Just Web Hosting Solution

Archive for December, 2009

What is the importance of up-time? Up-time is the availability of any particular website to be accessible by anyone at any one time. The longer the time which any visitors are able to access the website, the higher the potential business sales would be. Some companies are so critically dependent on online marketing to promote their business that even one minute down-time would cause them thousands of dollars. Up-time mean the duration which your web-site is fully operational and had no issues for anyone to come viewing or accessing the website at any one time.

A web host provider which is able to provide a 99.95 up-time is likely to gain more new customers and also retain their existing customers as compared to another web host provider with approximately 99.94% up-time. With today’s competitive business and competition, even a slight 0.01% increase in downtime per month will have significant reduction in the revenue gauged from online business as the difference of 0.01% represent 4.4 minutes of additional downtime which the web host provider need to bear.

The up-time of the web hosting server also ‘represent’ the company’s reputation as the public will perceive the level of reliability for that particular company base on this criteria. I am sure that no one would want to sign up for a web host provider who had frequent website or server downtime, right? Ideally, any good hosting company would at least sustain their up-time records of 99.7% to make themselves more competitive in this industry.

Almost every web host claimed themselves to have a good up-time records, the fact is that these are not always true. If you are a new user who is looking forward to get yourself an excellent website host it would be great if you can seek for web host reviews for each web host on their up-time performance and tracking records for the last 2 years.

Also we are not living in a perfect world, therefore having zero downtime is totally impossible. Even the most efficient company will experience server downtime once in a blue moon. Any company having their server up-time which comes close to 99.9% is too good a bargain. At the same time, there is approximately 0.1% of unexpected downtime which possibly happened to the any great server, the key is the availability of the web host provider in bringing up its server as soon as they possibly can to minimize the potential negative impact to its clients.

Last but not least, here are some key tips on assessing the quality and reliability of the web provider in keeping up with their up-time guarantee;

-Prioritize on the quality and not quantity. Proactive is better than reactive. Do not give in to any of these providers even if they offer to compensate for the down time; instead a good web provider will put in their attention and effort to enhance their server to alleviate any possible downtime in future as the ultimate goal for the long run.
-Give faith to providers who are willing to invest in their new hardware as this is one of ways to support the overall operation and activities of the website.
-Try to seek comments from some of the world renowned web host reviewers for any particular web hosting provider for their feedbacks which are professionally cited with well defined justifications and reasoning for each of their comments.

If you are new to website hosting, you should have an idea of the end results you expect from your website. With that idea in mind, have all the related information organized so it is all easily accessible for the web hosting service to better understand your desires. A web site has become a vital tool in most business organizations, it is important that the service you select is the best website hosting service for the results you want.

Increases in profit and productivity are the end results you are trying to obtain by building a website. In order to do that, you need to be certain the website hosting service will provide enough storage capacity. An upgrade will be necessary if you need more than 50mb of storage space, which is the usual starting capacity. Make sure you receive 24/7 support by a technician, not just an answering service.

Security, reliability and uptime, should also be considered when selecting the best website hosting service for your business. Make sure the service and reliability meet your requirements, and that a good uptime is guaranteed. Next decisive factor to consider is the price. Do not try to cut expenses by selecting a free or low cost service, because you will end up with what you pay for and that is nothing, or a website that looks low budget. Based on the needs of your business, select the web hosting service which will best fill those needs.

Even though each business will have different needs, the choice of hosting on a Microsoft or Linux server is a decision every business will have to make. The host selection can be very confusing, and probably best explained by a technician. After you have selected your website hosting service, they will be capable of explaining the difference between the two servers, and which one will best suit the needs of your business.

If you want multiple sites on one account, make sure the hosting service is capable of multiple website hosting. Website hosting is usually offered in packages and priced accordingly. Choose a service provider who lets you upgrade to the next level at anytime. Most businesses should start at the basic level, then advance to the business, professional, or an ecommerce package as their needs grow.

If you are planning to put up your own website you may already know that you will need a web host. There are literally thousands of suitable choices available to you, so the big question is how do you decide which one to pick. Certainly your budget is one factor, but there are many others. Start by deciding what you really need, and then it will be easier to locate an appropriate web host source.

First, think about what general type of site you are planning to build. Is it a purely personal site, for example? Your personal site will be far different than an all out eCommerce site. Most web host companies can accommodate the full range but you need to know what you must have first so you get the services you need without paying for services that you don’t need.

If all you need is a relatively simple personal site you will be able to find host choices that are actually free to you, as long as you realize that they will post advertising on your site. If you can’t deal with advertising on your site, you may still only pay as little as $5 per month. Some hosts will provide you with a proprietary domain name at no extra cost.

If however, you are a professional firm you will need a domain name for sure so look into the cost. Also look for a host that has excellent templates and other support to make your site creation and site maintenance easier. Additionally, if you plan to take customer financial or personal information you must have data security. The professional website will cost you as little as $5 up to $30 per month, depending on the feature package.

If you will engage in eCommerce, you will need systems for security as well as shopping cart, checkout and credit card processing features. Unless there will only be a few items for sale, this type of site will also require more bandwidth and server space. All this adds up. You may be able to come in at as little as $15 per month, but it could go way up from there.

Will your website be used for data sharing between employees, customer order tracking, or delivery scheduling and the like? If so, what you need is called an enterprise level hosting site. It will require the most advanced security features and probably an online customer service center. This may be as little as $100 per month but heads uphill fast form there as your site gets bigger and as you add essential features.

When establishing online presence through a website, it is always best to start by identifying your needs. You will then be better able to locate an appropriate web hosting company.

Almost all businesses can make good use of a website these days. But finding an affordable, and good, website hosting company is not as easy as it may seem.

At one end of the spectrum you can find a host that will charge you nothing each month. However, they may have higher setup fees and will post advertising on your site. At the other end, your space and speed requirements may be so severe that you will need a state of the art dedicated server.

Fees and rates vary considerably so be sure you understand the entire package, not just the monthly fee. Check also the maintenance fees, domain name registration fees, and website design assistance fees. They all add up. The goal is to get, and pay for, what you need but only what you need.

Be careful that you are getting the space you need and that more space is available at reasonable rates for your future growth. You’ll need a minimum of 50 gigabytes (GB.) If your allowable bandwidth is too small, your speed will suffer. One GB is the starting point. If you require FTP protocol, check carefully as it is not always available. Your web host needs to accept the file size you need for uploading. Be sure that your web host supports the same database, script and programming languages that you will use.

Also take a look at the reliability of your potential web host’s system. This is often not easy information to obtain but likely critical to your success. For example, if all you need is a simple website for your personal profile, you can probably stand a little down time. But if you are engaged in high volume selling even a little down time may be very costly.

Do you plan to have complex graphics or animations? These take more space and need more speed.

If your site accepts sensitive information you will need advanced security features. Personal identification, medical or financial data all need to be protected.

Will you be selling products on your site? If so, in addition to security, you will most likely need an order processing system and perhaps a customer service system. You also need an extremely reliable web host to ensure that you suffer minimal downtime.

Will your site be accessible to employees and customers for order placing, order tracking, inventory figures and the like? Again, high security is called for and probably substantial space.

Will your site be engaged primarily in large file downloads? You may need a dedicated server as opposed to the more common method whereby you and many other websites share a server at your web host provider’s location.

It is important to understand your needs before locating a good web host for your new website. The range of prices is huge. If you narrow down what you need, you will be better able to judge what’s best and still affordable for you.

So, you have done the first few steps in choosing a host, and now you are at the decision stage. As it is not a very easy decision, you should take time to consider it. Some research on the background of a company would be nice and it will give you some information.

You should first take note of the features you require for your website. If you do not know what type of plan you are looking for, it will be awfully hard to make a good decision. If you require a small plan, do not opt for the large one, as it will be a waste of space and money. Some companies offer web development and management services, and you should consider similar companies, so it becomes easier for price comparison. By getting many different type of service in one plan, you will be saving a lot of time and money. These are called bundles and you will only have to deal with one company rather than two or three. If you think the extra services are not worth it for you, then do not opt for them.

There are also disadvantages of choosing bundled plans. The disadvantage is that you will end up paying more than usual for services you do not need. If you are really tight on budget, you can choose just the hosting services for a lower price. It is the best thing to do in a situation like that. You should make a list of the services you need, and find a hosting company that specializes in those services. The price will be high but if you want good service, the price should not be an issue.

If you are in a financial crisis, you can give the hosting company your budget and they can create a custom plan for you. This seems to work with many people, and both parties are satisfied. For hosting purposes, if you require a small plan, just choose the one with an option to upgrade at anytime. The option to upgrade will be available with almost all hosting companies.

Upgrading your plan will not require you to transfer any sites files. It is only the limits on the account that are changed, so there are no extra maneuvers on your part. You will surely be paying more than usual, but you can discuss a deal with company if you are a valued customer. Before becoming their client, read their terms and conditions to make sure you know what you are getting into. This page would have important information on refund policies and what is not allowed.

Many people who are in the business of web hosting will try to go up against their competitors. But the question is, how far will they go to do it? For some companies, they avoid doing anything unnecessary and promote a friendly competition. But some of them try so hard to do it that not only does it affect the sales of their competitors, but also affect the opinion of the consumers. Now the question is how do web hosting companies trick you?

When people encounter the question “how do these hosting companies trick you?” they think that the hosting companies do something like showing “too good to be true” advertisements, or simply seduce consumers with discounts, and freebies. But that is not the case here. So exactly how do hosting companies trick you?

When unethical hosting company employees do their thing, they try to change the opinion of the consumers regarding the competitors. But how do they do it? How do web hosting companies trick you?

A good hosting company knows the right SEO tactics to the point that the name of their company ranks at the top of the search engines. But as for unethical companies, they might have used the right SEO tactics but those were not enough to beat the good web hosting company.

So the next thing they do to is to use the good company name to ruin its reputation. How is this done? The employees of the unethical company would post questions regarding the good web hosting company. They act like they are employees of the good web hosting company and then ask questions all over the web. Questions like “My Server crashed. What is wrong with it?” “My clients complain that I have a slow server. Can anyone help?” are asked by these employees.

The search bots will then identify the name of the hosting company on the websites with such questions and include these websites as a part of the search results of the web hosting company. Is this the answer to the question, “how do hosting companies trick you?” I am afraid not.

It is a well-known fact today that consumers are smart enough to research on a company profile on the web before availing of their products and services. In this case, a consumer would want to know the reputation of the hosting company before getting their website hosted by the company. People who would look for company profiles on the web would search the company name on the search engine. And soon, they will be reading the questions that the employees of the unethical company posted on the web. If you were a consumer and you read such questions regarding the company, what would you feel? Of course you will doubt the reputation of the good company. This leads to the loss of sales for the good company.

On the other hand, the unethical company does not have any negative feedback on the web, so the only things that the consumers will read about the company are the good things. This will end to the increase of sales for their company.

And to make matters worse, even if the good company could request the deletion of the questions from the websites, the search engine would still display it on the results, so the reputation of the good company is stained forever.

This is the answer to the question “how do web hosting companies trick you?” And now that you are aware of it, make sure to enlighten other people. If people asks you the question “how do web hosting companies trick you?” make sure you tell them this story.

There are several compelling reasons to use a Managed Server rather than buy your own server. When you use a managed server you save on time and effort and money. You do not need specialized knowledge.

A managed server is highly scalable. You may need more bandwidth as the website grows and in some cases you may need less. To change the allotted bandwidth, all you have to do is coordinate the change with the web host. This is one of the aspects of managed hosting which lets you use the hosts personnel to manage your back end, rather than your own.

By renting equipment you save between $1000 and $15000 which you would have spent on your own server. Your hosting company takes care of your support issues again saving you the need to hire your own people.

Security of the servers is an important issue in the age of internet terrorism. Hosts use the necessary software to combat threats like denial of service attacks, viruses and hacking attempts. Time is the currency of the day and servers that are managed by others save you a lot of time.

In sum if your business is a small or medium sized one, a broad recommendation is to use a managed server. Economics is the primary reason, all the expenses of buying and maintaining a server could well be over $50,000 in the first year. Contrast this with the expenses of under $1000 for a rented server. If you earn over $150,000 a year and feel the need to take the leap to owning your own server then read part two of this article. For the rest of us mortals, guess a Managed Server must do, for now.

Have you gotten any business cards lately? If so, then did you notice a new line on it? What is this new line? It is the website of the company. Every company seems to have known how to choose a web hosting company and thus was able to have a website of their own. What is the purpose of knowing how to choose a web hosting company? Why did they bother knowing how to choose a web hosting company? Let us find out.

A website can bring a lot of benefits to a company. Having a website helps a company grow. What are the advantages of having a website for your company?

One advantage of having a website is that it has a multiple purpose. It is a way to promote your company as business card, portfolio and customer hotline. These purposes are very important to every business and with a website, anyone who has internet connection can get more information about your company.

A website saves you money and time. People like to know more about the products that they want before they buy it. Searching for the products through the internet is the easiest way for many consumers. Furthermore, you can advertise your newest products and services by putting it on the net rather than paying for ads and brochures.
If you are selling products in the international market, then that is more reason for you to have a website. Many people across the world will be able to view and maybe even buy your products anytime. This is a huge advantage for you.

Now if you are convinced, then you must have a website for your company now. But before you do that, you must first know how to choose a web hosting company. Why? There are many companies out there, buy only a few are really reliable. And that is why you must know how to choose a web hosting company before getting started. What are the factors that make a web hosting company reliable? Let us find out.

A good company must have an uptime of 99%. You need the website to always be up so that people can view the website anytime. If the website is down, many people who will visit your website will not get any information on your company, which leaves them with a bad impression on your company. This is the reason why having a 99% uptime is important.

The customer support that the web hosting company offers must be 24/7. Why? You might need to know more information on creating subdomains or creating a website. If such problems arise, getting answers from the customer support anytime is a good thing.

The security of the company must also be good. It must be protected from hackers so that valuable information of your company will not be stolen.

A good company must also offer more features. A feature such as a file manager, which helps you manage your website easier, is a good feature to offer. Make sure to look for other great features offered by the company.

After knowing all the features that you want to get from a company, make sure to compare prices. Pick one that suits your budget. Some reliable companies offer free registration as long as you subscribe to their plans.

The last thing you can look for in a good company is the Satisfaction guarantee. The company must not be afraid to offer a 30-day satisfaction guarantee, in which they give you your money back if you are not satisfied with their service within the first 30 days.

Knowing how to choose a web hosting company will surely help you have a secured, easy-to-use website. And now that you know how to choose a web hosting company, you are now one step closer to making your business grow.

The scopes of service provided by web hosts vary considerably from one sever to the other. The most primitive type is that of the file transfer protocol (FTP). Some ISPs provide this service free of charge. Generally, personal web hosting is cheap, sponsored or free. Hosting for business purpose is usually of a greater expense. For personal, single page hosting is sufficient. A more detailed and complex structure would require a bigger package including databases and application development platforms. The host usually also provides an interface for handling the web server. Special software is used in case of big companies and organizations.

We need to be acquainted with a few technical terms. The first of the list is hosting up time. It refers to the percentage of time during which the host is reachable via the internet. Thus you must always check the hosting uptime before choosing your service provider. Also, there are different types of hosting that you need to be familiar with before making any major decision.

A lot of big organizations that are not ISPs also require a computer that has access to the web round the clock. They sometimes also use this computer as a website host in order to provide details of products to anybody interested. For your convenience and understanding, we shall list a few types of web hosting services that are available.

Free:this is offered by various organizations and is often ad supported. The features are obviously limited when compared to paid web hosting.

Shared:in this case, the website is placed on a common server that also hosts many other websites. The number can be anything between hundreds to thousands! Features available with shared web hosting are extensive to say the least.

Reseller: this type of service allows the client to become the hosts themselves. They can function for individual domains under any combination depending upon whom they affiliated to as an ISP.

Virtual dedicated server: this divided virtual resources into virtual servers. Clients may have root access to their own virtual space. Clients are also sometimes accountable for patching and maintaining the server.

Dedicated servers: in this case, the user gets full control over his server. But this does not mean that the user owns the server.

These are a few basic insights into the process of web hosting. It is imperative that one does a thorough research on this topic before opting for an appropriate service provider.

If you’re running a successful online business and have found your original website hosting method is not advanced enough to keep up with your orders, a virtual private server (VPS) might be for you. Unlike dedicated server hosting, this type of technology divides the space of one physical server into multiple virtual servers. Each of these has the appearance and capabilities of their own dedicated machines. They can be rebooted individually and independently, and they each have their own full operating systems.

This type of partitioning a single server into multiple virtual servers has been done a long time with large mainframe computers, and has been expanded with the development of virtualization software capabilities. Using this type of software, separate companies can each have dedicated resources on the same machine. There are three major types of VPS hosting – managed hosting, unmanaged hosting and unmetered hosting. Managed hosting allows the customer to pay the hosting company to do all upkeep and maintenance of the server systems. Unmanaged hosting gives the customer the responsibility for all monitoring and administration. Unmetered hosting is similar to unmanaged, but has a fixed monthly rate no matter how many changes, updates, monitoring, etc. is done during the month.

There are many benefits to having VPS hosting for your web-based business. One of the major highlights of this type of server system is its cost efficiency. The majority of dedicated hosting accounts (when you have an entire physical server leased from a hosting company) cost around $200 a month. Just by utilizing a shared server, but keeping the benefits of having a dedicated machine, the monthly cost drops to between $50 and $100 a month.

Other advantages of VPS hosting are that no matter what happens with the other websites on the shared server, they cannot affect your company’s sites. Even if they crash their sites, yours will be intact, as you have your own individual running system. This allows much peace of mind. Another benefit is that your company and webmaster will have all administrative rights to make any and all changes you desire. The software and systems you choose will be customized on your server, which is not an option in a basic shared hosting setting.

This might be the perfect server hosting solution for your online business. There are many options out there on VPS hosting companies, so do your research to find the best one for you.