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Posts Tagged ‘Web Hosting’

Getting ripped off in the web hosting industry is very common and a lot of people fall victim to scam artists each year. This article will reveal how to spot the bad hosts and give you tips on how to avoid them.

 

The easiest way to ensure you are not going to be scammed is to only sign up for a hosting company that is recommended to you by a reliable source. A good source of information and approved hosts can be found at www.hostinginfo.ws – it also has other valuable resources for people looking for hosting. If this is not possible, there are a few things you can try to see if your host is genuine.

 

Firstly, go to the potential host’s website. Find their contact details and call them (if they don’t have a phone number, then you should not bother – it means that this host is most likely operated from somebody’s bedroom. If they call and it doesn’t sound like a business (kids screaming in the background, not a professional, business greeting, etc), you should also ignore the host.

 

While you are at the website, look at the general design. Click on a few links. Do they have a support forum? If the website does not look professionally designed, you shouldn’t give up on them, but a you should see a warning flag – it could mean a new company without the staff to properly support you. When you looked at the forum, did you see a lot of unhappy customers? If you only see one or two, you can ignore them – everybody has customers that complains, and many of them over things that is out of the hosts control. If the general mood of the forum is pleasant, it usually means the customers are happy. If you see a LOT of complaints, you should find somebody else. If it’s a very empty forum, you should also go somewhere else – it most likely means that it’s a company without a lot of customers.

 

The last things you can do is to look up how old the company is. New companies are usually small and will not be able to provide proper support if something goes wrong (the owner and only staff member will most likely have a day-job). The easiest way to see how old the company is, is to see how long ago he’s domain was registered (the address of the site e.g. microsoft.com). If it was registered recently, you should be wary, but if it’s a few years old, it means the company will have many happy customers, or they wouldn’t still be around. Doing this lookup is tricky sometimes, but the easiest way by far is to go to www.hostinginfo.ws – find the “Domain Lookup” link and click on it. You must then type in the domain name of the host, without the www bit. For example, www.microsoft.com will become microsoft.com.

 

Once the lookup is complete, you will get all sorts of information about the host, including the name, address, phone number and when the domain was registered. The last thing to do is to see if any of the information looks fake (e.g. a phone number of 123-1234) – if it does, you should not do business with them. If a company does not give you their real address and phone number, would you like to do business with them? Would you give them your credit card number?

 

There are many good hosts, but even more scam artists and rip-offs. If you follow the information in this guide, you shouldn’t encounter any of them. One thing you should always remember. If your gut feeling says a company is bad, then they most likely are.

Selecting the right web server is considered very crucial decision in online business. It is due to the fact that the web server can either make the business or can even destroy one’s business.

There are two types of servers, one is Virtual Web Hosting and the other is Virtual Private Servers.

Since several years Virtual Web Hosting has been the only way to go when selecting a web server. One of the reasons for the Virtual Web Hosting’s popularity is that they supports the necessary files and allows one to have more freedom than any other conventional web hosts. But now one can have more freedom than ever before with Virtual Private Servers. However, Virtual Private Servers should not be confused with Virtual Hosts, as they both are entirely different from each other.

In this article the difference between a Virtual Host and a Virtual Private Server is explained. Moreover the advantages and disadvantages of both the servers are also explained in order to give understanding as to which server should be chosen for business.

Virtual Hosting

Virtual Hosting is also known as Shared web hosting, where one can share the physical server and a single set of software applications with other users. Virtual Hosting was very popular in the past due to features like fast deployment, strong resources, and attractive price. Another advantage offered by Virtual Hosting is that it provides a powerful, reliable, and professionally managed server and it can be easily handled without having to have advanced technical skills, thus making it ideal for an individual, small business, or even a fresher webmaster.

The greatest disadvantage of Virtual Hosting is that the server is shared with other users, which are configured and even controlled by an administrator, not user. Thus there is no control in the hands of the users and in case of adjusting or setting configuration one have to contact the administrator every time. Even if one manages to get a hold of the administrator, then also they may not fulfill the request. It’s all up to them as they are the administrator. Thus these are the limitations faced by users when control is not in their hands.

Virtual Private Servers

Virtual Private Servers are very popular now days for giving the good and satisfactory results. A Virtual Private Server is a single server that is partitioned at the root into multiple dedicated servers. This enables one to share the cost of the network connectivity, hardware, and system maintenance with other hosting customers, with maintaining the flexibility and freedom.

The most important advantage of Virtual Private Servers is that they allow complete control to users and they have security advantages of a dedicated server at very low cost. Thus one can have access to the virtual root, Telnet, web configuration files, and full CGI-BIN access. Not only that, they also provide access to one’s password and send mail configuration files to their users. Thus after considering above advantages it can be concluded that a Virtual Private Server is an excellent solution for small to medium size businesses having complex requirements.

However, there is one disadvantage with Virtual Private Servers, i.e. one need to have some program knowledge in order to control and configure the settings. But this advantage is also evaded by most businesses that offer Virtual Private Servers as they provide detailed manuals making them easier to configure and control. Thus no need to learn the programs as well.

Now one can decide which server is right for him/her. However it all depends on user’s requirement as well as the size of your network.

If one plans on having just one web site and have absolutely no programming knowledge, for him/her Virtual Hosting serves as a best as its quite economical as well. A Virtual Host costs around to per month for an account, as against a 0 or more charged by a Virtual Private Server.

On the other hand, if one is having a larger network requiring multiple web sites and user is having some programming knowledge, then a Virtual Private Server can serves a best. One can host up to 50 web sites on a Virtual Private Server account, instead of having multiple Virtual Hosting accounts, which is quite expensive.

Thus one must make sure while selecting a server that it is as per requirement and it supports essential software for a flourishing online business.

It’s quite difficult and confusing to start any type of online marketing or Internet business.

There are many aspects to be taking care of such as domain name registration and purchase, purchasing of Web site host and “construction” of the Web site by own. Generally users don’t want to follow this difficult path rather chooses the easy way of getting everything from one place.

This results in growth of “total packages” by many hosting and Internet development companies, in which domain-name registration, software for design of a site or an online method of building a site, professional design of the site, and of course, the hosting are included. The users commonly use this, as it looks quite easy especially to the beginners.

But the story is different which brings problems afterwards. There is no road as paved “with gold” and this type of registration, hosting and design package deal is no exception.

The real problems emerge afterwards which are discussed below: -

1.On the popularity of a website, most of the host providers use to increase the prices. With increasing traffic there is no other option for a user than to pay more. Thus it forms a very big problem for larger business sites than for smaller business sites or “personal” or “theme” sites.

2. In the beginning some providers provide some “specials” but they are only for a limited amount of time, and rises with popularity of website.

3. Another major problem faced by a Web site owner is that his/her needs changes with passage of time and there arises need to change the package and then the user is confronted with problem of inability to change the pages on his/her own, another problem which puzzles is the inability to effectively track traffic, as some come with traffic statistics packages.

4.Another problem, which occurs after wards, is the Downtime i.e. when a site is down and can’t be viewed. This asks for change of host or change of domain name registrars.

5.Often situation comes when a Web site, registration, and web hosting package company suddenly disappears, leaving a client with no way to contact them. This not only causes loss of the registered domain name, but even the loss of revenues while the site is “down”.

6. The hosting companies make contracts which states that the “special” prices are only offered conditional i.e. which are applicable on remaining with a certain company and for a specified amount of time only.

7. The actual “name” of one’s site may not be even actually registered to “him” but to the hosting and registrar company that initiated the purchase through the package deal. By this way the Web site hosting, design and registrar packages “save” money several times for consumers, as they advantage of buying in bulk, registering hundreds of sites on a monthly basis.

The above problems can be easily resolved by simply switching to other Web site hosting and domain name registrar.

But wait! Wait! Wait! It’s not so easy as some hosting and domain name registrars don’t allow to “handing over” a site to any other company, as it means loss of customer or more interesting loss of money. The current hosting company tries all to create problem in the form of delays in transfer, by refusing to provide sufficient information to a new host or registrar to effectively conclude a transfer. Most worse is, if the name of a site has been registered to them.

At this point of time a real “nightmare” for the user starts. He tries all to get the response but all is vain.

There are several incidences, which shows that it’s really hard to shift to another provider.

One of the users named Rahul after much downtime wrote to the initial hosting company, and domain name registrar, stating his disappointment in the service. The response was quite annoying it was that he should either “like it or lump it” and that nothing is in their hands, as a contract was in place that could not be “broken” by any means. The language of the e-mail correspondence was quite harsh and uncalled for with no phone number for personal contact; even the name of the support person that wrote the e-mail was missing.

The site remained down consistently, as well, over the next few weeks, forcing Rahul to sign up for a different hosting plan with a different host, and also re-register the domain with another registrar. Thus it was just waste of time and money but still he was fortunate as the registration of the site was in his name and there was no need to purchase a new name. However at the time of transfer, old host refused to initiate a transfer, claiming that the contract remained intact, and therefore the site could not be transferred. Thus forcing the new hosting company to “maneuver” the site onto it’s own servers without the cooperation of the previous company and putting the unnecessary money burden on the user.

Chapter was not yet over, few months later Rahul was billed repeatedly by the previous hosting company for monthly hosting, even though a site no longer existed on their servers. In order to stop all the Copies of all correspondence had to be sent to the billing service to “dismiss” this recurrent billing, which was the only option left to Rahul at this point.

Thus it is not just one incidence but also one out of the many.

The following are some of the ways to avoid trap of these companies-:

1. One must read all paperwork and contracts thoroughly. The copy of the contract should be clearly visible and each word of the contract should be read thoroughly as this will help in saving from frustration and misunderstandings later on.

Not only this, one must make sure that the registration will be done in “his/her name”, as the loss of a popular name, at that moment when there is large amount of traffic, is a great loss for any user. Most preferable is that one should register his/her domain name him/her self. Registering domain is not a big deal with so many online domain registrars. The only thing one is supposed to do is that after buying a hosting package immediately he/she should change the “name servers” through the control panel provided by the domain registrar.

The best advantage of doing so is that if one is not satisfied with his/her hosting company and would like to shift to a different company, simply he/she is required to change the name servers to point to the new company.

2.In order to avoid problems afterwards one must sure there is a contact phone number and physical address for correspondence with the companies. As most of the times the both are missing and user is left with no option than to feel harassment as well as time and money loss as seen in above example.

3. One must do his homework properly before finalizing any hosting company. He/she must do proper research on different plans and different companies. One must check through references the image of the company and also must ask from their current customers about the support being offered at the time of crisis.

4. One must take time to correctly ascertain his/her own needs and the needs of any site he/she is planning to build. The package must be “as per requirement”.

5.It is most advisable to use different providers for each stage of a Web site: hosting, domain-name registrar, site building. As everything is online it does take longer to get a site up and running with this method, but the best part is by doing so the overall control remains with the user. If one is disappointed with the service of his/her provide simply he/she is required to shift to new provider and that is quite easy as to replace one is easier than to replace everything.

Thus it can be seen that sometimes “time saving” strategies are not really fruitful and they can lead to heartbreak and headaches afterwards. The moral of the story is “slow but steady” wins the race. So act wisely.

The following are the tips one must keep in mind while choosing a new web host: -

1) One must make sure that the new web host plan offers the storage capabilities to handle all of the current website storage requirements. If the size of the website is 50MB, then one must check for the plan that offers at least that much space or more. In case one is not able to make estimates about the space required then he/she must ask his/her current host. Also this information can be found on control panel.

2) One must also check how does his/her current web host determine the amount of storage used for? It is necessary to check what one’s current and new host includes in the plan’s storage amount also one should check are one’s emails and log files counted towards his/her total storage, or the web files only?

3) Its necessary to know what operating system does one’s current hosting plan use? Windows or Unix? Mostly it makes no difference but in some cases it can make the difference between a working website and a broken website. In case one’s site is currently on a Windows server and the website uses ASP scripting, then its difficult to make things work well on a Unix server, as ASP is a Windows based programming language. So one should check immediately whether his/her hosting plan is on a Unix or Windows server.

4) Also its important to check if one’s your site currently use FrontPage? Before switching to new host one should check if the new host supports FrontPage and the prevailing version.

5) Another important issue to take care is the amount of bandwidth offered by the new host. One should check if the new hosting plan offers the same amount of bandwidth that the current host offers. This should be checked in advance to avoid unexpected high bills afterwards.

6) Make sure if the new web hosting plan gives the same amount of email accounts, auto responders and mail forwards that the current host provides.

7) Its necessary to check if one’s site uses a shopping cart that the current hosting plan provides? It is essential to have a suitable shopping cart replacement in case one desires to move the cart to the new host. So one must check that as well.

8) If one is using any scripts on his/her website, its important to check if one’s new hosting plan supports all of one’s scripts. One must make sure in advance if there is any need to make any modifications to scripts to get them working on the new server.

9) Don’t forget to set up the existing email accounts on the new server before transferring domain name to the new server.

10) In case user is just a beginner and even don’t know how to upload files, its necessary to check with the provider if he can do that with no extra charges. There are some hosts who offer such facility free of cost yet some don’t offer this facility because of liability issues.

It’s necessary to double check if the site looks and functions properly on the new server after completing the uploading process. Preview facility is provided in the form of preview link to see how the site looks and some hosts provide this facility before the domain name is transferred over. In case this preview facility is not available with the host, still there is a method to preview the site. One can modify his/her host’s file to preview the site. The host file tells the computer where to go to look for sites that are listed in that file and this works with any version of Windows. Here the file location can change but the file name remains the same. Below is the way to modify the host’s file:

The file HOSTS should be in the c: windowssystem32driversetc One can find a file named HOSTS.SAM (as in SAMPLE). That is OK; one can modify the HOSTS.SAM file as well and do a SAVE AS HOSTS.

In both the cases one should double click on the HOSTS file to open it. Thereafter one will be prompted by Windows to select an Application (Program) to use to VIEW the file.

Now scroll the list and select Notepad and then one should click on the OK button. The NOTEPAD program will now open, displaying the file HOSTS.

So, in order to tell computer that www.yourwebsite.com is at the address (replaced with the real IP) 12.345.678.90 one should add the following entry to the bottom of the hosts file:

12.345.678.90 www.yourdomain.com (As in the example).

Now one should click on FILE, slide down and click on SAVE AS. Then in the Save As one should type field, select ALL FILES. After completing that click on save. One warning will come which should be ignored i.e. the file already exists but that’s ok, then just one has to click YES.

Now one should close Notepad, by clicking on FILE, slide down to EXIT, and click.

Now when one will open the web browser, or try to ping the site, the system will go to the IP address one typed in the HOSTS file.

One should not forget to undo this when testing is finished else the computer will always want to go to that IP address whenever one want to go to that site.

After being satisfied with the site looks and functions, one can go to his/her registrar (where the domain name is registered) and modify the nameservers associated with one’s domain name to his/her new web host’s nameservers. In case one does not know his/her new host’s name servers, should confirm with them. However most hosts have that information listed somewhere on their website or in the email one first get after signing up for an account.

After the completion of domain nameserver modification it will take around 24-48 hours and the site will be displayed on the new server.

One must check his/her domain name and should see if the nameservers added are listed. If yes, the website transfer is complete to new web host. And after the confirmation is received one can cancel the old web hosting account.

The first thing people notice when shopping for hosting is the price. We all thing about saving some money, and shaving a few money off your monthly hosting initiative can help a lot.
However, you need to remember that market value is not everything. Some businesses provide very cheap hosting, but have very low bandwidth, web space, etc, or control panel is’nt user frendly have a lot of downtime etc…
When choosing a web host, you should be very careful. The principally step you should do, is analyze what exactly your needs are. Every site needs a different brand of hosting. If you just recently made  a blog or simple web site, you could probably get away with a shared hosting plan. However, if your site is larger, and it has a lot of traffic, you should get a premium hosting plan.

If you have a site that has many return users, you ought to need to look for hosting that has minimal downtime. However, if when chosing  a web host you are promised 100% uptime, you are being lied to. There is no such thing as 100% uptime. For those who do not know, “uptime” is the age your website is basically live and able to be accessed by people surfing the internet. It is nothing to worry about, as usually downtime lasts less than an hour, and is a really rare .
Though there are many methods on the web to help you when you are choosing a web host, the a large amount of valuable, in my opinion, is a nice forum. There are many webmaster related forums out there, filled with helpful people who are more as opposed to willing to help you out. There are as well a number of websites that are utterly devoted to provided that you with information to help you in the difficult process of choosing a web host.
For amateurs to web hosting, you should consult an web resource, or ask someone who has supplementary experience. It is hard to appreciated exactly what you need in a hosting company. For those amid just 1 to a few sites, a simple hosting procedures will suffice. However, if you own 10 or more websites, it may be worth it to purchase your own dedicated server.
You should always take your time when choosing a web host. The decision of what host to use is not one that should be made hastily. Hosting is vitally important to your website. If you have low top notch hosting that loads slowly and is at a slump often, it will be hard to convince people to end up with to your site. Return visitors are absolutely vital to your site. Whether your site is commercial or personal, you will be much more and more successful if you convince those to return to your site.

For an top notch resource on the best bang-for-buck web hosts out there, check out the  free hosting review website for a truthful listing of some great web hosts.

Features You Love in Web Hosting

If you are thinking about having a website or a shopping cart, you will need a web hosting package. Most people think that this is very expensive. But it’s rather cheap. Having a web hosting package is an easy thing to manage. While going through some of the best features that you will find in web hosting. You will probably have some questions, which is great, just make sure you find the answers.

1 – Many Opportunities

The greatest thing you can get out of Web Hosting is the fact that you can be connected to billions of people. You can get web hosting through thousands of different companies. They lease you out a portion of their hard drive space and connects your hard drive to the internet. This will give you the ability of being connected to everyone in the whole world. You can publish your blog, an organization or ecommerce store. Having the ability to have billions of people possible get to your website is an investment worth having.

2 – Ecommerce Store

Everyone gets that one idea to sell a service, knowledge or product. The first thought you will think is an ecommerce store? This is just a fancy way to say shopping cart or online store. To accomplish this goal you are going to need some web hosting to not only give your customers an option to visit, but also the ability to view, interactive, lean and buy. Having some Web Hosting will help you accomplish this goal or yours. This gives your customer a place to view your products or service and then decided if they want to buy. A website and Web Hosting will give you the options to give what the customer is looking for.

3 – Relax there is Nothing to It

You don’t need an IT Professional to manage your server. If your website grows and you need to upgrade to a dedicated server, you might need an IT Professional down the road. There are some tactics that are advanced that an IT Professional might have to tackle. But to get started you won’t need them. If you have a simple and small website, there is no reason why you can’t manage it yourself. To manage your server, companies have created management softwares to help you along the way. If its creating FTP accounts, installer software or create emails, most web hosting management softwares will do this will a couple of clicks.

4 – It isn’t That Big of an Investment

Free Web Hosting is avaiable with some service. Which is true, they will give you a limit space but you don’t have very much control over your website. Most places will make you use their domain name and run their ads. It’s worth the investment to have a web hosting package than to get stuck behind a free hosting site. Having your own web hosting package gives you no problems getting your website out in front of billions of people to see.

5 – Look at the Different Options

Shared Hosting is fine for a starting website, but educate yourself on the different servers available. Like Shared, VPS and Dedicated. In most cases you get what you pay for, but all of the different types of server have their pros and cons. Think about it like this. For websites that are just starting out go with a Shared Plan. If you have a website and your unique visitors are getting into the thousands per day, upgrade to a VPS server. Anything above a couple of thousand unique visitors a day, you should consider a Dedicated Server.

These are just a few features that you can take advantage of in web hosting. Look around more about web hosting. You will find there are a lot more opportunities that having a website and web hosting can give you. There are thousands of opportunities out there on the internet. Just get a web hosting package a website going and see what comes.