.

Hosting your own server usually is not a money-saving experience. It sometimes cost more to host your own server, when you total the up keep and maintenance. The benefit of hosting your own server is usually a better platform for your customers, because it is no longer a shared server and it gives you the ability to make global changes almost instantaneously. When your customers request more performance or specific applications, then you will be able to implement this immediately. Customers like to know that you are in control. If you tell your customers that the server will be down for maintenance from 6 a.m. ?C 7 a.m. then it would be best if that is when your server is down, not from 5 a.m. ?C 10 a.m. You know how your web host will tell you one thing and then you have to try explaining it to your customer. In the end it will benefit you to host your own web server as a web business, this helps you and your customers.

Small Business Web Hosting-Companies You May Want to Consider

This article will give you a quick rundown on a few small business web hosting companies you may want to consider when choosing a company to work with. The amount of information and effort going into building a website can be very great so this article is meant to serve as a shortcut in finding a company to work with.

The first and usually most popular company that many people recommend is GoDaddy. This company is very widely known for its Super Bowl commercials that allowed it to burst onto the scene. It is one of the largest domain registrars and offers almost anything that your website would demand. One of the strongest features is the Support Staff. This area is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can talk with them, email them, or find the answers yourself through their extensive help section. Basic hosting can cost as little as 2.99 a month when talking about Linux.

Another highly rated small business web hosting company is Infinology. This has ranked very highly with many active web site users and often can be found near the top of the list, if not at the top of the list, for overall satisfaction. There are many different scripting languages available for free with cost usually being around $6.95 a month.

The final one which will be discussed is LunarPages. Some languages will cost an extra dollar or two a month but the best part about this website is the generous space and bandwidth included in the price. The cost starts at exactly the same rate as Infinology: $6.95 a month.

There are third party web sites where you can find more information if you want to do more extensive research on any of these three companies. Any good small business web hosting company should not charge a great deal for basic web hosting activities.

Looking at the above examples shows you how little it can cost to find a good company with good service. As you can see from these three examples, costs can run under ten dollars a month without batting an eyelash. You may want to see which particular company will work best with your situation, especially if you start using more bandwidth if you get into social networking. One of the major keys is the customer service because you will not normally worry about your website’s hosting until it goes down. At that point, you will want someone ready and available to help bring your website back up.

Things to Consider Before Buying in a Web Host Site

A particular website may find a certain web hosting service ideal. However, the same thing may not be true for other websites given that the websites would have different needs. Comparing the feasibility of web host providers is akin to comparing an apple with an orange. It would be pretty hard to discern the inferior web host from the commendable ones for the reason that mediocre web hosting companies would naturally cover up their short comings with a lot of freebies.

However, a discerning webmaster will be able to weed out mediocre web hosts by using four basic qualities that will assess the worthiness of a web host site. The first is experience. A good web hosting site with years of experience can deal with any difficulties that can arise be it on your part or on their part. Years of experience will mean that they have encountered many glitches before and they would know how to resolve the problem.

Before signing in with a web hosting company you have to be sure they can give you adequate support in the form of tutorials. Designing your website would not necessitate a web designer as the video clips and informative articles they will provide would be enough to guide you.

Be sure to choose a web hosting service that would provide you with significant features that you can implement yourself using their tutorials. An ecommerce website would certainly use shopping carts, inventory and payment software. These features are provided for by most web hosting services but be sure that these features are easy to handle.

Join forums and discussions that will enable you to choose the web host site that will give you service and features commensurate to the investment you have made. Choosing the best web host site, even one that will entail investing a considerable sum of money would be beneficial in the long run if the chosen site will contribute to the development and growth of the online business.

Some Of The Most Important Issues You Need To Consider When Choosing A Web Host Company

The vast array of new web hosting services on the market today can be more than a little overwhelming. There are thousands of web hosting services from which to choose. Because of all the choices, it has become increasingly difficult for the beginner to decide what web host will serve them best. Choosing your e-commerce hosting service basically comes down to the features the company offers and their customer service, which, especially for people new to setting up web sites and blogs, is extremely important. This article endeavors to cover some of the important issues you need to be aware of when choosing a web host.

First, a caveat regarding free web hosting: you may be tempted by free web hosting but these services offer very little in the way of features and almost nonexistent customer support. Good customer support cannot be stressed enough when you’re starting out in e-commerce. You will have problems and you’ll need a real live person who can help you. Cut-rate and cheap web hosting services aren’t much better. If you want to be successful you’ll avoid these kinds of web hosting services. Diving into e-commerce requires enough effort as it is; you don’t want added hassles from your service provider. If you’re serious about e-commerce on the Web, you need to start off with the right tools. The company you choose to provide your web hosting is one of these tools, and it can be the difference between failure and success.

Again, your web host’s customer support can make all the difference in the world. Quality customer service can make or break you. It’s what separates a good host from a bad host. One of the things you should look for in a hosting company is if it provides customer support 24 hour, 7 day a week availability with a toll-free number. You have to be able to get help whenever you need it. If you have just a few simple questions, the answers should be easily locatable on the web host’s site. If time isn’t of the essence, then you should be able to email customer support and receive a response within a day, if not hours. If you have more involved questions, there should be a toll-free number and friendly informative staff available at all times. Many hosts offer online support in the form of instant messaging. Being able to “chat” with a customer service representative is an excellent feature.

The next thing you need to determine is how much disk storage and bandwidth you’ll need for your online enterprise. If it’s a relatively simple affair then you should select a relatively small plan. Someone who just wants to put up an informative page about their business won’t need as much from their host as someone who intends to supply images, video, and audio. As always, it’s important to decide what you need and then base your decisions on that.

Remember, you’ll also want to give yourself room to grow. Read the company’s user terms and policies. If you’re contracted to stick with a certain plan for a certain amount of time, make sure that it gives you room to expand your site. Maybe your site will be more successful than you planned. How bad would it be if your site starting getting tons of visitors but you had a cheap plan, with little storage and bandwidth, and then your host shut it down for exceeding its limits? If you’re not sure what you’ll need, start out with the low-level plan from a good company, but don’t sign on for a year or two at once. Stick with monthly plans or make sure you can change yours at any time so you can adjust to unforeseen popularity.

Along with the amount of disk storage and bandwidth, make sure you check your hosts data transfer rate and uptime. It won’t do you much good if you choose a service with slow speeds and frequent crashes. Reliability and speed are of the utmost importance when doing business on the internet. It’d be like if you had a great store but the power kept going out and you closed randomly.

Another feature to look at is the control panel offered by the company. The control panel allows you to manage your web site and keep track of activity. It allows you to check your bandwidth and disk storage. It also lets you see what your customers are doing. The control panel should be intuitive and informative. It should provide more information than the novice knows what to do with so it can grow with you, but it should be easy to interface with at the same time.

The web hosting company you choose should be well-established, have the right hardware, and it should provide the appropriate tools for their clients. Research the issues and avoid second-rate web operations. Once you get past the initial bump in the learning curve, you’ll find that doing business on the web can be easy and extremely profitable.

Factors You Need To Consider When Choosing Free Web Hosting Plans

Launching your online biz? If you’re still on the lookout of the best hosting plans, you’re probably comparing notes with other online biz owners who have been there. And most likely they are telling you how all reliable web hosting platforms require huge payments upfront. However you must know that there is lot more to do in launching an online biz than just a web hosting plan;you ‘ll require a web template, money to pay to the writers and coders and to use for link building.

Free Web Hosting for Low-on-budget Biz Owners

Fortunately for most of us, small biz owners, there are loads of reliable free web hosting platforms. But what about the not-so good news that you hear about free web hosting all over the World Wide Web? The thing is there will be always some bad news about all types of web hosting. If you take a chance with small hosting companies, chances are you’ll be facing loads of downtime and even restrictions when it comes to what you can modify in your site. Instead of worrying about splurging on expensive free and no ads web host to launch your business,best will be to sign up with free web hosting.

What To Look for in PHP Free Host

Truly speaking you can actually bump on to plenty PHP free host platforms . All small biz owners face this tough question of choosing the best web hosting platform. Are you still scared of mistakes? Here are some points that you need to keep in mind:

Free no ads web host. An important thing to check on your TOS is whether it’s a free ,no ads web or we-run-ads-on-your-site plan. Small biz owners refrain from using free hosting due to the automatic ad scripts running on their sites with no much benefit for them. And the ads are not only posted in one zone; you’ll find almost every type of ads possible, from pop ups to text links.

Automatic installation of script. Building sites require HTML training, to say the very least. If you’re not a coder, you need to choose a PHP free host that offers automatic script installer so you can launch a functional website in minutes. Automatic installation of scripts will help you to publish CMS,forums and blogs with just one click will help to publish these. Think of running Zen Cart, Joomla, WordPress, osCommerce and even Coppermine without worrying about understanding the scripts or even uploading files on your directory.

The control panel is user friendly. Apart from just understanding the scripts and configuring your web hosting plan there is a lot more in running your biz. And so it is essential to choose a free website hosting platform offering user friendly and accessible control panel. Check if features like add-on domains manager,emails and DNS are easily accessible. Of course, choose those that have great graphical interface that makes it easy for the eyes while you’re busy with customizing your site.

10 Web Hosting Tips to Consider When Selecting a New Host

The following are the tips one must keep in mind while choosing a new web host: -

1) One must make sure that the new web host plan offers the storage capabilities to handle all of the current website storage requirements. If the size of the website is 50MB, then one must check for the plan that offers at least that much space or more. In case one is not able to make estimates about the space required then he/she must ask his/her current host. Also this information can be found on control panel.

2) One must also check how does his/her current web host determine the amount of storage used for? It is necessary to check what one’s current and new host includes in the plan’s storage amount also one should check are one’s emails and log files counted towards his/her total storage, or the web files only?

3) Its necessary to know what operating system does one’s current hosting plan use? Windows or Unix? Mostly it makes no difference but in some cases it can make the difference between a working website and a broken website. In case one’s site is currently on a Windows server and the website uses ASP scripting, then its difficult to make things work well on a Unix server, as ASP is a Windows based programming language. So one should check immediately whether his/her hosting plan is on a Unix or Windows server.

4) Also its important to check if one’s your site currently use FrontPage? Before switching to new host one should check if the new host supports FrontPage and the prevailing version.

5) Another important issue to take care is the amount of bandwidth offered by the new host. One should check if the new hosting plan offers the same amount of bandwidth that the current host offers. This should be checked in advance to avoid unexpected high bills afterwards.

6) Make sure if the new web hosting plan gives the same amount of email accounts, auto responders and mail forwards that the current host provides.

7) Its necessary to check if one’s site uses a shopping cart that the current hosting plan provides? It is essential to have a suitable shopping cart replacement in case one desires to move the cart to the new host. So one must check that as well.

If one is using any scripts on his/her website, its important to check if one’s new hosting plan supports all of one’s scripts. One must make sure in advance if there is any need to make any modifications to scripts to get them working on the new server.

9) Don’t forget to set up the existing email accounts on the new server before transferring domain name to the new server.

10) In case user is just a beginner and even don’t know how to upload files, its necessary to check with the provider if he can do that with no extra charges. There are some hosts who offer such facility free of cost yet some don’t offer this facility because of liability issues.

It’s necessary to double check if the site looks and functions properly on the new server after completing the uploading process. Preview facility is provided in the form of preview link to see how the site looks and some hosts provide this facility before the domain name is transferred over. In case this preview facility is not available with the host, still there is a method to preview the site. One can modify his/her host’s file to preview the site. The host file tells the computer where to go to look for sites that are listed in that file and this works with any version of Windows. Here the file location can change but the file name remains the same. Below is the way to modify the host’s file:

The file HOSTS should be in the c: windowssystem32driversetc One can find a file named HOSTS.SAM (as in SAMPLE). That is OK; one can modify the HOSTS.SAM file as well and do a SAVE AS HOSTS.

In both the cases one should double click on the HOSTS file to open it. Thereafter one will be prompted by Windows to select an Application (Program) to use to VIEW the file.

Now scroll the list and select Notepad and then one should click on the OK button. The NOTEPAD program will now open, displaying the file HOSTS.

So, in order to tell computer that www.yourwebsite.com is at the address (replaced with the real IP) 12.345.678.90 one should add the following entry to the bottom of the hosts file:

12.345.678.90 www.yourdomain.com (As in the example).

Now one should click on FILE, slide down and click on SAVE AS. Then in the Save As one should type field, select ALL FILES. After completing that click on save. One warning will come which should be ignored i.e. the file already exists but that’s ok, then just one has to click YES.

Now one should close Notepad, by clicking on FILE, slide down to EXIT, and click.

Now when one will open the web browser, or try to ping the site, the system will go to the IP address one typed in the HOSTS file.

One should not forget to undo this when testing is finished else the computer will always want to go to that IP address whenever one want to go to that site.

After being satisfied with the site looks and functions, one can go to his/her registrar (where the domain name is registered) and modify the nameservers associated with one’s domain name to his/her new web host’s nameservers. In case one does not know his/her new host’s name servers, should confirm with them. However most hosts have that information listed somewhere on their website or in the email one first get after signing up for an account.

After the completion of domain nameserver modification it will take around 24-48 hours and the site will be displayed on the new server.

One must check his/her domain name and should see if the nameservers added are listed. If yes, the website transfer is complete to new web host. And after the confirmation is received one can cancel the old web hosting account.

How to Consider a Web Host?

Now that your website was built. Your next task is to find a web
hosting company that will not cost you more money and time. More
money if the hosting fee is expensive and more time if you
failed in selecting a good web host, you may try to find again
another web host to transfer all your files. How if you have an
active community? You have active visitors using your message
boards, chat, e-commerce software and other stuff on your
website. You stuck on them.

The things you need to find selection of a good web host is to
make sure they have a high-speed connection (T3 or higher) to
the Internet, price is competitive, reliable servers (hardware
ad software), they have plans available for your expansion, high
bandwidth, backup system, quality of support service (how they
handle your complaints and speed of responds), they can give you
email addresses, FTP access or file manager and other features
such as allow scripting (cgi or php or asp) and database (SQL or
MySQL). Sometimes they allow you to use their existing scripts
to your website.

Speed: – Make sure they have high-speed connection (T3 or
higher) to the Internet. Expect your visitor not to come back
again or disconnect their connection of opening your site if
you’re website is very slow.

Price: – It must be competitive. Expect to pay $3 to $50 per
month for your 5 pages website. Some web host gives you
discounts if you pay them annually. Most small web sites uses
only 2 to 5 MB web space. Choose a plan based on the size of
your website.

Reliability: – Ask them the server specifications and the uptime
guaranteed. If the computer they use is in the top brand and
model, and 99% guarantee then you are lucky. But no one can give
you 100% guarantee because there are times the earthquake and
other disasters strikes. Ask them the issues involve when
there’s disasters and how will they answer it? – Ask them about
the backup system, if they have.

Expansion: – Most of the web hosts have different plans on
expansion. Ask them if you can upgrade your plan later.
Badwidth: – Aware on this one because if they give you low
bandwidth, you’re site will not be viewed. It will happen if
your site has traffic. Support: – The quality of support is
based on their speed of response and how they solve their
problems. Most of the web hosts have experienced engineers doing
the maintenance and support. Make sure you can contact them 24/7
by phone or email. Ask them more before you sign up. Features:
These are some of the basic feature of a Web Host: – Domain name
registration – At least 5MB of allocated space – Unlimited
bandwidth – POP3 E-Mail Accounts – Email Forwarding – Email
Auto-responders – Email Aliases – FTP Access – FrontPage Support
- Own CGI-Bin Access – Free Scripts – Scripting
(CGI,ASP,PHP,etc.) – Server Side Includes (SSI) – Secured Socket
Layer (SSL) – Password Protection – Free Technical Support – 30
day money back guarantee – Room for expansion Plan your website
carefully because in the future you may need to add more pages
and add more programs. Less feature less consideration. Types of
Hosting: A. Free Hosting – Most of the Free Hosting Companies
displays thier banner on your web pages – It is only applicable
to small websites – Limited support – Limited web space -
Unreliability of server (hardware and software) – No notice when
they want to Shutdown their server – Sometimes you can’t use
your own domain name B. Virtual or Shared Hosting – No Banner
Ads – Low cost – Good for small to medium size websites – With
Support (most are free) – reliable server(s) – Speed may vary
depends on how many sites on server – Sometimes slow updates -
Can use your own domain name C. Dedicated Hosting – No Banner
Ads – High cost – reliable server(s) – Good for large websites -
Full Support (most are free) – Speed may vary depends on how
many sites on server – Can use your own domain name – Can add
more domains. This is good if you have several domains
registered. Now that you know the type of hosting and the some
basic features on a server, you can choose a good web hosting
company to serve you. It will be your partner for your online
success.

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