Category: Web Hosting

Why Do You Need Access to Support from Your Web Hosting Provider

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With most hosting providers, tech support comes as a standard as part of the hosting package; however, the standard and quality of the tech support provider is often what defines a good or bad web host. For many business owners, they leave the technical side of the website up to the web designer. They therefore don’t necessarily understand why having reliable tech support is so important. If, however, you are a smaller business, you may have had the need to call the support desk in which case you will know how valuable it is to have a helpful and friendly voice on the other end of the line.

Day and Night Accessibility

Your web host should have a support desk that is accessible 24/7. You should be able to reach them by email or telephone at any time of day or night. Many people may ask why the 24 hour accessibility is important. Your website is accessible around the globe 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If clients browsing the web try to log onto your website and it’s down, they may think you are no longer in business or they may simply get frustrated when they can’t access web pages. That just creates a bad impression of your company. Customer expectations are so high these days with technology making websites ever more efficient that if a website is not working properly, they usually just go onto the next company. If there is a problem with your website, no matter how small, you need to be able to fix it right away. Usually, you need to be able to contact the web host to find out if it is a server problem or a problem just with your website. This is why it is important for them to be accessible 24/7.

Technical Expertise

Even for many web designers, there are times when they need to consult the expertise of web hosting providers. Your web host service provider can glance at the server on which your site is hosted and troubleshoot to see if there are any problems. This can save you and your web designer many hours of hassle trying to find the problem on your website. A good web hosting provider will also have advanced technical expertise. They can give you advice when needed and help you find solutions to any hassles you are experiencing with your website. This expertise can prove to be very valuable when you are trying to decide what hosting package best suits your needs and if you need to upgrade your website at any stage.

Website Maintenance

For most types of hosting packages, your web host service provider is responsible for maintaining the server on which your website is hosted. This means that they check and make sure that all the operating systems of the server are functional. This is important to your website because, without proper maintenance, the website can slow down and become problematic. Part of the maintenance is to ensure that the anti-virus protection is current and active. This is particularly important if you have a shared hosting package. A virus that gets into one website can infiltrate other websites on the shared server if the server is not properly maintained. If you suspect that you may have a virus or spyware on your website, you can contact the web host support desk and ask them to run some diagnostics. Their superior knowledge and systems should be able to help you pinpoint the problem.

Finding the Best Reseller Hosting for You

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Are you familiar with reseller hosting? This is the term used if an account owner would avail of the services of the host at a wholesale price. Afterwards, the plan will be subdivided so it can be sold to more individual users as small services rather than a whole plan like the way he bought it. However, this practice does not necessarily mean that you should resell it immediately. You might also want to keep it for yourself since it can also be essential for your hosting needs.

And because not everyone can afford to pay for a web hosting, there are now thousands of resellers online today. This makes it quite hard for the individual buyers to know the real and the best reseller hosting that they should deal with.

Most of the reseller hosting reviews can be a big help. First of all, you will get to see the benefits that you can have from a provider. Most of the reviews would of course give you the advantages of web hosting reseller A and his edge from the reseller B. But you can also find numerous websites that would give you unbiased reseller hosting reviews. Forums are also one of the best places online to see the feedback from those who already bought from a particular provider as well.

One of things that you should consider when looking for the best reseller hosting is the plan that you want to choose. If they would give you storage that is just 200 Gigabyte or less then you better find another one who could offer you 300 Gigabyte or more. You should also take a look at the free benefits included as well including free tools for building a website, free domain, and even advertising credits without paying any extra amount.

Now that you already know about the plan that you want, its now time to look for the other things included in the package offered by the best reseller hosting companies. It is vital that they have a 24/7 customer service especially if you are an amateur in this industry. They must also have a money-back guarantee or policy as well. Most of the highly reliable web hosting resellers must also provide you with the immediate setup so you can get started as soon as possible. The system checking must also be done 24 hours at the same time.

Internet Hosting Is The Most imperative Aspect Of small business

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Finally decided on something to base your business on and ready to start building the internet pages? Getting through the initial aspects of opening your web business may be a struggle. Getting all your ideas into an ordered layout etc etc. Well now that you have all your ideas prepared what to do then?

The most valuable feature you will need to have for a thriving internet small business is what type of Internet hosting you will go for to host your internet pages.

Why?

Well for one, your internet host will control all your html pages, all graphics, scripts and that. What happens once your host goes offline? Does your website stay up or go down? It goes down. When your website goes down, you lose customers, thumbs down sales all through the downtime meaning a loss of possible returns.

Take time to discover a high-quality host that will suffice each aspect of your small business. Do some research and ask some questions.

If you are searching for a shared hosting solution, find out if the host is overselling its servers. Overselling is when a Web host packs too numerous customers on one server, putting strain on the server resources. Shared hosting is not recommended for small business type Websites that need performance for its users, but it will be enough a business just starting out.

Another type of hosting solution is a dedicated server. A dedicated server is a server dedicated to merely you. It is the most Costly out of hosting solutions, but will provide the most enduring Solution. No one else has an account on the server, so all server resources are used for you. A managed dedicated solution is when your host will install operating systems, upgrades to software, or security fixes for you. You may call them any time to repair a problem as that?s what you pay for.

A step lower a fully dedicated server is what is called a VPS or Virtual Private Server. A VPS is almost like a dedicated server but the physical server will Allow a Small number of other users on it. You still maintain complete control over your section of the server, you may install Whatever you need or upgrade. The server resources are shared amongst users, but numerous internet hosts promise you a fixed amount of resources devoted to your account.

If not Needing to shell out a pretty significant Payment on internet hosting for a opening small business, I would suggest at least starting out with a virtual private server. Once you outgrow the VPS you may move onto a dedicated server of your own.

Before signing up to any internet host, do some research! Find numerous hosts that have what you are searching for and Look for reviews, your Web business depends on it. Cheaper is not always better at least in Web hosting!

Essential Features of Web Hosting

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Anyone that wants to be seen on the Internet needs to have a website. There are literally thousands of web hosts to choose from so finding the right web hosting packages can be a confusing process, especially if you are new to web hosting. This series of articles will assist you in sorting out all the information available and give you the confidence to make the best decision about choosing reliable web hosting. You will find that web hosting packages can vary in pricing as well as the features they offer
such as the amount of disk space and bandwidth available, data transfers, number of domains and email boxes, privacy and security settings, website design and marketing tools, technical support and guaranteed uptime. Knowing what your requirements are is essential to making a smart choice.

Let’s look at the features that are essential to reliable web hosting:
1.DISK SPACE / STORAGE A web hosting account has an allotment of disk/storage space that you rent on a server. The amount of storage will include all of the content of your web pages, any graphic or audiovisual content you may use on those pages, any files that are available for visitors to download and any space that you may use for emails. You will also need to allow space for the various log files that are enerated by the server that keeps track of visitors to your site and what pages they click on. You may want to choose a package with additional disk space so as you add more content such as pictures, music, videos or downloadable files that require more disk space, there are no additional costs. Databases are usually calculated separately from your disk/storage space allocated, so check with your web host to see what their policy covers.

2.DATA TRANSFER / BANDWIDTH These two functions are an important factor when choosing reliable web hosting. They are similar but different aspects of the same process that work hand in hand.

Data transfer is how much data is being transferred on a monthly basis. Your website may not be accessible the less data transfer that is allocated on a monthly basis. Going over your allocated limit can result in a fee or even a temporary shutdown of your website. Be sure to choose a plan with more data transfer than your current needs to allow for additional traffic and content.

Bandwidth is how much data can be transferred at one time. The less bandwidth you are allocated, the slower your website takes to load regardless of the speed of the visitors connection. Higher bandwidth is expensive because it ties up the servers resources and can affect the performance of other customer sites on the server. An important factor to consider when choosing a web host is the fact that they can terminate your Domain name and close the account without refund.

3.DOMAIN NAME The Domain name is your unique name and address on the Worldwide Web. Domain registration is the process that an individual or a company secures a website domain, such as www.yoursite.com. Once you have completed domain registration, the domain name becomes yours for a specified period of time, usually one year. You must renew you domain name before your registration expires, or the domain reverts back to being available to the general public. Be sure
that you own your domain name. Some web hosts maintain control of the domains they register so its important that you retain the option to transfer the domain to another registrar. You should read the “Terms and Conditions” regarding maintaining your privacy and any additional fees to transfer to your domain to another registrar.

4.DEDICATED VS. SHARED IP ADDRESS An Internet Protocol address, or better known as an IP address, is the numerical address of the website that tells other computers where to find the server host and your domain on the Internet.

There are advantages to having a dedicated IP address vs. a shared IP address which is explained in the next section.

Dedicated IP Address means that your site is the only one on the Internet using that IP address number. The advantages of having a dedicated IP address are that you can get your site better SEO (search engine optimization) ratings which make your website more visible and easier to find; there are better security and privacy options. A Private SSL Certificate was created to confirm the identity of a website or server and ensure secure transactions between web servers and browsers. In order to keep clients information secure, a Private SSL Certificate is required for ECommerce websites that accept online credit card payments.

Shared IP Address means there could be hundreds of websites sharing one server that share a single IP address. Shared IP addresses make it easier for hosting companies to manage and maintain their servers and offer this feature at a lower cost. The downside to this feature is if other websites sharing your IP address are banned or blacklisted due to spamming or scamming, their actions directly affect your website. Your website could disappear from the search engines and your email could be blocked by Internet Service Providers (ISP). A Shared SSL Certificate gives you the benefits of a SSL Certificate at a lower cost and still provides a secure URL (Uniform Resource Locator). Many Ecommerce websites provide Shared SSL to their business clients.

5.EMAIL FEATURES Email hosting offers a variety of features for both individuals and businesses. Some of the features offered are customized email addresses, import/export your address book, unlimited storage, webmail accessible from your mobile phone or PDA, calendar alerts, mail forwarding, auto responders, email filters that protect you from viruses and spam, phone and email tech support.

6.GUARANTEED UPTIME This is one of the most important features of a reliable web hosting provider. Guaranteed uptime means your website is guaranteed to be up at least 99.9% of the time and available to visitors. When your website is unavailable, traffic and potential clients will be drawn to your competitors sites and ultimately lost sales. This guarantee should include network uptime, server uptime, web server and service uptime as well as 24/7 support.

7.CONTROL PANEL FEATURES The most important job that a website owner has is creating and management of the website(s) and its content. The C-Panel features the tools for uploading and managing web pages, managing domains, subdomains, FTP accounts, creating parked domains, add-on domains, protecting your directories, redirecting visitors to another location, website statistics, back up data, virus protection and spam filters, the tools to keep your privacy and security.

8.PRIVACY & SECURITY The security of your communications such as unauthorized or sensitive data are a huge concern. Some of the security tools that a web host may include are SSL secure servers, SSL certificates, high quality software that can prevent other websites from directly accessing your databases and files, anti-virus protection, reliable authentication, secure payment processing, firewall protection, use of strong passwords, email encryption and strict privacy policies.

9.TECH SUPPORT A reliable web hosting provider should have technical support available 24/7. Get a quick reply to your support ticket should any issues arise and getting instant support via a live chat service or telephone support.

10.WEBSITE BUILDING TOOLS Even if you have no prior knowledge or experience, Website building tools are often offered as part of a web hosting package. The more advanced website building tools teach you how to add a photo album, guestbook, ads, newsletters, blogs, FAQ module, visitor tracker, banner rotator, auto installer software for blogs, forums, galleries and much more.

For more information about web hosting services, plan options as well as a Free Membership for access to a huge selection of free products, software and marketing tools worth thousands of dollars. So make your web presence stand out, no matter what your experience level. Don’t miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime, visit .

Advantages and Disadvantages of Hosting your own website and Outsourcing

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When deciding on your business hosting first you must decide whether you would like to host the site yourself or outsource it to an established hosting company. There are advantages and disadvantages to both of these options.

Advantages of hosting your own website

Those who decide to host their website themselves are those who want complete control over their hosting. This can be a major advantage to some, especially those who would like to constantly monitor everything about their website and their web hosting. Those who would like to make regular changes to the hosting setup (and want to do it themselves) will benefit from hosting their own site. In some circumstances it can be cost effective to host your own site but only if you have the requirements to have your own server. This is because you wont have to pay another company to do it for you. There is also the potential for an extra income stream, because if you are hosting your own website you may have the equipment and expertise to host websites on behalf of others as well.

Disadvantages of hosting your own website

Although in some circumstances it can be cheaper, the majority of the time it is more expensive to host your website yourself. You may have to hire staff just for this purpose, and the relevant expertise can be costly. You will also have to have you own server and other equipment, and if you dont have the requirements to use this to its capacity you will still be paying for it. If you dont have the necessary expertise it can pose obvious problems, especially if something goes wrong. It is also another area you have to worry about, and can distract you from the rest of your business.

Advantages of outsourcing your hosting

The main benefit of outsourcing your hosting is that you are leaving it in the hands of experts. You therefore should be able to forget about it, which allows you to focus on your core business. Most hosting companies offer 24/7 support, something you are unlikely to be able to manage if you are hosting your own site, unless you have a large team employed for this purpose. This support means your site is being watched around the clock which gives you peace of mind. For some sites this can be extremely important. If shared hosting is adequate then you can share servers with the hosting companys other customers which will be cheaper than having your own server. Colocation can also take away one of the disadvantages of outsourcing: that you have no control. With Colocation you own and maintain your own server but rent rack space at a Colocation centre which will cost less than hosting it yourself as you are sharing bandwidth and other variable with other customers. With outsourcing you can purchase Managed Hosting. Managed Hosting means all your hosting is completely managed for you. This should take the worry completely away from you.

Disadvantages of outsourcing your hosting

As already mentioned, you dont have the same control if you are outsourcing. To an extent things are dictated to you by the limitation of the hosting package you choose and the operations of the hosting company. If something goes wrong with the hosting company, for example if they go out of business or make a mistake, you could have a problem. There could also be a potential security risk if confidentiality is a major issue.

For the majority of businesses, outsourcing is the better option. Most do not have the expertise to host their own website, and can make use of the support an established hosting company can offer. In the end it all comes down to the hosting needs and hosting knowledge of each individual business.

Andrew Marshall (c)