Oct
14
2009
If you take away internet, today’s world would become a lame one. Millions of websites thronging the internet, from the most personal ones to the fully business related ones. In such a scenario, “web site hosting” has become a common word. Now what exactly is website hosting?
Web site hosting is all about “publishing” a website on the internet. In other words, website hosting is a service in which a web hosting provider renders space to their clients on a server they own, which allows the client, individual or organization, to make their own websites accessible via the World Wide Web. But web site hosting does not come to an end with this. The need for technical support forces the web hosting providers to work round the clock making the websites accessible anytime, anywhere.
The last three-four years of the web hosting industry have been attributed with so much competition that website hosting companies are forced, in a way, to curb their prices into an all time low. Whatever be the consequences, the best thing that came out as an aftermath of all this is that of an easy access to the world of internet, placing yourself and your company in the world’s biggest encyclopedia, the internet.
The upside of the competition is the easy accessibility, but the downside is the ever-increasing number web site hosting providers in the market, which lead to a hundred questions regarding how to choose, whom to choose, and lots more. Proper research could be the only help in this respect.
You may also feel that with so many free website hosting companies available, why pay for it? It may be advisable to start with a free web site hosting company, but it is never the best option, all the more for business purposes. They can’t let you do your business out of charity! They too have to earn their part. And that they do by the numerous advertisements that they put up in your site. One more characteristic of the free website hosting companies would include their limited services. Most of them restrict the selling of certain products and contents, and also are unable to provide proper support when need arises. Whatever be the disadvantages, these free website hosting companies could prove to be helpful for those venturing into this arena for the first time.
If you are somehow able to zero down between the free and the paid web site hosting providers, the next jigsaw is to choose between the astronomical numbers of paid hosts.
You can make a long checklist before opting for the perfect web-hosting provider . The checklist would include bandwidth and disk space at the first place which are to be decided as per the type of website that you are to launch. In addition, it would also include server speed and uptime for proper functioning of your website. Other than the checklist, it is insistent to perform a thorough research before you finalize your website hosting company so that their reliability and support proves undisputable.
But that is not the end of web site hosting! The next stage would include picking the right hosting type/plan . You are to choose the most suitable type of hosting – a shared hosting, a dedicated server, virtual private web server or collocation. Shared website hosting is the best option for first timers. It is also suitable for those website owners who need to focus on their web businesses with digging into the kernel of the host servers. Dedicated servers are best suitable for dedicated hosting resellers, enterprise-level sites, web designers and developers, mission critical sites with their needs of custom server management and software implementation, corporate intranets, complicated sites with rich traffic and protected information, content restricted sites. If you are not ready to bear the expenses of dedicated server, and the disadvantages of shared web hosting are worrying you, then virtual private server is the solution. Collocation is the best option for websites that require custom software and hardware configurations, load-balancing and clustering and other advanced functions, i.e. for sites that thrive for power and resource.
The next step is that of choosing the web hosting plans. The type of website would determine the type of web site hosting plan. Personal website hosting plans, business plans, ecommerce hosting plans, and a lot more types are available as per the demand of every type of website. Personal web hosting plans are for the personal websites, individuals and starters. The data transfer rate is low in personal websites and that is why personal plans come with comparatively lower bandwidth and disk space. Business houses require a greater bandwidth and disk space for high trafficking. The ecommerce sites with huge number products require the maximum bandwidth and disk space. The type of website hosting plan is directly related to the type of website.
One more aspect of web site hosting would include the domains. Domains are names by which your website will be known in the internet. These names act as a website’s Universal Resource Locator (URL) in the World Wide Web, which is a home to thousands of websites round the globe. You need a domain to host a website. Owning your own domain name always proves fruitful, specially for the business houses. But you can also host your website with somebody else’s domain, for example http://www.a-free-web-host.com/youronlinecart.
This is just a general overview. You will have to dig the interiors of web site hosting before you chose your host, hosting type and your hosting plan. And if you are well equipped with the intricacies, website hosting could be fun and profitable.
Oct
07
2009
Compare to shared web hosting, dedicated servers may seem to be a little bit costly, but the advantages of hosting your website on a dedicated server are much significantly worth it. Dedicated server hosting or a dedicated server is a type of Internet Hosting in which the customer or a client leases a whole server. In dedicated server hosting you have a total freedom over the server to select your choice of operating system, hardware, etc as well as the server hardware is owned by the provider, so they may provide support for your applications and server issues.
However, in shared web hosting though the server is managed properly, but it cannot be completely stable and reliable. Most of the time, clients using shared web hosting has to face most of the variables like overload, bad coding and scripts which affects the reliability and stability of a server. Using a dedicated server you can avoid these type of variables as it allows you to install only those applications and softwares which you really need. As well as, to keep your clients happy and satisfied an instant support is very much important. With a dedicated web server hosting you are able to provide quick support to your own clients whenever required, which is impossible when you are on a shared server.
As far as security is concern, the entire server is dedicated to you, so no one else will have access to your server. Most of the dedicated hosting plans comes with the option of an external firewall so you can better enforce your specified access rights. Also, website hosting on a dedicated server permits you to upgrade your specific server requirements anytime such as RAM, bandwidth and increase your processor speed. As I said earlier, you often will get your choice of operating system (windows & Linux). Also, you can select your own control panel through which you are able to host multiple domains and websites. Cpanel and Plesk are majorly used control panel in the hosting market. Whereas, on shared web hosting you are not able to upgrade specific requirements, you will have to upgrade the whole package.
The shared server user actually realises the need of a dedicated server when their website stats tell that how earlier a visitor left the site due to the slow loading times. This is because, on a shared hosting, you have no idea who is uploading and what to the same shared server. Also, shared hosting plans assign a single IP address to each and every domain and website hosted on that particular server. Due to that the speed is affected at which your web applications runs. Using a dedicated server you can avoid all this by affording exclusive bandwidth and your own unique IP address so the IP address of your domain points only to your website or your web applications. As well as having a dedicated IP Address also helps you to rank better in search engines. If you are on a dedicated server your website will always be up and quickly downloadble which will encourage your existing clients to refer your service to others.
If you are really serious about getting maximum exposure for less promotion then you must get a Dedicated Server now.
http://www.google.com
Oct
06
2009
First step for creating an ecommerce website for one’s e-business is choosing an ecommerce web host. The services that ones ecommerce web host make available, can either empower or limit the functionality and efficiency of ones ecommerce business, so the selection of ones ecommerce web host is very important. Reliability and stability of ecommerce web host’s is also of great concern because ones ecommerce website is as trustworthy and sustainable as his/her ecommerce web host and the servers on which they host their ecommerce website.
One of the most important factor one should consider in choosing his/her ecommerce web hosts is the prolonged existence or longevity and consistency or reliability of the company one chooses to host his/her ecommerce website. As these days there are many people practicing internet-related business opportunities, in which some are unreliable ventures who really don’t spend the time or money to ensure that their ecommerce web host services are first-class, that’s why longevity, the amount of time that the ecommerce web host has been in business is really important. Many times ecommerce web host launches their business, using second-rate equipment and provides poor service as a result they lose their clients.
In an internet business, losing ones ecommerce web host and the resources associated with it is the greatest setback. Evidently, one can have a backup of his/her website to re- launch with a new ecommerce web host, if his webhost goes out of business without prior notice and simply vanishes. Nevertheless, one will eventually be spending a lot of time and sometimes a lot of money on website development and little changes that are made here and there for website’s functionality may not always be backed up. One should depend upon his/her ecommerce web host to backup his/her website regularly.
In the selection of an ecommerce web host, reliability is another major factor. Website downtime results in lost traffic and lost sales, Internet business owners must recognize this. Most Truly reliable ecommerce web hosts guaranty at least 99% uptime. One should pay attention to what their ecommerce web host’s policies and practices are, in respect to uptime, disaster recovery, backup procedures, and downtime prevention. Most reliable ecommerce web hosts are the one, who uses automated backup solutions to backup their servers regularly to an offsite server or to a mirror server which actually provides real-time backups.
Mirrored servers are located in a different geographic area so natural disasters do not affect their ecommerce web host clients. The mirror server can kick in and continue web hosting without interruption, when one server goes down or needs maintenance. Mirrored servers are being used by, extremely reliable ecommerce web hosts. Because of the expense associated with providing such reliable ecommerce web host services, it is not easy to find these ecommerce web host providers. One will have to pay a higher price for his/her ecommerce web hosting if he/she finds such an ecommerce web host provider.
Free ecommerce web host services as well as services offered by an internet service provider should be avoided. Although a high-quality ecommerce web host will not be cheap, but reliability is well worth what one will pay for it. The actual web hosting packages, that are available and the probability of the ecommerce web host, to provide one with automated ecommerce solutions, are the things to be considered, other than longevity and reliability, with respect to his/her ecommerce web host. Apart from scripts, control panels, software, technical support, FTP access, email services, and access to server logs and activity reports. Security, speed and space provided by ones ecommerce web hosts servers are also very important.
http://www.google.com
