Tips on Finding a Web Host
By Alexander Stomanec
Most of the people haven't spent a lot of time considering what they want their web host to be like. Here are some critical things you should know about finding a web host that will save you time and headaches down the road so you can spend your time enjoying the finer things in life rather than worrying about web hosting.
1) Cost Issues
Free hosting: There are 3 things to consider when looking at free hosting. The first is can you accept not having your own domain name, i.e. if the website is http://WebHostName.com/YourSiteName instead of http://YourSiteName is that going to bother you? Second, can you accept the web host advertising on your web page? Third, there are a lot of free web hosts out there that will promise you your own domain name and no advertising but when you read the fine print what they are offering is a free trial offer. Free really is free but make sure you find out the terms free hosting service is being offered on.
Shared/Dedicated hosting: Here are a few important cost factors you should check on before you sign with a host. Find out if your host offers a money back guarantee and what their refund policies are, whether there is a requirement to sign up for a minimum period and if your package is scalable. That is, if your site grows will you be able to expand the amount of bandwidth, disk drive space, and email accounts that you are using at a reasonable price. If you are locked in to a year contract with a host and you start running over your transfer limit you can really get killed on over-run charges. Watch out for unlimited bandwidth or space offers. The bandwidth offers usually come with an escalating price scale and the space offers usually don't include file types like .jpg and .gif files and other large media file types. Sure, it's unlimited, as long as you're only storing text!
2) Customer Service
It's a good idea to find out about a web host's customer service before you sign with them. Make sure they offer 24-7 phone support if you need it. Test their email support as well before you sign up to see what kind of response time they give you compared with what their advertising says. This is a good way to test a web host's integrity as well. If they promise email response within 1 hour and you wait 3 days to hear back from them you can bet their 100% uptime guarantee isn't any good either.
3) Registering a domain name
A host should offer the ability to register domain names for you. Ideally your web host will be an ICANN certified domain registrar or be able to tell you which domain registrar they use. Make sure your name, not the host company's name, is listed as the administrative contact with InterNIC for your domain name. This way you can transfer your domain name to another host more easily. If your host doesn't provide you with the services they promise and you withhold payment they can hold on to your domain name when you try to transfer it. If the company goes out of business you may also run into problems trying to move your domain name if you aren't the one registered with InterNIC.
4) Security
Ask the web host about your security if you plan to be involved in ecommerce. Their security should be multi-layered to protect you from today's hackers. With DNS poisoning, cross-site scripting, URL hijacking, spam, phishing, and DDoS attacks to worry about they should be able to tell you what they will do to protect you from the network side although it's not the web host's job to make sure the code on your site is secure.
5) Long term contract
Many web hosts offer a much reduced monthly rate if you sign a long-term contract with them. You are better off signing a short term contract and upgrading before you make a long term commitment. If you sign a long-term deal and come to find out the host is frequently down you will need to buy out the remainder of the contract before they'll let you switch to another host. It's better to take a test-drive and buy the long term deal only once you're satisfied with your host's service.
6) Server access
Make sure to check out what kind of server access you'll have and how you will be controlling your site. If you have a web-driven control panel it may not allow you to do everything you need if you are running a complex site or conversely if you just want a simple site with low/no hassle then virtual access to the server and an FTP account may require more technical research than you care to do to get your site going.
7) Figuring out how much Bandwidth you will need
Before you sign on with a new host run some numbers on what bandwidth and other services are going to cost you. The key here is planning ahead and making sure your agreement with your hosting provider is flexible enough to allow you to expand in terms of space, email and especially bandwidth.
As a rough index to figuring out how much bandwidth you'll need use 10 gigs of monthly bandwidth per 500 daily users you expect.
Check out how much bandwidth or speed will cost and think about how much it will cost if your site really takes off. Flat monthly rates are better than usage rates. If you suddenly get an influx of users because of a new product, advertising campaign, or sudden coincidental flood of Google searchers and your usage exceeds your bandwidth usage agreement you may be in for a nasty shock when you get your hosting bill.
8) How well is your web host connected?
How fast your host's servers are and how fast your site will be depends in part on the connection your web host has with the Internet. You should ask them how they are connected if speed will be a factor for you. They will tell you something like, "We are using T-1/OC-3 lines." i.e., Web hosting companies typically connect to the Internet through "T" (Transmission), "OC" (Optical Carrier), and/or "DS" (Digital Signal) lines. Many smaller web hosts still use T1's to connect your site to the world at a rate of 1.544 megabits per second. The biggest and fastest hosts use redundant, multiple OC3 (155.52 Mbps) lines to offer their clients the bandwidth they need for multiple user sessions on their site(s).
The best web hosts today use redundant lines to ensure that customers' sites remain up and active, even if their primary Internet connections are temporarily unavailable. It's a good idea to check which hosts offer backup connections fast enough to maintain your site's performance in case of a primary line failure.
Of course, as with everything, you pay more for premium service. If you are looking for the cheapest possible solution you may want to make sure your web host DOESN'T have 24-7 phone support, OC3 lines, or the latest hardware in their data-center.
By following these tips you should end up with a reputable, quality, web host and a hassle-free hosting experience. Good luck.
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About the Author
Alexander Stomanec is a working manager in a hosting company. Take a look at his web host sugestions
http://www.adult-web-hosting-x.com/
http://host.adult-web-hosting-x.com/
http://affordalbe-web-hosting.adult-web-hosting-x.com/
What Features To Look For When Applying For Good Hosting Plan
By Richard Clement
When looking for a host, it will be useful to obtain as much information as possible about the web hosting company itself and the services they offer. These pre-sales questions are a way to check several things about the web hosting company. You can obtain detailed information about the services they offer - the web hosting plans they have, the features included there, etc.
These days hosting plans on the web are getting very competitive and features of each plan are comparatively the same among web hosting providers. Whether novice or expert, you can find some useful information in this article to learn about some of the considerations to look at when you choose a web hosting service.
In this article I will not talk about things like space ,traffic and prices since there are plenty of related articles nowadays rolling around the net. My goal will be to clarify some of the most important features you have to look for when choosing your web hosting provider.
The following are 10 basic features that can be found in a Unix/Linux hosting plans that every serious hosting provider should offer you.
· Control Panel - This is where you manage your hosting account. In the context of web hosting it is an on-line application that give us the user ability to control many aspects of his web hosting account including, but not limited to: creating mailboxes, setup email forwarding, uploading and editing files, creating sub domains, park additional domains, automated installing of ready to use scripts and programs, managing databases, setup shopping carts. You need to check what exactly is included in a given control panel with the web hosting company you have chosen to go with.Some hosts use a third party control panel like cPanel or Plesk. Others use an inhouse developed control panel.The moment you signup for a hosting package, you must be provided with a CP to manage your webspace.
· POP3 email accounts & aliases - yourname@yourdomain.com is an example POP3 email. POP3 is an electronic mail protocol used to retrieve messages stored on an Internet/intranet e-mail server. Whenever a client wants to check for messages it connects to its Internet Service Provider's e-mail server and uses POP3 to login to its mailbox and download its messages.
· FTP Accounts & Virtual FTP - This is where you upload your files, delete them, update them. This again comes along with the CP. Make sure you have handful of FTP sub-accounts also to provide your clients/users password protected directories. This is very much useful wherein your clients / users can use the FTP to upload /download files from particular password protected folder of your website.
· Backup - Most of the Hosts take Automated Backups. But users do not take much care on this while choosing the hosting plan. This feature is as essential as any other in this list.
· Web Statistics - Analysis is of your website visitors plays a important role in the success of your website. Say, your website has been launched and you get 50 unique visitors or more than 500 visitors per day. Whatever the case may be, you can view the report using Statistics Application that run in the server backend. A popular web statistic software is Webalizer.
· PHP & Mysql Support - PHP is a scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML. PHP is mainly focused on server-side scripting, so you can do anything any other CGI program can do, such as collect form data, generate dynamic page content, or send and receive cookies. MySQL is a true multi-user, multi-threaded SQL database server. MySQL is fast and flexible enough to allow you to store logs and pictures in it. Its main goals are speed, robustness, and ease of use.All the Linux Plans support PHP & Mysql. Make sure you get this free of charge when you buy the hosting plan. Few hosting providers offer good of MySQL Database Support & PhpMyAdmin.
· Webmail & SMTP - A web based email program. Most web hosting companies do provide webmail access to their customers. Often it comes with addressbook, rich text editor, spelling checker, and all the features of any other email program offers. Email becomes key part in your life once you launch the website. Check if the hosts provide with Webmail to check your mails thru a web based interface such as Squirrelmail or Horde. Checking email will be faster if you download the mails thru email clients such as Eudora or Outlook Express. Only if SMTP or IMAP support is enabled you can use this option. All our recommended hosts has this feature.
· SPAM Filter - No email user is free from a spam attack. It is the Email equivalent of junk mail. It is becoming one of the biggest problems in the Internet today.Hence you need to have spam filters installed on the server where your website resides.
· HTTPS (SSL) access to your hosting account. SSL is used for secure communication between the user browser and the server. The information is encrypted and secure. SSL is usually used for eCommerce sites and sites that require submission of other sensible information like usernames and passwords. To have an SSL on your site you can use the shared SSL certificate provided by your hosting company or you can purchase an SSL certificate for your site and ask the host to install it.
· Shell (telnet or SSH) access to your account. SSH is used for secure access to your account. SSH is usually offered on Unix hosting plans. You can zip, unzip files, change permissions of files, run certain programs on the server.
· Sub-domains for creating sub-sections to your site without having to use directories in URLs
· Shopping Cart - A shopping cart is a piece of software that acts as an online store's catalog and ordering process.
These are the most common features of a good web hosting plan. A reputable web hosting provider should offer you at least these ones in his hosting plans.There are some more additions you can get from a good provider.For more info on that topic you can visit my site http://www.itstandard.net and get all what you need .
About the Author
Richard Clement is an online publisher dedicated in helping online users in various categories. He is an online marketing specialist and owner of ItStandard.Net hosting company.For more info visit his site http://www.itstandard.net
Free Web Site hosting without the banner ads?
By Matt Byron
Free Web site Hosting without the Banner Ads?
Looking for free web hosting with no annoying pop-ups, pop-unders, buttons, banners, headers or footers? And as well as this, you'd like 99.8 percent up-time, fast servers, access to the cgi-bin for scripts, FP extensions, PHP and MySQL databases and FTP access?
We went out searching for the best "no ads" totally free site hosting space deals around. The results: disappointing, they are very few and far between. Many have come and gone, or as in the case of Bizland, quite suddenly withdrawn their free service and demanded that all their customers begin paying. We took a look at the promotional information for over 300 free web hosting companies, but then also looked at customer reviews. There was usually a major difference in opinions.
There is still a plethora of free web hosts around, but most require that you carry their advertising or offer you a limited time for the free service, usually a year. On the up side of this, many of these companies do supply quality hosting with many services in exchange for having their banners served up on your pages. We did find that many of the non-banner supported free options were hosted on very slow servers. In a number of cases, the server failed to respond at all!
How do non-banner free hosting companies make their money?
These companies try to survive by enticing the freebie customers to take out their paid hosting space options, which is fair enough. Quite often, their paid hosting options are quite cheap. You'll find that if you utilize this kind of free site hosting, the services available are rather limited and you'll need to pay for things like Front Page extensions and access to the cgi-bin for scripts. The other way that they survive is through regular newsletters containing offers from companies that pay them for the ad space.
Strategies in using non-banner supported free hosting options
One of the common patterns for these companies is that when they first set up shop, customer support is fantastic, server response times are great, shared scripts function well and file transfer interfaces are reliable. But as time goes on, "gold fever" hits, and people begin flocking to these companies with inevitable results - things start slowing down and falling over.
If you do find yourself in the position of needing to use free space due to financial restrictions; here's a couple of things you can do:
Buy a domain name first
Register a domain name first - Many domain name registrars give you a stack of free services with each name registered. Costs for domain name registrations can be as little as US$10-$12 per year. One of the services that you want to look for is a domain name control panel and free http/URL forwarding or framing. This allows you to redirect the name as you wish, changing its destination every day if you want to! If your free web-hosting provider goes belly up or isn't functioning correctly, you can move your site to another provider and redirect the domain name to point towards it.
A word of warning - be very careful whom you register your domain name with. We recently assisted a client who registered a domain name for a couple of dollars, but had very little control over the name without having paying huge fees to the registrar. It took approximately 2 months to wrest control away from the rabid registrar and transfer the name to a more ethical company. Always read the fine print.
What if I can't afford a domain name?
You could always use a free, no-banner, no-popup URL/HTTP redirection service from providers such as:
http://www.shorturl.com/
http://www.has.it/home.php
http://www.777i.net/
http://www.ipfox.com/home.html
The only issue with using these free URL redirection providers is the question of continuity of service. Also bear in mind that when it comes to being listed on the search engines, nothing beats having your own domain commercially hosted, rather than a redirection to one.
Free web space may be right under your nose!
When you sign up for Internet access, it is not uncommon for you also to get some free web space thrown in with the deal. We receive 10 Megs of space, including Front Page extensions from our Internet Service Provider which has been invaluable for creating a mirror / backup version of Taming the Beast. Net. Email your ISP to check out what is available to you.
Ok, back to non-advertising supported, free web hosting options. While we won't personally recommend any as we haven't used them and there were too many conflicting views, the following free hosting directories may assist you in finding some no frills, no banner web space. Remember to read the fine print before signing up for any service:
http://www.freewebspace.net/search /advanced.shtml
http://www.clickherefree.com /Free_Web_Space_Directory.htm
Looking for free web based file storage space?
http://www.freewebspace.net/guide /diskstorage.shtml
As you can see, there is a number of alternatives to get you started. It should be noted that nothing matches paid site hosting. But if price is an issue and you want to get your site up quickly, by all means check out the free service being offered. It may not supply much such as web space or bandwidth, but you would have taken the first step towards your online career. The most important thing to realize, is don't certain factors detain you from your goal. If money is an issue, you now have some free services to get you started.
About the Author
Founder of Direct Marketing 4 U. A simplistic way to market your business. Compiling some of the best resources for your online business, service, or product all in one place. A successful marketer for small business, Matt Byron brings his knowledge and resources to the internet. Choosing The Right Web Host - The Hardest Customer Task To Solve
By Richard Clement
Can we take this whole internet thing one step further and host our site ourselves on our own PC? Well, the basic answer is no! If you need to get a site live quickly or cheaply, it can be nearly impossible to do it yourself. Outsourcing these tasks to professional web host prividers that will save you money and headaches. The company will lodge your site on a web server, make the necessary connections between your domain name and their server configurations and then you're up and running. Your site is out there on the internet for all to see . But there are so many web hosts. How can somebody choose between them?
Different companies offer different plans, features, transfer rates and support levels, so how can you choose what's right for you?
The problem is that there are so many, and to some shoppers, there is a lot of technical jargon that can get in the way of picking the right one. This article is meant to simplify matters a bit by giving a reasonable way to estimate a web host's value.
The first thing to be done is to decide what you need your page to do.Is this you personal site,business site or some organiztion site.Do you think selling things on your site, or maybe managing a forum , do you need a hit counter ect.These are just some of the questions you need to answer yourself before even starting to choose.
There are more factors in what will determine the best hosting provider for you and that will be the primary goal of this artcle.
First thing to consider: Storage Space and DataTransfer
A small information site or personal site will usually only require a few megabytes of disk space, however, data transfer depends on the size of the pages your are offering your visitors multiplied by the number of visitors. Therefore, a popular and graphics heavy website requires a greater monthly transfer than a text site. You should look at a minimum of 2 GB (2000 MB) data transfer a month. Check with the company that they can upgrade your account if your site increases it's need for storage or monthly data transfer. Prepare for growth now so that you are not caught off guard by unexpected costs when you go to expand your services.
Second thing to consider: reliability
For any online business, uptime is critical. You absolutely cannot go with a host that has an uptime of less than 95%.
No web host can have 100% uptime, and it's impossible to guarantee. Avoid any hosts promising more than they can deliver. Most claim 99.9% uptime, but due to the nature of computers and communications equipment, outages will and do occur occasionally. You can contact a company and ask, but they will tell you they're very reliable. Instead, ask for a couple of sites they currently host, that you can check out for yourself. The word of mouth is probably most powerful in helping to judge these companies.
Third thing to consider: Technical Support
Critical to success, you'll need an internet hosting company that can help you resolve problems quickly with the least possible disruption to your site activity. As most hosting companies offer inclusive technical support, you shouldn't pay extra for this. If you're not offered 24 hours/7 days you should look elsewhere. Most hosts have email support, but keep an eye out for hosts that have phone numbers listed. These are obviously more valuable. Though some hosts have excellent turn around on email service requests, there's no substitute for actually being able to talk to somebody if you need to.The test is to contact the company and ask questions. If they don't reply within 48 hours, or don't reply at all, consider another hosting company. A good company should reply within 24-48 hours.
Fourth thing to consider: Added Features
Various internet hosting companies offer a variety of services. Web hosters provide a listing of overwhelming features to hosting plans to entice you into joining their services. However, more importantly, what features you need and what ones you don't need. Make a list of what you know your website must be able to do and find out if the company you are researching can make it happen for you.
If you are paying for a website, you should definitely be getting email accounts and FTP access. Don't settle for a site without them. Make sure the email addresses are for your domain and not at your host's domain. FTP access is critical is you intend to do any amount of uploading files to your server. Don't settle for web applications. Also, you will want a host that provides a user control over these two features. Examples of services include also visitor counts, e-mail forwarding options, real time chat, shopping cart functions, and web statistics. The list goes on. With a predetermined needs list in hand, you won't forget to ask important questions.
Fifth thing to consider: Pricing Structure
If the previous four steps check out, then you need to consider price and this can vary widely. You need to consider setup fees, monthly fees, plan discounts and optional extras in your calculations. Don't let price be the primary factor in your decision unless you are launching a personal page. For ecommerce, businesses and organizations, the quality of the service is more important. Some companies offer you no monthly fees, but check the fine print before agreeing to anything. Free sites almost always have popups or require space invasive banners. Don't simply look for the lowest price. You need to know how much the prices will grow as you expand your services and customer base. Ask about a variety of scenarios. For example, a small business owner who knows he will only need a small site to get started should ask about internet service provider hosting prices for medium sized websites with a larger number of visitors.Think for the future!
Keep also in mind that the most expensive plan is not necessarily the best, and the biggest name company may not be the right match for you.
Many perfectly fine packages for small businesses now run between $15 - $25 per month. Some people say that there are three types of Web Hosts: free hosts, cheap hosts and good hosts - and there is more than a grain of truth in this.
A good web host company will not tie you into a long-term contract that will prevent you moving if you don't like the service.
Final words:
The most important thing to remember is to research and shop around. The are options and features that are offered by a wide variety of web host providers that is bound to suit you. The more requirements you have, the most likely you pay more. But paying for a quality web host provider is a good investment especially if your business will in the future become more reliant on the Internet. Finally, don't hesitate to ask questions and inquire about the services of web hosts - you don't want to regret it later.
Finally you can find more information about web hosting services visiting my site
http://www.itstandard.net/ .
About the Author
Richard Clement is an online publisher dedicated in helping online users in various categories. He is an online marketing specialist and owner of ItStandard.Net hosting company.For more info visit his site http://www.itstandard.net
Unlimited Web Hosting Offers
By Brian Shoemaker
Web hosting directory allowing you to search If you have been looking around for a web host, you probably already have seen some of these offers: Unlimited Data Transfer, Unlimited Bandwidth or Unlimited Disk Space. The truth is, these deals are not possible.
Unlimited data transfer, or some web hosts might say unlimited bandwidth, is not possible, because if a web host has a server that is connected at 1.544 Mbps (Megabits per second) the maximum amount of data transfer that can be received is * 465.9 GB (Gigabytes) per month. This is a lot more data transfer than most websites will need. However, it is limited to the 465.9 Gigabytes per month and there will be other websites on the server sharing the data transfer if you have a shared web hosting plan.
You may also have heard of offers for unlimited disk space. Also, this is not possible. This maybe a little more obvious. Your disk space is limited to the size of the server's hard drive. Again, if you have a shared web hosting plan, you will be sharing the space with other websites.
So, why do web hosts make these offers? They do it under the assumption that many websites won't use very much data transfer and disk space. Be careful with web hosts who make these unlimited offers and always read their policies, terms of service, or user agreement page concerning the unlimited offers.
If you know the connection speed of a web host's server or your own server, you can use one of these calculators to find the maximum amount of data transfer it can receive in Gigabytes per month.
Remember, when using the calculators, 1 Kilobyte = 1,024 Bytes, 1 Megabyte = 1,048,576 Bytes and 1 Gigabyte = 1,073,741,824 Bytes.
When searching for a web host, look for hosts that don't make these unlimited data transfer and unlimited disk space offers or, make sure you read the web host's terms of service concerning the offers.
* 1.544 Megabits x 60 (seconds in a minute) x 60 (minutes in a hour) x 24 (hours in a day) x 30 (days in a month) = 4002048 Megabits = 4002048000000 bits = 500256000000 bytes = 465.9 Gigabytes
(8 bits = 1 byte and 1 Gigabyte = 1,073,741,824 bytes)
About the Author
Find affordable web hosting at Find-A-Web-Host.com.
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