Most people who procure web hosting services are small operations. There are a lot of advantages to using linux web hosting such as reliability, .If your web host decides to break down every other day due to poor .What are green web hosting services? there are a few varieties, .A good web host can help you make money online in handfuls while a poor one .Free hosting will allow you to get some web space; however there are downsides to .
I run a web hosting company and have over 7 years+ experience in the web hosting .To find out more about web hosting reselling check out the info at, .It is all not all doom and gloom however, free web host services often provide an .Before web hosting there were very limited options for businesses. Hosting a web domain, which ever way you choose, .Avoid cheap web hosting - consider both web hosting and seo .
To ensure that you choose the most reliable web host provider it is worth putting .Are you looking for a reliable web hosting company to get your website online? .A web hosting company will put your website in a computer and have it set up .This is the original method for finding a web host provider. A majority of businesses use web hosting providers to keep their websites up .
What this article will detail to you is everything that you need to know about php web hosting as well as its popular applications on the .When you apply for web hosting, the cost is like renting a square .Basically, to decide which web host service is the best for your site, you need to examine just what precisely your specific needs are.
Senin, 02 Maret 2009
Sabtu, 24 Januari 2009
Start for Web Hosting
By Web Host
Even for a layman , its important to know the concept of web hosting. Visiting any website shows a web page that is downloaded from the web server onto the user's web browser. Generally, web site is made up of many web pages and web page is made up of texts and graphic images. Now these pages are then stored and made available for the visitors on web servers.
So for a layman if his intention is to have is own web site, then the first step would be owing a host provider so as to host the website on web server. As soon as the website is online on the server, online users can browse that website through Internet. All this job of providing host facility is with the providers called web-hosting providers.
Any established web hosting provider can host even thousands of websites example, iPowerWeb is a popular web hosting company that hosts websites in amounts of lakhs i.e. 3 lakhs. Due to this reason only these hosting companies needs large number of web servers for storing the website. Thereafter all these web servers are connected to Internet and are kept in a physical center 'data center'. As these web servers needs to be fully operational all the time so data centers are made fully secure having 24/7 environment and given protection from fire, HVAC temperature control, virus detections, computer data backup, redundant power backup and complete disaster recovery capabilities.
Now after knowing what is web hosting it is also important to know the different types of web host which are summarized below:
Shared Hosting
As the name suggests, in shared hosting several websites share space on the common physical web servers. A physical web server can host thousands of websites at one time depending upon the web host. With so much pressure on web servers it tends to make one think that due to over burden perhaps the performance of web server gets affected. But that thinking is totally wrong as for this reason only web servers are equipped with high-end powerful computer so as to support large number of websites to some extent without any problem. However but it is even possible at time of over burden on web servers that the response is badly effected.
In order to get rid of this problem reputed and experienced host providers constantly keep on monitoring the performance of web servers and keeps on adding new web servers when and where required. As many websites share a same physical web server the cost is generally low with start from mere $5-$20 per month and they also have to accept slower server response time.
Dedicated Hosting
As against shared hosting, in dedicated hosting a specific web server is allotted to one customer only. Due to one server the customer is having option to host his single/multiple web sites, can modify the configuration of software, can handle greater site traffic and can even scale the bandwidth when it is taken as necessary. It is because of this facility that dedicated hosting charges good amount which starts from $50 and can range even upto$200 to $500 monthly. So dedicated hosting is regularly used by extremely important web sites having high traffic.
Co-location hosting
The only difference between dedicated hosting and co-location hosting is that here in this case customers can own the web server hardware whereas in case of dedicated hosting customers can just rent the web server during the hosting period. So Co-location hosting provides more flexibility to its customers in respect of control and maintainence. Here in this case 24/7 server monitoring is also possible which can evade the problem of slow response. Because of all above benefits co-location hosting charges good amount depending upon monthly bandwidth and rack space required which is as high as $500 - $1000 monthly.
Reseller hosting
The third type of hosting is reseller hosting where the provider offers web server storage space to third party at a discounted price, who again resell it to his own customer. Normally resellers include web consultants like web designers, developers or system Integration Company who after charging commission which is even upto 50%(taken as discount) can resell the web hosting. Resellers can set up their own hosting company and can decide for their own pricing structure with establishing their own branding.
In case of reseller hosting for reseller's customers, the reseller is the web host provider. When some technical problem arises like down server or any access problem then in that case the resellers have to settle all with actual web host provider. However this is not the effective way as it leads to unnecessary waste of time due to various channels involved in the communication process like first customer contacts reseller and then reseller contacts actual web host provider and same is with the response it also comes back from the same process, so the problems pertains for a long time. Thus reseller hosting is not considered a good option unless user is having his own personal website or he is having an alternative for poor support from reseller.
Now with growing competition market is having abundant of resellers who are selling their services at a very low price. Due to this and other factors like even some web-hosting providers provide their own toll free numbers to their resellers for co-branded technical support, this makes the decision more difficult to choose which is the right choice.
Thus it is more important to act wisely and to not get attracted with marketing techniques employed by resellers like professional outlook of their website and other strategies like proving technical support in their own name which is actually provided by the provider and not by them but they tend to present it in such a way that they are providing that support.
The general distinguishing feature between resellers and hosting company is firstly the hosting price and secondly the company's information including their balance sheet example iPowerWeb.com get their company's information published where they mention their financial strength, their offices and highly equipped data centers. As against this resellers lack these assets and for price what they quote is generally below $5 per month whereas providers charge between $7 and $10.
Thus considering all these facts it can be concluded easily that due to a minute difference of several dollars one must not get struck in the web of resellers and must go for best facilities instead of getting harassment afterwards.
Rabu, 21 Januari 2009
Tips for Selecting Appropriate Web Host Provider
By: Bluehost Hosting
After the completion of the website next very important decision is to make it visible to the entire world, for this there arise needs for selecting an appropriate web host. The following are some of the factors to keep in mind while selecting an appropriate web host:-
1. How to make site accessible?
If one has applied for a web host provider he/she should take several aspects into consideration for e.g. what time it takes to load, the period of time it is up etc. These aspects are very important because problems are present related to them, this can create extreme irritation and renouncement of the potential visitors.
As search engines due to difficulties in loading do not show those web pages which are always down. That’s why the same potential can have complications in locating one’s website.
The best way to check if the server is up or not is by looking over the reviews written by other persons who have applied for the server before the user.
2. Is the host offering SSL??
The SSL protection is not necessary for a hobby websiter .However if transactions should be made in the near future by the user it is necessary for him/her to choose the web host which includes the SSL protection upfront.
It is normally applied for encrypting any piece of information for e.g. credit card codes, names, etc.
If the user is dealing up to a web host who is excluding SSL protection and giving preference to it later on will harm rather then benefiting as it could turn up to be more expensive than for a web host which provides SSL in the first priority.
3. Whether server side scripting accessible from the server or not.
In spite of the fact that these server side scripting is the facility available in all the servers, but still user must conform that they do it or not. Pages changing in real time are given the opportunity to be created by the webmasters due to the availability of server side scripting.
For example, if one is taking case of running a business and having all products systemized in a database, the server side scripting will give off the pages via the ranges the customers prefer to see.
One should not think of using a server which does not provide functionality for a server side scripting.
4. Customer Support
While choosing a web host the top priority must be given to the support which they are providing to the customers. This point is also applicable to an experienced webmaster, before signing up with a website. There are several hosts who have created special forums for frequently asked questions (FAQ-S).
Above all, points are quite popular still there is need to give special consideration to them. Thus one can enjoy the benefits of web hosting by just doing slight homework.
Rabu, 29 Oktober 2008
Finding good niche hosting
One can not deny the fact that the achievements of the Internet is huge and in the world, and when it comes to marketing scenario, consider the ultimate customer. He / she is a person who enters the market with clearly defined objectives and requirements. Thus, it is a problem for the hosting provider in order to the customer clearly defined objectives. Web Host must walk straight ahead with a strategy of focusing on futures, such as price, time, reliability, support etc.
Several years ago there was research on the sale aspect of the hosting industry. Can low-cost host well? How nice it would be if prices stay low will offer additional features such as maximum bandwidth and disk space. At the end concluded that the maximum stay will stay low prices with a maximum bandwidth and disk space, with the support of a distinguished and advertising of all customers site. It may be useful for some people, but the return of investment (ROI), could consume the entire life-time rights.
Web-hosting industry provides the majority of small and medium-sized enterprises. For them, large investments in marketing can not provide results in line with expectations. Nevertheless, you can find several Web sites on the market, which flourished from a simple reseller hosting thousands of servers in the little spare time. It's quite surprising that the number of hosts to sell at low prices was zero. They have done nothing but created a niche market for their own ends.
One of the web hosting focused solely on resellers and described it as a Private Label Reseller program. They gave an additional amount of disk space and bandwidth, and demanded for an extra fee. Their dignity - slightly customers, advanced traffic in cash and relatively less support requests, as resellers take care of their own customers. Other Web hosting is focused only on webmasters. In fact, webmasters tend to have more than one site. Hosting can not be their core business, and they require a reasonable solution. In addition to it, most webmasters have the technical expertise, and compared it requires communities where interaction with other webmasters as possible.
Everyone knows that little time, things take a similar position in the market and makes the standardization industry. This once again to check the way for effective control of the market by the host country. They can take a step to focus on only at certain hosting services. For example, the message is just hosting. This could be very useful for people for whom e-mail is a very decisive. The user can click on the e-mail to another server, which is entirely devoted only to the letter. Thus, if accidentally prime site is idle, they have an alternative route for receiving mail. You can take the organization backup suitable as another example. At the moment, Web hosting will be a backup of all information related to the site in time.
Web-hosting provider can also focus on specific languages and software, which is very well liked. There is not most hosts offer Java Servlets, PostgreSQL, and Zope. If one takes the example of just Zope hosting it definitely accompany all Zope developers to use, and to invite community Zope web hosting provider that specializes in Zope hosting.
Everyone knows that the price of broadband has fallen by the time he also created a ray of optimism in the form of Web sites, this market is also hosting applications popularity. You can find new markets for large and small corporate, who never thinks poorly consistent protected their data networks. All of this requires that enter into their servers and access their data from anywhere in the world. Their search applications, such as Compiere, or rather, a group where the user can easily access, exchange and store data online. If there is a demand for payment of premiums for such services to corporate would never form. But Web sites for a promise of protection and safety in such situations.
Merging some additional features of the proposed package will certainly attract customers that the hosting provider. It may include several software as well.
We can make hosting services, along with the post of Nuke, phpBB forum gallery and all packed into one. This client will get an opportunity and time to focus on what he / she needs to be done instead of wasting time on thinking way to implement the CMS system or art gallery.
There are many sites offering software, such as ikonboard, eZpublish, phpShop, Zope, carts, etc. along with their hosting package. After choosing the ideal, as well as the requirement of the user can create scripts to automate the installation process. Thus, you can save time, spending for ordering new things.
In the end, the user need not take any steps as investing huge sums of money to advertise in search engines or, rather, from a web hosting directory. All of this requires that advertise on selected software to the home page and still in their forums / lists to help the customer.
Several years ago there was research on the sale aspect of the hosting industry. Can low-cost host well? How nice it would be if prices stay low will offer additional features such as maximum bandwidth and disk space. At the end concluded that the maximum stay will stay low prices with a maximum bandwidth and disk space, with the support of a distinguished and advertising of all customers site. It may be useful for some people, but the return of investment (ROI), could consume the entire life-time rights.
Web-hosting industry provides the majority of small and medium-sized enterprises. For them, large investments in marketing can not provide results in line with expectations. Nevertheless, you can find several Web sites on the market, which flourished from a simple reseller hosting thousands of servers in the little spare time. It's quite surprising that the number of hosts to sell at low prices was zero. They have done nothing but created a niche market for their own ends.
One of the web hosting focused solely on resellers and described it as a Private Label Reseller program. They gave an additional amount of disk space and bandwidth, and demanded for an extra fee. Their dignity - slightly customers, advanced traffic in cash and relatively less support requests, as resellers take care of their own customers. Other Web hosting is focused only on webmasters. In fact, webmasters tend to have more than one site. Hosting can not be their core business, and they require a reasonable solution. In addition to it, most webmasters have the technical expertise, and compared it requires communities where interaction with other webmasters as possible.
Everyone knows that little time, things take a similar position in the market and makes the standardization industry. This once again to check the way for effective control of the market by the host country. They can take a step to focus on only at certain hosting services. For example, the message is just hosting. This could be very useful for people for whom e-mail is a very decisive. The user can click on the e-mail to another server, which is entirely devoted only to the letter. Thus, if accidentally prime site is idle, they have an alternative route for receiving mail. You can take the organization backup suitable as another example. At the moment, Web hosting will be a backup of all information related to the site in time.
Web-hosting provider can also focus on specific languages and software, which is very well liked. There is not most hosts offer Java Servlets, PostgreSQL, and Zope. If one takes the example of just Zope hosting it definitely accompany all Zope developers to use, and to invite community Zope web hosting provider that specializes in Zope hosting.
Everyone knows that the price of broadband has fallen by the time he also created a ray of optimism in the form of Web sites, this market is also hosting applications popularity. You can find new markets for large and small corporate, who never thinks poorly consistent protected their data networks. All of this requires that enter into their servers and access their data from anywhere in the world. Their search applications, such as Compiere, or rather, a group where the user can easily access, exchange and store data online. If there is a demand for payment of premiums for such services to corporate would never form. But Web sites for a promise of protection and safety in such situations.
Merging some additional features of the proposed package will certainly attract customers that the hosting provider. It may include several software as well.
We can make hosting services, along with the post of Nuke, phpBB forum gallery and all packed into one. This client will get an opportunity and time to focus on what he / she needs to be done instead of wasting time on thinking way to implement the CMS system or art gallery.
There are many sites offering software, such as ikonboard, eZpublish, phpShop, Zope, carts, etc. along with their hosting package. After choosing the ideal, as well as the requirement of the user can create scripts to automate the installation process. Thus, you can save time, spending for ordering new things.
In the end, the user need not take any steps as investing huge sums of money to advertise in search engines or, rather, from a web hosting directory. All of this requires that advertise on selected software to the home page and still in their forums / lists to help the customer.
Kamis, 24 Juli 2008
How the Internet actually works
To most people, the Internet is the place to which everyone plugs in their computer and views webpages and sends e-mail. That's a very human-centric viewpoint, but if we're to truly understand the Internet, we need to be more exact:
The Internet is THE large global computer network that people connect to by-default, by virtue of the fact that it's the largest. And, like any computer network, there are conventions that allow it to work.
This is all it is really - a very big computer network. However, this article will go beyond explaining just the Internet, as it will also explain the 'World Wide Web'. Most people don't know the difference between the Internet and Web, but really it's quite simple: the Internet is a computer network, and the Web is a system of publishing (of websites) for it.
Computer networks
And, what's a computer network? A computer network is just two or more of computers connected together such that they may send messages between each other. On larger networks computers are connected together in complex arrangements, where some intermediary computers have more than one connection to other computers, such that every computer can reach any other computer in the network via paths through some of those intermediary computers.
Computers aren't the only things that use networks - the rail network is very similar to computer networks, just that transports people instead of information.
Trains operate on a certain kind of track - such a convention is needed, because otherwise the network could not effectively work. Computers in a network have conventions too, and we usually call these conventions 'protocols'.
There are many kinds of popular computer network today. The most conventional by far is the so-called 'Ethernet' network that physically connects computers together in homes, schools and offices. However, WiFi is becoming increasingly popular for connecting together devices so that cables aren't required at all.
Connecting to the Internet
When you connect to the Internet, you're using networking technology, but things are usually a lot muddier. There's an apt phrase, "Rome wasn't built in a day" because neither was the Internet. The only reason the Internet could spring up so quickly and cheaply for people was because another kind of network already existed throughout the world - the phone network!
The pre-existence of the phone network provided a medium for ordinary computers in ordinary people's homes to be connected onto the great high-tech military and research network that had been developed in years before. It just required some technological mastery in the form of 'modems'. Modems allow phone lines to be turned into a mini-network connection between a home and a special company (an 'ISP') that already is connected up to the Internet. It's like a bridge joining up the road networks on an island and the mainland - the road networks become one, due to a special kind of connection between them.
The Internet
The really amazing about the Internet isn't the technology. We've actually had big Internet-like computer networks before, and 'The Internet' existed long before normal people knew the term. The amazing thing is that such a massive computer network could exist without being built or governed in any kind of seriously organised way. The only organisation that really has a grip on the core computer network of the Internet is a US-government-backed non-profit company called 'ICANN', but nobody could claim they 'controlled' the Internet, as their mandate and activities are extremely limited.
What I have described so far is probably not the Internet as you or most would see it. It's unlikely you see the Internet as a democratic and uniform computer network, and to an extent, it isn't. The reason for this is that I have only explained the foundations of the system so far, and this foundation operates below the level you'd normally be aware of. On the lowest level you would be aware of, the Internet is actually more like a situation between a getter and a giver - there's something you want from the Internet, so you connect up and get it. Even when you send an e-mail, you're getting the service of e-mail delivery.
Being a computer network, the Internet consists of computers - however, not all computers on the Internet are created equal. Some computers are there to provide services, and some are there to consume those services. We call the providing computers 'servers' and the consuming computers 'clients'. At the theoretical level, the computers have equal status on the network, but servers are much better connected than clients and are generally put in place by companies providing some kind of commercial service. You don't pay to view a web site, but somebody pays for the server the website is located on - usually the owner of the web site pays a 'web host' (a commercial company who owns the server).
Making contact
I've established how the Internet is a computer network: now I will explain how two computers that could be on other sides of the world can send messages to each other.
Imagine you were writing a letter and needed to send it to someone. If you just wrote a name on the front, it would never arrive, unless perhaps you lived in a small village. A name is rarely specific enough. Therefore, as we all know, we use addresses to contact someone, often using: the name, the house number, the road name, the town name, the county name, and sometimes, the country name. This allows sending of messages on another kind of network - the postal network. When you send a letter, typically it will be passed between postal sorting offices starting from the sorting office nearest to the origin, then up to increasingly large sorting offices until it's handled by a sorting office covering regions for both the origin and the destination, then down to increasingly small sorting offices until it's at the sorting office nearest the destination - and then it's delivered.
In our postal situation, there are two key factors at work - a form of addressing that 'homes in' on the destination location, and a form of message delivery that 'broadens out' then 'narrows in'. Computers are more organised, but they actually effectively do exactly the same thing.
Each computer on the Internet is given an address ('IP address'), and this 'homes in' on their location. The 'homing in' isn't done strictly geographically, rather in terms of the connection-relationship between the smaller computer networks within the Internet. For the real world, being a neighbour is geographical, but on a computer network, being a neighbour is having a direct network connection.
Like the postal network with its sorting offices, computer networks usually have connections to a few other computer networks. A computer network will send the message to a larger network (a network that is more likely to recognise at least some part of the address). This process of 'broadening out' continues until the message is being handled by a network that is 'over' the destination, and then the 'narrowing in' process will occur.
An example 'IP address' is '69.60.115.116'. They are just series of digit groups where the digit groups towards the right are increasingly local. Each digit group is a number between 0 and 255. This is just an approximation, but you could think of this address meaning:
A computer 116
in a small neighbourhood 115
in a larger neighbourhood 60
controlled by an ISP 69
(on the Internet)
The neighbourhoods, the ISP, and the Internet, could all be consider computer networks in their own right. Therefore, for a message to the same 'larger neighbourhood', the message would be passed up towards one of those intermediary computers in the larger neighbourhood and then back down to the correct smaller neighbourhood, and then to the correct computer.
Getting the message across
Now that we are able to deliver messages the hard part is over. All we need to do is to put stuff in our messages in a certain way such that it makes sense at the other end.
Letters we send in the real world always have stuff in common - they are written on paper and in a language understood by both sender and receiver. I've discussed before how conventions are important for networks to operate, and this important concept remains true for our messages.
All parts of the Internet transfer messages written in things called 'Packets', and the layout and contents of those 'packets' are done according to the 'Internet Protocol' (IP). You don't need to know these terms, but you do need to know that these simple messages are error prone and simplistic.
You can think of 'packets' as the Internet equivalence of a sentence - for an ongoing conversation, there would be many of them sent in both directions of communication.
Reliable message transfer on the Internet is done via 'TCP'. IP is fundamental to the Internet, but TCP is not - there are in fact other 'protocols' that may be used that I won't be covering.
Names, not numbers
When most people think of an 'Internet Address' they think of something like 'www.ocportal.com' rather than '69.60.115.116'. People relate to names with greater ease than numbers, so special computers that humans need to access are typically assigned names ('domain names') using a system known as 'DNS' (the 'domain name system').
All Internet communication is still done using IP addresses (recall '69.60.115.116' is an IP address). The 'domain names' are therefore translated to IP addresses behind the scenes, before the main communication starts.
At the core, the process of looking up a domain name is quite simple - it's a process of 'homing in' by moving leftwards through the name, following an interrogation path. This is best shown by example - 'www.ocportal.com' would be looked up as follows:
Every computer on the Internet knows how to contact the computers (the 'root' 'DNS servers') responsible for things like 'com', 'org', 'net' and 'uk'. There are a few such computers and one is contacted at random. The DNS server computer is asked if they know 'www.ocportal.com' and will respond saying they know which server computer is responsible for 'com'.
The 'com' server computer is asked it knows 'www.ocportal.com' and will respond saying they know which server computer is responsible for 'ocportal.com'.
'The 'ocportal.com' server computer is asked if it knows 'www.ocportal.com' and will respond saying that it knows the corresponding server computer to be '69.60.115.116'.
Note that there is a difference between a server computer being 'responsible' for a domain name and the domain name actually corresponding to that computer. For example, the 'ocportal.com' responsible DNS server might not necessarily be the same server as 'ocportal.com' itself.
Meaningful dialogue
I've fully covered the essence of how messages are delivered over the Internet, but so far these messages are completely raw and meaningless. Before meaningful communication can occur we need to layer on yet another protocol (recall IP and TCP protocols are already layered over our physical network).
There are many protocols that work on the communications already established, including:
HTTP - for web pages, typically read in web browser software
POP3 - for reading e-mail
SMTP - for sending e-mail
I'm not going to go into the details of any of these protocols because it's not really relevant unless you actually need to know it.
The information transferred via a protocol is usually a request for something, or a response for something requested. For example, with HTTP, a client computer requests a certain web page from a server via HTTP and then the web server, basically, responds with the file embedded within HTTP.
Each of these protocols operates on more or more so-called 'ports', and it is these 'ports' that allow the computers to know which protocol to use. For example, a web server (special computer software running on a server computer that serves out web pages) uses a port of number '80', and hence when the server receives messages on that port it passes them to the web server software which naturally knows that they'll be written in HTTP.
The World Wide Web
I've explained how the Internet works, but not yet how the web works. The web is the publishing system that most people don't realise is distinguishable from the Internet itself.
The Internet uses IP addresses (often found via domain names) to identify resources, but the web has to have something more sophisticated as it would be silly if every single page on the Internet had to have it's own 'domain name'. The web uses 'URLs' (uniform resource locators), and I'm sure you know about these as nowadays they are printed all over the place in the real world.
A typical URL looks like this: :///
For example: http://www.ocportal.com/index.php
The Internet is THE large global computer network that people connect to by-default, by virtue of the fact that it's the largest. And, like any computer network, there are conventions that allow it to work.
This is all it is really - a very big computer network. However, this article will go beyond explaining just the Internet, as it will also explain the 'World Wide Web'. Most people don't know the difference between the Internet and Web, but really it's quite simple: the Internet is a computer network, and the Web is a system of publishing (of websites) for it.
Computer networks
And, what's a computer network? A computer network is just two or more of computers connected together such that they may send messages between each other. On larger networks computers are connected together in complex arrangements, where some intermediary computers have more than one connection to other computers, such that every computer can reach any other computer in the network via paths through some of those intermediary computers.
Computers aren't the only things that use networks - the rail network is very similar to computer networks, just that transports people instead of information.
Trains operate on a certain kind of track - such a convention is needed, because otherwise the network could not effectively work. Computers in a network have conventions too, and we usually call these conventions 'protocols'.
There are many kinds of popular computer network today. The most conventional by far is the so-called 'Ethernet' network that physically connects computers together in homes, schools and offices. However, WiFi is becoming increasingly popular for connecting together devices so that cables aren't required at all.
Connecting to the Internet
When you connect to the Internet, you're using networking technology, but things are usually a lot muddier. There's an apt phrase, "Rome wasn't built in a day" because neither was the Internet. The only reason the Internet could spring up so quickly and cheaply for people was because another kind of network already existed throughout the world - the phone network!
The pre-existence of the phone network provided a medium for ordinary computers in ordinary people's homes to be connected onto the great high-tech military and research network that had been developed in years before. It just required some technological mastery in the form of 'modems'. Modems allow phone lines to be turned into a mini-network connection between a home and a special company (an 'ISP') that already is connected up to the Internet. It's like a bridge joining up the road networks on an island and the mainland - the road networks become one, due to a special kind of connection between them.
The Internet
The really amazing about the Internet isn't the technology. We've actually had big Internet-like computer networks before, and 'The Internet' existed long before normal people knew the term. The amazing thing is that such a massive computer network could exist without being built or governed in any kind of seriously organised way. The only organisation that really has a grip on the core computer network of the Internet is a US-government-backed non-profit company called 'ICANN', but nobody could claim they 'controlled' the Internet, as their mandate and activities are extremely limited.
What I have described so far is probably not the Internet as you or most would see it. It's unlikely you see the Internet as a democratic and uniform computer network, and to an extent, it isn't. The reason for this is that I have only explained the foundations of the system so far, and this foundation operates below the level you'd normally be aware of. On the lowest level you would be aware of, the Internet is actually more like a situation between a getter and a giver - there's something you want from the Internet, so you connect up and get it. Even when you send an e-mail, you're getting the service of e-mail delivery.
Being a computer network, the Internet consists of computers - however, not all computers on the Internet are created equal. Some computers are there to provide services, and some are there to consume those services. We call the providing computers 'servers' and the consuming computers 'clients'. At the theoretical level, the computers have equal status on the network, but servers are much better connected than clients and are generally put in place by companies providing some kind of commercial service. You don't pay to view a web site, but somebody pays for the server the website is located on - usually the owner of the web site pays a 'web host' (a commercial company who owns the server).
Making contact
I've established how the Internet is a computer network: now I will explain how two computers that could be on other sides of the world can send messages to each other.
Imagine you were writing a letter and needed to send it to someone. If you just wrote a name on the front, it would never arrive, unless perhaps you lived in a small village. A name is rarely specific enough. Therefore, as we all know, we use addresses to contact someone, often using: the name, the house number, the road name, the town name, the county name, and sometimes, the country name. This allows sending of messages on another kind of network - the postal network. When you send a letter, typically it will be passed between postal sorting offices starting from the sorting office nearest to the origin, then up to increasingly large sorting offices until it's handled by a sorting office covering regions for both the origin and the destination, then down to increasingly small sorting offices until it's at the sorting office nearest the destination - and then it's delivered.
In our postal situation, there are two key factors at work - a form of addressing that 'homes in' on the destination location, and a form of message delivery that 'broadens out' then 'narrows in'. Computers are more organised, but they actually effectively do exactly the same thing.
Each computer on the Internet is given an address ('IP address'), and this 'homes in' on their location. The 'homing in' isn't done strictly geographically, rather in terms of the connection-relationship between the smaller computer networks within the Internet. For the real world, being a neighbour is geographical, but on a computer network, being a neighbour is having a direct network connection.
Like the postal network with its sorting offices, computer networks usually have connections to a few other computer networks. A computer network will send the message to a larger network (a network that is more likely to recognise at least some part of the address). This process of 'broadening out' continues until the message is being handled by a network that is 'over' the destination, and then the 'narrowing in' process will occur.
An example 'IP address' is '69.60.115.116'. They are just series of digit groups where the digit groups towards the right are increasingly local. Each digit group is a number between 0 and 255. This is just an approximation, but you could think of this address meaning:
A computer 116
in a small neighbourhood 115
in a larger neighbourhood 60
controlled by an ISP 69
(on the Internet)
The neighbourhoods, the ISP, and the Internet, could all be consider computer networks in their own right. Therefore, for a message to the same 'larger neighbourhood', the message would be passed up towards one of those intermediary computers in the larger neighbourhood and then back down to the correct smaller neighbourhood, and then to the correct computer.
Getting the message across
Now that we are able to deliver messages the hard part is over. All we need to do is to put stuff in our messages in a certain way such that it makes sense at the other end.
Letters we send in the real world always have stuff in common - they are written on paper and in a language understood by both sender and receiver. I've discussed before how conventions are important for networks to operate, and this important concept remains true for our messages.
All parts of the Internet transfer messages written in things called 'Packets', and the layout and contents of those 'packets' are done according to the 'Internet Protocol' (IP). You don't need to know these terms, but you do need to know that these simple messages are error prone and simplistic.
You can think of 'packets' as the Internet equivalence of a sentence - for an ongoing conversation, there would be many of them sent in both directions of communication.
Reliable message transfer on the Internet is done via 'TCP'. IP is fundamental to the Internet, but TCP is not - there are in fact other 'protocols' that may be used that I won't be covering.
Names, not numbers
When most people think of an 'Internet Address' they think of something like 'www.ocportal.com' rather than '69.60.115.116'. People relate to names with greater ease than numbers, so special computers that humans need to access are typically assigned names ('domain names') using a system known as 'DNS' (the 'domain name system').
All Internet communication is still done using IP addresses (recall '69.60.115.116' is an IP address). The 'domain names' are therefore translated to IP addresses behind the scenes, before the main communication starts.
At the core, the process of looking up a domain name is quite simple - it's a process of 'homing in' by moving leftwards through the name, following an interrogation path. This is best shown by example - 'www.ocportal.com' would be looked up as follows:
Every computer on the Internet knows how to contact the computers (the 'root' 'DNS servers') responsible for things like 'com', 'org', 'net' and 'uk'. There are a few such computers and one is contacted at random. The DNS server computer is asked if they know 'www.ocportal.com' and will respond saying they know which server computer is responsible for 'com'.
The 'com' server computer is asked it knows 'www.ocportal.com' and will respond saying they know which server computer is responsible for 'ocportal.com'.
'The 'ocportal.com' server computer is asked if it knows 'www.ocportal.com' and will respond saying that it knows the corresponding server computer to be '69.60.115.116'.
Note that there is a difference between a server computer being 'responsible' for a domain name and the domain name actually corresponding to that computer. For example, the 'ocportal.com' responsible DNS server might not necessarily be the same server as 'ocportal.com' itself.
Meaningful dialogue
I've fully covered the essence of how messages are delivered over the Internet, but so far these messages are completely raw and meaningless. Before meaningful communication can occur we need to layer on yet another protocol (recall IP and TCP protocols are already layered over our physical network).
There are many protocols that work on the communications already established, including:
HTTP - for web pages, typically read in web browser software
POP3 - for reading e-mail
SMTP - for sending e-mail
I'm not going to go into the details of any of these protocols because it's not really relevant unless you actually need to know it.
The information transferred via a protocol is usually a request for something, or a response for something requested. For example, with HTTP, a client computer requests a certain web page from a server via HTTP and then the web server, basically, responds with the file embedded within HTTP.
Each of these protocols operates on more or more so-called 'ports', and it is these 'ports' that allow the computers to know which protocol to use. For example, a web server (special computer software running on a server computer that serves out web pages) uses a port of number '80', and hence when the server receives messages on that port it passes them to the web server software which naturally knows that they'll be written in HTTP.
The World Wide Web
I've explained how the Internet works, but not yet how the web works. The web is the publishing system that most people don't realise is distinguishable from the Internet itself.
The Internet uses IP addresses (often found via domain names) to identify resources, but the web has to have something more sophisticated as it would be silly if every single page on the Internet had to have it's own 'domain name'. The web uses 'URLs' (uniform resource locators), and I'm sure you know about these as nowadays they are printed all over the place in the real world.
A typical URL looks like this: :///
For example: http://www.ocportal.com/index.php
Kamis, 10 Juli 2008
Something About Niche Hosting
One cannot deny the fact that, the reach of internet is vast and through out the world and when it comes to marketing scenario the customer is consider being ultimate. He/she is an individual who comes to the market with well defined objectives and requirements. Thus it is a challenge for a hosting provider to aim customer’s well defined objectives. Web host needs to move straight forwards with the certain strategy focusing on the futures such as price, uptime, reliability, support etc.
A few time ago there was a research conducted about the selling aspect of the hosting industry. Can a low priced host perform well? How nice it will be if a low priced host will propose features like maximum bandwidth and disk space. At the end the conclusion was that the largest host would be the low priced host with the maximum bandwidth and disk space, with an outstanding support and placing advertisements all over the client’s site. It can be useful for several people, but the Return of Investment (ROI) may consume the entire life-time of a person.
The web hosting industry contains majority of SMEs. For them large investments in marketing may not provide results as per expectations. Still one can find several web hosts in the market who have flourished themselves from a mere reseller hosting system to a thousand servers within a little spare of time. It is quite surprising that the number of hosts selling at low price was zero. They had done nothing but created a niche market for their purpose.
One web host concentrated merely on resellers and termed it as private label reseller programs. They gave out additional amount of disk space and bandwidth and demanded for additional charge. Their merits - slighter customers, advanced cash turnover and comparatively smaller support requests as the resellers takes care of their own customers. Another web host concentrated merely on webmasters. In fact, Webmasters usually possess more than one site. Hosting cannot be considered their main business and they demand a reasonable solution. In addition to it, the majority of webmasters have the technical knowledge and in comparison they require a community where interaction with other webmasters is possible.
Everyone knows that in a little span of time identical things take the place in market and adopts the standardization of industry. This is again test the way to effectively control the market by the host. They can take the step to concentrate on merely on certain services of hosting. For instance, email only hosting. This can be very helpful for the people for whom email is highly decisive. The user may go for the emails on another server which is totally dedicated to emails only. Thus, if by chance the prime site faces downtime, they still have an alternative route to get the mails. One can take backup hosting as another suitable example. At this juncture, the web host would backup the whole information related to a site in a frequent period of time.
Web hosting provider can also concentrate on definite languages and software which are very well-liked. There is not majority of hosts offering Java Servlets, Postgresql, and Zope. If one takes the example of only Zope hosting then it definitely escort all the Zope developers to apply and as well as propose the Zope community a web hosting provider who is specialized in field of Zope hosting.
Everyone knows that price of broadband had declined by the time, it also created a ray of optimism in the mind of web hosts that due to this the market of application hosting also gets popularity. One can find new market of large and small corporate who never thinks badly in keeping their data in secure networks. All requires is to log into their servers and access their data from any part of the globe. They search for the applications like Compiere or rather a groupware where user can easily access, share and pile up the data online. If there will be a requirement for paying premium for such services the Corporate would never mind. But, web hosts have to promise protection and dependability in such situations.
Merging some of the additional features in the offered package will definitely attract the customers to that hosting provider. It can include few of the software’s also.
One can put forward hosting services along with a post nuke, gallery and phpBB forum all packaged into one. Due to this the customer will receive both opportunity and time to concentrate on what he/she requires to do instead of wasting time on thinking the way to implement a CMS system or picture gallery.
There are many sites offering software such as ikonboard, eZpublish, phpShop, Zope, A-Cart etc along with their hosting package. After selecting the ideal one as per requirement user can create scripts to automate the process of installation. Thus, one can save the time wasting on ordering new things.
At the end, user needs not to take any step like investing a huge amount of money for the purpose of advertising with search engines or rather with web hosting directories. All requires is to advertise on the elected software's home page and remain present on their forums/mailing lists to assist the client.
A few time ago there was a research conducted about the selling aspect of the hosting industry. Can a low priced host perform well? How nice it will be if a low priced host will propose features like maximum bandwidth and disk space. At the end the conclusion was that the largest host would be the low priced host with the maximum bandwidth and disk space, with an outstanding support and placing advertisements all over the client’s site. It can be useful for several people, but the Return of Investment (ROI) may consume the entire life-time of a person.
The web hosting industry contains majority of SMEs. For them large investments in marketing may not provide results as per expectations. Still one can find several web hosts in the market who have flourished themselves from a mere reseller hosting system to a thousand servers within a little spare of time. It is quite surprising that the number of hosts selling at low price was zero. They had done nothing but created a niche market for their purpose.
One web host concentrated merely on resellers and termed it as private label reseller programs. They gave out additional amount of disk space and bandwidth and demanded for additional charge. Their merits - slighter customers, advanced cash turnover and comparatively smaller support requests as the resellers takes care of their own customers. Another web host concentrated merely on webmasters. In fact, Webmasters usually possess more than one site. Hosting cannot be considered their main business and they demand a reasonable solution. In addition to it, the majority of webmasters have the technical knowledge and in comparison they require a community where interaction with other webmasters is possible.
Everyone knows that in a little span of time identical things take the place in market and adopts the standardization of industry. This is again test the way to effectively control the market by the host. They can take the step to concentrate on merely on certain services of hosting. For instance, email only hosting. This can be very helpful for the people for whom email is highly decisive. The user may go for the emails on another server which is totally dedicated to emails only. Thus, if by chance the prime site faces downtime, they still have an alternative route to get the mails. One can take backup hosting as another suitable example. At this juncture, the web host would backup the whole information related to a site in a frequent period of time.
Web hosting provider can also concentrate on definite languages and software which are very well-liked. There is not majority of hosts offering Java Servlets, Postgresql, and Zope. If one takes the example of only Zope hosting then it definitely escort all the Zope developers to apply and as well as propose the Zope community a web hosting provider who is specialized in field of Zope hosting.
Everyone knows that price of broadband had declined by the time, it also created a ray of optimism in the mind of web hosts that due to this the market of application hosting also gets popularity. One can find new market of large and small corporate who never thinks badly in keeping their data in secure networks. All requires is to log into their servers and access their data from any part of the globe. They search for the applications like Compiere or rather a groupware where user can easily access, share and pile up the data online. If there will be a requirement for paying premium for such services the Corporate would never mind. But, web hosts have to promise protection and dependability in such situations.
Merging some of the additional features in the offered package will definitely attract the customers to that hosting provider. It can include few of the software’s also.
One can put forward hosting services along with a post nuke, gallery and phpBB forum all packaged into one. Due to this the customer will receive both opportunity and time to concentrate on what he/she requires to do instead of wasting time on thinking the way to implement a CMS system or picture gallery.
There are many sites offering software such as ikonboard, eZpublish, phpShop, Zope, A-Cart etc along with their hosting package. After selecting the ideal one as per requirement user can create scripts to automate the process of installation. Thus, one can save the time wasting on ordering new things.
At the end, user needs not to take any step like investing a huge amount of money for the purpose of advertising with search engines or rather with web hosting directories. All requires is to advertise on the elected software's home page and remain present on their forums/mailing lists to assist the client.
Kamis, 12 Juni 2008
Basic Concepts of Web Hosts
The one who wants to enter in this web world and desires for a long time survival, then he/she should be familiar with each and every terminology used in this field. If user considers all the important factors before choosing a hosting plan then only he/she will be able to have a successful future in this world .User should not choose any of the plan, rather he/she should opt the best and most suitable one and this can only be made possible by fetching more and more informations and also by studying properly all the requirements. New comers should start from the basics .They should learn the meaning of each and every term used and also in addition those factors that can affect his/her selection.
Web Host
Web host refers to a computer connected to the internet. Web host can also be termed as ‘web server’. The computer that is playing the role of the web server needs to be more powerful than normal PCs and the function of this web server is to serve up websites.
The website content of the user will remain will on this computer, so as the people who are surfing on the internet can get a way to access his/her website.
There can be three main categories in which the web host can be classified based on the economic factor and common features:
1. Free Hosts:
The users who are not professional but are making website only as a hobby then for them free hosting can be a good option. In free hosting space, bandwidth and other features provided are very limited. With free web hosting one can not only make his/her website successful but is also suitable for personal websites or for temporary usage. Generally free hosting enforces pop-up, text or banner ads. Reliability, best performance and customer support lacks in case of free hosting as well. When a user registers for a free host then the word free host gets added with the user’s domain name that gives an adverse effect in the eye of the visitors.
2. Shared Hosts:
The next type of the web hosting to be discussed is shared hosting. This hosting service is used by many of the web sites .This type of hosting service is Suitable for personal, small and medium businesses. This service can be used by paying $1 to $25 per month. The features provided by this service vary from very limited space/bandwidth to semi-dedicated servers. The users host their website by this type of hosting service and it has its own top level domain facility. No doubt that shared web hosting is quite better than free hosting but still it does not provide 100% satisfactory services. In case of shared hosting one server is shared by the number of websites so its performance and availability gets affected. More websites usually means less performance. If less number of websites are hosted by one server then it will be more expensive, but in this case there are more chances of reliability. There are many companies allowing customers to host multiple websites with different domains under a single account.
3. Dedicated Hosts:
The next type of hosting is dedicated hosting. This type of hosting is most reliable hosting. In this type of hosting a full server is dedicated to a single customer. Generally this type of hosting is used by large businesses, professionals and very active websites dealing with thousands of visitors daily. The customers having dedicated hosting can have their total control over the server as well as able to create as many websites as they like. Customers can run their own hosting company on a rented dedicated server. Payment module is mentioned according to specifications and services provided with the server, which varies from $100 up to about $800 dollars per month.
4. Collocated Hosts:
Now the other type of hosting service to be discussed is collocated hosting. This service is very much similar to dedicated hosting. The difference between collocated hosting and dedicated hosting is that in collocated hosting the customer owns the server hardware instead of renting it. In this service the server will be placed in provider’s data center. This service is more expensive than dedicated hosting.
5. Reseller Hosts:
In reseller hosting the providers offers web server storage to their customers, and resells the web server storage to them. Generally providers offer resellers a discount price.
6. Other Hosts:
Including the above type of hosts there are also many other hosts such as email hosts, media hosts, data hosts, etc but these hosts will not be discussed in this article.
Domain Name
Domain name is the name which shows the place where one’s website is located. The actual address of the website is a set of numbers. Each and every web server has its own unique address. Domain name indicates the real addresses of every websites. One can easily remember the domain name of any of the website. Remembering domain name is easier than recalling the IP addresses.
Space / Storage
Space is one of the services provided by the web host. It plays a very important role in the website development. It happens many times that the customer requires more space but the host fails to provide it, so customer should be very careful while choosing the web host. Storage is the amount of web server’s disk space available for customer’s website files, images and databases. Space can be according to the requirement; it can be as small as 5MB in some free hosts and as big as 300GB for some dedicated servers. Earlier prices of the space were very high but prices reduced significantly during the last few years. The hosting plans offering 3GB of space for less than $10 a month can be easily available.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth can be defined as the amount of data transferred from web server to clients’ internet browsers. When ever a person outlook a page the data is transmitted from the server to that person’ PC. If any one is having audio, video and images in his/her website then the bandwidth consumed is more in comparison of the website having only text contents. The bandwidth available in free hosting can be as low as 100MB per month where as in some dedicated servers the bandwidth available is as high as 2000GB a month. The customers who don’t want to pay more for bandwidth can easily find hosting plans offering 75GB of monthly data transfer for less than $10.
Server Type
Generally server means the operating system than runs the web server. Some common types are Windows, Linux and UNIX. Server type refers the server side scripting and database types. The difference between Windows server and Linux/UNIX is that Windows runs ASP and ASP.NET with Access or SQL Server databases where as Linux/UNIX servers usually runs CGI, PHP or JSP with MySQL or Oracle databases. The other difference is that Windows servers are more expensive than Linux/UNIX servers.
Databases
As server type is discussed earlier also, we are able to know that there are different types of databases available. The mostly used is MySQL as it is open source GPL (free) software and can serve a lot of online applications’ requirements such as forums, content management, mailing lists, etc. MySQL, rather its features are limited. MySQL is sufficient for small concern but it is not powerful for the complicated large business sites. Large business requires more powerful databases such as Oracle or SQL Server.
.
Server Side Scripting
Usually the new comers prefer to use PHP as server side scripting. The reason behind this is that there are hundreds of open source (GPL) PHP scripts that are able to fulfill the webmaster’s requirements. However PHP also has some limitations in features required by advanced websites same as in the case of MySQL, due to this limitation some professional web developers prefer to use ASP.NET or JSP. Some other developers still prefer to use Cold Fusion, CGI, ASP or PERL.
Email
Now the next very important aspect to be talked about is Email. At present no one can move further in this computer world with having his/her Email account. The one who is planning to do any kind of activity through computer such as to run a business or to provide any kind of service, then the first thing he/she need to do is to open an Email account. There are many hosting plans that include the feature of having some email accounts with customer’s domain. The availability of number and size of email accounts totally depends on the hosting plan one opted. Generally this feature is not included in free hosting. Small plans provide only about 10 accounts where as big plans do not have the limited number. Usually those email accounts are web based and accessible through POP3 clients as well.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
The other service is FTP. File Transfer Protocol is a usual way of transferring files across the Internet. Most of the webmasters used to upload and download their websites contents through FTP. The process of uploading or downloading is performed by using FTP client software. Webmasters require FTP username and password so as to access their web server. There are any hosts who use to provide more than one FTP account to their customers as per their requirement. Rather FTP is unspecified; it is not advisable as per the security reasons.
Control Panel
Control panel is the service available by many of the web hosting companies to their customers. It is a web based application that helps in managing websites. Some important functions performed by the control panel are that it used to manage email accounts, providing statistics, managing FTP accounts, managing domains and sub-domains and managing databases. The control panel application that is mostly used by the user is cPanel. There are many companies who use to develop their own control panel application.
Uptime
Now after having all the services, the thing of concern which remains is how the user keeps his/her website uptime most of the time. If anyone is having a website with excellent features but it remains down most of the time it will be of no use, as when ever the visitors visit his/her website and found it down then later on they will think twice before visiting it. In result he/she will suffer the loss of visitors. Uptime is very important feature of web hosts and that is usually measured in percentage. If a server remains down near about 30 minutes a day will have an uptime percentage of about 99.98%, which is acceptable for most small to medium business websites. If any of the business website is not having at least this percentage of uptime then that website is not suitable for a business website. Mission critical sites cannot tolerate frequent outages, thus they may use web monitoring services to notify web administrators immediately when an outage happens.
Price
Finally the factor left is price. In this option also there is a great variability found like for example customer is having option to choose between the prices ranging from 0 to $1000 per month. For most personal, small and medium websites the total amount of cost involved is just $15 per month. Thus its not at all advisable for business website owners to select very cheap plans let say less than $5 because this price can lead to huge cost indirectly afterwards
Web Host
Web host refers to a computer connected to the internet. Web host can also be termed as ‘web server’. The computer that is playing the role of the web server needs to be more powerful than normal PCs and the function of this web server is to serve up websites.
The website content of the user will remain will on this computer, so as the people who are surfing on the internet can get a way to access his/her website.
There can be three main categories in which the web host can be classified based on the economic factor and common features:
1. Free Hosts:
The users who are not professional but are making website only as a hobby then for them free hosting can be a good option. In free hosting space, bandwidth and other features provided are very limited. With free web hosting one can not only make his/her website successful but is also suitable for personal websites or for temporary usage. Generally free hosting enforces pop-up, text or banner ads. Reliability, best performance and customer support lacks in case of free hosting as well. When a user registers for a free host then the word free host gets added with the user’s domain name that gives an adverse effect in the eye of the visitors.
2. Shared Hosts:
The next type of the web hosting to be discussed is shared hosting. This hosting service is used by many of the web sites .This type of hosting service is Suitable for personal, small and medium businesses. This service can be used by paying $1 to $25 per month. The features provided by this service vary from very limited space/bandwidth to semi-dedicated servers. The users host their website by this type of hosting service and it has its own top level domain facility. No doubt that shared web hosting is quite better than free hosting but still it does not provide 100% satisfactory services. In case of shared hosting one server is shared by the number of websites so its performance and availability gets affected. More websites usually means less performance. If less number of websites are hosted by one server then it will be more expensive, but in this case there are more chances of reliability. There are many companies allowing customers to host multiple websites with different domains under a single account.
3. Dedicated Hosts:
The next type of hosting is dedicated hosting. This type of hosting is most reliable hosting. In this type of hosting a full server is dedicated to a single customer. Generally this type of hosting is used by large businesses, professionals and very active websites dealing with thousands of visitors daily. The customers having dedicated hosting can have their total control over the server as well as able to create as many websites as they like. Customers can run their own hosting company on a rented dedicated server. Payment module is mentioned according to specifications and services provided with the server, which varies from $100 up to about $800 dollars per month.
4. Collocated Hosts:
Now the other type of hosting service to be discussed is collocated hosting. This service is very much similar to dedicated hosting. The difference between collocated hosting and dedicated hosting is that in collocated hosting the customer owns the server hardware instead of renting it. In this service the server will be placed in provider’s data center. This service is more expensive than dedicated hosting.
5. Reseller Hosts:
In reseller hosting the providers offers web server storage to their customers, and resells the web server storage to them. Generally providers offer resellers a discount price.
6. Other Hosts:
Including the above type of hosts there are also many other hosts such as email hosts, media hosts, data hosts, etc but these hosts will not be discussed in this article.
Domain Name
Domain name is the name which shows the place where one’s website is located. The actual address of the website is a set of numbers. Each and every web server has its own unique address. Domain name indicates the real addresses of every websites. One can easily remember the domain name of any of the website. Remembering domain name is easier than recalling the IP addresses.
Space / Storage
Space is one of the services provided by the web host. It plays a very important role in the website development. It happens many times that the customer requires more space but the host fails to provide it, so customer should be very careful while choosing the web host. Storage is the amount of web server’s disk space available for customer’s website files, images and databases. Space can be according to the requirement; it can be as small as 5MB in some free hosts and as big as 300GB for some dedicated servers. Earlier prices of the space were very high but prices reduced significantly during the last few years. The hosting plans offering 3GB of space for less than $10 a month can be easily available.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth can be defined as the amount of data transferred from web server to clients’ internet browsers. When ever a person outlook a page the data is transmitted from the server to that person’ PC. If any one is having audio, video and images in his/her website then the bandwidth consumed is more in comparison of the website having only text contents. The bandwidth available in free hosting can be as low as 100MB per month where as in some dedicated servers the bandwidth available is as high as 2000GB a month. The customers who don’t want to pay more for bandwidth can easily find hosting plans offering 75GB of monthly data transfer for less than $10.
Server Type
Generally server means the operating system than runs the web server. Some common types are Windows, Linux and UNIX. Server type refers the server side scripting and database types. The difference between Windows server and Linux/UNIX is that Windows runs ASP and ASP.NET with Access or SQL Server databases where as Linux/UNIX servers usually runs CGI, PHP or JSP with MySQL or Oracle databases. The other difference is that Windows servers are more expensive than Linux/UNIX servers.
Databases
As server type is discussed earlier also, we are able to know that there are different types of databases available. The mostly used is MySQL as it is open source GPL (free) software and can serve a lot of online applications’ requirements such as forums, content management, mailing lists, etc. MySQL, rather its features are limited. MySQL is sufficient for small concern but it is not powerful for the complicated large business sites. Large business requires more powerful databases such as Oracle or SQL Server.
.
Server Side Scripting
Usually the new comers prefer to use PHP as server side scripting. The reason behind this is that there are hundreds of open source (GPL) PHP scripts that are able to fulfill the webmaster’s requirements. However PHP also has some limitations in features required by advanced websites same as in the case of MySQL, due to this limitation some professional web developers prefer to use ASP.NET or JSP. Some other developers still prefer to use Cold Fusion, CGI, ASP or PERL.
Now the next very important aspect to be talked about is Email. At present no one can move further in this computer world with having his/her Email account. The one who is planning to do any kind of activity through computer such as to run a business or to provide any kind of service, then the first thing he/she need to do is to open an Email account. There are many hosting plans that include the feature of having some email accounts with customer’s domain. The availability of number and size of email accounts totally depends on the hosting plan one opted. Generally this feature is not included in free hosting. Small plans provide only about 10 accounts where as big plans do not have the limited number. Usually those email accounts are web based and accessible through POP3 clients as well.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
The other service is FTP. File Transfer Protocol is a usual way of transferring files across the Internet. Most of the webmasters used to upload and download their websites contents through FTP. The process of uploading or downloading is performed by using FTP client software. Webmasters require FTP username and password so as to access their web server. There are any hosts who use to provide more than one FTP account to their customers as per their requirement. Rather FTP is unspecified; it is not advisable as per the security reasons.
Control Panel
Control panel is the service available by many of the web hosting companies to their customers. It is a web based application that helps in managing websites. Some important functions performed by the control panel are that it used to manage email accounts, providing statistics, managing FTP accounts, managing domains and sub-domains and managing databases. The control panel application that is mostly used by the user is cPanel. There are many companies who use to develop their own control panel application.
Uptime
Now after having all the services, the thing of concern which remains is how the user keeps his/her website uptime most of the time. If anyone is having a website with excellent features but it remains down most of the time it will be of no use, as when ever the visitors visit his/her website and found it down then later on they will think twice before visiting it. In result he/she will suffer the loss of visitors. Uptime is very important feature of web hosts and that is usually measured in percentage. If a server remains down near about 30 minutes a day will have an uptime percentage of about 99.98%, which is acceptable for most small to medium business websites. If any of the business website is not having at least this percentage of uptime then that website is not suitable for a business website. Mission critical sites cannot tolerate frequent outages, thus they may use web monitoring services to notify web administrators immediately when an outage happens.
Price
Finally the factor left is price. In this option also there is a great variability found like for example customer is having option to choose between the prices ranging from 0 to $1000 per month. For most personal, small and medium websites the total amount of cost involved is just $15 per month. Thus its not at all advisable for business website owners to select very cheap plans let say less than $5 because this price can lead to huge cost indirectly afterwards
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