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Posts Tagged ‘Selection’

After creating and designing one’s own website he/she wants to host his/her own website other wise all the hard work will go in vain. Deciding the host for the website is far more difficult job then creating and designing it. While choosing host one should be very careful and should gain proper knowledge. One should consider all the factors while opting one host, as if this one decision went wrong then all the previous work will ruin.

Following are the few factors to be consider while choosing hosting plan-

1. Uptime of the web server?

2. Does the SSL is provided by the server or not?

3. Does the server avail server side scripting (e.g. PHP, ASP)?

4. What type of host to choose Free or paid?

5. What is the upload limit and file limit?

6. Support provided to the Customer.

Now we are going to take the above factors one by one:-

1– Uptime of the web server.

While hosting one’s website he/she wants that his/her server should always be up, as if website faces downtime it will result in the loss of traffic as well as of goodwill. The customer will never visit a website which remains down most of the hours so it is very important to choose host which provides maximum uptime.

Search engines will never give position to the website that always faces the downtime.

These kinds of websites should not expect the traffic from the search engines.

One can get a web server that is usually up, by the help of the reviews of the different persons who have already used the web host.

2. Does the SSL provided by the server or not?

If one created his/her own website just for the personnel use, not for doing any transactions on his/her website then SSL protection is not required.

If one who is not doing any transactions right now, but planning to do it in the future then he /she should opt for a web host that will provide SSL protection as and when required.

SSL is an encryption method which helps to encrypt any sensitive information like credit card info, names, etc

If a customer is going for a web host who is not offering SSL protection, in that case, installation of SSL will be very expensive as if afterwards he/she is trying to get it installed then the provider can charge what ever he/she wants for the SSL protection for transactions.

3. The third factor to look at it is does the server avail for server side scripting?

There are many web host providers who provides for server side scripting but still it’s important for customers to make sure that they do or don’t.

Server side scripting permits the webmaster to create pages which changes in real time.

For example, if one is running a business, and has all of his/her products stored in a database, and then a server side script will be helpful as it generates the pages that the customer sees according to the category/product he/she chooses.

If any of the web host provider is not providing the service of server side scripting, then it means that it will be a very silly decision to choose that web hosting.

4. What type of host to choose free or paid?

Now here comes the most important factor i.e. money factor which molds the customer’s decision. It’s hard for customers to decide that what to choose –free or paid host.

In case of free host, it has one and only one advantage that it is free, rest it has only and only complications in it.

The one who is not going to do any transitions by his/her site or created his/her website only as a hobby, then any of the free host will be ok for him. On the other hand for a professional customer, it will be good for him/her to not to look at for free hosting rather choosing for a paid host. Choosing free hosting will be of no use as it will never facilitate it’s customer due to lack of facilities in it.

Free web hosting has many disadvantages such as the hosters usually run ads on one’s home page.

The paid web host usually offers better customer support that is absent in free web hosting.

5. What is the upload/bandwidth limit and file limit?

If any customer is going for hosting large image files or if he/she wants to provide downloads to his/her users then upload/ bandwidth and file limit is very important.

But if anyone is making a hobby or business website then space is not a big deal for him/her and he/she can opt the host providing less space.

6. Customer Support

Now let’s talk about the Customer support which is very important. If any customer is suffering from any problem and he/she is not getting any support from his/her host then he/she will get irritate and leave the host. If any of the hosting company don’t want to loose his customers then it is important for the company to provide proper customer support and of course when ever needed.

Some web host providers even provide forums where customers like they can log in and post questions to other customers and web host staff.

Even after increasing awareness regarding host services still there are certain percentage of people who thinks hosting package as mere any internet thing. The point of view of other people is even more interesting as they think it is just a way for some people to make some money.

However, what can be the answer if someone inquires from the core of the heart about the question, what is WEB HOSTING? The answer will be it is the capability to move a certain business or information, product content, research to the Internet. And if one talk about a web host then he/ she is the person who offers web-hosting services to clients, persons, business etc. so something clear?? NOT then proceed further.

There are several advantages of the web hosting, some of which are given below:

1. Through this one can advertise views upon the business and potentials on the internet; in the current scenario every one desires to have more Information, not restricted to a specific thing but related to beyond the boundary of familiar or unfamiliar thing. It can be anything from Tourism to potential businesses, or the safest Banks etc

2. Besides this it is also a source of revenue for the people who can play the role of resellers for web hosting companies or perform as server based Network or Affiliates to other web hosting companies who pay commissions to such clients.

One cannot deny the fact that, till now the hosting business flourishes in millions dollars business because of its increasing importance for the people by the day. A user can increase his/her chances of success by selecting the hosting companies that provides extra services like free domains or web space, web designing script management, web templates etc. Another key aspect to concern for the user is how to explore out an ideal web host? As fake mirages are shown to the user by several web companies to trap clients and which results in destruction of several businesses.

If one talks about the method to eradicate such sort of problems, then the probable solution which come in front is listening and speaking to people who have hosted their services on Internet, and inquiring from them the efficiency of their web host. The user should not get astonished towards a host just because it is cheap but should confirm all the departments before coming onto a conclusion. When some web hosts are quite sluggish to upload, others enjoy several profits because of having an attentive attitude. One cannot deny the fact that, the quantity of such sites are nil which enjoy 100% tension free operation, however the real aspect is that how many times one’s site is down. Another aspect is that one should not be come to the judgment of changing the web host rather should lay the problem in front of people who are experienced of facing and tackling such problems.

In such situations user should act patiently without selecting and terminating a host so quickly. It is not a single case, but a universal truth that everyone wants to be in the race without lagging behind and decides to change the host if the trouble exists for a longer period of time.

It’s difficult to chose right web hosting service for your web site at the time when there are numerous of web hosting providers all assuring for identical web hosting packages. So its necessary to take care of 3 aspects before starting a web hosting search which are given below. Features required for web hosting Technical requirements for a web site is the most important point to be taken into consideration which includes-

a) Hardware requirements and platform for server

According to your need such as if you want to set up a website that uses programming environments such as Active Server Pages (ASP), Visual Basic scripts, Cold Fusion or Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL database, then a need for a web hosting service will arise that supports Windows platform such as Windows NT or Windows 2000 servers.

Similarly as for programming languages such as Perl, CGI, SSI, PHP or mySQL database, then any web hosting plans that support Unix/Linux platform can be helpful. After having these types of requirements in mind one can decide for the best web hosting plan.

b) Disk space & Bandwidth requirement

Next technical requirement to be taken care of is disk space and bandwidth requirement, however disk space requirement may not be a big deal if you want to publish website with very less contents. Generally 200 MB to 500MB disk space will be quite enough as hosting requirements. Further for hosting a website with enormous amount of graphic pictures, mp3 or video files, a web hosting providing huge disk space example 500 to 1000 MB will be crucial. In the same manner site traffic estimation can be held responsible for bandwidth requirement .A website that attracts high traffic will tend to consume monthly bandwidth allowance very fast, then in that case one web hosting service that offers huge bandwidth with 40GB to 100 GB per month is needed.

Web hosting service that provides sufficient amount of disk space and bandwidth can be opted as per website requirement and that consideration will help not only to reduce costs but also tend to proper disk management.

c) Some other hosting features

Apart from above there are many other hosting features that are to taken into consideration such as Is web hosting provider supports video clips on the website? Is there any plan for setting a virtual store online? Is the host providing e-commerce facilities without charging more and top of all finding number of email accounts provided, number of FTP accounts, web statistic software etc.

Trustworthiness and scalability

If the web-hosting provider is offering reliable server uptime and fast Internet connection then it can be considered as a good host. For selecting an appropriate provider one must look for a web hosting service that guarantee 99% server uptime with high speed internet using at least OC3 (Optical Carrier) lines (155 Megabits per second) or above instead of T1 or T3 lines. A trustworthy hosting provider invests hugely on high performance servers, high speed multiple backbones providers with fail-over redundancy, backup power generators and firewall software protection in place so as to ensure they fulfill the uptime guarantee specified in the terms of service.

In the same manner selection would depend upon the hosting service that can ensure hardware facilities that are designed for scalability, so that they can also expand with user’s business. For example if requirement emerges for increasing disk space, bandwidth or number of mySQL databases, there should not emerge any problem and that all can be upgraded easily.

Customer service and support

Last but not the least excellent customer service and support is also important while selecting appropriate host provider. A web hosting provider must provide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week technical support with highly experienced technicians, so as to ensure timely resolution of any problem. Checking must be made by sending inquiry emails to the web-hosting provider so as to check the responsiveness of the customer support. Generally if a response comes within 24 hours can be considered as indication of acceptance but if no response comes then it is taken as a poor customer service. In world of competition, a web hosting provider must be also equipped with multiple support like Toll-free phone support, 24/7 email support, live chat, FAQ etc.

Apart of above important factors some other minor factors must also brew taken care of while selecting an appropriate web hosting provider like since how long that provider is in business and quantity of customers they hold as these shows the credibility and stability of the company. Cost of web hosting is an important factor also but due to growing competition now their charges have come to as low as US per month and so this major factor needs to be ignored. Thus besides of all most important is that the website hosting requirements are met, website is always accessible with good speed, there is scalability in provider to grow and expand the website and that it also offers best customer support.

Today choosing a hosting company is not an easy task. Varied number of web-hosts and resellers with their varied pricing schemes makes the task discouraging.

Every customer who plans to host a website needs to understand this important aspect that is, being very cheap or costly does not by any means specify the quality of service received.

The minute one decides to host, the first thing that strikes anyone is the cheap hosting rates in the newspaper.

When one starts checking the prices, he might find amazing range of plans and features. In such a case what would he do?

He would need to answer to these questions. What are the expectations from the site one is hosting? Whether it is a personal site where one wants to display flair or establish ones life on the net or is it a commercial site? Will the site be mission critical, that everything should be worked fine always? So that if at all it goes down, what will be the priority one would be attaching to having it up as soon as possible?

Once one gets the answer to all the questions, one has a plan of action to proceed. On the basis of ones priorities, one can shortlist ones choices among the wilds of hosts. One can finalize ones future host on the basis of a small set of criteria.

Firstly try short listing at least 15 hosting companies. Then carry on checking their inception dates, history and their values and ideology. Mostly these things are highlighted in the sites. Secondly try to check their pricing and try to average out the features received and the net pricing. Then finalize these companies in order of best value for money.

Half of the job is done once this is done. One should never choose the cheapest option available in haste. At this stage, one now needs to try and find news about the performance of these hosts. Locate hosting companies that were given more votes of support. Decide for oneself which hosts seem to have made mistakes that were least damaging to their clients by Checking the bad things said about these hosts. Keep in mind no one in this world so far is perfect. Mistakes happen, but one should give importance to how this mistake was rectified, during this crisis his clients had to face, what sort of attitude was taken up by the hosting provider and the preventive measures he has taken to prevent such future recurrences.

To find out the response time to ones queries from these hosts is the important step at this time. Response time one to two days after asking is the last thing any person wants in this digital age. More important criteria would be the quality of response as response time alone is not the main criteria. Did one get convinced with the sales person that ones site is important to them, can they provide ones needs well, and assure one of their quality services? In general they are worthy of consideration and able to understand and align with ones views on expectations, only then are they worthy of consideration. By the time one reaches this stage, one can now cross out quite a few hosts from the list.

Following up on the uptime of the servers, going to the forums that these hosts provide, and the harms these hosts cause to their clients and then the general sort of crowd one finds there. Beware! If one finds too technical a crowd, one could find ones site having downtimes as a result of the experiments these people try. Site should always be hosted with Hosting companies that provide Spartan features or is more in the line of hosting sites of ones kind. As they are specialized with the server features and specifically software’s one is using they are advisable thus ensuring stability and timely maintenance.

Ensuring that one knows the quality of bandwidth these hosting companies have, their disaster recovery plan and finally the average number of clients they host per server is the last and final criteria when choosing these hosts. Chances of server going down, higher probability of slower site accesses and more is more when one is having more hosts.

One gets the chance to eliminate a host or two with each stage of choosing, till one finally ends up with a smaller list of hosts. Find out who among them would offer better customer service and a wider variety of communications (forums, mailing lists, phone, chat, help-desk etc) by contacting these hosts personally.

Many web-hosts’ joining the bandwagon and starting with the simple intention of and had never thinking of a long-lasting growth was one of the biggest problem that most customers faced during the dot-com bust. They got swamped with the requests, once they started receiving more and more orders and thus could not properly scale their work force in tune with the growing needs and also could not ensure the quality of hardware etc they ordered. Finally they ended up closing shop or selling out to a bigger host. Therefore an indicator of the reliability of the host is the time that these hosts have been up and running.

One needs to be more careful on the server hardware being used if cheaper prices are being offered. Having quality food or just having food in either case one will survive, but the health of person having quality food will be better than the person having just food. Same is the case with ones site. More the acclaim and reviews ones site would receive and in the longer run would be better with superior provider. Only when one wants to host a temporary site for advertisements or wants to know critical importance of ones site only then one should decide on a cheap host.

In the world of competition it’s really very difficult to find the right host among thousands available. Problem becomes more critical if individual is not sure about his/her exact requirement. Looking keenly and examining the promotional material and information of every host will make the process quite time consuming and challenging. In case an individual is aware of his/her requirements ,keeping that point in view one can easily choose the right type of web host suitable to his/her business.

If an individual’s requirement is simple then only it is easy for him to choose an appropriate host but in case, requirement is little bit specific then he/she has to work a lot for choosing a right host, as its not so easy. Free web hosting is not at all considered best if a person requires guest books, a counter, polls, shopping cart or any number of other features on his/her web site as it does not support such features. Free web hosting not only restricts several features but also at the same time limits the access of website as most of the times user’s site went offline. Also one biggest drawback of free web hosting is that it does not provide good customer support or other technical support which is very essential for one’s business.

In this world of competition one can find a good paid web hosting company at reasonable prices, the only thing required is some homework on the side of user. Thus it is always considered best to first browse and look at several hosts before selecting the right one. Also while choosing an appropriate host one should keep in mind the requirement of services as well as other essential features and options which he/she needs for his/her site? If we take an average mostly the prices of all paid hosting are same, but still there are some offering quite high prices. So one should look first all the available options and then only he/she should finalize someone as else he/she will waste his/her money unnecessarily.

Once customer is satisfied with his/her search and thinks that he/she got the right host, he/she should not forget to check the support and customer care. One can check the support by sending email from their contact information and can ask some questions in order to check the quality of support as well as response time. Also it is best to check in advance what will be the extra cost for extra bandwidth and web space if required in future. A very distinguishing feature of appropriate web host is they will always provide proper phone numbers as well as live support so that their clients can reach them easily in case of any technical problem. So good luck for your search!

It is quite daunting task to discover best host out of 99.5% other hosts, especially when there is not much advice source.

If user is facing the problem in selection of web host then the procedure mentioned below can certainly assists the user to reach to a positive inference.

One cannot deny the fact that today, searching a result called “web hosting” in the search engines will provide the output of around 32 Million results. A huge amount of data isn’t it!

If user goes for Google then he/she will find more than 7,800 sites offering guidance on “How to choose a web host.”

However, a large amount of sites out of it contains prejudice.

Still one finds it good. Then go for it. Definitely, the site one go will be affiliated to the concern host to whom it is favoring. For which they not only receive commission but also fees on the monthly basis till the customer remain attach to that concern host.

The discussion concerning to selection of a host consists of mainly about the quantity of disk space/bandwidth, sort of server to prefer, other features to look at, etc.

No doubt, crucial things but it doesn’t help in selecting an ideal web host.

Yes, one can think of going for other customers testimonials, know about their experience and can put up a question for guidance.

There are several forums on which one can put opinion in the favor or against any web hosting provider; one should remain alert of such things. Still, there are forums on which opinion are there without any partiality.

If by chance user get trapped in the net of a bad web host simply due to lack of knowledge or carelessness he/she should not hope for any insurance or rather compensation for any of the misshapenness.

For a user with a common web site, searching an ideal host is a daunting task.

The exact tip top procedure of the selection is mentioned below in the article.

Through following the below mentioned process it is not sure that user will get full-proof protection from mischievous happenings, still one can rely upon them.

First of all, one should verify perfectly all the sites which are short listed by him/her.

This method will assist the user to find out a host suitable according to his/her requirements such as support, features etc. No doubt, other hosting providers may have good support, but the edge lies in the fact that user’s search did not find them listed for this term.

One can conclude that support’s not that crucial to them, even though they deliver it to the user.

In addition to it, it is not the price which is the pass port for a better service which is usually considered by the user. In fact, a cheap hosting provider can also provide consistence services as compare to medium paid hosting.

Conclusion:

After, going through the selection process one would find that there will be only few hosting providers who can provide features and services as per expectations, which will continue to get reduced if the user moves forward in the selection procedure.

At the end, the web hosting provider’s need to go through a number of general and technical questions which will conclude the ultimate selection. The procedure is not full proved yet quite effective.