Concha Jerez Webmaster » Hosting

Setting up Your Own Web Hosting Business

marcin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:15:33 +0000

Web hosting is a process in which computers or clients are given space on a server which is connected to the internet. As a web hosting company there are several aspects to be considered before plunging head on in to the world of web hosting. A name will be required for the company which can also form the domain name.

To start with, an important thing to consider is the amount of space that is required on the server. Depending on the space, the hardware and the storage capacity will have to be bought to support the number of clients that will be served by the web server. The web server will consist of the hardware, software and the memory required for hosting the clients.

The amount of space which is required on the web server is directly related to the number of clients which are being served. Packages can be created after deciding the amount of space each client will have. This depends a lot on the businesses the clients are doing. Smaller businesses require close to 20MB for their 10 page website. Therefore, each client may have different requirements which have to be catered for as much as possible. Another area where money will have to be invested is the system admin and technical support executives that will be hired to keep the complete set up to date in all respects.

There are a number of options for a web hosting servers. Various web hosting platforms are Windows, Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD and Mac OSX. The web server software will also have to be installed on the web server. Internet Information Services (IIS) happens to be one of the most well known web server software which works on a number of Operating Systems or platforms.

Windows operating system is one of the most user friendly operating systems because of its easy to understand interface. If ASP or .NET is the web technology which the hosting company wants to use, then Windows will be ideal for the server side operating system. For the beginners this will prove to be easy to operate. The license for the server software costs close to $500 to $600.

The bandwidth that is going to be provided should cater for the requirement of the clients. A T1 connection for high speed internet is a must. When everything has been set up, the client requests some information from the internet. The request reaches the web server owned by the web hosting company. The web server has a unique address which is used by the clients.

Once the company name has been decided, it needs to be registered. Another aspect to consider while preparing to start a web hosting business is that clients will expect a 24 hours technical support from the web hosting company. It is important to cater to this requirement otherwise they may look for another hosting company for lack of support. It is a good idea to outsource the customer support and concentrate only on the main aspects of the business.

The Basics of Web Hosting

marcin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:00:19 +0000

Every business today is looking forward to get noticed. Any business is more or less a volume game and the larger the customer base, the more will be the profit. Web hosting is an important concept. It comes into picture when a website is to be hosted on a web server, so that people all over the world are able to view the website from anywhere. Once the domain name or the name of the website has been decided the next step is to have a web hosting service. Web hosting services typically support the website in terms of connection to the network and providing an administrator. The software and the hardware also forms part of the whole set up but that is usually in the hands of the business or the website owner.

A web hosting service allows the website to reside on their server and consequently connect to the internet. This implies that all other people whose computers are connected to the internet will be able to view the website. This process is called connectivity. It is provided by the internet service provider. The role of the administrator is to configure and monitor the server. The administrator also installs the required software and prepares various reports. To perform data back ups at the end of the day, manage responses of the website, keep making adjustments concerning the disk space and also manage databases are few other tasks of an administrator.

The hardware includes everything, right from wiring, routers, switches, UPS and so on. The software includes the operating system, a web server and database software. There are other programs that form part of the entire set up, which is dependent on the kind of business the website is made for.

Web hosting services fall into four categories viz. shared, co-location, dedicated and in-house. The shared web hosting service has the capacity of hosting many websites on one server which uses one connection. The hardware being used by various websites such as the printers and scanners, are the same. This kind of a set up works well for websites showing company details, especially that of smaller businesses.

The co-located web hosting services are those in which the disk storage and the connection are provided within the same location as the website. The hardware is stored in the space provided by the hosting service. However, it is necessary for such a company to have or employ professionals who possess the ability to manage a server. This hosting service is good for a company whose task is critical and data transfer is priority.

In a dedicated hosting service, the web server is hired exclusively for the business. The services of web hosting include buying the hardware, software and the connection. The in-house web service is one in which everything is done by the website owner, right from installing the software to configuring and maintaining the whole setup. Each has its own significance and a web hosting service should be chosen keeping in mind the business requirements.

How to Choose a Web Hosting Service?

marcin — Fri, 14 May 2010 01:29:16 +0000

Depending on whether the web hosting service is for free or is charging money, the criteria on which a web host service should be selected differs. If it is a free web service then there are certain things which should be considered before opting for it. Some of the free web hosting services place advertising banners on the web pages of the website being hosted by them. Although this leads to considerable reduction in costs (hence, it’s for free) but there are pop up advertisements too. Not many visitors like such pop up advertisements. The popularity or the level of comfort may actually reduce the views of the website and consequently the revenue generated by online customers.

As a website owner the space which will be provided should be checked in advance. It should be kept in mind whether expansion is likely to be a part of the business or not. If there are expansion plans then it is advisable to have adequate space, especially when images form a large part of the website. If videos and sound clippings also form part of the website then it may become difficult for the website to function in less space.

A great aspect of free hosting for beginners is to have an online builder. But for people who are likely to increase the number of pages later should definitely have FTP access. This is because the options in an online builder are quite limited. However, it is a good idea to use the online builders for simple websites.

Paid web hosting services definitely provide more options. The first one to be checked is the speed of access. The speed should be at least 99% and preferably 99.5%. In fact as the owner of the website, a refund should be requested from the hosting service for low speeds.

Compared to the restriction of the file size, uploads and the traffic, the paid web hosting services provide a better bandwidth. However, with that said, it is necessary to check if this is actually happening. Some web hosting services claim it and don’t provide the freedom of uploading large files. The unlimited bandwidth may not be unlimited. They are also governed by some limitations. The disk storage space too is quite a myth. If the quoted disk space is too large to be believed, such as, 500MB, which is not even required, choose to not get lured by it. An average website requires less than 10MB disk space.

The most important thing to check for is whether the web hosting service provides technical support on all days and at all times or not. If things go wrong at the most crucial time, help should be readily available to solve the problem at the earliest. This is one of the most important thing to be checked while choosing a web hosting service.

Secure Web Hosting with Backup Guarantee

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 08:48:23 +0000

When one is searching for a reliable web hosting service, it is very important to ensure that the hosting company offers website security along with Guaranteed backup and all the 24 hours and 7days a week through a toll free phone facility so that one can avail the support service in case there is a need.

The Security feature is a must in case the website hosted is to be used for ecommerce applications. The web hosting company should be monitoring the activities round the clock as a protection from web hackers, who are at large looking for their prey and do their job of web hacking with immunity because of lapses in security.

The capability of quickly browsing the website or down loading of the content from the website depends on the server on which it is hosted. Therefore it is necessary to find a reliable webhosting company so that the web content can be uploaded easily and the visitors searching the site are in a position to access the website fast.

For a newbie there are many hurdles in the way to identify the right website hosting company, considering numerous companies offering website hosting solutions. One needs to make an extensive search and tabulate the features and the costs and make the judgment based on the evaluation arrived at.

The web technology is changing at a very fast pace and good website hosting companies make available the latest technology involving huge investment on their part. These reliable companies do not mind offering the new technology service in addition to their basic plans.

In case one intends to use e-commerce applications on the website, there is requirement of high web security besides certain tools through which one can make use of the tools to carry out all the ecommerce applications effectively and securely. If the webhosting company opted does not support the required advanced technology, it can result in financial loss and the customers.

After selecting the website hosting company, the next issue is how much space measured in terms of MB, shall be required by the website and annually how much data it shall collect, which is reflected by the bandwidth available for the website. Website requires latest operating system like: Unix, Linux or BSD along with tools like ASP, .NET, MS QL, SBS etc.

Domain name registration:

Before a website is to be purchased, it is essential to have a domain name registered. A domain name can be registered on the site of webhosting company. The domain name registration is done at a cost of around $10 per year, if the domain name is purchased for it’s validity for more than one year there are progressive discounts offered on the domain name for a longer period. For domain name registration I use Omnis Network.

One needs to prepare a list of about 10 domain names, if one domain name is not available one can choose the other among list or the service suggests similar domain names available from which the appropriate domain name can be selected and purchased by selecting it in the cart.

Now turn comes purchasing the website from various plans offered, which relate to storage capacity of website reflected in MB and available bandwidth with the package. After selecting the package one can send it to cart and make secure payment by credit card or paypal mode of payment. Once the payment is satisfactorily completed one receives a welcome message with password to access the C-panel and FTP account and instructions to upload the content on the website.

Web Hosting Solution

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:53:58 +0000

When one is looking for buying a web space, one needs to compare the Web hosting solution offered by the service provider. The web space required can be for three different purposes like making available essential information, sharing the views of persons surfing the net and conducting online commerce.

What ever is the purpose of web hosting one requires to have the services of a dependable service provider, with the support of which the visitor can conveniently access the required information, he is seeking. Depending upon the strength of service provider, the contents of the website can be easily browsed, downloaded or updated from time to time.

Consider the Technology of service Provider:

The web technology is fast advancing, which the reputed web hosting service providers are updating themselves and give the benefit of advanced technology to their customers as an added feature along with the web hosting primary features. In case the web hosting is required for ecommerce applications, security of the web hosting package is most essential necessity besides a system with the help of which web content can be managed effectively and efficiently.

In the absence of the reliability factor of the web hosting service provider one is likely to lose lot of revenues due to inefficiency in the service.

Having located the suitable web hosting service one requires for one’s online business, it is important to view web hosting features in detail and cross check with your requirement. One can find below some of the most important aspects of web hosting:

Disk space and bandwidth:

One should determine the space required for the website and accordingly choose the web hosting package. If there is heavy use of graphics in the website, then more web space is required as compared to simple web pages of the website.

Bandwidth requirement depends on the traffic to the website both incoming and outgoing. There are certain limits defined in the web hosting package.

Operating System & Web Tools:

One should ensure that the website uploading is through secure web servers and involves the latest Operating System. Mostly web hosting is operating through UNIX deployed operating system. For using the web applications one requires ASP, .NET, MS SQL, SBS, which requires MS windows based web hosting.

Considering Price of Web Hosting:

One is required to make a comparison of the pricing and features of various web hosting packages available online. There can be web hosting providers offering low price with better features, which they are in a position to do considering the competition in the market and to maintain their leadership in the market. Selection should be done keeping in mind both the service and price for success of the web hosting.

Customer Support, Web Security, Uptime Guarantee and Backup Support:

Having considered every thing the most important is the Customer Support, Security, Guarantee of Uptime and existing Backup facility maintained by the web hosting service provider.

Domain Name Registration:

Before a web space is purchased, it is necessary to have your own domain name for which registration is required. Have a selection of about 10 most suitable domain names. The web hosting service provider on its website has online registration service of domain name also.

When the name of the domain name is fed online program it generates the domain names available similar to the one proposed by you. Selection can be made from the suggested domain or enter another domain name out of 10 domain names you have selected. Most suitable domain name should be registered usually the cost is around $10 per year or it is offered free on taking web space depending on the promotion, if existing.

Domain names have different extensions like .com, .info, .net, .org used for different type of websites. A .com extension is suitable for commercial nature of website. Extension .info is suitable for information related websites. Extension .net is used by Companies Providing Internet related services. Extension .org is used by non-profit organizations.

Hiring A Drupal Developer

admin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 16:52:25 +0000

The Drupal content management system is a popular free framework for building and maintaining websites with high functionality. But unless you are a very skilled programmer, or have lots of time to learn the ins and outs of this program and all its customizable features, you will quite probably want to look into hiring a Drupal developer to handle your website’s development.

Consider This Before You Go It Alone

When you read on the web and Drupal sites about how simple it is to implement the Drupal PHP code, you might begin to question whether you need the services of a Drupal developer. Despite what you’ll hear about how any non-programmer can use Drupal for free, you might want to consider these things before you bite off more than you can chew.

• Drupal hosting issues; Drupal hosting requires more than your average hosting. Drupal sites run off PHP programming language, and require a large amount of MySQL database storage space to optimize customization and functionality. Drupal developers will know what is required for Drupal hosting, and many even offer Drupal hosting through their development services.

• Customizing Drupal sites; one of the best reasons to use Drupal over another framework or CMS is the ability to customize your site and functions. Drupal is quite flexible and with it you can do so much on one site; but you have to know what is available in regards to Drupal customization, and you have to know how and where to apply each function. That may be beyond your expertise or time
allotment.

• Drupal ecommerce considerations; Drupal can be used to build all manner of ecommerce sites, but again there are many peripheral considerations that require more of an expert touch—many that are very serious indeed. And as a loss of function would be a loss of business and profitability, it’s important that all factors relative to Drupal ecommerce be attended to readily and expertly.
When the security and profitability of your visitors and your website are on the line, skimping and hoping for the best is not an option.

• Drupal support; because Drupal is a user-based software framework, one built by many willing volunteer hands, there is no parent site or organization to answer to you. That means that the only technical support that you can get from the Drupal community is the kindness of others, at their convenience. But when an issue arises with your website, you’ll want it attended to quickly before your site is affected. The only reliable, guaranteed support for Drupal sites is that available through Drupal web development experts.

It is an excellent thing to be able to harness the power of a content management system like Drupal.But if your lack of time or knowledge prohibits you from maximizing the benefit of the program, you will most certainly need the services of an expert Drupal developer. Before you decide to go it alone, consider how a reliable specialist in Drupal web development might truly optimize your Drupal experience.

Perfect Hosting Service

admin — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 15:05:35 +0000

A Hosting service provider will provide you the desired domain name, as well as required web space to host your website on Internet. You need to know a few things for your hosting service provider, like their credibility in providing hosting services, their existing client’s feedback, their promised server uptime, hardware details of web servers as well as the additional services provided by them.

Bundled facilities with Hosting Package – Remember that you need several things while hosting a website like email account, FTP accounts, Domain management tools, websites control panel, databases, and SSL Certificates in case you are providing e-commerce facilities and you want to ensure security on your website. Also check that whether their web server supports the technologies being adopted by you in developing a website or not?

Customization facilities – Even, if everything is ok with a service provider, never decide by just contacting one of them. Do contact multiple service providers, ask for quotation and bargain for best deals for you. Don’t forget to ask for further customization of package. May be you suddenly need extra space than discussed at initial stage. Are they able to provide such customization or not? What about their server, do they provide static IP or a shared IP for their customer. Remember that a static IP can be a boon for your website.

Mode of Contact – Customer service is an important aspect of any service provider. Must check whether service provider opted by you is able to answer your queries on a 24*7 basis or not. Do they have customer friendly support staff or not? How prompt are their services and how much time they take in rectifying the problems? You can check their past profile or customer testimonials for a better answer of all these questions.

These are the most basic things that you need to consider while choosing a hosting service provider. If everything is OK, then ask for the time taken in activation of your services, geographical location of their web servers, their office locations, customer support centers, preferred time of contact as well as the renewal charges for domain name or complete hosting package. If you show all these concerns discussed here, you will sure have a marvel service provider in your service among the crowd of endless number of hosting service providers.

Web hosting service

admin — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 06:11:18 +0000

A business of web hosting service is more suitable for companies who need a web hosting service that gives maximum reliability, best performance and a high uptime guarantee towards their business or ecommerce related website. In order to sustain in this competitive business world, one needs to update his or her business with the latest resources. These latest resources should be able to work smoothly towards the associated business. All online transaction companies need to select the right business web hosting service which will help the business to function in a smooth manner.

A business web hosting related service company is different from an ordinary web hosting company. In the case of business web hosting service, the subscriber has to pay more money compared to an ordinary web hosting service. In other words, business web hosting service is more expensive, than other web hosting service. However, subscribers are will to pay that extra cost because they appreciate the service that is available in a business web hosting package. If you need your website to run efficiently, you need to have the right web related space on a web server, so that your web pages are stored properly. The space and the bandwidth which the various hosting companies offer will differ from each other. Hence, you need to know your actual hosting requirements. However a good web hosting company will definitely guide you to make the right decision, based on your basic hosting requirement.

In today’s business world, a business owner can keep his or her customer happy by providing all the benefits online. Customers would like to browse a business product website in order to check for all relevant information before he or she uses the product or service. It is also very critical for those websites who’s business is been done through online transactions. Hence it is better to opt for a business web hosting service which gives the best uptime guarantee and ensures the business owner of being able to reach the right customer through personalized profiles, online catalogues and email lists of customers. By this way customers will be kept informed about any new inventory in the near future.

In this present online world, one will get the opportunity to come across various web hosting service. You will also come across various business web hosting companies too. It is important to consider certain basic factors before committing to a business web hosting service. You must ensure the web hosting company offers uptime guarantee. Money back guarantee can be expected from a good web hosting service related company. Check on the types of backups that they offer. Find out their business credibility. You should know how long they have been in this business. It is very essential to choose the right Business web hosting service, towards the growth of your business.

A business web hosting service is considered to be the best solution for reaching a broader group of customers, being able to communicate with them effectively. Business transactions can be conducted efficiently and thereby increasing its business volumes. Hence, there is a growing demand for business web hosting service.

A webspace provider

admin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 23:33:46 +0000

Most of you may probably think that a web space stores HTML, videos and image in a web site and these are viewed by a web surfer. But a web space also includes more than just simple HTML files. Webspace provider makes sure that your website includes FrontPage Extensions, CGI programs, JavaScript files and email accounts, along with website log files and PHP files. FrontPage extensions support features such as e-mail processing, counters, data collection and data processing features. FrontPage extensions are script files that run on the web server and broaden the functionality of the software.

Web host play an essential part in your internet business. Whether it is home based or commercial business, your webspace provider (a.k.a.) has the perfect solution for storing or uploading company data on servers. Basically, a web hosting solution can be categorised into three types, co-located server hosting, dedicated hosting, and shared hosting. This categorisation helps company to determine the exact solution for their business.

Most middle-sized or large sized firms may choose dedicated hosting solutions for their hosting needs. The server is located offsite and is maintained by the webspace provider. Large-sized organisations would rather opt for Co-located server hosting. This type of hosting solution costs more as the firm needs to purchase more than one server for their use. Monitoring of the server is also required.

The best and most prevalent web hosting option is shared hosting. It is inexpensive and monitors a majority of small business sites. Here, Web host may also provide customers to develop their own ecommerce sites through design templates and other tools.

Every webspace provider also ensures to track the number of visitors who come and navigate through a particular web site. They do this with the help of log files.

Web host also include email accounts. These appear corporate email accounts that are important for the business, as customers contact for quotes or sales information via these emails.

Nowadays, as disk space is cheap, most web hosting companies are including hundreds of gigabytes of web storage. But it is important to have a right plan for your business requirements. If you are planning to host a large web site, only then you should look for a web hosting plan that offers hundred Gigabytes of storage capacity.