Free Web Hosting Info

WebHost - Free Webhosting

2009-10-10T09:43:00.001-07:00

($0.00 webhost), is an industry leader in providing top class free web hosting services without advertising! There are no hidden costs, no adverts, and no restrictive terms. Lighting fast speeds, maximum reliability and fanatical user support are just a few of the features you'll receive with our service. Every account receives 1500MB space and a whopping 100GB bandwidth, made possible by the unmetered connections our servers utilise. Should your site ever need more than our standard package can offer and also offer a wide range of upgrade options. providing leading free cPanel hosting services with no ads since 2007. All this is made possible by our paid hosting services, including upgrades for those who need more room for growth, as well as donations from our community of users.

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Chime Host - Free WebHosting

2009-10-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

ChimeHost is one of the best in the hosting business. We strive to deliver hosting that small businesses or enterprises need to prosper on the Internet.

ChimeHost are currently located in a neutral carrier facility that gives them access to many carriers. Currently they are multihomed on Global Crossing, Verio, Williams, Hurricane Electric. However, more is being added as our network need grows.

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- Over 500 website templates ready for download
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ChimeHosting

Dot Easy - Free Webhosting

2009-10-08T23:23:00.001-07:00

Doteasy started in 2000, at the time when banner-free free domain-based business web hosting was non-existent. They introduced Free Hosting Plan in 2000 without annoying banner ads

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FreeWebHost

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2009-10-08T23:20:00.000-07:00

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How dynamic DNS works

2009-10-06T18:02:00.003-07:00

One of the important factors about the DNS is that it may be required to be dynamic especially when a particular domain is assigned to a computer with a changing IP address. In order for the DNS to have the capacity to be updated in real time, a system was created in order to address these required changes. The dynamic DNS therefore allows the domain name data to go through these modifications in real time.

How the dynamic DNS works is based on how DNS works although the dynamic systems integrated to the whole function allows more flexibility in its features. The importance of this function is that this gives the possibility for other sites to be able to establish a connection without necessarily to continuously track the IP addresses by this specific server. This is deemed helpful for sites that are also dynamic such as the consumer-focused Internet service providers. As an integral part of the Active Directory, the dynamic DNS needs to establish its maximum caching time by a few minutes in order to avoid any incidences of retaining old addresses in the different in the sites’ respective DNS cache. This also helps in the speed of contact between the servers.

When it comes to implementing Dynamic DNS in server operators, it can be initially done by miximizing the caching time or the intervals between the caching of the domains by a shorter period; in this case, the caching can be set to about one or two minutes.

Implementing dynamic DNS is also made possible through DNS hosting services where their serves retain current addresses in their database and provide client program that sends updates when changes in the IP addresses take place. Specific features in dynamic DNS hosting also depends on the service provider and the firmware that is used. For example, routers are designed to support specific dynamic DNS features such as the UMAX Ugate-3000, the first router that was able to support dnynamic DNS.

Another important note on the dynamic DNS is described by RFC 2136 as a protocol through the nsupdate utility. Although the dynamic DNS can be considered as an important feature for particular sites, an updating DNS can be also considered dangerous for security and stability reason. This is to say that it is important to utilize a feature that can authenticate dynamic DNS updates such as TSIG and using the HMAC-MD5 hash key.

Alternatives have been also designed such as Microsoft’s GSS-TSIG that usees Kerberos for authentication; this also automates the installation of hash keys. Hence, the GSS-TSIG has become a proposed standard and operating systems that run on Microsoft Windows 2000, Widows XP and Windows 2003 only uses this authenticated dynamic DNS support system. Hence, dynamic DNS has actually created a niche in different markets, especially when it comes to its potentia in the server ector. The dynamic DNS has also evolved with the continuous developments on Internet technologies, especially when it comes to better speeds and the available computer technology; this therefore gave an opportunity to the home server markets which has taken advantage of offering services for dynamic DNS functions. Hence, it is possible for small websites to become a host a dynamic IP address by merely installing relevat server setups which can still function despite its amateur level.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
‘Dynamic DNS’. 2008. Wikipedia. [Online] Available at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_DNS
‘What is Dynamic DNS?’. N.d. The Tech-FAQ. [Online] Avaiable at:
http://www.tech-faq.com/dynamic-dns.shtml

Internationalized Domain Names ("umlaut" domains)

2009-10-06T18:02:00.001-07:00

Domain names need to be recognized by the system; however, not all characters are able to be recognized through the typically used alphanumeric numbers. In this case, internationalized domain names have made text usage in DNS systems more flexible by means of including additional characters which the DNS can also read and translated. The intention of these domain names is basically to contained non-ASCII characters such as texts that contain diacritics and characters from non-Latin texts such as Arabic and Chinese.

As previously mentioned, these domain names, within the framework of the DNS, functions by means of representing the IP addresses through more recognizable name through text. Since that the text used is not necessarily universal, the tendency is that the initial system is restrictive.

The deployment of the IDN initially started in October 2002 when the Interet Engineering Streering group approved the publication of RFCS 34490, 3491 and 3492 which are the protocols on Internationaliing Domain Names in Application (IDNA). Basically, through the IDNA, the support for non-ASCII IDNs that are found within the DNS would be established. This will then allow the creation of DNS that do not have ASCII characters. By March 2003, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and a host of IDN-implementing registries developed a set of universal "Guidelines for the Implementation of Internationalized Domain Names” in which its fist version was published in June 2003.

One of the important factors addressed by these guidelines are the potential risks of cybersquatting and duplication of registered domain names which can bring confusion to consumers. In addition to this, the guidelines also made it a point to respect local languages and character sets that may be used in the domain names. Hence, one initiative was the deployment of language-specific registration and adminisration rules which can be accessed by the public. The registries also need to recognize the agreements with ICANN in addition to the fulfillment of requirements according to the guidelines.

Although initives on IDN seem to have only started recently due to the growing global response to the Internet, the idea was actually already conceived as early as 1996 by M. Duerst, with its implementation taking place in 1998 through T.W Tan and his team.

How the IDN works is initially to maximize backward compatibility. However, systems that support IDNA are only the ones that have the ability to read such domains although they can access non-ASCII sites. When an application is IDNA enabled, the system is able to convert from ASCII to non-ASCII and vice-versa, with the ASCII format utilized for DNS lookup. However, users are also able to read non-ASCII forms.

Conversions between languages are made possibel through ToASCII and ToUnicode which are both algorithms. In IDNA, each domain name level is applied separately per code. Each label can be also processed separately especially if a specific domain label is a non-ASCII; the processing of the conversion can be handled by different software such as Nameprep and Punycode.

It is also evident there are the advantages and disadavantages of using IDNA. Apparently, the IDN has allowed a more universal and flexible means to utilize language that are non-Latin in nature when it comes to the creation of domain names. However, the disadvantage can be found in the potential risks that come with the utilization of IDN application. These risks include cybersquatting and spoofing since that the utilization of full Unicode names can lead to the cretion of spoof sites or sites that replicate other sites. The challenge in this is that even the domain name and the security certificate can be spoofed in this format. What made this possible is not necessarily due to the faulty system offered by Unicode but rather the similarities of texts despite some interface differences; this shows that characters that look alike can be read similarly although the minor differences such as small punctuations and umlauts can be overlooked when reading certain data.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
‘Internationalized Domain Name’. 2007. ICANN. [Online] Available at:
http://www.icann.org/topics/idn.html
‘Internationalized Domain Name’. 2008. Wikipedia. [Online] Available at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internationalized_domain_name#Internationalizing_domain_names_in_applications

How Web Servers Work and what solutions and technologies are available

2009-10-03T18:34:00.001-07:00

It is entirely possible that you have used internet in the past, or indeed you could be using it now. But there are few of us who consider the whole process from the time one clicks "enter" into a browser to the time the page requested makes its way right into the computer screen. At the very basic level, it can be explained that the process involves some kind of interaction between the web browser and a remote server. After someone has keyed in the web address, or URL (Uniform Resource Locator, which invariably looks something like http://www.blahblah.com) into a browser, the information is unlikely to be within that computer, so the browser will request for the page from a remote server which then “serves” the page (hence the name “server”) back to the browser. But that explanation is rather an oversimplification of what goes on “behind the scenes” to make available the web page requested within so little time. There is an intricate and independent sequence of events that combine to make the internet what it is today-headquarters of both information and misinformation!

This is an attempt to explain that intricate process, and because we fully understand that past attempts to do so have mostly failed, we will try to be simple, and speak some bit of English as well. The article will proceed on an assumption that the readers know next to nothing about web servers. Perhaps the appropriate point of departure would be to explain what a web server actually is. The term actually denotes two terms, a hardware and software. The hardware part refers to the computer or machine that is used to store the information, and the software refers to the program that runs inside the machine and which is responsible for processing requests from web browsers. The description of what a web browser is perhaps should appear in another article designed for that purpose; otherwise this article might be accused of lyrical digression if it does that.

If we go back to where we started, when someone types or clicks onto a link, several things happen. The web browser divides the URL into three parts- the address, path name and the protocol. The software installed in that particular server initiates a process of data transfer between the browser and the server itself, using the appropriate communication protocol. Communication protocol can be HTTP, an acronym for is hyper Text Transfer Protocol. The browser, after dividing the URL, then communicates with the name server, commonly known as the Domain name Server (DNS), to interpret the domain name and turns it into a numerical value known as the IP address which reveal the site’s true address in the web. After that is accomplished, the web browser may then choose the protocol to be used. The protocol is usually HTTP, or FTP-file transfer protocol. If the protocol to be used is “HTTP’ then the web browser is accordingly informed that the internet user wishes to retrieve information through web port 80, which is a port used for web page communications. FTP protocol binds the internet user to get the information through port 20. Discussing these ports would be onerous for thee are hundreds of them, but for this purpose it may suffice to say that this is a system devised for easy location of servers on the internet by a body called Internet Assigned Number Authority, and that there is nothing sacred about these ports. It’s just customary to use them as they are. The software installed in a server will is premised on the kind of the operating system installed on the server. Examples of the software mostly used in servers include Microsoft’s’ Internet information Server or UNIX.

After the browser, working with DNS establishes “residence” of the web site, it then sends a request to the web server to give it the web page requested. The specific page requested is normally determined by the specifications that come after the web address, which is after .com or .net whichever the case. So if the URL looks like http://www.blahblah.com./about .asp, the path is that part that reads “about. asp”, which basically is the specific page that the internet user wants to see. If the page is available in the server, then the server will find the requested file and run the suitable scripts, and if necessary, exchange cookies (these are small pieces of information sent by a server to a browser in order to perform certain tasks, e.g. to access a page that requires passwords and usernames) then send that page to the browser using which is usually in HTML, and the web browser formats the page into a readable/viewable one. And if the page contains images, the browser sends additional requests in order for these files to appear in the screen. In practice, it’s common for one web page to be processed after the sending and granting of 5 or more requests from a server. If the page is non-existent or for some reason cannot be accessed, the server then sends“error” messages, which so many of us are familiar with back to the browser.

That in a nutshell covers most of it, unless one is an IT student. Some might ask after that tutorial, which is the most popular web server? The web server market is virtually a duopoly between Apache HTTP server, or simply Apache, and Microsoft’s Internet Information Service (IIS). Other up-and-coming web servers worth mentioning are lighttpd, and Google web server. But these are small fish here. Apache once held a near-stranglehold in the server market, holding about 70 percent of the market share as at November 2005. Although it still holds a significant lead over its main competitor, it has seen its market share drop to about 50 percent as at December 2007.

Comparing the two web servers isn’t easy, going by the vast array of features they have, and to an untrained eye, the exercise would seem like comparing a hybrid engine to a diesel fuelled one because the two systems operate quite differently. Apache, unlike ISS, happens to be offered on an open source platform, though the Free Software Society deems some of its modules to be incompatible with General Public License. Apache definitely has the edge when it comes to popularity and as well as a rich tradition, and it is credited with playing a major role in the rise of the World Wide Web. Apache supports various features, including several programming languages including mod_perl, mod_python, Tcl and PHP, and many of its versions are modular in structure. This permits users to choose modules that are appropriate for their requirements. Virtual hosting can operate in such a manner that different websites can be hosted from a single installation of Apache. Apache 2.0 is now available on many platforms including windows. ISS on the other hand limits the extent to which one can customize functionality. ISS availability has been limited to windows environment, and ISS 6.0, an earlier version, only supported windows server 2003. However ISS 6.0 was a major improvement on ISS 5.0 which appeared hopeless against internet-savvy worms such as Code Red and Nimda. ISS 6.0 was installed with “locked down” mode settings as default settings and this helped curbed worm attack. No major attacks were reported after ISS 6.0 was introduced.

The latest version of ISS is ISS 7.0, which almost rewrote everything from the earlier versions, and has made some bold changes on modularity. In this version, only the binaries needed are installed reducing the chances of attack on the web server. The other strong points of ISS 7.0 is its easiness to scale out brought about by its simplicity in configuration which are based on distributed XML files, and this makes deployment in large-scale web hosting facilities easy and quicker.

When it comes to choosing the right web server, the debate will go on and on about which one of the two is ideal. Microsoft’s ISS certainly finds favour with the Fortune 500 companies, with majority of them using it, whereas many top internet companies seem to think that Apache is the way to go. Each of the two rivals offers compelling reasons for their use. Apache’s distributed configuration feature is called .htaccess which is a powerful tool that makes it possible for the configuration of a site to be overridden using text file in the content directory. But alas, using the feature may cause problems and in Apache’s own website, it is recommended that one avoids using it altogether. ISS on the other hand, also does support distributed configuration in web.config format. But suppose you also want to override the document for a site using ISS; here is where the difference is. The setting will be stored in the web.config file by default. Clearly, there are considerations one should make, depending on the circumstances one is in, and the choice is not always dependent on the price. For instance if you choose a system which is free but is unfamiliar to you or our staff, you may see overheads going up in the form of training costs. Plus in future one may find that he may need to hire experts to update or configure the system, further driving up the costs of what was otherwise “free” software. If one runs, a cost conscious operation but with the right support, them Apache would be the natural choice. For most small enterprises with no money to hire support, but with enough money to buy proprietary applications, then ISS would be the choice for them. ISS is almost free if one buys Windows operating system. Apache is available as a free download, and comes with many Linux distributions. It’s not all about ISS or Apache, but like the article hinted earlier, there are other web server options. Sun java System Web Server is also available for downloading without paying a dime, but only for developing, testing and staging needs. Actually, the production list for Sun Java System is about $1,500 per one Central Processing Unit. There is also Zeus technology web server available for roughly the same size as Sun Java system, but for two CPU's. But this might require an administrator who is not faint hearted, and further, if one wishes to deploy on windows, one may have to change plans as Zeus system does not allow that. Choosing the right web server system is actually a balancing act between your needs, administrative capabilities as well as one's organization's skills.

From the foregoing one can spot some of the weaknesses of each web server as implied herein. For instance, ISS is only available for windows, and until Microsoft paraded its latest version, only Apache was modular, thereby limiting ISS on customization. One might find himself confronted with high maintenance and training bills for running Apache. Thus it can be said none of these web servers is perfect and each of them has got its strongest points as well as its weaker ones.

The other topic for discussion in this issue is the web application server. Web application servers are often confused with web servers. But these workhorses are differentiated from web servers by the widespread use of server-side content (content that is generated by the server) and constant integration with database engines. In other words, these are middleware that connects software applications with the web servers. Actually upon closer scrutiny, the definition of the term “application server” has evolved. In its strict sense, an application server manages the connection between a client and server-side applications. Nowadays, the term has come to refer things such as development tools, business intelligence tools, data integration tools, e-commerce and personalization services and such things. Here is how they work. When a user, though his browser, requests a file that web application servers usually processes, the web server relays that request to the web application server which then processes the request and then ultimately sends the results back to the server. The web server then returns the results to the browser. The application servers serves to “relieve” web servers some of the work. Maybe it can be looked at this way. Requests to a single web server might run into thousands or even hundreds of thousands, this might serve to bring the web server into a virtual standstill. By doing all this “donkeywork” the web application server’s gives web developers time to concentrate on building more interactive and data rich websites which have functionalities such as generating flash application data as well as creating ecommerce websites. Today, there are over 20 web application servers, and they are commonly referred simply as application servers, perhaps to reflect that these are used in internal networks, and according to industry watchers, many of them nowadays use Java technology, apart from traditional lone-rangers such as Microsoft’s Windows Server 2003.

There are Java application servers, a JSP and servlet runner. J2EE is the other application. There are products that don’t fit into these two classifications, and they are normally known for their frameworks or language. They include Macromedia’s ColdFusion and Apple’s WebObjects. The recurring theme in all these is interoperability despite maintaining their server products. When it comes to the price, the gulf can be wide as the Grand Canyon. There are application servers that cost nothing and there are those that cost thousands of dollars per CPU. But between these two extremities, it’s possible to find application servers that are reasonably priced especially for small businesses. But whether one chooses free goodies or spends stacks of cash on these products, one thin remains certain; there is multitude of choice enough to make one spoilt for choice. This issue will attempt to compare the various application servers available in the market, but this exercise can never be regarded as definitive, but it’s a good start.

Apache Tomcat 5.x is a servlet runner, and doesn’t support many of modern features of commercial products. This is an open source web application server and is especially favored by small businesses. Caucho Resin is another application server, but with a price tag of about $1000 per server, it is not for the faint hearted. But actually it performs better than most servlet engines in major areas. Then there is Sun Java Application System that was formerly known as Sun-Netscape Alliance iPlanet. It offers a compatible platform to developing and deploying Java Web Services, naturally. It is offered on different platforms, platform 8 being free whereas platforms standard 8 and enterprise 7 costing anything between $2000 per CPU and $10,000 per CPU respectively. Zope 2.7 is another popular application server. Written in Python language, it is designed for creating content management systems. To its credit, and despite being offered on an open source platform, Zope is a powerful application platform. Macromedia’s ColdFusion is also a formidable application server. Applications can be compiled to Java and deployed on J2EE servers. It has another advantage of being an easy to manage, and has good integration with Macromedia development tools.

How DNS works

2009-10-03T18:33:00.001-07:00

One of the important things to be reminded of when it comes to DNS was the necessity of its property as an open source; this is to say that the DNS has to be fault free and can be trusted by the Internet community.

Another important function of the DNS is its ability to provide a convenient solution to addressing. Given that the number of network users are increasing, the DNS is able to come up with an easier means of identification instead of using the IP addres of the computer. IP addressses are usually made up of a unique 32-bit number in dotted decimal form which was translated by the “HOSTS.TXT” table. The DNS therefore prevented the table from going through an overcapacity by effective functioning.

How the DNS works is significantly due to its essence as a hierarchical name space; hence, there is the top-level domains (TLDs), the second level domains, and so on. When the Internet was at the period of early developments, the identified TLDs depended on the name of the organization such as .arpa, .csnet, .bitnet and .uucp which were the four main organization-networks that were internetworked. Eventually, in 1986, these four groups, along with Postel and Mockapetris, initially came up with 7 TLDs: .com, .net, .org, .edu, gov, .mil and .int. These TLDs are assigned according to the function of a certain group or organization; the next chapters will explain further on these TLDs.

After the identification of a top level domain name, the second level domain name further identifies the uniqueness of an address. These second level domain name are therefore unique. For example, a number of organizations may share a .com, but only one of them will own a specific name following the .com; for example, there is only one yahoo.com and google.com. At this point, there is already a specfication of a domain although further specifying a domain is necessary as a user further navigates this specific domain. Hence, there is also the third level domain which specifies a series of other areas. At this point, it is possible that a domain already stops at third level since the created pyramid of hierarcy already allows the creation of unique paths without replicating another. The third level domain can therefore identify functions, geographical or other organization of any portion of the name space.

With this pyramid, the apex of the DNS already established thirteen root servers with each of these servers listing the IP addresses of the computers that contain the zone files fr each of the top level domain names. The hierarchy therefore makes it possible for the processing of the name-to-number distribution since there is no single central server that serves as a reference point of translation unlike the former centralized and “HOSTS.TXT” system. What happens is that through the DNS, when a user enters a query into the computer, the user “starts” at the bottom of the pyramid where a series of identification, through the entered domain name, becomes a means to create a direct path that goes through the computer of a specific domain. Hence, for example, if a user looks for the email page of the website of yahoo.com, the entered domain name identifies the .com as a commercial address (top level), and the proceeding relay of information takes place within yahoo.com instead of going through a centralized server. As a result, the hierarchy is able to identify the corresponding IP address that is specific within a certain domain.

dns-picDomain Name Space Workflow
(image from ‘Domain Name Space’, Wikipedia)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
‘Domain Name System (DNS) History’. 2008. Living Internet. [Online] Available at:
http://www.livinginternet.com/i/iw_dns_history.htm
Weinberg , J. 2000. ‘ICANN and the Problem of Legitimacy’. Duke Law Journal,
vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 187 +

Web Hosting Company

2009-10-03T05:35:00.001-07:00

Do you already have a web site and are thinking of upgrading or possibly moving to another web hosting company? This can be a difficult decision to make because you end up asking yourself; is this going to improve my site? Will this get any better? Am I jumping from the frying pan into the fire? Most hosting company’s will tell you that for only a few dollars that they will give you everything and the kitchen sink, but they also protect themselves by stating that while you have access to the resources that the package offers, you cannot impede on the resources of the server as it is a “shared” environment. This may sound like false advertising or misleading, but it isn’t. It is only logical as you may understand that as long as you do not affect other users negatively because you are hindering the performance of their web sites, you will be able to use as much as you need, within “fair use”. It becomes a problem only when you know your web site is highly used and you try to get away with something cheap. Be realistic and if you know that your web site needs better resources, then PAY for it.
When to upgrade or move to another web hosting company?

You may be using your web site for personal use or for business, but in the end you want the performance to be stable and not fluctuate up and down all the time. There are many web hosts out there that ONLY offer one service and that is shared web hosting. If and when you outgrow this or you are asked to upgrade because you are utilizing too many resources, you have no place to go, but to another company. Sounds simple? Not even close. This would mean countless hours of downtime and possible restructuring of your website (WHEN you finally do find a new web hosting company), not to mention the potential emails lost. Even with a smooth migration of your site, you will still encounter issues. Do you really want to put up with that? As you search through review lists of other web hosting companies, look for those that will handle your needs down the road. You may not ever need to upgrade or move to another web hosting company, but it is always nice to know that you don’t hit a dead end if the need arises.

Webspace

2009-10-02T21:59:00.000-07:00

Got a web site already? Have you ever wondered how much web hosting space you actually used? There are a lot of factors that will determine that. What do you do with your website, or what are your future plans such as a photo gallery or download availability of files? Photo files are a big part of your webspace availability and if you have an itchy trigger finger, you’ll find that you will have hundreds, if not thousands of photos before you realize it. It’s good to at least have an idea that you will be using quite a bit of webspace (storage) before looking for a hosting provider. A business based web site needs only as much storage as needed IF it has a large product line, but most businesses already know approximately how much they will require beforehand. Personal web sites are very ambiguous, so it is more difficult to gauge whether the web site will grow or maintain what it already has with minimal increase of storage needs.

Worrying about web storage is not the be all and end all in making a decision regarding which web host you should use. You do need to think about long term because it is not in your best interest to find a web host and find out there won’t be enough webspace for the future. Then that would mean finding a new host, then moving all your files. This is obviously not in any individual’s wishes.
Webspace, what’s it worth to you?

There are many companies out there that offer massive amounts of webspace, or at least seem to at a very very low cost. Many web hosting companies that offer this will play the numbers game and hope that 90% of the customers, only use 10% of the space and therefore, things even out. The average website barely uses 10% of the webspace given to them and more often than not, it does work out. If you want to be safe, choose a web host that costs a bit more and offers less space. This may sound really unorthodox, but realistically, it offers a fair service for a fair price and not something that MIGHT or might not have problems in the future. Do not get yourself into a situation where a problem can occur. It is always a good idea to prepare yourself and be cautious. After your decision is made, always retain a copy of your files as nothing in this world is 100% full proof and it would be a shame for you to lose your files permanently that might have taken you years to build up.

SEO - A Basic Introduction

2009-10-02T21:55:00.000-07:00

Search engine optimization or SEO is the method of modifying a website to make it "search engine" to drive more traffic to the web site as possible. To do this properly, you must have an excellent understanding of how search engines figure out and also be well aware that people use search terms to search for information relevant to a particular web site. The site must be improved in May and content edited out to be more relevant and to give them the best probability of appearing on all lists of research.

For example, if a user does a search on an engine like Google, Yahoo or MSN or any of the 100s of others, they enter their keyword or keyword and a number of pages with web address* will be returned. If your web site is not in the 1st few pages using relevant keywords for your business, so the chances of acquiring traffic to your web site in any type of number is reduced significantly .

Ideally, you want to appear on the top of search results as conceivable, and this is where SEO comes in. Search engine optimization is frequently done in conjunction with Pay per click or PPC advertizing to drive traffic to a site.

Is - how it works

In the early days on the internet, webmasters of the sites created and the URL to several search engines so that their web site* will be capable to appear on the lists of research. The search engine bots then "crawl" through websites to extract and index the links too.

Webmasters wishing to see their research sites on top of themselves began to quickly handle their sites to get the better results. For example, the use of algorithms to search for meta tags used by search engines for rankings, but they failed to develop sites in Internet searches primarily because the system relies heavily on information that has been provided by the site owner or webmaster, such as meta tags and keywords.

There was nothing to prevent a webmaster to submit Meta tags that have nothing to do with the existent content of their site and this resulted in a large number of sites appear in search lists, which were completely irrelevant. Search engines quickly taken on this and other questionable practices and change their algorithms and their patterns.

Search engine optimization and how it is nowadays

These days SEO is a much more complicated and the search engines are much more complex than they were. For example, Google ranks sites based on hundreds of different factors and we do not know the algorithms used to rank pages.

Professional Optimizer search engine will be able to perform the task of optimizing your website for search engines to ensure that your site gets ranked higher in Internet searches. You have a good intellect of what works and what does not, what is ethical and what is not. They will learn how search engines, what search engines are seeking packaging and how to give you all the better possible results.

For any hosting related research, you should see the top hosting reviews.

How to get a higher rank of your website in search engines

2009-10-01T00:30:00.000-07:00

Let me share with you a few tips on getting more business with your website. You must be having a website but is it still not on the first 10 pages of popular search engines like MSN, Yahoo and Google?

Let me tell you the first thing to do to get your site featured in the top few pages, of these major search engines. Maybe you need to get a higher search engine rating and be able to attract more traffic to the site, provided your hosting company keeps you online. The basic step to get a higher rating is to get the website to comply with the requirements of the search engine guidelines. Each search engine has uniform guidelines to help your site conform to standard procedures.

Your website content should be keyword rich, according to your website theme. Get a good writer to do your content so that the keywords needed for ranking are creatively blended in the text content.

Another tip for getting a high rank is to get your site address or URL in the free website directories online. People look for online directories to search for websites, so you have a higher chance of people stumbling on your website. More links can help your website ranking to a large extent. Publicity can get you a higher ranking too!

Make efforts through discussion boards and forum listings to get popularity for your site. You get ‘back links’ when you ask people on forums to review your site and they click on your website address or link. This helps you get your website address clicked to increase your chances of a higher rank! Invaluable reviews can help you modify and improve the website and web hosting, creating an increased interest on your site.

The last effort is to pay for a listing on popular online directories. Usually, popular search engines charge a fixed price per year, like Yahoo charges about $299, for a year of listing. Although there are many other paid website directories, which can easily be found, if you do a simple search. Your website rank considerably increases if you follow these useful tips.

The major attraction of a higher rank is the increased traffic on your site. So, why lose out on the advantage of getting business? Try out these unique tips and watch your rank go up within a few days!

Free Domain Name

2009-09-28T10:27:00.001-07:00

CO.CC has become the world's #1 choice for best free domain name registrar and the leading provider of Internet services including:
- free dns service
- online marketing
- url forwarding
- Sub domains
- CNAME,A,MX,NS,TXT
- Control Panel
- Google Apps
- Windows Live Custom Domain
- Web forwarding
- e-mail and more.

Joomla Hosting

2009-09-28T10:25:00.000-07:00

Joomla Hosting allows adequate robustness and bandwidth programming responsiveness and memory allocation to host updated Joomla applications and open source applications, Joomla installations, online Joomla web site portals, and Joomla front end features. Joomla functions with as many modules as a web hosting company can support . But inadequate Joomla web hosting in terms of bandwidth, memory, downtime, or ad placement can rout a website launch like no other element of online content management.

Joomla Hosting offers push button Joomla open source installation with Windows and/or Linux programming running underneath. The installation of an open source application like Joomla requires web hosting that supports and answers every line of Joomla code and can support as many users as the website can attract. Joomla is a popular web portal application because legacy users have grown used to Joomla's keyword and meta tag features, programmed article publications, guest editor and contributors, and specified Super User and administrator defined Joomla registered user group features.

Joomla web hosting must support the programmming of a given website and online portal at once, for ads, links, popups, content, images, formatting, and site presentation add-ons and specialized custom code. The Joomla hosting must allow for extended CSS editing and script hacking. Search engines index Joomla sites according to their uniqueness and variability from the base installtion profile. Thus the inability of a Joomla web hosting account to service programming changes to an initial Joomla installation makes the hosting irrelevent to the webmaster's purpose.

Access to Joomla administration features, Joomla web security updates, administration panels and editor and contributor logins require a functional Joomla web hosting with ability to refer traffic and service member logins and editing and administration capabilities. Consistent url request service and accurate versioning make a qualified Joomla web hosting account a must for accountable webmasters and site administrators. Online web hosting for Joomla websites must allow for adequate server response and burstability for sudden spikes in user interest and site visits. Joomla is known as a feature-rich CMS application for intermediate users to yield full benefit.

A qualified Joomla web hosting account must support PHP and MySQL as well as a quantity of site traffic requesting difference points of the content database and programmed feature catalog for that website. Joomla query and user experience optimization should be handled by qualified Joomla web hosting companies with redundancy and backup features. The indices and the search engine optimization setup for article keywords and programmed publishing requires consistently serviceable Joomla web hosting with a minimum of downtime tolerance.

Joomla hosting should be able to service newsletter functions to email lists of Joomla site members as well as stand up to security breaches with error reporting and 404 customized message handling. The ability to transition between themes must be supported by adequate programming and interface support by the Joomla web host. The referral and editing requirements of a Joomla web hosting account from the administration perspective must adapt to quick saves, updates, and programmable web publications of articles and other Joomla portal features.

The website core development from the Joomla web hosting account must allow for entire directories of images to be hosted and entire lines of code to execute from the resident directory without lag time or processing delay. Joomla web hosting must display custom headers and skins as designed by custom designers who must assume excellent Joomla hosting integrity for the Joomla website to efficiently operate. Premium Joomla web hosting will have automatic installation options and features inside an web hosting installation gateway.

Web hosting that is to slow or burdened with other traffic to support Joomla application portals will yield errors and issue untold problems upon installation attempts. Broken links, missing directories, or deleted databases are just some of the problems associated with inadequate Joomla web hosting. Competent webmasters and web site administrators avoid eradicated data and time consuming stumbling blocks by purchasing qualified Joomla web hosting. Error resolution for Joomla installations can be expensive and extremely problematic.

The Joomla application requires installation of plugins which rather tax the Joomla web hosting robustness. A weak web hosting account or overused servers will not establish a Joomla site presence equal to its full potential. Good full feature developed Joomla sites are good referral sources for qualified Joomla web hosting. PHP scripts and customized style sheets need a little extra support from originating request responses to Joomla sites. The polish and appeal of a Joomla website is a by-product of qualified robust Joomla web hosting.

Joomla web hosting must be redundant and support Joomla programming enough to operate functionally and display content and images while rendering custom themes and optional plugins. Ease of use for experienced Joomla webmasters and website administrators will always demand a Joomla web hosting account that can support all the Joomla features the application offers. Installation commands can fail and sample data can disappear. Joomla web hosting with installation features can eradicate Joomla package problems, local to remote server installations issues, and other portal challenges to non-Joomla web hosting.

Only qualified robust and tested Joomla web hosting can bear the brunt of a CMS content portal and a multiplicity of features like backup and restore capability in support of web site administration. Joomla installations can vary according to virtual hosting and web server organization and naming. Proven web hosting that supports Joomla will have the buges and problems weeded out. No combing through complicated and time consuming open source forums looking for answers. Qualified Joomla web hosting means no Joomla menu disappearances and no empty components or Joomla modules lost in web space.

Without seamless Joomla web hosting, site path convergence and shared virtual hosting can confuse programming and template issues. Hard path sequences, re-coding, and skins and CSS issues are avoided with efficiently powered Joomla web hosting. Without troubleshooting and Joomla package installation issues out of the way, every type of challenge from a database error to migration failure will occur. Joomla modules and themes may not render correctly or versioning updates and security patches may not program appropriately.

The complexity of the Joomla portal installation is mirrored by the rich optimizing result and functionality of its application offerings. But without qualified Joomla web hosting capable of launching and optimizing the Joomla visitor experience, a webmaster is likely to lose key productivity on avoidable installation and programming glitches. When customer vending tools and Joomla Mart modules, custom components and programmed optmization are needed, only qualified Joomla we hosting can serve the webmaster's site development utility best.

Understanding Web Hosting Basics

2009-09-28T10:22:00.000-07:00

It is very common to see various types of people having their own website, based on their type of profession. Looking at others, you too may get inspired to own a website. So, you get a suitable domain name registered for yourself. But you must also be well prepared to decide on a suitable web hosting plan too. This post will provide you with the required information with regard to understanding web hosting. Before you even decide to register your domain name, you must also decide who your web hosting provider is going to be. It is easy to register a domain name but when it comes to understanding and selecting your web hosting provider, you need to think in the right direction before taking the final step.

You will need a server to host your website so that your website is viewed by many people, over the internet. It is the web hosting service provider who takes the responsibility of putting your website on a computer (server) which is connected to the internet. It is up to you to decide whether you want to host your website by using your own server or you can use an internet service provider to host. Mostly, it is advisable to take help of an internet service provider because they can facilitate benefits such as powerful server hardware, high speed connections and reliable server support.

There are basically two main types of web hosting concepts.

The first one is “shared hosting” and the second is “dedicated hosting”. If you choose shared hosting type of service provider for hosting your website, then the hosting package becomes affordable. This is because you will have to pay only a portion of the server fee, instead of paying for the entire server. Mostly, people host their websites by using shared hosting (virtual hosting)

If you choose a dedicated server, you then have to choose to rent the entire server for your own use. You can also choose to buy a server instead of renting it. But it is you who have to decide to take the right step towards your web hosting plan, depending upon your actual web hosting requirement.

The Top Practices in Corporate Blogging

2009-09-26T16:51:00.001-07:00

Today’s internet society, blogs are a staple in hot tools of web communication. Blogs give people the chance to produce their free personal website, where they can share opinions and communicate with others. Such blogs have also made it into the government and corporate sections of the world today. What was once just a form of grassroots journalism and teenage expression has transformed into a real tool of communication for businesses, whether large or small.

Corporate blogging deals with companies who make or support certain blogs, which they then use to achieve their business goals. As with everything else in this world, there are several practices that can be considered the top-notch ones in letting the company get the most benefits. Here is how to turn your blog into a huge success.

1. Always know what it is that you are doing.

The legal and corporate communications department should thoroughly teach senior management what these blogs are and how they can truly affect the business in the long run. By doing this, those in senior management can even start contributing to the blog, enhancing employee relations in the process. The participation and support of such members usually makes blogs much more effective.

2. Make policies for your blog.

No matter what medium is used to share information with an employee, there is always that chance that financial information or trade secrets will leak. Blogging may also end up becoming too personal. Because of these reasons, companies should make policies for their blogs to make sure that everything is kept secret and that personal lives will not get in the way. Such policies could include a sanction of severe consequences if financial information leaks.

3. Keep your blog fresh at all times.

Blogs are only interesting if they are constantly updated with new content. Fortunately, blogs are easy to use, so they can be updated all the time. In order to keep readers interested enough to keep coming back, the content must always be new and relevant. Remember that content can be about anything, from job openings to product releases to recent news. It is pretty much impossible not to have anything to post about.

Keep in mind that your blog is there to show what your company is thinking, as well as to share your company’s goals, missions, and views of life. Blogs are there to be used to communicate with employees and customers alike, and it is also a factor in brand experience. Keep it consistent to save your company’s impression the way you want it to be saved.

The best blog hosts for web hosting can be found at our web hosting reviews from the homepage of the site. First find a good host and choose the blog of your choice as there are many blog software to choose from. most are free and some you have to pay for, but it's all up to you.

An online store in 12 steps

2009-09-26T16:50:00.000-07:00

Entrepreneurs and managers, who are considering starting an e-commerce should not overlook any of these aspects of the process.

Some readers have asked us to address the basics to establish an electronic business and although the issue is much more extensive that we cover here, we present the following scheme which is valid only for cases of virtual shops (library, supermarket, pharmacy, Sales of cars, etc).

However, we do two caveats: First, we are aware that every business has its specific characteristics and requirements, and this super-synthesis we refer only to the common features in all. And second, we try to give an overview of all major aspects to launch an e-commerce, not assuming that "e-commerce" are all doomed to success, thanks to the millions of Internet users ..." who do not get in the process after the start of the store.

1. Clarify the situation of the project:

Looking for "internet" a business that already exists? You need to add value to a web business that is already running, or is considering setting up a new one based on an outside Internet? Perhaps you are thinking of a completely new business including, but none of this is obvious and not well defined is one of the reasons for the failure of many projects.

2. Define your business goals:

Away from the opportunities of electronic commerce to provide services to other companies or to supply goods and digital services, installation of a virtual retail sale of goods or services may be aimed at reducing business costs of intermediation, extending the scope of the current market and substantial improvement of customer service.

3. Specify the scope of transactions:

If you have a business whose products are delivered to a website with full online sale will require a comprehensive and integrated e-commerce. Moreover, you may need to provide for insurance and after-sales services. But it could be an Internet business that generates traffic "walk" to the real business, or could only aspire to provide the services charged in a separate instance of the web.

4. Have ready the domain (www.elnombredesunegocio.com):

Not only is the brand name but also the store is the location of your business on the Internet as a globally recognized identification card. Even though short-term is raised to install an e-business, it is recommended to check the availability of names which you might use in the future and that the records of a good time, before another forward are ...

5. Register as a cyber-trader:

To charge by credit card and local currency, you must obtain a digital certificate that accredits to sell products online because it complies with strict safety standards. This certification provides the technological companies that specialize in designing electronic systems for buying and selling which in turn are supported financially in the company behind the credit cards.

6. Financial Support:

Similarly, to collect on-line via credit card, you must have the backing of a bank support, financial and information technology. Furthermore, it must take into account that each bank has its own computer systems to which your e-business must adapt and have different costs and fees for the various aspects involved in the service.

7. Specialized hosting services:

A website that has electronic purchase payment required to operate a dedicated server other than requiring by the other websites. The company providing the service for this type of server, you also need to comply with international standards and safety requirements. It is common that comprehensive offers and integrated e-commerce partner financial companies, programming and web page hosting (hosting).

8. Store in terms of website:

The user of the website and retail store functions as an electronic catalog of products with the greatest amount of digitized information helps to make a purchase decision, and as an ordering system and pay online. On the other hand, for the trader, the website is related and is supported by an administrative system that links the inventory and orders on one hand, and the collection system on line with the actual release of the products on the other.

9. Design and operation of the store:

What types of products will be sold? Do they require service guarantees or after sales? How many are now and how many could be in the medium and long term? How much information is digitized on the products and how much is required for users to make a purchase decision? Where did optiene and how should this information be processed? How should one look store graphically with such products and which system to update the contents of it? Additionally, we plan to use the information in databases and apply standard graphics that facilitate the navigation of users.

10. The programming system of payment:

The system of payment, usually we see symbolized in a supermarket trolley (shopping cart) is a program developed to suit the specific requirements of the store, which relates what we call the product catalog, with the purchase the same specific administrative and business systems, which allow you to receive a purchase order, make a charge on a credit card and dispatch a product. This system should make synergy with financial services and accommodation above, and trading with functionality to the store as a catalog.

11. The release of the actual products:

With the situation of most state systems of mail in Latin America and the high cost of private services, this is one of the main obstacles to not detonate the supply of electronic commerce on the Internet. Nothing bearing systems and more sophisticated designed stores if the release of products is a Carm. Be clear that the size and weight of the products have a direct impact on the cost of the entire operation and requirements of transport.

12. Advertising business:

Nobody will come to a virtual store by chance. You have so much responsibility for promoting the business as it has with the points we mentioned earlier. Many e-commerce projects have failed because they did not anticipate to outset the resources and publicity plan for them. An online store needs to be promoted within and outside the Internet as other mass media. This is critical to the success of the store and a strategic way of thinking complement is an early in the establishment of a database of customers with whom they interact as an ongoing promotion.

Finding the best rated hosting reviews can be difficult, but we have put together all the

Decide What You Want

2009-09-26T16:48:00.000-07:00

Find out what your own purpose and goal is with what you want to do. Are you just looking to make tons of money very fast? Or do you want to build a
healthy business online, based form your own home?

If you are looking for the quick buck, I would encourage you to think again and evaluate if you think that is a realistic long term option for
supporting yourself financially. If you really, really want to get rich quick, I suggest you look for information somewhere else because you will not
find what you are looking for here.

If you are looking for the option of building a home based internet business step by step to supplement your income, and maybe even with the aim that
in the future it will provide you with a full income, I suggest you keep reading.

Being clear about your motivation also involves thinking about what you would like to achieve both in personal and financial terms. Is the motivation
that you would like to come free of your job? To be able to spend more time with your kids, have financial freedom, or are you checking out if a
online home based business is something for you?

No matter what your motivation is, it is important to be clear with it because you can then set realistic goals for what you are going to achieve. It
also helps you set time frames for how much time you are going to spend with your new endeavor. If you are aiming to high, you will most probably get
disappointed. Keep your goals achievable, and you will feel like a success when you get your first pay check.

If you state a monthly goal that you would like to achieve, then do not include the time that you are spending building your site. And yes, if you
want to do internet marketing you will need your own website. There are people who are making a living from promoting other peoples products via ads
and via email, but this is not the method recommended here. You can read more about different affiliate marketing strategies in the part on affiliate
marketing.

Depending on how much time you can spend, it will take you a while before your site is up and running and receiving traffic. If you on your first
site are managing 100 unique visitors a month after three months, you are doing well.

Do not expect to see a great monthly income in the first months. My SBI site which is a hobby site is making between 300$ to 600$ a month in
advertising and affiliate income. The site is one year old, and has for periods been without any maintenance at all. I would say that is pretty good.
I did not start to see real income before after 3 -4 months.

SIDE NOTE:

Do not quit your job before you have more then sufficient income to pay all your monthly

expenses and have set aside enough money to cover a few months of expenses if your income

Generosity as a basis of e-business

2009-09-25T15:42:00.001-07:00

The more developed technology is cheaper, at some point becomes free? The response also helps to understand why the traffic from users on the Internet is determined by the generosity of the content.

In the industrial economy there is a proportional relationship between the performance of the technology and its cost. The best thing is worth. But the advent of microprocessors accelerated process of technology upgrading and making them faster cycles of reproduction of the value of products at lower costs.

More or less in 1988, a cell phone cost $ 1500, but in 1998 (only 10 years later) it cost only $ 200. At present the telecommunications companies give more aggressive in marketing the device for the purchase of a new customer. This enables us to understand where the greatest generosity may become the detonator of the key core business of an enterprise.

What is most evident in telecommunications and other information technology is the same for other industries. Away from the effects of inflation are no better and cheaper cars, medicines, appliances, transportation and services?

Generosity is a key business strategy in the emerging economy. Cheaper products are what critical mass in the growing market is for them. If at the beginning it was a privilege that cheaper telecommunications make more than one line in the house, each family member has a cell phone and that there are dramatic improvements as the identification of who is calling, call waiting or teleconferencing among others.

The demand is changing:

In classical economics the supply of goods grows only if demand increases, but under the principle of constant improvement and cheapening of technology are constantly creating new opportunities for demand (i.e. business). If there is more supply of resources then there is more demand for them.

In this respect, generosity in the new businesses is a key to its expansion in the same way as they are satisfied customers. In other words, generosity is equal to more supply and this in turn becomes more customer satisfaction resulting in more demand.

When information is organized on the Internet, Yahoo is a paradigm of generosity by this. It has been organized more broadly and free information on Yahoo, the more ubiquitous then it becomes recognized.

There are the cases of Microsoft and Netscape which established new businesses based on their generous free navigation of the Web, Sun Microsystems or "gift" the Java code to create a community of programmers in this new language, or QUALCOM "giving "The basic version of the program for managing electronic mail (Eudora) as a function of selling upgrades.

The value of generosity:

Goods and services with more value in a network economy that is emerging as the most shared (ubiquitous), and the most cost effective way to maximize the ubiquity of the gratuity.

I am not suggesting that the new economy is based on the gift of things. No, I'm proposing that generosity is a key strategy for the establishment, expansion or consolidation of business in a networked economy as it has been emerging around the Internet.

Naturally, one might almost say the essence of strategic planning in the web economy, is to determine how to compete and win in a market so generously, which is not only a strategy of marketing business but also it makes sense if generosity is a function of detonation products and services in return.

E-Commerce – 8 Tips You Can Make It Better

2009-09-25T15:41:00.002-07:00

By Kabir Bedi

E-commerce is becoming increasingly popular as more and more companies decide to take their businesses online. Not only can it act as a efficient revenue channel for businesses, it can also boost their existent sales figures by increasingly accessibility to the audiences.

Here are 8 tips that will help you make your e-commerce website better and more effective.

1. Make your website Interactive!

Your e-commerce website may have a great visual appeal but what customers really look forward to is the usability. Include tools and features that would help your customers interact with your website and understand your products better. Remember, the more they know about your products and their benefits, more are the chances that they'll buy them. So, include product reviews, interactive images, demo videos and even chat app where visitors can talk to an online customer care person.

2. Track Shopping Cart Abandoner

An abandoned shopping cart is not always a lost sale. Rather, you can use it as an opportunity to turn freebie hunting customers into actual revenue generating ones. If your customers are looking for some free stuff, tempt them with the same. Use the 'Get it for Free' model and make them buy products in order to receive free goodies.

3. Target your Email Campaigns

Different people have different interests and shopping patterns. This is why you need to segment your customers and divide them into groups based on their behavior or demographics and then send targeted email campaigns. The more targeted your audiences are, the more effective will the message of your newsletters be.

4. Use Google Alerts

Google Alerts will let you stay up to date with what is happening in your industry. Just include keywords pertaining to your line of business and industry along with your company name. You will get regular alerts about all the relevant news items and happenings.

5. Establish good Inbound Links

Inbound links determine the online popularity of your website. They not only attract traffic but also play a crucial role in determining the search engine ranking of your website. In fact, effective link building is one of the most important processes of SEO.

6. Think about Interactive Presentation

One factor that contributes to the uncertainty of online shopping from physical shopping is that customers cannot touch or feel a product as they can do in real life. You need to bridge this gap by providing big and neat interactive images so that they can experience the product just like they do in a retail store. Make sure all your products are presented in a organized manner accompanied with vibrant images and accurate descriptions.

7. Include Client6 Testimonials

Reviews and testimonials by clients go a long way in making new customers feel more confident about their purchase from your website. They increase the credibility of your business leading to lower shopping cart abandonment and higher overall revenue.

8. Do some Intensive SEO

Search engine optimization is important for all the website, especially so e-commerce website. This is what enhances the visibility of the website on the web and attracts more traffic. With intensive SEO procedures, you can be sure that you get relevant shoppers on your website and not just window shoppers. Hire professional SEO services to make this happen.

Kabir Bedi works as a senior web consultant with LeXolution IT Services, a professional web designing company that offers a range of web services including website maintenance and website design & development services. He helps the company deliver all these services efficiently and effectively.

How To Submit Your Website On DMOZ Successfully!

2009-09-25T15:41:00.001-07:00

By Kabir Bedi

Dmoz id the largest directory system on the internet listing over 4 million websites. Maintained and managed by human editors, this directory has increased credibility in the world wide web because it doesn't rely on automated robot based crawlers. That is why if you get your website listed on Dmoz, it can also play an important part in determining your ranking in Google search results. In fact, Google uses Dmoz results in its own directory. And this is why submission on Dmoz is a daunting task. Your website needs to be highly credible if it needs to be accepted by Dmoz.

Here are some tips that you should follow in order to make your submission on Dmoz a successful one.

Include detailed Contact Information

Make sure that you have your full and detailed contact information listed on your website including your postal address, addresses of all your branches, telephone numbers, email addresses etc. Physical addresses enhance the credibility of the business as people get to know the existence (and location) of the company. Dmoz straight away rejects websites that carry no postal address.

Don't Spam the Directory

Submit your website only once and wait. Even if it is not accepted readily, don't submit it again and again. This would be considered spamming and your website would get blacklisted altogether. Instead, submit your website once and forget about it for three to four months. Also, make sure you submit your website under one category only, the one that is most relevant to your business. Often it happens that big websites have more than one realm of business, and so they get confused about what category to submit in. There can be exceptions in such cases however otherwise it is highly recommended that you make your submission under one highly relevant category.

Include Quality Content

The Dmoz editors prefer websites that are rich in information and contain original and unique content. Therefore, before you submit your website on Dmoz, make sure you have some good quality content on your website. Search engines place increased value on Dmoz because it only lists quality websites and if your website lacks quality content, there is no way it could get listed there.

Submit under the most Relevant Category

Make sure that you submit your website under the most appropriate category. Search engines prefer Dmoz because it arranges the websites according to the links and the keywords thus making their job easier. Moreover, when you place your website under the right category your relevance is highly increased and there are better chances of your website getting accepted by the Dmoz editors.

List the Information Carefully

When you are submitting your website on Dmoz, make sure you furnish all the details very carefully. The information should be highly accurate. Read all the editorial guidelines and make sure you follow them through all the steps of submission. Without this, you wouldn't get your website submission to be accepted by Dmoz. Also, after you have submitted, store the URL of the category that you have submitted your website into so that you can make regular checks if your submission has been accepted or not.

Getting listed on the Dmoz directory is tough but not impossible. With the right techniques and guidelines you can get your website listed there and enjoy enhanced credibility on the Internet.

Kabir Bedi works as a senior web consultant at LeXolution IT Services, a professional website development company based in India. He has been associated with the outsource web design services industry for more than 10 years and has completed many successful web design projects.

The Advantages of a VPN

2009-09-25T15:40:00.000-07:00

By theWHIR

There are a number of reasons to set up a VPN for remote access, but the biggest selling point by far is the potential cost savings.

Using the Internet to distribute network services over long distances means companies no longer have to purchase expensive leased lines to branch or partners' offices as a VPN connection needs only to use a relatively short dedicated connection. In an organization experiencing rapid growth, this can make a enormous difference in costs. As an organization adds companies to its network, the number of leased lines required climbs with it exponentially. In a traditional WAN, this can limit the flexibility for growth, whereas VPNs avoid this problem by tapping into an almost universally available network.

VPNs can further reduce costs by lessening the need for long-distance telephone charges, as clients can gain access by dialing into the nearest service provider's access point. While in some cases this may entail making a long-distance call or using an 800 service, a local call is usually sufficient. This can dramatically cut telecommunications costs for enterprises with many international sites, sometimes in the range of thousands of dollars per person, each month.

A third, more subtle way that VPNs may result in lower expenditures, is through reducing the company's support burden. With a VPN, the service provider must support dial-up access, instead of the organization using it. Theoretically, a public service provider can charge much less for support, because its cost is shared among a wider customer base.

Finally, VPNs save a company on operational costs for equipment previously used to support remote users. A company using a VPN can get rid of its modem pools, remote-access servers, and other WAN equipment and simply use its existing Internet installation. Many companies employ several links with different functions prior to setting up a VPN.

Companies enjoy the flexibility that comes with VPNs, since they typically do not require long-term contracts, as is the case with most data services. This allows companies to easily switch over to a lower-priced service if they so desire. Companies can usually get a high-speed Internet connection established and configured in a much shorter time than it takes to get a similar data service. In some foreign countries, it can take as long as a year to get a leased line installed. For some industries, such as construction or insurance, this can make a crucial difference in a company's operations and financial health.

VPN technologies are also considered remarkably secure. Since the introduction of IPSec, VPN data protection has become more standardized among service providers. Data that is sent over VPNs is confidential, requiring authorization to be received or replayed. Users can authenticate packets to establish the validity of the information, and the integrity of the data is usually guaranteed.

Companies may also choose to build an extranet application on a VPN, in order to use its access controls and authentication services to deny or grant access to specific information for customers, trading partners or business associates. This can help build customer loyalty, as clients who are given higher levels of access would be less likely to switch to another business partner. The same technology can also be used internally to assign worker populations to segmented groups with different access levels. This solution is simpler and more economical than traditional methods used by IT managers.

A VPN-based extranet may replace a more expensive system, such as an electronic data interchange (EDI), which typically necessitate custom software and the use of a value-added network (VAN) provider. Some VANs charge upwards of $6 to $12 (US) per hour of connectivity, much more than ordinary service providers.

Web Hosting: Selecting The Right Host!

2009-09-25T15:39:00.000-07:00

By Joelene Orlando

Choosing a web hosting company is a very personal decision based on your own unique needs. Web hosting is what places your website into the World Wide Web, where anyone can access to it 24 hours a day. In other words, without placing your site onto a web hosting service, you won’t get the visibility you want. Most small business owners will most likely go through a web hosting company rather than invest in acquiring their own servers, which is very expensive and difficult. On top of the expense that is involved with having your own server, you need to have a strong educational background to be able to deal with the technical aspects of implementing your own server, or having your own technical computer staff on hand to deal with the process. (And those programmers don’t come cheap either!) If you’re a new online business or looking for ways to expand your market reach, web hosting is definitely the way to go.

Which web hosting service do you select? There are two key things to keep in mind when you begin your search for an appropriate web hosting service: (1) Find a web hosting company that meets your needs for today, (2) Make sure that this web hosting company you choose can grow with you as your business expands. Another important factor you want to know up front about hosting services, is that once you choose one, and decide it doesn’t pan out for you, to switch to another service will be a very painful and a lengthy process. It’s just not worth the mistake to make!

Check out these tips in how you can select a web hosting service that has the most qualities such as flexibility, service, and growth capabilities along with a strong background in technical abilities that you’re seeking, at a price you can afford.

How To Host Several Websites Under One Account

2009-09-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

By Mario Sanchez

Reseller Accounts

If you operate several websites, each with its own domain name, signing up of separate hosting accounts can be an expensive proposition. Even if your hosting company offers the add-on domain feature (which will allow you to add different domains to the same hosting account) you will be charged a monthly fee for each domain you add, sometimes costing almost the same as your full hosting fee.

The solution is to open a reseller account. Reseller accounts were created to allow web designers to offer hosting services to their customers, to create a one-stop-shop for all their web design and hosting needs. However, you don't need to be a reseller to buy a reseller hosting plan.

Reseller accounts are usually slightly more expensive than regular hosting accounts, but they will allow you to host different domain names without incurring in the add-on domain fees, making more efficient use of your space and bandwidth.

Why A Web Site, And Why Web Hosting?

2009-09-24T11:42:00.000-07:00

By Alec Ellis

Imagine having a filing system that could withstand a nuclear war. Hmm, I wouldn't like to prove it, but in theory that is what the Internet could resist with its virtual existence. If you transfer files of information around the Internet, operating in virtual space, it would be difficult to lose that information if you had a mind not to.

Possessing a website has advantages for many varieties of users; serving a range of different purposes. For example, Net presence is of enormous benefit to businesses of all shapes and sizes. Conventional filing systems, where everything is stored as a hard copy, are cumbersome, and space consuming. With a website, all existing documents can be transferred one way or another, to the Internet and neatly organized using 'hyperlinks' (virtual pathways) for quick, easy reference. You no longer need to waste your time digging through a mile high pile of paper to find what your looking for, with your own website all it takes is the click of a 'mouse'.

A website wouldn't only save you space and time, but cost too. The Internet is worldwide and a website can be used as a powerful promotional and marketing tool, viewed by prospective clients around the world. One can see what you offer in Hong Kong and Madrid at the same time.

Imagine the money you'd save on promotional printing costs. Your website could reach the four corners of the globe and be available 24 hours a day. There is no longer a need to allocate high budgets to printing promotional material for prospective clients, they are able to access the information instantaneously, and download what they need.

Imagine, neatly organized links that move you, quickly to your destination. A website is your identity on the Internet, kind of like an interactive 'business card'. It can be the prospective client's first point of contact, presented by a knockout, easily updated, design, your site can sell you, your products and your services.

Once you have organised your web site and patted yourself on the back, that you have made your first flight into 'cyberspace', your next step is to have somewhere to 'dock' it, a place to put your website. A place such as M6.net - http://www.m6.net a 'web host' a place to 'host' your web site. A web hosting company provides a space for you to put your web page documents (FrontPage, Dreamweaver files), images (gifs, jpgs), and more advanced pages such as ASP's, those pages that have intelligence behind them creating such items as forms, news, bbs, chat; interaction. If the Host is clever enough, friendly, supportful; it will offer a whole range of facilities, that you or your webmaster can take advantage of, to create an interactive, humanised, mechanised and automated business presence, on the Internet.

For businesses in the new millennium there is no future without an Internet presence. Trade costs will lower; communication will get smarter and faster. Reliability will be greater. Thus there will be a vast gap between businesses with Net presence and those without. Every one will have a presence on the Internet some day, wether it is a corporate business, Aunty Flo's bric-a-brac stall, or the family's photo library.

Web Hosting Is SO Retail

2009-09-24T11:41:00.000-07:00

By Alec Ellis

You have 1 or 2 seconds to make an impression, and 2 or 3 seconds more to make a sale, or forget the web hosting business!!

Web hosting as a business has taken off in the last 12 months, with a vengeance.

How many web sites are on the Web today? They all have to be hosted somewhere, the result being, there are now thousands of web hosts around the globe today. How do people decide to choose you?

Potential customers will talk to friends; perhaps ask a local web design group; or consult their ISP (Internet Service Provider); but this may result in knowledge of only one or two hosting companies. There are hosting directories, and review sites which may be governed by whoever pays for the largest ad or personal opinions that seem popular. The visitor will still have to make the final decision.

If these visitors make their own decisions, and there are thousands of web hosts to choose from, there are very few seconds to deliver your offer, which must be instantly obvious. What can you do to turn this streaming traffic into sales?

First View – The look of your web site

Are the design, content and delivery up to customer expectations? If the presentation has obviously been thought about; a conscientious effort to delivery and content; then it is likely the visitor will believe that the hosting company will also look after their site conscientiously. If the presentation is poor, then forget it, there are more than enough web hosts that look good. Of course, to the other extreme, if the web host’s site looks a million dollars, it is likely that the visitor will be expecting to a pay a ‘million’ too!

The Initial Offers – What are your best packages?

With the sudden growth of the web, the hosting industry has had to take a retail approach to content delivery. In the retail trade the offers are so many, that the customer has to learn to speed read, or speed view. Visitors to web hosting sites have not got the time to read all the details on each of every one of thousands of sites, so speed viewing is a must; or is it?

Web hosts who have nothing to sell usually hide this fact by showing columns of text, expecting the visitor to sort out what is good to them or not. The usual explanation for this is “ The visitor knows what they want and will find it without our hassling them.” The expectation is that with less hassle the visitor will more likely become a customer. Not true.

Web hosts that have special offers, great deals, or offer specialised packages for say private, business or corporate customers; will tell you just that. Think about it, why hide the fact you have a winner? By taking a retail approach to a very retail business, the real dealmakers are not ‘backward in coming forward’.

Obviously making everything on the site an ‘excellent’ offer is the other extreme. Most web hosts offer 90% of what their competition offers, so to point out every good point offered would be overkill. The likely result would be that you would show the visitor that you are new to the industry, and less experienced; not good in times of future support.

By pointing out the great points in the best reasonable packages, you will catch the eye of the traffic, until previously, zooming past you. What to do when they have stopped for a visit is another matter.

Congratulations on getting the traffic to stop and browse – What next?

Getting the zooming traffic to stop and browse is difficult enough. The look of your web site can catch that peripheral vision of theirs; in an instant they can decide, “I will stop here and have a look”. The offers of 3 or 4 of your accounts, too good to be true, or at least warrant further investigation, entice a visit.

These ‘highway signs’ make you stop and pull over. What happens once the visitors have pulled in? You will have to hold them there, before they up and leave just as quickly. The ‘restees’ have seen the site, they have sampled the best on offer; now what? You know you have a captured audience, all be it for another 2 or 3 seconds. Be careful not to send these valuable potential customers off clicking around your site. They clicked on your special package, the offer on the front page, so take them directly to it.

The visitor has been enticed to your web site; seen good offers and one or two of those are just what they are looking for. Take them direct to the page with the offer; include the price; include basic details that quantify very quickly the worth of the package; and, provide an order form. Do not smother these account pages in common details, or details of other accounts.

There should be only two main pages, the front page and the account package page, that which the customer clicks to. The front page is attractive and entices you to stay, the offer encourages you to spend a few more seconds on the account page consisting of title, offer, basics, price and order form; all this should be on a secure page ready to take credit card information.

No two visitors are the same. There are those that will just sign up straightaway and those that will ‘further investigate’. Put the remainder of your account packages’ details, along with the ‘about’ information, the ‘help’, the ‘support’ etc, on other pages, using links on navigation bars for easy access, keep the offer clean.

You have one or two seconds to sell your product, don’t use it to educate your potential customer, let someone else do that! Give them what they want, this is now a very retail industry, if you are stuck for reference material, then visit a supermarket or local store, retail research has been around for years.

Network Monitoring for Serious eCommerce

2009-09-23T16:00:00.001-07:00

By David Leonhardt

In the real world, businesses come in every size, from self-employed entrepreneurs like me to mega malls like Wal-Mart.

On the Internet, companies come in every size, too, from a stand-alone ebook sales page with webmaster and owner all in one, to 300 pound gorilla like Amazon, with over a million pages requiring the entire population of a small country to serve as webmaster.

If your site is a single page, it is its own network. But if your site is any bigger, and you have plans to grow, it is a network or is fast becoming one. You need network monitoring.

Most ecommerce webmasters are at least somewhat familiar with website monitoring. Many use a website monitoring service or software to keep track of "uptime" and "downtime".

At your local shopping mall, serious business requires more than just knowing when the front doors are open and when they are closed. Serious ecommerce needs to know more than just when the site is accessible. That is what network monitoring is all about.

Chances are, your e-business owns one of the following, or uses one of the following remotely:

DNS servers: These are used to translate your site name, like www.mycompany.com, to the numbers called "IP addresses" that computers understand. If DNS servers are not working properly, end-users will not be able to find your site and will get an error. Usually only an external or remote monitoring service will detect such a problem.

An FTP server: File Transfer Protocol servers are used to help you exchange files with remote users. If you use FTP, a monitoring service can make sure it is always up and running.

POP3 and SMTP servers: These are used for exchanging emails. If you are using email, chances are you are using SMTP and POP3. If your SMTP server is down, everyone who sends you email will receive an error, stating that your mail server is down and cannot accept incoming email. To say that the impression this leaves your customers is bad would be an understatement. If your POP3 server is down, you will be unable to retrieve email from your mailbox. Once again, only external monitoring will prevent such a problem.

Firewalls: Many businesses use firewalls to protect their internal network from un-authorized traffic, such as spyware, viruses and sabotage by competitors. Furthermore, a firewall is your first line of defense. If your firewall goes down, your whole network may actually become inaccessible from outside. In other words, if you host your own web site and mail servers, those will become inaccessible to the outside world if your firewall goes down. Once again, remote network monitoring is required to detect that a problem exists and quickly get it repaired.

Internet connections: Users come to your network from multiple backbones, depending on the company they use to connect to the Internet and their location. It is important to ensure that your connection performs well for each user. A remote monitoring service can ping your networks from multiple locations around the world, thus testing most major routes to your web server or network. Before hiring a network monitoring service, check to see that they have both your customer geography and the Internet backbone layout covered.

Very few websites of any size and functionality are anything less than a complete network, and many networks rely on servers in different parts of the world.

A good network monitoring service can ensure, as a base, that all servers are properly functioning, that data can be sent to and received from each server, and that each function sharing the server responds as required. An advanced network monitoring service can even remotely monitor the temperature of your servers.

What you need to monitor depends on how extensive your network is. A network monitoring expert can help you determine what needs monitoring. If you own the servers, or are remotely hosted on dedicated servers, you most likely need everything monitored. If your site is hosted on shared servers, you might need fewer functions monitored.

How To Reduce Web Hosting Bandwidth

2009-09-23T15:59:00.004-07:00

By Herman Drost

You just received a higher than normal monthly bill on your credit card for web hosting. Your hosting company explains that you exceeded your monthly minimum for "bandwidth usage" and suggests reducing the size of your web site files.

What is bandwidth usage? What does bandwidth mean? How much bandwidth do you need? How can you reduce bandwidth usage?

Let's discuss each of these topics in more depth.

What is "bandwidth usage?" This refers to the total amount of information that has been served to your web site visitors each month. Every file on your Web Site has a specific size (e.g. 22K). Every time a visitor downloads that file, your bandwidth usage goes up by that amount.

The larger the file, the higher the bandwidth usage when it is downloaded. The more traffic to your site, the more bandwidth you will use.

What does "bandwidth" mean? Bandwidth refers to the amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time. The "data transfer rate" is the speed with which data can be transmitted from one device to another. Data rates are often measured in megabits (million bits) or megabytes (million bytes) per second. These are usually abbreviated as Mbps and Mbps, respectively.

Bits and Bytes 8 bits = 1 byte. 1,024 bytes = 1 kilobyte (Kb). 1,024 kilobytes (Kb) = 1 megabyte (mb or meg) 1,024 megabytes = 1 gigabyte (gb or gig)

How much bandwidth do I need? To determine how much bandwidth you need, estimate the file size of each web page, and then multiply it by the number of pages on your web site.

Multiply this figure by the number of the number of page views you expect per month from your site.

For example, if your web page consists of two 15Kb images and 3Kb of html, you would have 33Kb of data for that page. Now multiply this by the number of page views you expect to have per month (e.g. 100,000 per month). This would mean 3.3Gb of data needs to be transferred per month for that page.

Now recalculate this number for each page, and you'll know approximately how much bandwidth your entire site requires.

How can you reduce bandwidth usage? The easy way is to reduce the size of the files on your site, particularly images and other graphics. For example, you have a large image (i.e. 200KB) on your web page that is downloaded by each visitor every time the page is requested. If you reduce this image to 20KB or remove it altogether, it will dramatically cut your bandwidth usage. It will also speed up your site's performance.

For more information on optimizing images for the Web, read my article, "Preparing Images for Your Web Site", (www.isitebuild.com/imageoptimization2).

Web Sites that have MP3s to download, movies, music playing in the background and large images, will obviously have a higher bandwidth. Large web sites or sites that expect a lot of traffic, will also use a lot.

If your site has mainly html pages and small images, your bandwidth will not be that high.

Bandwidth Tools Monitoring bandwidth http://www.utoronto.ca/ucres/netup.htm

Web Page Checker http://www.searchengineworld.com/cgi-bin/page_size.cgi

Tuning up your Web Site http://websitegarage.netscape.com/

Bandwidth Tips If you make changes to your site by adding more files and/or web pages, recalculate your web site file size.

Estimate how many visitors will be accessing your web pages over the next few months.

Recalculate the bandwidth usage for your site. You may need more web space and bandwidth for your site to function effectively.

Check with your web hosting company to upgrade your hosting plan.

Conclusion Now you can avoid the shock of exceeding your monthly bandwidth usage and paying higher hosting fees. You are now ready to receive more traffic to your site and therefore make more sales.

How To Shop and Save On Website Hosting

2009-09-23T15:59:00.003-07:00

By Jim Edwards

"What's your web address?"

From small "mom and pop" home-based businesses to mega- stores, people ask this question in business every single day. Even if you only operate a small, local business, if you don't have a website (or at least email) people honestly look at you funny.

A few years ago, website hosting was one of the largest expenses connected with setting up a website. Now, with dramatic drops in pricing, website hosting can actually present the least costly component of operating a website.

However, before you run out and sign up for $2-a-month website hosting and wake up tomorrow filled with regret, take 5 minutes right now and learn the main points to consider when evaluating any website host.

Total Storage

How much space do you get to store your website files? If you operate a small website with a handful of pages and only a couple of pictures per page, you can get by with 5-10 MB (megabytes) of disk space or less. However, if your site contains dozens of pages and hundreds of pictures, you may need a hosting plan with 10- 25 MB of space.

Data Transfer / Bandwidth

Here's where many people fall down and get run over by the Internet bus! Bandwidth represents the total amount of traffic the website host allows you to receive.

Successful sites that get a lot of traffic eat up more bandwidth than sites without many visitors. Honestly, bargain website hosting companies don't want you to get much traffic because your bandwidth costs them money.

If you plan to do any business online, make sure you get a bare minimum of at least 1 GB (gigabyte) of data transfer per month.

Email "Aliases"

Most web hosts allow you to set up email addresses connected with your domain, such as jim@thenetreporter.com, and have them forward to your email account, like yourname@aol.com. The ability to set up email aliases forms an integral part of any online business. Make sure your hosting company allows you to set up at least 5 email aliases.

Website Tools

If you want to do anything more than let people look at static web pages, you will need to have certain tools available. The two most important tools are CGI and website statistics. These allow you to run scripts and see who came to your site and when.

Tech Support

Make sure you understand any company's technical support policies and hours of operation. Don't wait until Saturday afternoon to discover your only help option is to wait and email them Monday morning.

Go to www.comparewebhosts.com and check out the tool for researching and comparing the offerings of over 9,000 different website hosting companies. Try the "Power Search" feature, which allows you to specify about 50 different variables, including price, company location, bandwidth, and number of email aliases allowed. It even lets you search by how often the hosting company backs up its servers to protect against data loss.

A Domain Name & Web Site - The Key To The Door.

2009-09-23T15:59:00.001-07:00

By Jesse S. Somer

Having A Domain Name & Website

Just like all things in life, the ways to run a business are rapidly changing and evolving. The potential involved with having a domain name/web site is staggering to say the least. A web site gives the consumer a ‘shop front’ that is not only open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but is also situated right on their desktop. Instead of being locked into only the immediate area, the whole world’s marketplace becomes your sphere of interaction.

Customers can access information on all your products, no more salesperson with limited knowledge trying to explain something they no little about. No more waiting in lines for help, all people have access immediately.

The domain name of the website gives great freedom to the business process. Having your own name is like having an address, then infinite emails can be added to the name so different departments within the company can be reached without having to wait at reception. For example, sales@ Mary’s Plants.com will put the shopper in direct contact with Mary’s sales section.

As a business, the domain name adds professional authenticity, as your address is not affiliated with other companies. In the area of communication, the email system opens up many avenues. Instead of having to put clients on hold because of limited personnel, innumerable emails can arrive at once, even when there’s no one in the office. Then you can pick and choose which one’s to reply to first (the most urgent), while people browsing can wait till later. First come, first serve becomes obsolete as necessary customers automatically reach the front of the line.

Getting a website and domain name is an easy, simple, cost-effective process. You can register your name through web domain registrars like DomReg-M6.Net for as low as $15.00 U.S. per year. That is definitely a very limited risk compared to opening a store, renting a location, and the thousands of dollars involved in overhead costs. How can this be true? A key to the door for anyone who wants to enter a mega-mall that is as big as the Earth. Let’s hope you’ve got something special to share and trade with the global community!

Essential Ingredients of Every Linux Hosting Plan

2009-09-23T15:58:00.000-07:00

Any website mainly comprises the following - Domain name, Web space, WebPages. After getting the Domain Name the next step is to check for a good hosting service provider to have one's own files uploaded in the domain. The following are the important features one must consider while selecting a Linux Based Hosting Plan.

1. Control Panel - This is the most important feature that is mainly required if one wants to maintain his/her website by own. With Control Panel, popularly known as CP, one can do anything means any sort of modification. The moment one signs up for a Hosting Pack, he/she must be immediately provided a control panel for managing the web space.

2. POP3 email Ids & Aliases - One must be provided with plentiful of POP3 email ids and it depends on the Package size as well.

3. FTP Accounts & Virtual FTP - This is the place where one can make any modifications like uploading of files, deletion, updating etc. This is again provided along with the control panel. One must be sure that he/she must have plenty of FTP sub-accounts also to provide his/her clients/users password protected directories. This is the most important feature wherein the clients / users can use the FTP to upload /download files from particular password protected folder of one's website.

4. Backup - This the feature which is mostly overlooked by the users but is quite important .One must check if the Hosts take Automated Backups.

5. Web Statistics -Visitors plays a key role in the success of one's website. One must review the report using Statistics Application that run in the server backend in order to see the number of visits each day so as to take proper action.

6. Bandwidth -One must choose the Hosting Plan that offers sufficient Bandwidth for one's website. As it is not possible to judge the exact requirement in the beginning, still there is facility to deduct the bandwidth required with the passage of time.

7. PHP & Mysql Support - All the Linux Plans support PHP & Mysql. One must make sure that he/she must get this free of cost along with the hosting plan. There are some Hosting Providers that charges extra for MYSQL Database Support & PhpMyAdmin therefore one must check this is advance.

8. Web mail & SMTP - Email forms a most important part in launching the website. One must check if the Hosts provide with WEBMAIL in order to check mails through a web based interface using Squirrelmail or Horde. Corporate Users mostly prefer downloading mails through Email Clients such as Eudora or Outlook Express. One can avail this option only if SMTP or IMAP support is enabled. Therefore one must check in advance if SMTP support is provided or not.

9. SPAM ASSASIN - This is the most important component as no email user is free from a Spam attack. Therefore one must ask for Spam Filters installed on the server where his/her website resides.

10. IP - Dedicated IP is required if one's website prefers SSL Support (https://) with a passage of time. Most of the websites are hosted on shared IPs.One must ask his/her Hosting Provider for the extra charges involved in getting a dedicated IP and SSL Support. There is important to note that for SSL (https://), one needs to buy a Digital Certificate.

Thus the above were 10 most important ingredients that one must consider while choosing a Linux based hosting plan.

What makes a good Web Hosting Provider!

2009-09-22T10:07:00.003-07:00

By Jonathan White

When building your website and getting it hosted online, you want your site to be up and running on the World Wide Web 24/7 without any hitches so that it is making you money all the time and all you have to worry about then is getting visitors to your site, doing seo, getting repeat visitors, maximizing your sites revenue, etc. You don't want to have to worry about your web hosting and it's stability.

So, when choosing a web hosting provider to host your website with, you want to try and get the best web hosting provider so that your site is always up and running smoothly on the World Wide Web.

So what makes a good Web Hosting Provider? There are many things that make up a good web-hosting provider. Some of these include good support, good uptime, good backup system in place, good hardware, offers loads of web hosting features including email features, scripting features and more.

So where can some good Web Hosting Providers be found? There are many places across the web where you can find some of these good web-hosting providers. A good place to start is probably using a web-hosting directory as you can easily compare these web-hosting providers against what other providers are offering that's listed within any individual web-hosting directory. For example, with http://www.1hostseeking.com you can easily find and compare a large amount of some of the top and most reliable web-hosting providers online. You can easily compare each web host against each other so that you can easily see what they offer for the amount of money that they charge.

When choosing a web host it is also best to choose one that offers free set-up and also a money back guarantee. This is because if you find that they don't quite offer what you need for your website, then you can easily get your money back and choose another web hosting provider.

Even if you found some web hosting providers from a web hosting directory like http://www.1hostseeking.com that offer the features that you need for your website, but you still would like further information about the quality of their service, then you could also go to a web hosting related forum and ask others about what they think about these web hosting providers that you have chosen.

After you have done all this, you should then have a good idea or a better idea of which web hosting provider you are most likely to choose to host your website.

Elements of Web Hosting

2009-09-22T10:07:00.001-07:00

By Daniel Punch

When you first start out trying to get a site on the Internet everything seems so confusing. Obtuse acronyms flow freely through the 'Beginner Friendly' information sites and definitions can be hard to come across. The main reason for this is that the Internet and the process of getting a website online is really very simple, and once people get past the first stumbling steps they rarely remember the difficulty they once had, which leads to them being unable to understand the next wave of dot com newbies.

So let's begin with defining some of the basic terms that are commonly thrown around when looking for a web host. You'll quickly realize that computer geeks like using big words for simple concepts. What do you expect from a group of people that decided to call half a Byte a Nibble?

Web Host: These are the people that supply your website with somewhere to sit and be accessed from. They're often a wealth of information, so when you're trying to find your feet it will often be worthwhile to contact their tech support and get your questions answered. Because of this, it's important to contact them BEFORE you sign up for any packages to ensure that you'll receive a timely response. Just fire an email their way and see what happens.

Disk Space: This is the same as the space on your own PC's hard drive. Web Hosts will allocate a certain amount of space to your website, usually in Megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB). This determines how much you can store on your site.

Bandwidth: Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be retrieved from your site within the bandwidth period. The bandwidth period is the length of time before your bandwidth gets reset once again, usually about a month. Bandwidth is measured in MB and GB, like disk space. Always find out the consequences of exceeding your allocated bandwidth before you purchase a hosting package.

Domain Name: The domain name is your personal identifier on the Internet. This is what gets typed into a web browser's address bar to reach your site. Some hosting companies will offer a domain for free, while others will have the facilities to provide one for a minimal cost.

SQL (MySQL, SQL Server etc.): Structured Query Language. This is the language used to interact with databases. Chances are that if you don't know about it when you start looking for web hosting, you're not going to need to know about it for at least a little while longer.

HTTP: Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. Basically, how the Internet works. It is the protocol governing the transfer of web pages from one place to another.

HTML: Hyper Text Markup Language. This is (usually) what you'll be using to make your website, whether directly or indirectly. Don't be scared by the name, the 'language' is very easy to learn.

FTP: File Transfer Protocol. This is a method for sending pages and files from your home PC to a server. It is quite simple to use and your host will provide login information if this is the method that they use for file access. Typing "FTP://" into My Computer on a windows box allows you to use FTP as if your server were a regular windows folder.

POP3: This is a common email 'post box' system. It is use to store emails for retrieval.

SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. A common protocol used to send emails.

The beginner will not really need to know too much about the above two email technologies. If they're listed, good. It means you have email accounts with your website (i.e. the email name@yourdomain.com will reach you, somehow)

There are many 'languages' used to enhance websites, such as Java, Perl, ASP, .NET, PHP, etc. If you're just starting out you should try to learn simple HTML first before you worry too much about these more advanced languages. In general they're not too difficult to learn, but you'll want a solid grounding before you tackle them.

The Internet is a wonderful source of knowledge, so whenever you want information just fire up your favourite search engine and type in your problem. The Internet is full of sites about the Internet, so the information you want shouldn't be too hard to find.

Building professional websites takes a lot of time and skill, so many companies hire people to do it for them. If this is the situation that you're in, talk to the designer you're hiring about hosting, as they may have struck a deal with a webhost to provide clients with cheaper hosting packages. Also, the professional designer will know what features you're going to need in a hosting plan.

The world of web hosting is not as complicated as people would like to make out. Just make sure you do a little bit of research before diving in and you'll be less likely to get burned by a shifty 'here today, gone tomorrow' company. Check out the host's rankings on a few Web Hosting Directories, do a search for reviews of the company, contact the support staff before signing up and enjoy the world opened by having your own online presence.

What is the difference between Unix and NT systems?

2009-09-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

By Maria

Shared or virtual hosting is usually available in two varieties: UNIX and NT. What is the difference between hosting on these operating systems?

NT servers are designed to accommodate advanced Microsoft applications. NT servers therefore integrate back office offerings such as FrontPage, Access and MS SQL with basic Web services. NT servers also offer specific programming environments such as Active Server Pages (ASP), Visual Basic Scripts, MS Index Server and Cold Fusion, which mainly link database applications to the Web.

NT servers do not provide an interactive shell, but are accessible through GUI-based remote administration packages such as PCAnywhere. Such packages allow you to log into the server's desktop as chief administrator as long as you have full control over your server.

We only recommend NT hosting if you intend to run your own dedicated server. The quality of hosting degrades rapidly if the Web host attempts to run an NT server as a shared hosting system.

Since NT servers provide unparalleled levels of support, security and integration for the Microsoft family of products, we recommend that you only select NT if you need to link a Microsoft-based service to your Internet hosting requirements.

NT is rather complex and labor-intensive and should only be selected if the webmaster has extensive experience in maintaining Windows systems remotely and requires product/Web integration.

A lot of hosting solutions are also provided on the UNIX platform. This is because the UNIX platform is specifically designed to accommodate heavy Web traffic and server load. UNIX servers are robust and are recognized for their ability to host multiple sites and serve out gigabytes of traffic.

This platform is also preferred by most webmasters due to their technical requirements. Most webmasters outsource their e-commerce solutions, and therefore don't need to configure complex database systems on their pay Web sites. UNIX servers also provide a wider degree of flexibility due to their shell environment. Shell environments are interactive, text-based systems that allow webmasters to interact and customize their services in real-time from any computer system worldwide. Unlike NT systems, UNIX is not limited to special remote administration programs. A typical UNIX system can be accessed from any computer connected to the Internet without special or expensive software.

But the most favored reason that most webmasters choose the UNIX platform is because of its uptime. Most UNIX systems with heavy traffic can provide 99 per cent uptime. NT servers with heavy traffic usually cannot make this same claim, unless specially configured. For this reason, average webmasters should select UNIX as their OS.

If you don't know which platform you need, then most likely you do not require NT hosting and you should select one of our UNIX hosting plans. The only time you would need to use NT hosting is when you are using the specific NT applications noted above. Microsoft FrontPage may be used on both the UNIX and NT platforms as since most hosting firms support the Microsoft FrontPage server extensions on both.

How to find good Web Hosting for your site!

2009-09-16T02:42:00.001-07:00

By Jonathan White

When building your first site the main things that you will probably think about is what types of content you will be adding to your site, how you are going to get visitors to your site and how you are going to generate good revenue from your site.

Well, all of the things mentioned above are crucial things to consider, but then again, what's the point in thinking about them if you can't even get a good Web host to host your site with. If you choose a Web host that has a poor service then it can do more damage to your site than good. If your sites host goes down often then your site will also go down and your visitors will get annoyed and will go elsewhere. Your sites earnings will decline and many people online will ignore your site, as people will start to think that your site is down more than what it's up.

So now you are probably thinking to yourself, "where and how can I find a good Web host to host my site with, which is also reasonably priced?"

If you need a Web host that is reasonably priced so that you can make more profit from the turnover of your site, then a good place to start looking is by using a few Web hosting directories. You could start by using http://www.1hostseeking.com.

Ok! Now your probably think "why would I want to use a Web hosting directory as they contain many Web hosting providers and not all of them are likely to be good."

The main reasons why you should use a Web hosting directory to find a Web host is so that you can easily find and compare a large amount of Web hosting providers that offer the services that you need to run your site successfully. You can also compare each Web host's prices against each other and then you will be able to find a reasonably priced Web host.

Once you have narrowed down your search to a few Web hosts from the Web hosting directory, you could then go to your chosen Web hosting providers sites and check them out to have a better understanding to what they offer. If they look good, then the best thing to do is not to purchase any hosting from them until you have checked them out more virally. Checking a Web host out to see if they are reliable can be done by searching through some of the major search engines for reviews on your chosen few Web hosts and also you can check through some of the larger forums that discuss Web hosting topics. If you can't find any information about the few Web hosts that you have narrowed down and chosen within any of the forums that you use, then you could always bring up that topic yourself and ask others what they think about your chosen Web hosts and if they have had any experiences with the them.

Once you have received other people's opinions about the Web hosts and you have also read a number of reviews about them, you will then have a better understanding of what Web host should be the best to use for you Website.

9 Steps to Successfully Switching to a New Web Hosting Company

2009-09-16T02:41:00.002-07:00

By Mary Hedden

Switching to a new web hosting company can be a difficult task, but we have provided you a list of things to do that can make your transition much smoother.

1. Before you sign up for your new web hosting services, make sure that your new plan offers all of the same features that your web site is currently using. Do you have enough disk space? Does your new plan offer enough bandwidth? Is it using the same operating system (Windows or Unix)? Also make sure that your new plan supports any programming languages that you are currently using.

2. Once you have researched the company and verified that the new web hosting company will support your website, go ahead and sign up for your new web hosting plan.

3. Set up your existing e-mail accounts on your new server. Make note of the new POP3 and SMTP that you will soon need to start using.

4. Upload your website files to your new server. Since your domain name currently points to your old hosting account, you will have to use your new IP address to do this.

5. Test to make sure that your site looks good and functions properly on your new server. Most web hosting companies can provide a link to preview your site before the domain name has been transferred over.

6. Once you are satisfied that your site looks and functions OK, you can go to your registrar and change the DNS settings to point the domain to the new web host's nameservers. You should be provided this information after signing up for your account.

7. You will see your site on the new server 24-48 hours after you modify the DNS settings. Your e-mail will also start going to your new account at this time.

8. Modify your e-mail client with your new POP3 and SMTP e-mail settings.

9. Verify that your new website is working OK. Make sure that all of the files were loaded properly and that all scripts are running fine.

You have now successfully switched to a new cheap web hosting company!

Changing to a New Host? No More Worries!

2009-09-16T02:41:00.001-07:00

By Priyanka Agarwal

John's online business is expanding. His customers are increasing day by day. However, he feels very frustrated at the moment as he finds his website is 'down' about every 4th day. Whenever he calls up the support team of his web host, he gets the same old answer that his problem will be rectified soon. If the problems do persist it will surely hamper his business. He has been with his present hosting provider for the last year but now he feels he has to find a new web host as soon as possible because his present hosting package is also not able to meet up with his growing demands. This is not a one-off occurrence that has happened only to John, it happens with many people like him. Changing the web host might become a cumbersome task if John and other people like him don't know the correct procedure of doing it. So, let's have a look at the following easy and simple steps:

First of all, it's very important to have a backup of your website and everything related to it, like databases, scripts etc. It will be very helpful in case there is data loss because of any unforseen reason. Save at least 2 copies of everything and store them separately, so that you can work with one and the other one will function as a backup. You can take backup in various ways. One is by using software programs like a FTP program (e.g. Smart FTP http://www.smartftp.com/) for downloading data. Now, the time is to look for a new web host that meets all your requirements and provides better technical services than your previous host. Since you have already been through the search procedure it won't take you much time to come across a reliable hosting company.

Once you have taken a new web-hosting plan and you are ready to upload your web pages, databases etc., check that you have received an IP number, FTP or FrontPage login, and password from your new hosting company. Now, upload all your files to the new server; you are just repeating the same procedure that you've done in the past when you uploaded your files for the very first time.

Only a few more steps more and you will be completely done. Before transferring your DNS servers over from your previous host to your new one, debug and test the new site from an individual IP number. Check that all the web pages exist, the links point to the right pages and that all your scripts are running. One important point which people always forget is their domain name expiration date. If you plan to move near the expiration date, it could cause you lots of problems. To be on the safe side, make sure that you have at least 3-4 weeks in hand before the domain name expires, or just renew it for another year.

To transfer domain name service to a new host identify registrar using "WHOis" lookup http://domreg-m6.net/domains/WHois.asp, verify registration of your domain name, identify the name server information for the host your are transferring to, and make changes in the DNS information at the registrar. During this DNS transition period new DNS information has to be propagated throughout the world's DNS servers. This propagation might take 2-4 days as an International root name server will firstly have to check all the various Domain registrars for updates, and then every ISP provider will update their DNS setting to show the new changes. Not only this, even Internet, i.e. Internet routers and caching engines have to update/clear its DNS cache as well. During this propagation period, you keep your old site running so that the visitors whose ISP provider haven't updated can still visit your website.

It's advisable that you don't cancel your old hosting service during the transition period, as you will need to check your mail from both the hosting providers, as some will direct e-mail to your old server whereas other Internet regions will send mail to your new server. After one or two weeks you can annul the account with your old host.

On the very first notion it sounds like a painful task to find a new web host and make all the necessary changes, but with the steps known, people like John will not find this procedure problematic. With so many automation software packages available, it has now become easier to switch over your web site from old host to new host. If both hosting providers have the same operation system platform, the procedure will become even simpler. But remember, the most important task in the whole host-changing scenario is to find a host that meets your requirements so that you don't have to go through this entire procedure again in the future.

Reseller Hosting Explained

2009-09-15T02:09:00.002-07:00

By Ashish Jain

Reseller Defined:

The term Reseller according to the dictionary means to sell again i.e. to sell a product or service to the public or to an end user, especially as an authorized dealer, while making sure that you make a profit on the sale.

Reseller Hosting

Reseller hosting is no different either, a reseller buys a Web hosting package from a hosting company and tries to sell it independently. The profit for the reseller lies in either the discount or in the commission s/he gets from selling an account.

For example: The reseller might purchase a package whose features are valued at $100 for $90. So, the reseller stands to make a $10 profit on selling the package to customers. Normally as the customers increase, so does the profit margin for the reseller.

Or, you can get some money by earning commissions from a hosting company. This happens when you refer potential customers to the hosting company. If the customer signs up with the company then you earn a small recurring commission until the customer uses the services. Most web hosting companies try to outsource their services to resellers as it helps them to extend their business reach without the cost of marketing and sales and also helps them to concentrate on the business side of things.

What can be resold

As a reseller you can decide what kinds of services you can sell. You can provide shared, dedicated or co-location web hosting or merchant accounts, store fronts etc.

If you go with hosting then it might be useful to offer some other hosting related services like domain names, search engines etc.

Of course, if you have problems selling these value added services in the beginning then you can sell them later.

The cost and resources involved

The cost of becoming a reseller and the equipment and people required in order to be successful depends on many factors.

If you just plan to earn commission by referring people to the hosting company by using the Internet, then you do not have to put up a lot of money, all you need is an Internet ready PC and an Internet connection.

For a small start-up not a lot of money and resources are required. You can purchase a good reseller package from a hosting company by paying them some money upfront. All that is needed is a decent computer that can manage the accounts of customers and a good Internet connection.

It is advisable to start small if you are very new to the concept of web hosting and reselling. Then you can expand as you go on and start getting more and more customers in which case offering domain registration is also a very good way to make profits.

If you have the money and the experience then you can go as far as buying all the server equipment required, in which case you will also be responsible for all the server maintenance costs.

The other option could be leasing a server as this will be cheaper than buying the server, but here as well you are responsible for all the maintenance and running costs of the server.

In the above two cases you also need to make sure that you have multiple connections with the hosting company so there are no complications in case a connection goes down.

Upside

The best thing about being a reseller is that you do not require a lot of upfront investment.

There is no need to have a lot of technical knowledge. Account management and Internet skills are all that is required. However, it would be really handy if you have some sales and marketing experience so you can interact with your customers better.

The hosting company generally provides and maintains all the hardware and software.

You do not need to hire a lot of IT staff to provide support. Providing basic support and leaving the more technical issues to the parent company support staff can be easily achieved. Downside

Support can sometimes be delayed, as you are dependent on the parent company to handle the technical aspects. If there is a delay from their side then you along with your customer are affected.

Sometimes customers leave you if they find out that you are a reseller and not a real hosting company.

Tips for marketing yourself

If you are starting out on a small scale then visiting message boards and posting your services there is a good idea. A lot of potential clientele with relatively small hosting needs also frequent message boards and outline their desired services.

Having contests is a great idea for bringing awareness and interest about your services.

Online ad campaigns, signatures, and text links are very helpful techniques.

Once you have gotten a bigger budget then you can go for Google ad words or PPC search engines.

The best strategy is to try out various combinations of these approaches and work out the best one for your needs.

Reseller Web Hosting - A Cheaper Alternative?

2009-09-15T02:09:00.001-07:00

By Jeff Usher

There comes a time when the internet bug hits us all and we tend to acquire a wealth of domain names and web sites to feed our frenzy.

We start out with the best intentions, set up a personal home page with a few details about ourselves, then create more for our family, then our business and before we know it we have several domain names and web sites spread across several web hosting companies.

A more convenient approach would be to set yourself up with a reseller account with one hosting company.

Most people assume that to have a reseller account, you need to be in the business of selling hosting. This is not true. Anyone can set up a reseller account and enjoy the benefits of saving money and also having the convenience of only dealing with one company for all your hosting needs.

I'll take my hosting reseller http://www.HostingRevolution.com as an example. They provide a very competitive reseller account priced at $35. Their Reseller's Package allows you to host 100 Domains. You are allowed to give every Domain you host up to 20GB's of monthly transfer and up to 2.5GB of storage.

Previously I had over ten domain names and associated web sites that were costing me around $5 - $10 a month to host. The average months hosting costs were around $50 - $60. Therefore, by setting up a reseller account and transferring my domains and web sites over to my reseller account I made an instant saving of $15 a month.

Now, another extension of this would be to start selling hosting to your friends, after all, you have a reseller account. So if you have ten friends, ask them if they would like web hosting on your server, maybe offer it free to them and ask them to recommend your services to their friends, these can then become "paying" customers. Now YOU can get people to pay for hosting and make back the monthly reseller fee. Just sell ten accounts for $3 a month and you have instant income of $30 to offset the $35 reseller fee you are paying. So you get hosting for $5 a month for as many domains and sites as you like.

So, with the reseller account you have helped yourself, helped your friends, and possibly started making money as well.

Linux vs. Windows web Hosting, does it make a difference?

2009-09-15T02:08:00.000-07:00

By Daniel Punch

One of the most confusing decisions someone new to web hosting will have to make is which platform their server should be on. There are a number of different choices out there but the main two are Linux and Windows web servers. There are also a lot of sources of information about hosting, but the majority of them are tainted by the author's biased personal opinion unfortunately confusing the issue. Having just put in some solid hours researching the topic I have come to the conclusion that in general it quite probably does not matter which server you use. For the majority of people it will be far more important to choose a really good web host than to worry about the server-type that they implement.

Microsoft developed and owns the Windows operating system. Linux is open source and generally free. This means it can often be more expensive to set up and run a Windows server. However, this fact doesn't really affect you unless you are actually setting up a server for yourself and if you're reading this article then I'm guessing that it's safe to assume you're not. This article is going to offer information for those trying to decide which hosting company to go with. The cost involved in running a server does not affect the cost of a web-hosting package as much as you may think. Despite the general opinion that Windows servers are more expensive to run, buying a Windows hosting package can often turn out to be just as cheap or even cheaper than an equivalent Linux hosting package.

Some people naturally assume that because their PC runs Windows they need to buy a Windows hosting package. This isn't true. Access to your web account will most likely be through FTP or a control panel and both servers support these methods. The main difference is that some of the FTP commands are slightly different between Linux and Windows and some FTP programs will be designed with one or the other in mind. This means you may occasionally find that when you try and get your FTP program to do something it returns an error message, but it won't happen very often.

Your choice of server platforms should be dictated by the use to which you intend to put it. The majority of web features run fine on both platforms including PHP, mySQL, POP3 etc. If you intend to create your site using ASP, FrontPage, the .NET environment, Windows Streaming Media, Access, MSSQL, or any of the other Microsoft proprietary technologies then you probably need to use a Windows host. There is limited support for a number of these technologies in Linux, but they can be expensive and are usually lacking in features. It is probably worth considering the fact that if you use server specific technologies and then change hosts you'll have a much harder time of it than if you use technologies that can be run on any system. Having it run generic technologies removes the need to focus on specifics and allows you to focus on the quality of service itself.

The reliability and stability of the different platforms have been the topic of many long arguments. The main reason that Windows is seen as being insecure is that it is the most widely used operating system for home PC's. People spend more time looking for flaws in the most common system. With Linux being the most common server type, it has a surprising number of successful hack attempts made on it. In the end the security of both platforms comes down to the competency of the system administrators. If you are security minded then you'll do better to make sure that the hosting company is reputable and highly skilled than to worry about the server they use.

In terms of performance there's not a huge difference between the two servers. Linux reportedly performs faster because Windows (as usual) attempts to offer an 'all in one' package instead of the extendable Linux implementation. You'll generally not notice a difference but if performance is of utmost importance to you then maybe this will influence your decision.

I've come to the conclusion that unless you are specifically using features that are unique to one platform or another your time will be much better spent looking for a really good quality host than a really good quality server. Developers are constantly improving both Linux and Windows so they should be fairly close in terms of features, security, and reliability for a long time. It's the people implementing them that you should be basing your decision on.

Overselling Web Hosting: What does it mean to you?

2009-09-14T00:17:00.002-07:00

By Daniel Punch

Overselling is a big trend in the web-hosting world at the moment. It's an easy way to get more out of your servers than normally is possible. The basic idea of overselling is that the majority of your clients are only going to use a fraction of the resources allocated to them so there's going to be a lot of wasted bandwidth and space. Overselling involves taking a gamble and selling more than you can handle assuming that the unused resources will cover it.

Let's say for example that a server hard drive is 80GB and has 1200GB of bandwidth. The hosting company has a look around and decides that to be competitive they need to offer plans with 2GB of disk space and 40GB bandwidth. With these figures they can only offer 30 hosting packages per server. This leaves quite a bit of wasted disk space and after a few months the company will probably notice that their users aren't using all of the available bandwidth. Because of this the company then assumes that it can safely sell at least 10 more packages on the one server. If the original number of customers already covers general costs then the extra packages provided by overselling are pure profit.

The advantage of overselling for the host is that they make more money off each server than they otherwise normally would be able to. The advantage for the client is that this extra revenue is usually transferred on (at least in theory) by cheaper hosting packages with more features. The problem is that these features are often 'smoke and mirrors'. A few users would be able to use their entire allotment without any trouble, but if every single client were to build their website up to maximum capacity the host wouldn't be able to handle the sudden increase in demand without adding extra hard drives, buying more bandwidth, or perhaps even another server. This would most likely lead to a fair amount of downtime.

Web hosts aren't going to advertise the fact that they oversell. It's not something that will gain them customers and it's likely to drive away a few. In general however, they're likely to get away with it without any real problems. The reason the idea even exists is that it is true that the majority of websites don't use all of the space that's allocated to them. The problem is that it's not a particularly honest way of dealing with clients. It's a little like the 'Emperor's New Clothes' where the host is just hoping that no one notices the fact that a package is in fact a little nude.

Overselling will generally not be a problem unless a host gets too greedy and ends up selling much more than they could possibly provide for. On the other hand, it's not even necessary as the host can usually make enough money to make ends meet without overselling. It will generally be quite difficult for you to find out whether or not a host oversells unless they specifically advertise it, or they're well known for having problems due to excessive overselling. Just make sure you do some research and choose a reliable host, not necessarily the one that appears to offer ridiculous amounts of bandwidth or disk space for far too little money.

Dedicated Server Hosting - The Features and Benefits of Using Dedicated Servers

2009-09-14T00:17:00.001-07:00

Dedicated Server Hosting

By Brandt Fuller

You’ve come a long way from your fledgling website that only got two hundred hits per month. You now have a three hundred page monster on its way to getting millions of hits per month. You’re going to need a better hosting plan than you had before. A much better hosting plan.

Sure, your shared hosting plan worked fine in the past. Ok, well, not counting those intermittent down-times and oh yeh, that other time when someone (one of your competitors, maybe, but most likely an ex-girlfriend) figured out your account password and deleted your entire website. But that simply will not do for your website as it is now. You’ve invested too much time and money into this project and its finally starting to yield some results. There is absolutely no question about it: you need to find and review dedicated server plans and choose the right one fast!

A dedicated server is itself, the physical piece of hardware that your hosting provider rents to you. It has its own processor, hard drives(s), Random Access Memory (RAM) and bandwidth capability. Your website and its associated software will be hosted exclusively on this dedicated server’s hard drives. Dedicated servers allow you to install and run almost any program. They additionally allow other users, whom you have given access, the ability to connect to your dedicated hosting server and use those same programs at the same time you do. This has made dedicated servers very popular amongst internet gamers. Dedicated gaming servers offer all the same features of regular dedicated hosting servers but they are intended for less serious pursuits.

But what are the other benefits of utilizing dedicated servers? That’s certainly a valid question considering that dedicated server hosting costs significantly more than shared or virtual hosting plans. But with the increased cost comes features and benefits that are significantly worth it.

There are many benefits of using dedicated server hosting for your high traffic, software intensive website or gaming application. We’ve listed the most important below to steer you in the right direction.

Customization: Most dedicated server hosting plans allow you to fully customize or build your own dedicated server. You can therefore select and pay for only the features which you will require. You often will get your choice of operating system software (Windows Server Edition & Linux Redhat being the most popular options). Your choice of such software should be informed by considering which system your web applications will run best on. A major selling point with dedicated hosting plans is also which control panel to use. Plesk and Cpanel control panels are the most popular choices. Both will allow the hosting of multiple domains and websites but Plesk control panels have proven more popular largely because of their ease of use and their ability to facilitate event management, Postgre SQL, Support Ticketing Systems, various Language Packs and advanced dedicated game server hosting.

Reliability: Because your website or application is hosted exclusively on this dedicated server, you don’t run the risk of the server being congested by requests for other people’s websites or applications. On a shared hosting plan, the speed at which your web application loads is dependent upon how much traffic other websites that are on the same shared hosting server are getting. This causes slow loading times for high traffic websites and other websites that share a server with them. Dedicated server hosting avoids all this by affording your web application exclusive bandwidth. Shared hosting is also risky because you have no idea who is uploading what to the same server that you are hosted on. John in Nantucket might be uploading a web application containing an as yet unidentified virus that deletes everything it touches. If your website resides on the same server as John’s, then, to put it technically, you’re screwed. Dedicated hosting avoids all this and lets you sleep a little easier at night.

Security: No one else has access to your server but you. You are responsible for all its contents so there is no possibility of viruses or other malicious software unless you put them there. Additionally, most dedicated server plans come with the option of an external firewall so you can better enforce your specified access rights.

Unique IP Address: All dedicated servers have their own unique IP address so the IP address of your domain points only to your website. Shared hosting plans assign 1 IP address to every domain and website hosted on that particular server. Website traffic is then directed by host-header-reading software installed on the server. This process is usually very quick but can be slowed down on a congested shared server. Your dedicated server will have its own unique IP address which can only point to your website or web application. No header-reading software is needed to slow down the loading process (unless you decide to host multiple websites).

Upgrades, Upgrades!: No doubt, your website will continue to grow and so will your budget. At anytime during your dedicated server hosting you can add more bandwidth, RAM and increase your processor speed. While some hosting providers will allow you to switch operating systems this is generally not recommended. Make your mind up in the beginning and stick to one OS. This will save you many hours of tedious software conversions and ‘unexplained’ downtimes.

Other Options:

o Hard Drive Arrangement: If you have opted to have two hard drives on your dedicated server then you can arrange them in one of two ways: Raid 1 or Raid 2. Raid 1 or disk mirroring, allows you to select one hard drive as your primary ‘work from’ hard drive while the other hard drive serves as an exact copy of the primary drive. This is very important if your web application will contain highly sensitive data relating to your customers or any other unique information. If you are not particularly concerned with this kind of back-up utility you may opt for a Raid 2 configuration in which there is a primary hard drive with the secondary drive being used once the primary storage becomes full. The Raid hard drive arrangements make dedicated server hosting many times more reliable than regular non dedicated server hosting.

o FTP Backup: The best dedicated hosting providers will additionally provide an FTP back-up account for your account. You can mirror vital content that is already on your dedicated hosting server in that account.

The benefits of dedicated server hosting are clear. Armed with this knowledge feel free to look around for the cheapest dedicated hosting providers. A reliable dedicated hosting company will provide you with all the above-mentioned options to ensure that your mega website and games are always up and running. Remember, choose only those options which you need in a reliable dedicated server. There is no hard and fast rule for what constitutes reliable dedicated servers : you must carefully decide which options are best suited for the applications which you intend to run. A low cost dedicated server that has all the bandwidth, space and security features to run your programs effectively is the perfect upgrade from a non dedicated server hosting plan. Your dedicated hosting server is yours to customize so do it wisely and cost effectively.

Web Hosting - Cheaper and Easier for Small Businesses

2009-09-14T00:16:00.000-07:00

By David Haskin

Most small businesses these days try to use the Internet to compete more effectively. The trick, however, is to accomplish that goal without spending too much of your precious money and time.

That's becoming increasingly possible, according to some experts. You still must hire somebody to create and update your website. However, prices for hosting your website are falling rapidly, which will enable small businesses to create sites that are more sophisticated. Hosting services provide the computers, or servers, on which your Web site is located.

Most small businesses typically use so-called shared servers in which your website shares a server with the sites of other companies, according to Steve Dauber, vice president of marketing for Ensim. Shared servers typically cost between $10 and $50 a month, he noted.
A better solution is to have your own, dedicated server, but that previously was too expensive for many small companies - typically about $200 a month, according to Dauber. His company develops software to help manage both shared and dedicated servers.

"Now that price is coming down to as little as $100 a month," Dauber said. "And I'll bet it'll get even lower."

Dedicated servers have many advantages, Dauber said. But, he cautioned, they also create new challenges.

When It's Time For A Dedicated Server

2009-09-12T01:44:00.001-07:00

By FindaHost

A shared server works for a good deal of people, but when your website continues to grow and you simply need more bandwidth, software, or ram you need to look at investing in a dedicated server. A dedicated server not only gives you more control, bandwidth, software options, and ram it also gives you the security you need to enAsure that your website is as secure as possible for both you and your website users. A dedicated server makes more sense for those that are going places and simply need more from their website.

Much of the problem with shared servers is that you are limited in your storage space as well as your bandwidth, which can turn visitors off from using your website and purchasing your products or services. You may also find with a shared server that there is a lot of down time because the server simply is not big enough for all of its users, especially if many of the hosted sites are high traffic and growing rapidly. This rush of activity often causes bottle necking which doesn't allow your website to be as effective as possible.

E-commerce websites often have a difficult time utilizing a shared server, and a dedicated server can make all the difference. With a dedicated server you have a lot more options as far as software and even hardware solutions so that your Internet business functions a lot more smoothly. A dedicated server allows you to set up your own control panel and really micro-manage your website if that is what you want to do.

Dedicated servers just allow more options for those that have websites that are growing and businesses that are rapidly expanding. If you aren't sure if you can pull it all off on your own when you switch to a dedicated server, you aren't alone. Along with a dedicated server is managed hosting, which is a service provided by those that also offer dedicated servers. A managed hosting system is one that helps you oversee all of the technical aspects of a dedicated server in the way of hardware, software, your control panel, and more.

If you are not happy with the level of service you receive from your current web server in the way of transfer times, bandwidth, ram, and software options you may want to look into a dedicated server. A dedicated server costs a bit more, but the service you get in exchange is definitely worth it.

Web Hosting Control Panel Options

2009-09-12T01:43:00.002-07:00

A web hosting control panel can make or break your web hosting experience. Of course, every web hosting has their own control panel preferences, and you may be subject to their preferences when you sign up with them. If you aren’t entirely sure what a control panel is, it is software that is installed to the web host’s server to help you control your web hosting features and the experience of your users. The control panel will give you access to the features you want and need such as FTP accounts, email accounts, sub-domains, databases that you can create or add, as well as the ability to manage files and such. The control panel is an important part of your dedicated server process and in creating the best website possible.

Knowing which control panel is best for you is all about what you expect, what is advertised, and what you want to achieve. There are different control panels depending on the platform that the host uses such as Windows, Unix, or Linux and each platform may or may not work for you, sometimes you have to experience all of them before you settle on the one that is best for you. You’ll find control panels such as Hostopia, Cpanel, Plesk, Sphera, Vdeck, and Ensim, which are all good brands. If you are new to dedicated servers and control panels you’ll want to choose one of the names that is more intuitive so that it is easier to use. If you are more experienced, you can choose one of the more functional control panels that work great on your platform but are not as easy for the novice to use. Vdeck is one of the most popular and easy to use, but many of the hosts cannot provide access. Ensim is easy to use but is most often used by those that have a bit more experience, but Plesk is an all around great control panel.

The best way to choose the best control panel for your dedicated server is to check out the control panel demos that are often offered through the hosts. Checking out several different platforms and their offered control panels is an experience, and through this research you’ll likely find the control panel that will work best for you and your needs. Remember that every software takes some getting used to, so everything may not come easily, but choose the one that offers some of the best features and the usability that matches best with your ability. Matching your needs, your abilities, and the features of a control panel is the best way to find the perfect control panel for you.

By Craig Rowe

Make The Move To Multiple Domain Hosting

2009-09-12T01:43:00.001-07:00

As a webmaster, you must have been familiar with what the industry calls
"shared hosting plan" which is a cheap way to put your website. A hosting
provider can offers that service cheap because you only use a small amount of
the storage capacity of a server which is shared among many other users.

Unfortunately many of them only let you host one domain under one account. It
will not be a problem if you don't have a plan to build more than one websites.
But the story could be different when you want to do it in the future where you
will have to open an additional hosting account everytime you host a new domain
name. Imagine how much money you have to spend every month just for paying your
hosting service.

On the other hand, using a hosting provider that allows you host all of your
domains under one account will save your money over a host that insists that you
open a new account for each site. That way you can create several websites to
promote different products without having to be upset about any extra fees.

It is entirely up to you what kind of websites you intend to build. You can
build online directories, websites that full of contents and/or websites that
consist of one long sales letter that you can promote with PPC or ezine. Of
course you can promote unrelated products using only one website but it would
not look professional in the eyes of your site visitors. Keep in mind that a
good domain name is usually related to the content of a website.

Some multiple domain hosting companies also provide Fantastico. Building
different type of websites such as classified ads, online directory or blog can
be accomplished very easily by using this feature.

To make it better, you can even register your additional domain names through
a cheap registrar such as GoDaddy. After registering the domain names with the
registrar don't forget to setup the DNS addresses provided by your host. Then go
into the "add-on domain" sub menu in your hosting Control Panel and fill in the
blanks with the name of your new domains and the subdirectories for them. Do it
for each of your domains. Wait a few days (usually less than 48 hours) before
the master list the domain registrar updates will be shared throughout the
internet and all name servers know where to find your new domain.

With multiple domain hosting you can go about setting up specific email
addresses, subdirectories, databases and FTP accounts for each of your domains.
In fact there are no real differences between using a multiple domain hosting
plan and a conventional shared hosting plan.

You can find multiple domain plans starting at about $10 a month. Compared
with a conventional shared hosting, the price is not much different and even
might be cheaper than the price of your current hosting service.

With so many profitable products you can sell online, the move is one you
will never regret. Finally, it is your own decision whether you are ready and
willing to use a multiple domain hosting service and save yourself some hard
earned cash. The choice is absolutely yours.

By Heris Yunora

How to Choose Your Ecommerce Hosting?

2009-09-10T22:44:00.001-07:00

Ecommerce hosting, in simple words, relates to your web host's ability to let you sell your products or services from your website. In its primitive, ecommerce hosting usually means your website has an interface between display of your items and a shopping cart system, proceeding thereon to accepting payment real-time in secured environment. An ideal ecommerce hosting ensures complete buying experience for those viewers of your website who wish to acquire your products or services.

While this is the end-solution for ecommerce hosting, the way the process is arranged differs in more ways than one. This means that while the site users' experience may not vary much, for merchants it will be a trade-off among several possibilities. In the paragraphs below, we will explore various tenets of ecommerce hosting from a merchant's point of view.

By Josh

Points to Consider For Shifting to Dedicated Servers

2009-09-10T22:43:00.002-07:00

Shift to Dedicated Servers

The user's actual perceptive of time to migrate onto a dedicated server includes several variables and requires him/her to respond a range of questions. Despite of the fact that dedicated servers are supreme because of the reason that only user and his/her business will be exploiting them, they are costly as well as needs someone to manage them, which asks additional money. One should calculate all the factors before marching to make further plans. Given next are the key aspects that one should keep in mind. Key factors:

1. Affordability
A primary and foremost question arises is whether or not the dedicated server chosen by the user is affordable or not. One is required to do some sort of calculation to see the outline of how much a dedicated server costs, also to know how much the user is required to pay for an administrator or rather can say for a fully managed dedicated server. These can cost high, especially if the user do not possess a large budget. One should make sure that his/her budget permits a dedicated server before searching for it.

2. Managed or Unmanaged
Second aspect to consider is that, is the user requires a managed dedicated server or unmanaged dedicated server. If one is well equipped with knowledge and knows how to manage it by his/her own, in that case he/she can opt for unmanaged server, however if it is not the case then managed server is the choice. One should keep it in mind early before lamenting due to over budget because that's too late.

3. Requirement of additional space and bandwidth
Is the user really in requirement of space and bandwidth which a personal server provides? In a condition when web pages are loading rather quickly and the user still possess an ample amount of space on a shared server; then the user should consider why he/she need to invest in a dedicated server. If space and bandwidth are in the requirement then one should do it, however if user don't have any sensitive information then it is useless to waste money.

4. Presence of Sensitive Files
Why individuals want dedicated servers? The answer is that they only hold that person's information, instead of variety of peoples and businesses. So, if a user possesses ultra sensitive information he/she cannot take the chance. Probably it may get stolen; a dedicated server is no doubt an ideal choice in this case.

5. Requirement of tools and options
If the user possess his/her own dedicated server then it means that he/she definitely got the passport of having a variety of tools and options on the fingertips which he/she cant get if he/she is not having shared server. There are no restrictions with a dedicated server because it is totally of user, so the user can do whatever he/she wishes to do. The only factor that the user needs to consider is that he/she should not ignore the increasing budget size.

By HostingCoupons.org

How to Get the Ultimate Web Hosting Deal

2009-09-10T22:43:00.001-07:00

By Alec Duncan

We all need web hosting whether our sites makes $100,000/day or $0/month, however, we don't always have to pay full price for it. Now I know there are several hosting companies offering such low hosting plans that some people might feel that it doesn't matter if they pay or not but I will assume you are not one of those people since you have continued to read past the title of this article :-).

A common misconception with hosting companies is that they will only offer deals and discounts on their small hosting plans, this is not true. Hosting companies are in business to make money just as most of us are and they weight the Pros and Cons of business arrangements just as we do. If something makes sense to them then there is a high chance that they will do it whether it be a budget hosting plan or a top notch dedicated server.

How does this work? Well, it is very simple really, all you need to do is contact your web hosting provider, try to speak with the person in charge of business development or billing and let them know that you are currently hosted with them and would like to know if they would be interested in a barter arrangement where you add "Your Site Name hosted by Your Host Name" with a link to their website on all pages of your website.

This can be a very attractive offer to a host since a referral from a website that is currently being hosted by the hosting company is far more convincing than many of the alternatives such as searching through web hosting directories or using search engines. If you have loyal followers of your site then the "hosted by" message becomes even more powerful as a means to provide additional business to your host.

Have a few bits of information on hand when calling your host:

Prepare a brief summary of your website and its audience. Make this as short as possible and keep it in a regular conversational tone.
Have your traffic stats ready as this is one of the main things your host will be interested in find out to help determine if the deal will make sense for them or not.
Know your Google PageRank. Your host may be interested in knowing this to help determine the reputation of your site.

If your host seems a bit reluctant to go ahead with your offer you can suggest a trial period during which they can track the results and see if the deal will infact be beneficial to them.

As simple as this strategy seems the beautiful thing is, it works! So give it a shot and let it work for you. Good luck!

Backing up Your Website With Cpanel

2009-09-09T00:34:00.003-07:00

By Ricardo d Argence

The most important task of any system administrator is backing up the systems they are responsible for. Not putting the system up, not keeping it running, backing it up and being able to restore is primary.

A system with no backup cannot be relied upon for any real purpose, because if anything goes wrong your data is gone.

Something always goes wrong eventually, and without good backups all of your work, and possible your entire business is just plain gone.

A good backup strategy is composed of backup, storage, verification, and restoration. The backup component covers selection of method and which data to backup (all of it by choice).

Storage covers both what media you back up onto as well as where you keep them (if your building burns down, tapes kept in the server room will be useless).

Verification is a crucial component of a backup strategy, you have to know you have usable data.

Lastly, you need to be able to get the data back to where it can be used.

There are two main strategies for backups: Disaster Recovery and Archival.

DR backups are designed to restore a system to a working state. To do this you backup the entire system so that you can restore it onto another machine to get a working system.

An archival strategy is concerned with retrieving historical data ('give me the customer database as it appeared at the end of last year') and not with restoring a working system.

Both strategies can, and probably should, be combined. An archival-only strategy requires the system administrators to reinstall and reconfigure the operating system prior to restoring the data; this takes longer and is more error prone.

Any backup strategy must be tested.

A DR backup is tested by restoring a system backup onto a fresh system to make sure you can recover from an emergency.

Archival strategies are tested by retrieving files and verifying that you can find the files you need and that they are readable once restored. An untested backup strategy is usually a complete waste of time and money.

For web hosting clients, you will usually do your backups with the cPanel administrative interface.

cPanel will let you backup your entire hosted site, your databases, or your home directory (which will contain your website but not the data behind it).

To perform a backup you simply access the Backup control panel and select a type of backup. The system performs the backup and downloads the file to your local system.

These backups can be restored through the same interface.

To test, you would create a new hosted site and restore your backups to it.

The downloaded backup files are important (possibly confidential) data and should be integrated into your local backup strategy.

At the least, burn them to disks if you can't arrange to include them in your main backups.

Finding the Web Hosting Co. That's Right for You

2009-09-09T00:34:00.001-07:00

By Lee Creek

Whether you're a small business or a large corporation, if you're going to have a web site, you'll have to have a web host. Lee Creek offers sage advice on how to find the host that's right for you. At times, finding a good host for a web site is like discovering a fat guy appearing in an advertisement for a fancy health club -- it never happens unless they need a "before" model standing next to the well chiseled "after" guy. Sure, there are plenty of good web hosts out there, I'm told, but it can be difficult to find one that is right for a user's particular purpose. What may be an excellent choice for one user could be a major mistake for another. And that, my friends, is the first factor to consider when searching for a web host. What exactly do you need?

Finding the perfect host should begin by analyzing what is needed for the web site. If a host doesn't offer the services needed, then nothing else makes it worth bothering with, including price. Knowing what you need can also eliminate wasted time looking at hosts that do not offer services matching your needs. For individuals and some small businesses, the solution sometimes is as simple as storing the web site on the space they got when they chose their internet service provider. Those sites usually cost about $20 a month and come with a limited amount of space or data transfer allowance. Frequently, however, that allowance is too little, and/or the host may not offer other services that a small company may require, including e-commerce or CGI-bin access or even customer service. Further, the ISP may also charge a punishing fee for those who exceed their allotted storage and usage amounts. That is why it is important to not only consider current needs but to allow for future growth. Another thing to think about is the location of the hosting company. While brick and mortar businesses are sometimes limited geographically, internet businesses have the world in reach at the touch of a button. Thus, if you cannot get a good local company to meet your hosting needs, look around for the company that best suits your needs and billfold, and don't worry about location. However, you do want to make sure they have a toll-free number to use to contact them. People are often lured by free web hosting sites, but that comes with a cost that is sometimes too high. The dollars may be right, but users are forced to build their site with the hosting company's online builder, costing time to make changes, more difficult, and often virtually impossible to customize. Another factor with free web hosting is that it can require the user to put up with ads or aggravating watermarks that appear on all the pages on their sites. To eliminate that problem, users should choose hosting companies that allow 24/7 FTP access. Changes that need to be made can be made as the user needs, and they can be customized to the user's desires. Is the host reliable?

The next item to check out are the ISP's downtime history, for obvious reasons: If the server is down, so is your web site. My current host site was great at first, but recently the server has been down almost as much as my stock shares; thus, I am on the lookout for a good ISP (and an even better stockbroker). It is very frustrating to pay for something you don't get, and how many of us have gotten home from the local fast food restaurant only to discover the beef is missing. That is probably the same feeling users have when they (or anyone else) cannot access their web site or e-mail. When considering a host site, ask them what their uptime percentage is, and it should be just under 100 percent. Any lower than that, you'd be better off posting your web site at that fast food restaurant. Clearly, failure to stay up and running can be costly to e-commerce businesses, but it is just as costly to companies that depend on the web for part of their advertising and public identification. One way to get a true reading on a hosting company's reliability is to check with some of its existing clients to determine what they think about it. Any one of them can be an eye opener, so make sure you check with several to get a real picture. Give your host a call - if you can!

Free telephone support from your web hosting company is critical. Why? If the server is down, there goes your e-mail capabilities, too. I recently found a company of interest to me, but when I asked them for their 24/7 telephone support number, they said they only offered e-mail support. Perhaps they are expecting users to write letters to report their problems when the server is down, but I'll never know because I immediately scratched them off my list. Some companies may not have a toll-free number to call, but at least the support itself is free. Others charge for the support, which means you pay that in addition to the cost of the telephone call. Perhaps the best way to determine how reliable a web hosting company's support is, is to send an e-mail to them on Saturday night. If you don't get a response until Monday, then you will know that in the future that if problems occur early in the weekend, your site will probably stay down until the work week begins on Monday. That could be quite costly. At this point, if your ISP has not met the criteria discussed above, it may be time to be looking for another home for your web site. Moving to another site can be a pain, but your domain registrar can usually be of help, and so can the host you choose to replace the old one.

Web Hosting - Why Pay?

2009-09-09T00:33:00.000-07:00

By Michael McCarthy

If you're in the process of finding an appropriate host for your site, you'll probably ask yourself "Why should I pay for hosting when I can get it for free?" The answer depends on the nature of your site. A paid hosting plan is essential for some sites, while for others a free host might offer all the facilities you need. But which should you choose?

Free Hosting Pitfalls
If you've been developing Web pages for over a year, then chances are that you're considering the move to paid hosting, if you're not already on a paid plan. As an experienced coder and designer, you're probably familiar with the frustrations involved with hosting your site on a free server…

1. Advertising Overload
Probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think of free hosting is the proliferation of unwanted ads on all your pages. Unfortunately, many free hosts rely solely on these ads to earn money, so very few offer services that are free of forced advertising. The end result? Visitors to your site see a 468x60 pixel banner ad on the top of each of your pages. Or maybe they're hit with a pop-up banner after each click-through. Whatever the case, these ads can severely reduce the professionalism of well-designed pages.

2. More Downtime
Downtime plagues many free web hosts. The fact that their subscribers don't pay for services means that many free hosts feel less than obligated when it comes to dependability. Free hosts are rarely bothered if some of users are dissatisfied with the service - this small minority are of little or no real benefit to the host anyway.

3. Poor Customer Support
The majority of free hosts don't have the funds to hire customer support teams. If you experience problems, you can find yourself relying heavily on the host's Frequently Asked Questions page - after all, the chances of receiving any live or email support can be almost non-existent.

4. Limited Space
If your site is large, then you might find free web hosts quite limiting. Most free hosts only provide customers with 5 to 10 MB of space, so you'll never be able to expand your site beyond your allotted disk space without moving to a paid host.

5. Restricted Ad Revenues
Many free hosts don't allow you to sell advertising space on your site. This might be fine if you're simply maintaining a personal homepage, but can severely impact on revenues for business Websites. For these sites, a paid service may be the only viable hosting option.

6. No Secure Server Access If you plan on building an online store, you'll need a secure server to enable secure online credit card processing. Most free hosts don't support secure web servers, and, given customer fears about fraud, privacy and security, the lack of secure serving can make it virtually impossible for an online store to survive on a free service.

7. File Type Restrictions
Many free web hosts don't support file extensions other than .html, which can be really limiting. For example, if you build a large web site with the same navigation on each page, you might use SSI, which gives you the ability to alter the navigation style on one page, and have that same alteration automatically carried across all pages. SSI can save you a great deal of time and frustration, but is produces files that end in .shtml. To cater for these files, you'll need an SSI-enabled server, which can be almost impossible to find through a free host.

8. Long Domain Names
Paid hosts allow their customers to use their own domain names, while most free services require you to take a subdomain off the host's name. In the case of Geocities, a typical URL could resemble "http://www.geocities.com/Area51/ Shadowlands/ 2719/ Food/ pizza.htm." Domains like this almost entirely prevent users from visiting your site from memory - they'll need to bookmark your site, or be able to find it easily through a search engine or other linked sites. Obviously, this can seriously affect the traffic your site receives. Free or Paid? It's up to you.

As you can see, in most cases, a paid web host provides a significantly better service than do free hosts. Free Web hosting might be ideal for personal homepages and sites that don't rely on online advertising or sales revenues. But for those in business, whether they're selling online, or simply wish to present a professional Web presence, paid hosting is typically the only option worth considering. Maybe the old saying's true: You do get what you pay for

Moving From Web host to Web Host

2009-09-09T00:18:00.002-07:00

By Mitch Keeler

When moving from house to house, you have to pack up all of your belongings in the old house before you can move, right? The same could be said when you are moving from web host to web host. The first and most important thing you can do is backup your web site and get it ready for the move. Remember to grab all of your static files. This would be all of your non-dynamic pages, images, templates and more. The exact files that you do backup might change depending on how your site is setup.

Backing up Isn’t Fun To Do

If your using a content management system, then you might search the official site for that CMS to find the best way to backup the information it stores. Often you can also backup you databases (MySQL, MSSQL, ect). Control panels can really come in handy when it comes to backing up too. All of the major control panels that your hosting account could come with should have a backup function built in.

You should also always keep a backup of your web site in my opinion (make one at least one a month) no matter if your moving or not. That makes this job easier to manage and getting everything moved from the Web to your computer shouldn’t be such a big job.

Put Your Moving Pants On…

Next step you are going to want to take is to take all of those files, folders, databases and more from your computer to the new web host. Before transferring the information over, check with your new web host to see if you will be able to view your web site as it should be seen with the temporary URL they give you. Often if they give you a URL like this:
http://www.dummyurl.com/~yourname

You will not be able to execute JSP, PHP and other advanced code types. If that is the case, see if they can set you up with a temporary real domain or sub domain. Most web hosts will be happy to do so - but it will be a service you need to ask for. Then you will know your web site will be able to be viewed by your domain name (with the old web host) or your temporary domain name (with the new web host).

They give you a domain such as testsite.testermctesttest.com. Now that you have a temporary domain that works with your new hosting plan you are ready to transfer over (via FTP) all of your static web site files.

Syncing Content, Keep it Static

Once the files are uploaded with your new web host - go back to your older web host and disable your databases and put up a nice message saying, “Web site going through move, will be back soon.” or something to that effect. You need to turn off any dynamic content generation (like with forums or blogs/comments) so that your information moving from the old host to the new host will not be out of sync when your done.

Now let us go back to your new web hosting account and upload your scripts, services and databases that need to be restored. Each script will have it’s own way of doing this so best to check with the script provider to see what the best method might be.

Take a break. At this point you should have two working versions of your web site. They are: the web site with your domain name at the old web host and the web site with the temporary domain with the new web host. Both should be static, so that no content can be added or removed from them at this point in the move.

If all systems are go, then you are ready to move to the next step in the process.

Domain Names and Nameservers

Now you need to get your domain name to point to your web site with your new web host. To do this, login to the place where your domain name is registered and update your nameservers. These should be supplied to you by your new web hosting company and are what tells the domain name to point to the new hosting account and away from the old one.

Note: If you talked your new web host into giving you a temporary domain, now you will probably need to tell them you want to go back to using your actual domain name.

Now this nameserver update will take some time to complete. I would say give it 24 to 48 hours. After that time has gone by your domain name should be pointing at your new hosting account. While the change over it taking place, people will be taken (most often) to your web site with your old web host or your web site with the new web host.

Once your domain starts pointing at your new web hosting plan, you are almost all done. Turn back on your dynamic content, forums, blogs, comments, and more. Break open some of the good bubbly stuff too because you just completed something that most people dread. I would put moving a web site from web host to web host right up there with doing your taxes. It is no fun at all. I would give it a week or two there before you cancel your old hosting account so that if you forgot to backup something you still have time to grab it before you old web host deletes it for good

Best Web Hosting - ChimeHost

2009-09-09T00:18:00.001-07:00

ChimeHost is one of the best in the hosting business. We strive to deliver hosting that small businesses or enterprises need to prosper on the Internet.

Chime Host offer one of the cheapest and best shared web hosting packages in the online hosting industry. They specialize in Linux web hosting, reseller web hosting, domain hosting and vps (virtual private servers) hosting. Our affordable hosting service comes with unlimited web hosting space (disk space measured in gb or mb) and unlimited bandwidth (data transfer or traffic) at a very low monthly price. With our hosting plan, you can host unlimited domains. Other web hosting plans features include dedicated 24/7 support, Unix support, cPanel control panel, ssl, domain name, email, imap email accounts, FrontPage, Perl, mysql database, ftp, php support, ecommerce hosting, autoscript installer for scripts like Joomla and blog scripts like wordpress. At Chime Host, we also offer free professional custom web design for your business or personal website. Our servers are located in the heart of Los Angeles, which allows us to offer fast network access for your small business hosting needs. As a web host provider, we strive to provide best customer support, cheap prices, server reliability while providing website hosting. We guarantee that you will find our company to offer one of the cheap web hosting service with tons of space and data transfer. Options like email hosting, vps hosting, reseller hosting makes Chime Host the best web hosting provider.

ChimeHosting

Best Web Hosting - HostZar

2009-09-09T00:17:00.000-07:00

Hostazar is part of the R5 Ltd group of websites based in the prestigious Digital Media Centre in South Yorkshire, UK although it has servers based in data-centres around the world.

The Hostazar team is growing quickly with employees already based in the UK and USA with plans to grow into other countries by the end of the 4th quarter of 2008.

HostingZar

Web Hosting and Transfer or Bandwidth

2009-09-08T02:37:00.000-07:00

So, you have your domain name and you have designed a website or had a website built for you, now what. Well, of course you need hosting. A lot of people want to start a business online but are not aware of some of the basics like how people are able to view or visit your website.

What is web hosting? Right now, if you have already built your website, all of those files are on your computer. People who are surfing the web don't have access to your computer, therefore cannot find your website. Advanced users know they can turn their computer into a server where people are actually coming to their computer to view their website, however, this is not recommended and certainly not recommended for someone who is not very advanced as a computer technician.

There are computers who are set up to be servers. These are called host computers as well to simplify things. You need to upload your website files to the hosting computer so they can make it available for others to view on the web. This is the service we call web hosting.

Will just any web host do? No. This is a common misunderstanding about web hosting. All web hosts are not created equal. There are many different levels of web hosting and many different plans and packages to consider. There are also many other things you have to consider when choosing a web hosting company. Let's go over one of the most important issues when choosing a web hosting plan to help you understand better.

images? Will it have movies? Music downloads? Software or other downloads? Or is it a very simple and compact website that is mostly text? Do you expect a lot of traffic to your website?

The reason for all those questions is something called bandwidth or transfer. The amount of storage space a web-hosting plan offers you is usually far less important than the amount of transfer or bandwidth the web host offers you.

Every time someone visits your webpage, every file included in that webpage is downloaded from your website to their computer. In other words, from the web host's computer to the visitor computer. This includes each graphic or image on the page, every icon, even the html page itself is downloaded by a user just visiting your webpage. The size of each of those files being transferred to the visitors computer is the amount of transfer orbandwidth you are using.

Let's say you get 100 visitors per day to your website. Let's also say that your html page is around 15k and you have 5 images on that webpage that altogether are around 50k. That means each visitor to your website is using up 65k in bandwidth every time they visit that page. Let's also say your average visitor opens 3 pages within your website and those pages are the same size as your main page. That means each visitor uses 195k minimum and that is if they don't keep going back to your main page.

Multiply that 195k times the 100 visitors per day you get and you are using 19,500k or a little over 19 megabytes of transfer per day. Multiply that by 30 days and you get 585,000k or 585 megabytes of transfer or bandwidth used per month.

Now if your web hosting plan allows for more bandwidth than you think you will need, then you know you are okay there. However, make sure you know upfront what the cost of going over your allotted bandwidth is. Some webhosts charge a lot for every megabyte you use over the limit they set for you in the plan you chose. It's a good idea to pick a webhosting plan that is just one step above the one you think you need to allow for growth. You might become very popular like a rock star overnight!

D. David Dugan recommends the web hosting solutions offered by DD&C

Best Web Hosting - AvaHost

2009-09-08T02:32:00.003-07:00

Since 2001, AvaHost has been established in the web hosting industry by providing a reliable service/support for personal web sites and small-to-medium sized business with the best web hosting solutions.
AvaHost offers a quality service on a quality network, we provide the latest technology for your website.
We host in the ThePlanet data centre in Houston, Texas USA.

The data centre has 100,000 square feet of web hosting space, and each features redundant UPS, generator backup and smoke detection/fire protection systems.

The data centre is under 24/7 camera surveillance and armed guard patrol.
ThePlanet is connected to the Internet through 14 Gigabit Ethernet links from six separate backbone providers. As of May 2004, they are home to over 20,000 Windows and Linux web servers, which makes ThePlanet the world's largest dedicated web hosting provider.

15% OFF Promotion Code is: AFFHOST15

AvaHosting

Paypal Payment Hosting

2009-09-08T02:31:00.004-07:00

Ubiquity - Dedicated Server Hosting

2009-09-08T02:30:00.005-07:00

Beginning in 2002 by the staff of former Bloomington-based CINetServices. com, Ubiquity Server Solutions was formed alongside Ubiquity Hosting Solutions, LLP in 2004, establishing it's first point of presence with the connectivity that only a serious hub like the city of Chicago could provide. At the start of 2006, Ubiquity expanded into Dallas, Texas, and soon afterwards, Seattle, Washington by popular demand of customers unable to find the services they so direly needed in these regions of a caliber on par with Ubiquity.

Ubiquity reliable data centers are distributed across five locations to provide our customers a wide variety of options (Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle). Ubiquity locates exclusively at IP exchange hubs- minimizing latency, minimizing risk, and maximizing network availability

Here they Features :

UbiquityServer

Fast Server - Dedicated Server Hosting

2009-09-08T02:30:00.003-07:00

Since 1996, FastServers.Net has been providing Dedicated Hosting to clients around the world. As a Managed Dedicated Hosting Provider clients have relied on our team of dedicated hosting experts to managed, secure, and provide high availability dedicated hosting solutions. Contacting FastServers.Net about your dedicated hosting needs is simple and list

Chicago, Illinois – Home to a new Chicago Data Center. This marks our third footprint in our network of data centers. Housed in a top tier facility owned and operated by Switch and Data, the new data center is built to provide the highest quality of services customers have come to expect from FastServers.Net. The Chicago Data Center has been designed to be a solid, stable, clean environment to our customers. And with the ultimate in support, security, and sheer power available at the new Chicago Data Center, no other colocation service provider can come close to what we can offer you. The new facility provides up to 15,000 sq ft and is one of the most secure, stable, and solid transit networks ever – just as we have done with our Fremont, CA and Cedar Falls, IA data centers. Whether you are a single-server colocation customer or a multi-server Enterprise-level customer, the new Chicago Data Center is perfect for your growing server needs. A team of dedicated personnel are available to customize a solution that fits your exact needs, regardless of your organization’s size and technical requirements.

Here They Features:

FastServ

ResellerPanel - Dedicated Server Hosting

2009-09-08T02:30:00.001-07:00

ResellersPanel is a unique, fully-automated reseller hosting program, developed entirely by LiquidNet Ltd. - a prosperous UK-based hosting company, which strives to further expand the scope of its activities in the web hosting services sphere. LiquidNet Ltd. was established in February 2003 in London, UK. The ResellersPanel program itself started on April 2, 2003. So far, more than 58 000 resellers have put their trust in ResellersPanel.

Here They Features:
ResellerHosting

Top 10 Requirements for Choosing the Right Web Host

2009-09-08T02:25:00.005-07:00

By Earl B. Hall

After you've selected a great domain name and you're ready to get started, the next step is choosing the "right" web host for your business needs.

Your web site will be the very foundation of your Internet presence. Selecting the right web hosting service is critical to your success. I am sure you have heard the old saying, "you get what you pay for". This usually rings true on the internet, as well as in the real world.

Consider your choices:

1) Free Websites. A few megabytes of storage space, slow servers, usually no customer support, can't use your own domain name, bogged down with their advertisements, are not indexed by most search engines, and none of the features you'll need to make money.

2) Low Cost Web Hosting. Often unreliable, bare essentials, little or no real technical support, lacking in features, not really for a serious online business.

3) The Right Choice. Lots of storage space, super fast servers, real people to speak with in case of problems, all the features necessary to make big bucks. (your own cgi-bin for interactive features, autoresponders, form mail, secure server, etc.)

If you are serious about your online business success, the choice is obvious. Why not use a web hosting service that allows you to take full advantage of the Internet's capabilities. You will most likely, not be able to compete and will be losing big money as a result. Here are the essential features you should be looking for in a quality web hosting package:

1) Fast Servers - Quality hardware and redundant OC3 or T3 connections. How fast your web pages load is directly proportional to your income. Don't let anyone tell you a server can be too fast.

2) Domain Name Support & Registration Services - Your web host must allow the use of your own domain name. They should offer free registration and work closely with Internic to get things done fast.

3) No Bandwidth, No Access, or Hit Charges - There is absolutely no reason to use a web host that charges for bandwidth, access, or hit fees. Unless you have an adult web site. The best hosting services offer unlimited bandwidth with standard packages.

4) Unlimited CGI Access (FTP/Telenet) - You will need CGI scripts at some time or another. Make sure that you have your own cgi-bin and the ability to upload any scripts you want. Never use a web host that limits you to the their scripts only.

5) Unlimited Technical Support - A good web host should have live humans to speak with on the phone. Insist on free, unlimited technical support via both email and telephone. You'll be glad you did.

6) Control Panel or Web Based Administration - Most quality web hosts have some type of interface that allows you to manage your server via the web. This is not necessary, but can be very handy for many who don't consider themselves to be the technical type.

7) Secure Server - If you plan on selling anything directly from your web site, you'll need secure server capabilities. The best offer low or no additional setup fees, and a low or no monthly fee for SSL.

8) Email Services - Your web host should offer full email services. Including, POP mailboxes, unlimited email aliases, and a generous supply autoresponders. Do not pay extra for these features.

9) No Minimum Contract - Don't ever sign a long term contract. It's not necessary. If something should happen and you decide to switch hosts, being locked into a long term contract could be very costly.

10) Money Back Guarantee - A quality web host offers a 30 day money back guarantee. You should insist on it! It is the sign of a professional company that will stand behind it's service.

Don't make the common mistake of sacrificing quality and essential features just to save a couple of dollars. The simple truth is that using an inferior web host will not save you money at all. You will inevitably end up paying a lot more due to down time and lost profits.

Avoid eCommerce Hosting Horror

2009-09-08T02:24:00.002-07:00

By Adam Kling

There seems to be a lack of information on the subject of Web hosting. It amazes me, because the Web host is literally the backbone of your site. If you get stuck with a shoddy host your site won't appear on the Net. Your email won't come through. Your shopping cart won't function. Without a dependable Web host... your online business would be out of business! So how do you make heads or tails out of the bandwidth, megabytes, POP3s, FTPs and SSLs? Due to the lack of information available, most site owners make one of two choices: they pick the least expensive package, or they choose the one that offers the most features "just to be safe". Allow me to define a few of the more common terms that you might hear in your search for the ideal host. I'll also offer some guidelines to help you make a knowledgeable decision about exactly which features you really need.

The Basics

Storage Space
This is the amount of space you lease on the host's server, and it's measured in megabytes. So how much do you need for your site? Well, on most Websites, one page with limited graphics and some text would take (on average) 5 kilobytes (Kb). If you have heavy graphics, photos, etc. your pages might require up to 30 Kb. Multiply the number of pages by the number of kilobytes to calculate a rough estimate of how much space your site currently needs. Also, don't forget to account for space that will be used by other things you'll store on the server. eBooks take up an enormous amount of space, as do Flash movies. They'll also be stored on the host's server, and need to be included in your estimate. Try to anticipate what you're likely to add to the site in the future, and include that in your total -- you'll want to allow some room for growth. A quick tip: just look at the file index on your computer to see the size of each page, ebook or Flash presentation.
Bandwidth
When files are transferred from the host's server to the site visitor, they use up bandwidth. When pages are clicked and displayed on the screen, when ebooks are downloaded, when shopping carts are put to use, bandwidth comes into play. The more "active" your site is -- the more there is for the site visitor to do -- the more bandwidth you'll need.
Email Accounts
There are two primary types of email that Web hosts offer. Web mail is email that can be accessed online using your browser. You pull it up and view it just as you would any other Website. POP3 email is that which can be used with email software (called an email client) such as Outlook Express, Outlook, Eudora or Pegasus. Where you need to be careful is in determining how you'll manage your email accounts, and what charges are involved with each alternative. Some hosts offer a limited number of POP3 addresses and then charge you for additional ones. Others may not offer a "control panel" for the maintenance of your email addresses, and might charge you to process any changes you need to make.

The Extras

Now let's consider a few items that you'll probably have heard of, and see how they can help you run an online business smoothly.
Autoresponders
One additional service that will come in very handy is that of an autoresponder. This will allow you to send an automatic message to people who email you. You will find this service useful when you're on vacation, or when you want to reassure customers that their message has gotten through, without having to make a personal reply to this effect every time you receive an email.
FTP and Front Page
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. This is the protocol used to upload your Website to the host's server. Most Web design software includes an FTP application that incorporates Dreamweaver and Go Live. Note that Microsoft's Front Page does not include FTP. It also has some other special considerations that make it necessary for your host to specifically support Front Page, if that's the softare you use -- check with your potential host for more details.
SSL (Secure Socket Layer)
This is the process that allows the secure, encrypted transfer of data. Some confuse this with the acceptance of credit cards. Although most shopping carts and online merchant accounts use SSL, it does NOT mean that your host includes a merchant account with your hosting package. In addition to payment options, SSL can be used to collect sensitive data from your site visitors, to ensure that your emails are not intercepted online, and to provide a sense of security for your customers.

"There's More?!"

Yes! Choosing a Web host is a serious process. A few other questions to consider during this decision-making time revolve around the function of your site.

Are you going to offer purchases online? If so, you'll need a shopping cart.
Are you going to provide an ezine or newsletter? If so, it would be beneficial to find a host that offers list servers. If not, you can find a free one (which will include advertisements) or you'll have to pay for this service from another provider.
Do you want to track your site visitors? That would be very wise! Be sure to view the types of traffic statistics the host offers. Unfortunately, some don't provide very detailed information. At a minimum you'll want to see the referring URL (where the visitor came from), the number of hits per month and the pages on your site that are receiving the most views.
Think you'll have questions from time to time? Then it would be an excellent idea to find a host that offers 24/7/365 tech support via chat or telephone.

And last, but certainly not least, be very sure to check out the "up time" and security of the host. As I mentioned in the beginning of this article, if the host isn't dependable, your business will be out of business! It's imperative that your host has measures in place in case of crashes or outages. Likewise, you'll want a host that offers security for the information you'll be storing on his/her server. Find out about firewalls and other security precautions they've taken.

Knowledge is power! Knowing what to look for can save you a lot of money, time and aggravation. And it can keep your business IN business.

Domain Names... Setting The Record Straight

2009-09-08T02:24:00.001-07:00

By Earl B. Hall

Search engine positioning is still a hot topic. Why? Because it can generate very targeted traffic, with a little effort, at almost zero costs.

As new people flock to the internet and search engines constantly change the rules, how is a person to keep up? Here is a new development that just might level the playing field for you, if you got stuck with one of those short non-descript domain names like xyz.com.

For the past couple of weeks many experts have been taking advantage of a change in Domain Name regulations that allows up to 67 characters in domain names. More than 3.4 million domain names, all limited to 26 characters, have been registered since 1993. The rules have changed again!

Why are longer domain names important and how does this affect me?

The reason you want keywords in the domain name is that many of the major search engines often give better positioning to, domains with keywords in them.

Don't like the domain names with a hyphen? Here's an interesting discovery. The hyphen seems to act as a delimiter, parsing each word separately and adding weight to your ranking. Example: cook-book-cooking-books.com

I did some searches and found that these long domain names are going fast, too. But, it's not too late!

John Audette's I-Search Discussion List, included a new post by the search engine expert, Webmaster T, who explained "Having a domain name with keywords in it is very important as it seems almost all engines are parsing URLs. Not only is the domain name important but also the directory and file names are definitely important." http://www.audettemedia.com/i-search

If you would like to do some research on these keyword stuffed domain names. You can perform searches and park your domain
name for free at http://www.abcHosting.net/whois1.htm Also, try their keyword generator to find other highly targeted keywords and phrases. It will also give you an idea of how often they are used in a search. A very valuable free tool.

The Many Advantages of Having Your Own Domain Name

2009-09-08T01:58:00.001-07:00

By Karl Heinz Resch

Easy to find
An URL with your name or the name of your company is easier to find or even can be guessed correctly by your prospective visitors.

Easy to remember
Once your customers have found your Web site, it's much more likely that they will remember a short URL than one that reads http://www.somehost.com/members/you/index.html.

Independence
You can switch to another Web space provider and take your URL with you. Without your own domain name you would have to

resubmit your pages to the search engines and directories
find out who links to your site and inform them of your new address (hoping that they all change the links)
eventually keep paying your previous hosting site for a while to redirect the visitors of your old pages to your new location.

Credibility
A lot of Internet users tend to trust a company with their own domain a lot more than one without. However, for others this is not relevant. What do you think of companies that can't afford their own domain name or are hosted on a free server? Serious businesses need to have their own domain name.

Easy to type
A short URL is easier to type in the browsers address field. It's also easier to add it to your SIG file or to write it on your business cards and print it on your business letters.

Protection
Once you've registered your domain name, no one else can take your name and register it. Try a Domain Name Query to find out if your desired domain name is still available.

Affordable
The registration of a .com domain with InterNic only costs USD 35 for one year. The first two years have to be prepaid.

More advantages

You can have your own access-logs on your server and analyse them easier and faster.
You can receive email at your domain name and have your own email addresses, like This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

WebHosting Bandwidth - An Introduction

2009-09-08T01:48:00.003-07:00

By Adam Eisner

When choosing a host, the amount of bandwidth you purchase can be crucial to the success of your site. Generally speaking, the more bandwidth you have, the more traffic your site will be able to handle at one time.

How much bandwidth do I need?

To determine how much bandwidth you'll need, you must first:

estimate how big each page on your site is, and
how many people are going to view it.

To do this, add up the size of every image on the page and the size of the page's HTML files. Then multiply this figure by the number of views you expect for that page per month. For example, if you had three 10k images on your page and a 2k HTML file, you would have 32k of data on that page. Multiply that by your expected page views (let's say 100,000 per month), and you get 3.2G of data to be transferred that month for that page. Now recalculate this number for each page, and you'll know approximately how much bandwidth your entire site requires.

How can I save bandwidth?

There are three key ways to optimize your bandwidth usage:
1. Keep your pages as small as possible.
This means tight HTML programming to reduce file size, and compacting your pictures and graphics to reduce image size ( NetMechanic has a free, easy-to-use file compression utility). Use the JPEG image format for your photos and the GIF format for graphics - their compression abilities are second to none.

Dr. HTML's site has useful tools that will analyze your site's image sizes, transfer amounts, table structure and more.

2. Use images that aren't stored on your site.
You can do this by replacing the file name in your tag with a URL that gives the location of the image you want to use. Before doing this, however, make sure you have the permission of the site you are linking to. Otherwise, you're stealing bandwidth, which is considered pirating and is therefore illegal (for more information, see "How can I prevent bandwidth theft?" below).

3. Use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
Another effective way to save bandwidth is to use CSS. Designed to reduce HTML file size, CSS attribute values for any HTML element/command at the beginning of the document, rather than repeating them throughout.

For more information on CSS and other resources related to bandwidth conservation, visit Infohiway or the SitePoint CSS Tutorial.

How can I prevent bandwidth theft?

To use another site's images by linking to them through your tags without permission is a form of double piracy: you're pirating both the site's image and its bandwidth. As unethical as it may be, it's a reality many webmasters have to deal with on a daily basis.

Policing
The most basic method of preventing theft of your bandwidth is policing. Analyze search engines, logs, and other sites to find out who's using your images (and your bandwidth) without permission. Once you've identified the offenders, you can contact them and order them to stop linking to your site (and if they try to feed you a story about everything on the Internet being in the "public domain," don't buy it). Unfortunately, policing sites yourself is a time-consuming task.

Commercial Software
A more costly but time-efficient way to protect your bandwidth is to take advantage of the software packages that are currently available. A standard log analysis program like WebTrends can help track bandwidth thieves, as most software suites like this will identify the most popular referrers and visitors to your site. Armed with that information, you can work backward to find out if any sites are hitching a ride on your connection. Most Web hosts offer some sort of log analysis program as a standard feature of their hosting package.

If you're looking for something a bit more automated, Artistscope offers a number of utilities that can protect your images through encryption, secure Web hosting, and other methods. Protection plans start as low as $US10 per 100 page views.

Or, for an extremely secure, high-end solution, Digimarc has developed patented digital technology that embeds a "watermark" on all files, providing copyright protection and tracking for your electronic property.

Where can I find out more? For further details on bandwidth, take a look at Bandwidth.com, a site that matches users with bandwidth providers. About.com recently launched a bandwidth-specific Web site that's chock-full of bandwidth-related news and information. And be sure to visit MSN's message board community, where you'll find an entire section dedicated to connectivity.

Setting up a Blog on Your Hosting Account

2009-09-08T01:48:00.001-07:00

By Mitch Keeler

Blog hosting is a big part of what made the Web hosting industry grow by leaps and bounds in the past ten years or so. Everybody and their grandmother wanted a place to tell their stories, post their options and share their thoughts. Now just about everybody has one.

The only problem is that some of the best tools out there are intimidating. I’m here to hopefully take some of the intimidation away and get you started with your own blog about whatever your passion is.

Finding the Right Web Host

When it comes to picking a good Web host for setting up a blog, there are a few things you must keep in mind.

You want to first make sure that they are going to deliver you enough disk space and bandwidth to keep your head above water for a while. If you expect to write five or more posts a day - you could fill up that space pretty quick. Also make sure that you have an upgrade you can make when you need it.

It might be to the next largest plan - or it might be to a VPS or dedicated account. If you are a nobody just starting your first blog, you could probably just go with the least expensive plan and move on from there. Find some of blogs out there and see who they use for hosting.

Uptime is always important too - because you never want your readers to be left looking at a “this site is not available right now” message too long.

Even though we haven’t picked our blogging engine yet - you must keep in mind you need a Web host that will support the features you need. So you might pick a few good candidates first, and then go on to finding the content management system you need.

Picking the Right Publishing Engine

Now this is where the real fun starts to happen. There are a million and one different content management systems or CMS scripts you can pick from. If you need a good resource on where to find the one that will work best for you I would highly suggest checking out OpenSourceCMS.com.

Here are some other good content management system resources to check out:
● The CMS Matrix
● CMS Web Links
● CMS Watch
Now for the sake of keeping things simple - for today’s show we are going to go with my favorite WordPress. Now should you download WordPress from its Web site and install or install via your control panel’s easy “one-click” install? I would say do it the hard way. Navigate your favorite browser towards WordPress.org, hit the download link and pick up the .zip download file.

Here are a few other suggestions for blogging scripts you could use:
● Drupal
● Joomla
● Mambo
You want a blogging script that will be easy enough for you to manage and that has plenty of other users. The reason you want to use one of the more popular choices out there is because when you run into trouble, figuring out a problem is often easier to do in a group. There are a lot of WordPress resources out there so that would be why it would be my suggestion for the best script you could use.

How to Install WordPress

How do you install WordPress? We are getting to the meat and potatoes of all of this. Now that you have WordPress downloaded to your desktop and a Web host ready to host it on we can start worrying about how we are going to get it installed on to the server. Before we get started make sure you can or have these ready:
● You Have Access to MySQL via Your Control Panel
● You Have a FTP Client Handy for the Uploading and Downloading
● You Have a Paper and Pen Ready to Write Down Your MySQL Database and User Information
(and password!)

Thankfully for 95 percent of the population the easy “five minute installation” of WordPress should do the trick. I have edited this down a little ‘bit so if you want to check out the original please visit WordPress.org.

1. Download and unzip the WordPress package, if you haven’t already.
2. Create a database for WordPress on your web server, as well as a MySQL user who has all privileges for accessing and modifying it.
3. Rename the wp-config-sample.php file to wp-config.php.
4. Open wp-config.php in your favorite text editor and fill in your database details.
5. Place the WordPress files in the desired location on your web server. If you want it to show
up under your main domain name, drop all the content inside of the wordpress folder into
your public_html folder.
6. Run the WordPress installation script by accessing (your domain)wp-admin/install.php in your
favorite web browser. If you installed WordPress in the root directory, you should visit:
http://example.com/wp-admin/install.php

There you have it, now WordPress should be installed correctly. If you run into any problems, the first place to check for errors is in your wp-config.php file. Make sure you got the database name and the user name in the right spot. I often get these confused. Also you might need to also put a prefix before the name - such as “username_databasename” in the file as well. When you setup the MySQL database it should tell you the exact names. Just copy them from there as they are shown to your WordPress install and you should be alright.

Get WordPress Configured to Your Linking

Alright we got WordPress up and running but you are not ready to blog just yet. I have a few tips and tricks to hope you get the most out of your WordPress experience. Here are some of the first things that I do after installing WordPress for the very first time.

Edit the Default User - Login to WordPress and then click on the “User” Tab. After that you should be brought to a page that has the default “Admin” user. You need to go into here and customize it for you. Set your own password, your name, your link, your nickname and more. This way when you post something it won’t show up as “admin” it will show up with your own name.

Make SEO Friendly URLs - From inside of WordPress click on “Options” and then “Permalinks”. By default WordPress has a pretty crappy way of setting up your links. You want to use something that is a little more search engine friendly. Click on the radio box for “Date and name based” and then hit the “Update Permalink Structure” button. You might have to set your .htacess inside of your WordPress install. You must chmod the .htaccess file to 666 to allow WordPress to write its rules to it automatically. If not, then you can download or create the .htaccess file by hand and do it yourself.

Check the Other Options - After getting into the “Options” tab inside of WordPress you might check each tab under that section to make sure things are configured the way you want them to be. You might have to use WordPress for a while before you start noticing little things you’d like to change here or there. Click each sub-tab under your options to get familiar with where to find what also. This way you won’t be left hunting for a half hour to figure out how to change one little configuration.

WordPress Themes and Plugin Help

Now that we have gotten WordPress ready to go, you can now start working about plugins you need and themes you can use. One really nice resource for WordPress themes can be found at themes.wordpress.net. There are dozen there to choose from.

Just make sure if you do decide to use one of those, you pay attention to the author’s notes. Some require that you keep certain links on your Web page back to them - and others have “sponsor links”. I would suggest to stay away from the “sponsor links” ones because that is just a little slimy in my opinion.

For plugins I would suggest that you check out the plugin directory at WordPress.org.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/

There are a slew of ways there to extend your WordPress install to do a number of things. Now for most themes and plugins getting them installed it a pretty easy process. You will need to startup your FTP client and get yourself into the “wp-content” folder. From there you will see a folder for themes and a folder for plugins.

The rest of this pretty much explains itself.

Put themes in the themes folder and plugins in the plugins folder. Plugins are often just one .php file so getting them in there should not be a problem. When uploading a theme, make sure you grab the entire folder for the theme and upload it. Themes have multiple files inside them so if you don’t grab them all - often they won’t work. Each theme and
plugin should have a “Read Me” file with it to give you more specific instructions if needed.

What is Linux/Unix-based hosting?

2009-09-08T01:34:00.000-07:00

It means hosting that is provided on Linux/Unix operating systems platforms. There isn't much difference between these two types of operating systems because Linux/Unix is an improved version of Linux/Unix operating system. When just applying for web hosting companies for web hosting that is based on Linux operating system it doesn't matter which one you are using on your computer as it is commensurable with any operating system.

Usability

Some years ago Linux operating system used to be available only for professionals and if you were not an experienced user you had no future with this OS. In the last couple of years the situation has changed. Providers have done their best to make users' web sites administrating more comfortable and easier. In case you're just a beginner you'll find friendly control panels that include Web- interface. And if you are an experienced user you can control your site by means of shell.

Reliability

Experts claim that Unix-based platform is one of the most reliable ones but it will mainly depend on maintenance stuff professionalism. Thus quality and stability of Linux-based web hosting won't depend on some sudden system bugs and the operating system consistency itself secures your web site operating dependability.

Functionality

In this area Linux differs the most from other popular platforms. It can handle a lot of processes that happen at the same time. This gives you a possibility to get more from the server.

What Scripting Languages Are Available For Unix?

Unix supports a wide variety of application languages, more than any other operating system. The most common applications of such kind include C, C++, Shell, Perl, Tcl, Python, Java and PHP.

What Databases Does Unix Support?

Databases available for Unix are mSQL and mySQL. The one you choose would depend on your own needs and your Host Provider's offers. This is important for you to review when choosing a hosting company.

Cost

Linux operating system was developed by Linus Torvalds as an alternative to other operating systems and is being improved by many specialists all around the world. Most of its versions are free of charge. This circumstance makes Linux-based hosting much cheaper than any other. As for Linux versions they are sometimes called Linux Distributions. The most popular Distributions are RedHat and Mandrake. Which are easy to install have a lot of different utilities and suitable for any web hosting type.

Why choose Linux/Unix-based hosting?

So, as it was mentioned before using this platform is cheaper and more convenient than others. All existent scripts, like PHP, function best when using the Linux-based web hosting. Linux/Unix based web hosting upgrading possibilities increase when using Shell and Telnet access. The Linux/Unix-based platform is probably the most stable and reliable.

Reseller Web Hosting

2009-09-08T01:28:00.001-07:00

Reseller web hosting is a web hosting service that re-bundles services available from real hosts or primary providers. Reseller web hosting could be an individual or small business that makes use of the bandwidth and web servers of a higher tier provider or primary host and resells the same to the customers by offering value added services like web designing, domain registration and web programming.

Most real hosting companies allow reseller web hosting in order to boost their sales. Recently, a significant number of web hosting businesses have infiltrated the internet with an eye on the ever-growing number of people who are jumping online. In order to remain competitive, hosting companies look for ways to market their services to a greater number of people rather than offering their services individually. This leads to the business of reseller web hosting accounts. In reseller web hosting, real hosts are able to generate bulk businesses and delegate individual clients to reseller servers. In turn, reseller web hosting businesses look after some individual clientâ€™s needs. This is a win-win situation for both, since real hosts will have an intermediary in the form of reseller web hosting to individual customers without having to attend to them one by one. The reseller is also able to put up a business and earn income without having to shell out capital outlays. Although in some instances they do compete with each other for a fair share of the web hosting market, the real hosts can still benefit from this set-up considering they do charge a certain amount from resellers.

The services offered by a reseller web hosting service do not really differ from a real host. As a matter of fact, reseller web hosting offers more features to the customers. Due to the added value services, reseller web hosting can offer web design and programming services to each customer that are often times not possible from real hosts. Real hosts tend to focus on bulk accounts and corporate clients. Reseller web hosting offers value added services to customers in order to maintain a competitive edge against bigger web hosting services.

Reseller web hosting is also better able to establish friendly relationship with their customers that go beyond the contract terms. This is the secret for those successful reseller web-hosting services. They fill the need that bigger hosting servers cannot provide. Those who want to start a reseller web hosting business are advised to look for a real host, such as Hostgator or SpeedHostingZ.com. It is very easy to obtain a reseller account from a real host these days.

If you need simple hosting services for your web site and you prefer to have personal attention from the web host for design and programming then a reseller web hosting account is highly recommended. However, if you have a business website that requires complex e-commerce solutions, have a very large number of customers accessing your web site or you have a large number of websites to be hosted, a reseller hosting would probably not suffice. This is particularly true for e-businesses. For this, you need a real host provider for your web site.

Articles

2009-09-08T01:22:00.000-07:00

What is Web Hosting?
Choosing a web hosting company
Types of Web Hosting Services
Using cPanel to Manage Your Host
Web hosting Bandwith
Linux/Unix-based hosting
Reseller Web Hosting
Advantages of Having Your Own Domain Name
WebHosting Bandwidth - An Introduction
Setting up a Blog on Your Hosting Account
Handy Guide to Domain Names
Domain Names... Setting The Record Straight
eCommerce Hosting
Finding the Web Hosting Co. That's Right for You
Moving From Web host to Web Host
Top 10 Requirements for Choosing the Right Web Host
Web Hosting - Why Pay?
Backing up Your Website With Cpanel
Web Hosting Control Panel Options
How to Get the Ultimate Web Hosting Deal
Points to Consider For Shifting to Dedicated Servers
Make The Move To Multiple Domain Hosting
How to Choose Your Ecommerce Hosting?
Dedicated Server Hosting - The Features and Benefits of Using Dedicated Servers
When It's Time For A Dedicated Server
Web Hosting - Cheaper and Easier for Small Businesses
Reseller Web Hosting - A Cheaper Alternative?
Overselling Web Hosting: What does it mean to you?
Linux vs. Windows web Hosting, does it make a difference?
9 Steps to Successfully Switching to a New Web Hosting Company
Changing to a New Host? No More Worries!
Reseller Hosting Explained
What makes a good Web Hosting Provider!
Elements of Web Hosting
How to find good Web Hosting for your site!
What is the difference between Unix and NT systems?
Essential Ingredients of Every Linux Hosting Plan
A Domain Name & Web Site - The Key To The Door.
How To Shop and Save On Website Hosting
How To Reduce Web Hosting Bandwidth
Network Monitoring for Serious eCommerce
Web Hosting: Selecting The Right Host!
How To Host Several Websites Under One Account
Why A Web Site, And Why Web Hosting?
Web Hosting Is SO Retail
E-Commerce – 8 Tips You Can Make It Better
How To Submit Your Website On DMOZ Successfully!
The Advantages of a VPN
An online store in 12 steps
Decide What You Want
Generosity as a basis of e-business
The Top Practices in Corporate Blogging
Joomla Hosting
Understanding Web Hosting Basics
SEO - A Basic Introduction
How to get a higher rank of your website in search engines
Web Hosting Company
Webspace
How Web Servers Work and what solutions and technologies are available
How DNS works
How dynamic DNS works
Internationalized Domain Names ("umlaut" domains)
DNS server software
DNS ROOT servers

Using cPanel to Manage Your Host

2009-09-08T01:17:00.000-07:00

CPanel is an easy user-interface site that lets you control your host account environment. The main peculiarity of this operating system is that it so simple to use that your below average computer user can mess it up. It got great features embedded into its panel and some of the features are listed below.
There are such tools available for your use, which are Web Protect (.htaccess editor), Custom error pages, Redirects, Ability to edit MIME types, Ability to edit Apache handlers, Install/Uninstall FrontPage Extensions, Search engine tool submitting and File Manager.

Email

The email program provides you with the possibility to add, remove, and change passwords while managing email accounts. CPanel is also provided by Webmail for the accounts, Auto responders, Forwarders, Mailing Lists, Spam filtering and some more.

Backup

Backup allows you to create copies of account files and databases. The backup menu also allows you to download any automatic backups that were downloaded by your CPanel administrator.

Stats

Here are different tools to survey your site popularity and efficiency. Those are Webalizer web stats, Webalizer FTP stats, Analog stats, AWStats, View latest visitors, View bandwidth usage and View error log modules.

FTP

There is a module that controls FTP accounts (add, remove, change password for its access), Anonymous FTP controls; Ability to change FTP login message and Ability to kill FTP sessions.

Advanced Stuff

You have an ability to add or remove subdomains, Subdomain Redirects and its Stats.

Advanced Tools

You are provided with tools of SSH access tools, Manage GPG keys and Cron jobs.

There are also Pre-Installed CGI Scripts. Those are Interchange Cart, Agora Cart, Bulletin Board, Java Chat, HTML Chat, phpMyChat, CGI Wrapper (for non-suexec installs), Random HTML generator, Advanced Guestbook, Counter Generator, Java Clock Generator, Java Countdown Generator, Secure FormMail clone, CGIEmail, Entropy Search, Entropy Banner. Network Tools are DNS Lookup and Traceroute. Database Management tools includes Managing MySQL databases and phpMyAdmin access.

For beginners, CPanel has a lot of options that are easy to use. CPanel works with most of browsers, such as IE, Opera, Firefox and others.

Download

2009-09-07T00:53:00.003-07:00

Joomla_1.0.12-Stable-Full_Package
Joomla_1.5.2-Stable-Full_Package.zip
JoomlaComponents.zip
JoomlaModule
wordpress-2.7.1

Handy Guide to Domain Names

2009-09-07T00:53:00.001-07:00

By Mitch Keeler

Need help picking the best domain name? Do you want some assistance finding the domain name register that is right for you? Have you considered the privacy concerns you might be giving up by getting that .com of you very own?

I want to tackle domain names from head to toe to give people a guide to the confusing world of domain name registrations. There is no doubt that domain names are one of the most important parts of the web hosting game so the do deserve a little special attention.

Picking a Domain Name

The hardest thing about getting a new web site going is deciding what the domain name is going to be. I remember when I started this podcast, I wanted webhostingradio.com. Sadly enough though, it was already taken. WebHostingShow.com was my second choice though and I was able to pick it up with no problems at all. Of course when picking a domain name it has to be related to your web site or product in one way, shape or form.

Which domain name extension do you want to go with? There are plenty out there, but my usual rule of thumb is to go with a .com if at all possible. Why? This is the one that people know, are familiar with and is pretty much in the general public's mind when it comes to associating businesses with the Web.

Now where the rule might be broken is if you can get a better second choice than a first choice. For example, you want to go register greenlatern.com but it is taken. You do a little more research and find though that greenlantern.net is avaliable. Then it would be ok to go with the .net. Also you can do lots of creative things with the domain extensions too. An easy example of that idea would be del.icio.us.

When it comes to hyphenated domain names a lot of people out there will tell you they are good. They will then start going on and on about the search engines and good keywords. I think that is all a bunch of bologna. While search engines are important you need to keep in mind you are making a web site for people to read first, not search engine robots.

Check out these domain name search engines that will give you a little more help when it comes to finding out if a domain name is avaliable or not.

What domain name extensions are avaliable out there? Wikipedia has a good list of country code top-level domain name extensions.

Shopping for a Domain Name

Now we have your domain name you want picked out, where do we go to purchase it?

There are a number of domain name registers out there today. One of the most popular is GoDaddy.com. You have probably seen them at least on the Super Bowl, right? Usually when people reach this fork in the road that can go one of two ways.

Register the domain name with a third party or register the domain name with their web hosting company (if the web host provides that service). I like keeping all my eggs in different baskets - so I would stick with keeping your domain name registation and web hosting separate.

Go from domain name register to domain name register and try to find the best deal with the most respectable name. Somebody like GoDaddy.com for example. You might also want to check the ICANN list of accredited registers. That would be the best place to find out if the domain name register you find is a fly by night setup or a real online business.

Now this brings up a new idea that you must keep in mind when shopping for a domain. Make sure that when you register it, the registration is done under your name and not the name of the company setting it up for you. You want to make sure that you will own the domain name and the rights to that domain name. If you can't find it in their small print when signing up you might drop them an e-mail to make sure.

WHOIS and Anonymous Domain Registration

What is the whois database? The whois database is the big dump where everybody's domain name registration information gets tossed into a big search-able pile. This way anybody can find out the name, home address, phone number and more of the person who has registered any domain name.

It started as almost like a phone book for system administrators to find out who owned that next server over. The whois system though hasn't matured any at all over the years though. It might have been ok when there were 25 people out there with domain names and servers but with millions? That is a little scary. Well I would say for businesses, having this information to turn to could be very handy but for Joe Newbie who is registering his first web site it is a big security concern.

Now I could go on and on about how the whois system is broken and we need a replacement, but that is for another podcast. They did kind of fix the problem, the only issue here is you have to throw more money at it. Money fixes everything right? Due to the problems with the whois database a new business has come up for domain name registers and the like. It is often called anonymous domain registration or privatizing your domain name. Many domain name registers and web hosts offer it as a secondary service and the price usually isn't that bad. For $5 or more a year they will replace all of your information in the whois database with their own.

Now some people would suggest that you could just put in fake information when signing up and you would be in the clear right? The problem with that, and I speak from the domain name register and web hosts' side on this one, is it makes it very hard to verify your identity when you say you are Huckleberry Hound from Nowheresville, Texas. Now if you had a PO BOX avaliable to you that might be one work around - since it is a real address but not your home address. Another fix would be to use your work address when signing up for new domain registrations (just make sure you clear it with your boss first).

Watch Out for Domain Slammers

So what have I left out of the domain name discussion? I would advise you to keep up to date when your domain name registrations are due. The reason is that there are places out there that will try to steal your registration away from the place you have it now and move it over to them. This is called domain slamming. An example of a company that does this shady practice is Domain Registry of America. They have been known in the past to send you a letter via snail mail (another good reason there to privatize your domain registration) to your house, to your front door and tell you..

"Oh no, your domain name registration is running out. Fill out this form and we will register it for you for another year. You only have to pay us $49.95 and you will never get another letter like this."

Then at the bottom or back of the letter in really tiny print it will tell you, "This is not really a bill, it is an advertisement by a butt monkey trying to steal your domain name registration." Ok, maybe the "butt monkey" part really isn't in there but you get the main point behind the idea. If there is any question at all about your domain name registration, go to the web site of your domain name register and check there first.

Types of Web Hosting Services

2009-09-07T00:37:00.000-07:00

There are various types of web hosting services available to host your website. Before signing up for web hosting services, it is important to understand what kind of service your website needs, the kind of server you or your business needs, your budget, and what type of services the web host offers.

Hosting options available are:

Shared web hosting
Dedicated web hosting
Managed web hosting
Resellers web hosting
Collocated Hosting

Shared web hosting. The most common type of hosting service which implies sharing the server with other customers of your web hosting provider, but gives you a possibility to control and operate your site with the help of control panel. The cost of shared web hosting service is predetermined by the quantity of server clients. The thing you should be aware of before purchasing shared hosting concerns files and scripts restrictions which can differ, so learn terms and conditions carefully first. Also be ready for the fact that you may not be allowed to make use of some plugins and tools which can influence your work. The most important thing you should make clear for yourself is to decide whether you want to share the server with other users as this cannot guarantee the high uptime because of possible unreliability of some customers.

Dedicated web hosting with it you don’t have to share the server with anybody. You are provided with full access to server resources and can host one or several sites on the server. If your website requires a lot of traffic and disc space, dedicated web hosting will be the right solution. But you should mind that for such service you need to pay quite a lot as pricing is usually high. In order to work with your website hosted on dedicated server you may also require special knowledge as you are the one who controls and manages your web pages. Your hosting provider will only help with software problems but won’t be involved in setup issues. So you must be ready to act as website administrator.

Managed web hosting. It would be logical to speak about managed web hosting service right after dedicated type because it implies a kind of improved dedicated model. Purchasing managed hosting you are allowed to have full control of your website and make use of all facilities you may need for your work. Managed hosting type is also deprived of administrating difficulties you may experience working with dedicated server, and contains necessary system administrating updates and useful software to ease your work. Purchasing managed web hosting you also may rely on support concerning hardware and software issues. But managed hosting service is also known to possess certain disadvantages such as paid support. Apart from very high pricing it also requires paying setup fee. Moreover, if you need help while installing the software you should also pay certain amount of money for support service.

Resellers web hosting. This type of hosting service will be the best solution for those who own some e-commerce websites. It gives you the possibility to resell server space to other customers and sometimes you are required to pay certain fees depending on the amount of sold service. But some hosting providers offer a set fee amount for the resources you are allowed to sell. The main advantage of resellers web hosting is the ability to earn money from your own little hosting business. But you should also be prepared to provide your clients with necessary support which includes e-mail letters exchange, phone calls or sometimes live chats. So if you decided to work with resellers hosting and want your online business to be estimated as reliable and trustworthy, you should be ready to spend your time on customers granting them with service they require.

Collocated Hosting. Co-located host implies purchasing a server space from your hardware provider with further supplying to the host. Choosing co-location hosting service you are allowed to operate the server according to your own requirements making use of any tools and facilities you may need during your work. The disadvantage co-located host may be characterized by is high prices which are supplemented with expenses on system management support if you need it.

What is Web Hosting?

2009-09-07T00:17:00.001-07:00

If you want to take part in the internet as a business, information resource, directory, or as a hobbyist wanting to share data, information and knowledge with the many people and communities on the internet, you have to contain this in a central spot on the internet. You have to own a piece of space in cyberspace.

Web hosting empowers you and anyone with a computer and internet connection to own a piece of cyberspace. In your space, you can have news, bulletins, documents, data, files (your web site) and your own post office (mail server) to accept mail, all in the context of you or your business. This is your space and to get this space you either have to own a piece of the physical internet with a network connection to the internet backbone and computer(s) operating as server(s) offering access to your files and post office, for people on the internet to view your web site or send and receive email with you.

The cost of owning a direct connection to the backbone and a server dedicated to a web site and email is out of reach for the average business and especially general members of the internet. Even running a web site and mail server on your own computer when it is connected to the internet requires a lot of technical ability and knowledge. The internet itself has to be your business for either of these options to be viable.

In our modern society, for every person in business or with a career in most industries today, it is imperative to have a place in cyberspace, not just to be competitive but to survive. web hosting companies were born out of this great need to provide an environment for the masses to own a piece of cyberspace, to offer an environment where people could have their piece of cyberspace on the internet 24/7 without the great cost. web hosting companies developed a model where they could split up areas on the servers connected to the backbone and ?rent? this space, cutting the costs across many people sharing the server and backbone connection to the internet.

In a web-hosting environment, you are offered a web site to place your files, data, documents, and bulletins for people to access with their web browser and an email server for you to send and receive email messages. The web host will also provide you a means to get an address for people to get to your web site with a web browser and post email to you.

To obtain space in a web hosting environment you become a member and agree to terms and conditions of renting the space ? just as if you were to rent a house or commercial premises for your business. Once you agree and become a member, you are given an access code, a key, to your piece of cyberspace. This key, in the form of a login and password, allows you to connect to the web hosting server and up-load (transfer to) your web site so it can be accessed on the internet. Your login and password is also used to connect to a mail server to create and administer mailboxes to send and receive email for you, your staff, or family members.

Just like when you rent a house or commercial premises for your business, you have so many rooms, bathrooms, and floor space to use. In a web-hosting environment, your area is defined as disk space and network transfer.

Disk space is measured in Megabytes (MB) or Gigabytes (GB). Megabyte roughly means 1,024,000 characters and Gigabyte roughly means 1,024 Million characters. Imagine a character as one key on your key board. These amounts determine how many files, documents, or data you can have on your web site.

Network Transfer is also measured in Megabytes or gigabytes which determines how much data (how many of your files, documents or data) can be downloaded (transferred to) people accessing your web site. The more people, or the more data each person accesses on your web site the more data is transferred on the network.

The more disk space and network transfer you use the greater percentage of the web-hosting environment you are using ? therefore the higher the rent.

Just as no office building and home is the same, neither is every web-hosting environment. Some offices have stairs, others have lifts, some houses have ensuites, swimming pools, and gardens, ? and others do not. Web-hosting environments are much the same, some offer bare structures to do just the basics and others offer an array of features and facilities to help you do just about everything you could ever need or want. Some of the features and facilities likely to be offered are ranges of software to use, components, databases, and server side script processing.

The similarity of renting an office or home to renting space in a web-hosting environment is even more similar. With some buildings a gardener and/or a guard is available to look after the gardening or provide security. In a web-hosting environment, you have support people to help you do what you need to do on your web site to make it grow and there are server administrators to protect and secure your web-hosting space.

When you rent a building there are key parts needed to work or live in the space, like rooms, offices, kitchens, toilets, and bathrooms. In your web-hosting environment, you will find equally important components that are required to make the space workable. The core components in a web-hosting environment are:

Web Server

The web server is a relatively simple piece of software that accepts requests over HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and delivers HTML pages and Image files.

FTP Server

FTP is the means of which a web master can transfer files to and from the server. To put your HTML and image files on a server you will generally use FTP to upload (transfer to) your files to the server running the web server.

Mail Server

The mail server consists of two parts POP (Post Office Protocol) and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). POP is where email is received into your mailbox and SMTP is what is used to send and receive email between mail servers.

Database Server

If you are using server side scripting on your web server (you use something like Microsoft Internet Information Server) then instead of providing ?static? data only on web pages you can provide data from a database allowing your users to search and view the data in different and dynamic way. Also, a Database server is used to gather data from visitors to your site; orders, feedback, discussions and the like.

Each one of the above components are software programs running on servers in the web-hosting environment. You can interact with each of these with special software programs you use on your computer. The main ones being:

Web Browser

When viewing the web you use a web browser like Internet Explorer. Many web hosting companies provide a ?Control Panel? to administer your web host account, which you use with your web browser. Most allow you to configure most aspects of your account using a simple web browser.

Web site/page editor

Today many web servers allow editing of WebPages over HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) based on Microsoft FrontPage technology. These special editors allow you to essentially look at your web site as if you were using a web browser and edit the pages directly as you see them using WYSWIG (What you see if what you get) technology. Most web hosting environments support this, and if you are starting out, make sure it is available. One tip: make sure the web host providing this really does understand this technology ? it is the main area of which many hacks and security intrusions occur.

FTP Client

This is a very simple piece of software that allows you to view the server folders and files in your web host account as if they were files and folders on your own computer. You can then drag and drop files between you computer and your web host account.

Email Client

If you are on the internet you would already be using an email client to send and receive your email. The most common are Outlook Express, Eudora and Web based mail clients like Hotmail.

Database Administration Client

The most common databases used with web servers are Microsoft SQL Server (available only on Windows) and MySQL (commonly found on Linux and UNIX but also available on Windows). SQL Server comes with it's own administration client where you can view your databases, edit them, backup data and do all the administration functions you need. MySQL has an active online community where there is a range of administration clients available.

Choosing a web host is, again, similar to choosing a house to live in or commercial premises to do business. You need to define what it is you require: how much space you need and what features and facilities you need.

If you have been reading this article because this is new to you, then it is likely at this stage you only need minimal space and basic facilities. Once you have worked with the basic facilities you will learn more and become aware of greater facilities and features and then you can simple move from one web ?hosting environment to another ? paying more or paying less. Moving in cyberspace is much easier, faster, and more seamless than physically moving house or commercial premises.

Initially you may use the web-hosting environment offered by your ISP (internet Service provider), the company you use to connect to the internet. But remember these companies main business is connecting many thousands of people to the internet ? not managing web hosting environments. You will generally find they offer less than basic facilities and minimal space.

If you are just starting out with your first web site the first major choice you will be faced with is ?Unix? or ?Windows?. For a person just starting out on the internet, both are equally capable and will offer the facilities you need to have your place in cyberspace.

If you have a web designer or technical person to help you, you only need to consider how much space you really need. With this simple idea in mind, when you are just starting out, owning your piece of cyberspace will not cost anymore than $8 per month. Many web-hosting companies will offer what you need for as little as $3 per month (usually paid yearly).

If you are going alone and doing it all yourself you may want to consider an account with a web hosting company that offers and prides itself on it's support and customer service, 24/7 support access and the experience, knowledge and skill of it's server administrators. Remember, these are the gardeners and the guards who take care of your environment.

Web hosting is very simple and straightforward an once you obtain your space in cyberspace you will never want to let it go and you can easily move it where you want as a turtle carries it's shell on it's back. Always remember you are not stuck in the first web-hoisting environment you choose.

Web hosting isyour space in cyberspace and it is imperative to have a place in cyberspace in our modern society, just as it is to have an office to do business.

Written by M6.net

Choosing a web hosting company

2009-09-07T00:15:00.000-07:00

You are ready to select a web hosting company to host your new web site but which one of the numerous webhosts should you choose? Here are some factors you should consider.

Storage: How much space does your website need, most packages comes with at least 50Mb. When you need more space you should be able to upgrade your
account.

Traffic: How much traffic you will need are harder to calculate as it depends on how "heavy" your web site pages are. Will you use a lot of images, movies and mp3 on your site or are you creating a simple information site with mostly text content. Web hosting packages often comes with 1Gb of transfer per month which are enough for most of websites. If you are unsecure on how much you will be using, check the hosting companies prices for extra transfer.

Support: This is an very important factor. When you experience some problems with your site will you be able to get fast and good support from the webhost? Are they offering support 24h a day 7 days a week? How fast do they answer questions?

Reliability: How fast and secure are their servers and how much uptime do they provide. If they guarantee a certian amount of uptime for example 99,5% how do they compensate if they can't deliver 99,5% uptime.