Web Hosting

The Internet has significantly changed the buying behavior of organizations seeking enterprise level solutions. In the first part of this series, The Web-enabled Sales Process we discussed the different stages in the new buy cycle, and the information that buyers consume to complete specific project tasks. Pre-Internet buyers relied on sales people to provide this information which gave sales people control of the process. Today, the information available on the Web has eliminated both the need and the desire to engage directly with sales people until much later in the evaluation process. To effectively sell to this new breed of self-directed buyers, sales departments must learn how to integrate a seamless online-offline sales campaign. The Internet is not just a broadcast medium of public web sites. It is also a very effective two-way communication medium which its most prevalent technology, e-mail, has proven. Part two of this series will provide a few tips on how to web enable the early stages of the sales process.

Part Two of The Web-enabled Sales Process series.

From Inquiry Qualification to Suspect Development

Marketing's demand generation strategies have been significantly realigned over the last few years to encourage the use of the Web for registration and fulfillment activities. Enough information has been published about business to business (B2B) marketing of technology products that I'll simply recommend a Google search or exploring www.technologyevaluation.com for more information on how to generate more web inquires. It's marketing's job to attract first time visitors to your web site; this is the Problem awareness stage in the buy cycle methodology that we summarized in Part One. Unfortunately many sales people criticize their marketing department for generating so many "junk Internet" leads. Why, because the sales lead qualification process has been so unproductive to the point where it's actually counterproductive. We all know there is gold in those Internet registrations. Panning for that gold however, requires a different qualification process with a new set of metrics, so the message to marketing should be turn up the volume of those Internet registrations!

During the Understanding stage, as described in Part One. , as the buyer understands the problem and contemplates taking action to solve it, we begin qualifying buyers by creating a filtering process to identify the serious evaluators from other casual web traffic. Getting visitors to return for second and subsequent visits is a collaborative function between marketing and sales to create next buying stage transition offers that only appeal to the needs of the serious buyer. The objective is to create a series of follow-up offers that engage the self-directed buyer to further explore your solution, to reveal their interests, and to influence their buying process. Offer content is king in the on-line world and sending a free automated e-mail will achieve this much more effectively than the old qualifying phone call that delivers no immediate value to the buyer. For example, a next day follow-up offer to a white paper download would read something like, "Thank you for your recent inquiry. Please call Jane Doe, your sales executive, if you would like further assistance evaluating our solutions. You may also be interested in reviewing our Express RFI Service which outlines our solution capabilities and can easily be used to accelerate your project's needs analysis activity."

Smart web sites know how to identify these return visitors and to learn their interests from prior activity, so that it can deliver a more relevant and engaging visitor experience. Amazon.com is a good example of a site that tracks user history to create a profile that enables the site to personalize its service. The goal at this phase is to identify early stage sales opportunities, such as organizations with unusually high volumes of inquiry activity. By integrating this information with the CRM system, sales people would have access to this list of high probability suspects to further research off-line. Low activity visitors are classified as dormant opportunities and can be added to a quarterly awareness email campaign. The rules of engagement at this stage follow these general guidelines:

1. Respond to an inquiry via the same communication channel through which the inquiry was made.
2. Make it easy for visitors to transition from an impersonal on-line to a personal dialog with tools such as instant messaging and click-to-chat, or to move to an off-line discussion with a clearly displayed telephone number.
3. Delivery speed is paramount with any on-line offer. Immediate is best, the day after tomorrow is unacceptable.
4. Only request information that is in the buyer's self-interest to supply.
5. Follow-up every accepted on-line offer with related follow-up offer.



SOURCE:-
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/web-enabled-sales-tactics-18478/

The respected Internet and Digital Media measurement firm Media Metrix announced its monthly survey of traffic on the "Top Fifty At Home and At Work" web site traffic ratings. The listings show traffic reports for individual web sites and for "properties." A property represents all of the sites belonging to a particular company like Yahoo, AOL or Microsoft. Figure 1 shows the summary measurements from May through September.

Figure 2 looks at the number of visitors in 1998 and 1999 for the same months. (Missing data points were not available from Media Metrix).

Figure 3 shows unique visitors segmented by use from home and use from work; for these Media Metrix reports only the top 25 sites.

Analysis

What is most important to note is that these numbers are limited snapshots of a very complex stream of data. They are certainly valuable for understanding long-term trends, but small fluctuations should not be overemphasized. Where Figure 1 seems to show the precipitous drop being reported anxiously in various headlines, Figure 3, which shows a slightly smaller data set, reduces the anxiety level considerably. In fact, recasting Figure 1 with the bottom axis at the zero point also gives a less terrifying view (see Figure 4).

Does this mean that there was not a drop in usage for September? The drop, as Media Metrix points out in its own press releases, had a lot to do with the hurricane season. Visitors to top weather sites such as Weather.com and NOAA.gov rose 21 percent over all (see Figure 5). There were similar percentage increases in visits to top sports and news sites


SOURCE:-
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/web-traffic-numbers-down-don-t-count-on-it-15490/

1/5/2000 [WSJ Interactive Edition] - Intel has announced a brand of Web appliances that don't use Microsoft's Windows operating software. Instead, the new devices will run on the Linux operating system, which many customers are concluding is ideal for simple Web-surfing machines.

According to Claude Leglise, vice president of Intel's architecture business group and head of its home products group, these appliances will be geared toward the home/consumer market, and will initially be made by consumer electronics manufacturers.

Besides making the appliances, due to begin shipping sometime this year, Intel is also packaging all the necessary software and services, such as management software that service providers can use to upgrade the software in the appliances remotely. To deliver such services, such as tying together all home message-recording services, Intel signed an agreement with Telcordia Technologies Inc. of Morristown, N.J., the former Bellcore research center. With the technology, a customer could use the appliance to look at e-mail and read a list of messages, whether they be e-mail messages, paging messages or voice mail.

Market Impact

Microsoft cannot be happy about this announcement - this is a big win for the Linux community. Intel's decision to reduce system costs by eliminating the license fee(s) associated with Windows means MS may be losing out on "owning" this potentially large market. Compaq's recent decision to use BeOS on its future Internet appliances only compounds Redmond's problems. With the Palm OS owning approximately 80% of the handheld market, with Windows CE a distant second, Microsoft risks being consigned to the middle of the market, with Unix and various enterprise-class OSes at the high end.

We expect one of the immediate effects to be an aggressive Microsoft push of Windows CE. In addition, this announcement may cause Microsoft to reduce prices significantly for its non-CE operating systems, although we think that unlikely (25% probability). What we think is more likely, although more difficult to do, is Microsoft trying to co-opt Linux (often referred to "embrace and extend"), so that they can own at least part of that market.

We also see Be, Inc., producer of BeOS, as a potential loser in this market. BeOS-adherents love it as an operating system, but Linux may gain the upper hand because of its greater presence in both the larger-hardware and software applications markets.

In general, this is a boost for a market still in its relative infancy. We believe Intel will end up garnering a large portion of this market, either under its own badge or through third-party vendors. This means consolidation, which we expect to take place within 18 months.

SOURCE:-
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/intel-s-new-best-friend-for-web-appliances-is-linux-15310/

RSW Software, Inc., a business unit of test equipment giant Teradyne, Inc. (NYSE: TER), makes software that supports the testing of websites. Their lead product, the e-TEST suite, allows users to capture into a recorded "script file" the commands that they use to interact with a website. The script file can later be played back to perform regression testing. The same scripts can also be used for automatic monitoring and for load testing. The latest version of the software, e-TEST suite 4.2, can also test Web applications that use Java applets. It also offers Web-based reporting tools and supports double-byte character sets.

The company also introduced a new product, EJB-test. This product makes it possible to test middle tier applications based on Enterprise JavaBeans. The application can automatically inspect the functionality and performance of EJBs as individual components, as a group of components or as an entire EJB application to determine its calling interface, and from that develop a program that feeds data to the application and examines the results.

Since EJB-test is used primarily to test scalability, it has the capability of generating a range of values within the acceptable limits and of running many concurrent versions of the test. While EJB-test cannot determine which values will best exercise the application, an engineer can, if necessary, alter this test program to ensure that more appropriate inputs are generated?

Market Impact

There is a desperate need for tools that make testing Web applications easy. Unfortunately, when people talk about developing "in Internet time" this usually means that they don't have time to test. Too frequently, and not just with Internet applications, companies "release" software so that users can do the testing. Often "Web testing" is more than likely employed just for performance testing, tests for broken links often comes in second. Scriptable testing is important, but has been frequently viewed as too hard or too difficult.

e-TEST doesn't do everything, but it is easy to set up and can automate much of the regression testing that sites should do. That the same set of scripts can be used for functional/regression testing and for performance testing is an added benefit.

The EJB-test product is one of those good ideas that people were talking about twenty years ago but, because technology at that time didn't support exposing interfaces the way Enterprise JavaBeans and other object oriented systems do, was never commercially viable. Success on RSW's part will certainly be followed by imitators and, possibly more important in the long run, copycats for the Microsoft COM/COM+ technologies.


SOURCE:-
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/they-test-web-sites-don-t-they-15837/

Web Services/service oriented architecture (SOA), which have lately been on almost every vendor's lips, do have a potential of becoming the latest evolution of application integration technology and/or a revolutionary new web-based application design model by enabling developers to create or enhance applications by connecting granular components that are recognized and accessed via platform-independent Web protocols. While Web services leverage the aged (and not well utilized) concept of objects' encapsulation and reusability, they may finally offer that extra mile by adherence to standards that are increasingly taking hold (see The SOAP Opera Progresses - Helping XML to Rule the World).

Further, Web Services components tend to be simpler in their nature, partly owing to the Internet standards, and they also tend to be higher-level abstractions, which implies more likely platform independence and "mixing and matching" opportunity by developers. Although initiatives such as UDDI still need to prove themselves commercially, the SOAP protocol and the basic idea of using open standards to communicate over existing infrastructure appear to be solid, and have already gained some acceptance. Having long mastered the area of objects/components, by adding Web services capabilities to the IFS Connect integration framework, IFS should offer its customers a compelling value proposition of achieving cost and time savings by using Web services for application integration. The concept may also help IFS penetrate autonomous divisions of some open-minded decentralized global corporations that are already Tier 1 vendors' customers at the HQ level.

In addition to its product technology evangelism, IFS has also been noted for its strong functionality across product design/engineering and manufacturing/shop floor (e.g., machine interfaces, wireless interfaces, equipment monitoring, finite scheduling, etc.) areas, and with a strong ability to satisfy maintenance and asset intensive environments (with, e.g., preventative maintenance, graphical maintenance workload, resource planning & utilization, and other pertinent features).

Nearly all manufacturing environments are catered to from engineer-to-order (ETO), configure-to-order (CTO), make-to-stock (MTS), repetitive, mixed mode/hybrid, and especially within complex, large scale project engineering setups. Having traditionally done implementations via its product delivery organization, IFS has also long exhibited a focus on product quality and customer satisfaction, manifested in a lasting relationship with each client. As a display of a high level of self-confidence in its fast and successful implementations and subsequent after-sales lifecycle/upgrades, the company boasts a long list of delighted customer references.


SOURCE:-
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/ifs-to-be-at-customers-web-service-part-2-market-impact-user-recommendations-16695/

Within days of each other, and coinciding with the Internet 2000 conference, Mercury Interactive Corp. (NASDAQ: MERQ) and Segue Software (NASDAQ: SEGU) announced agreements with web infrastructure companies to provide performance measurement and testing tools for websites.

Mercury Interactive announced an expanded strategic alliance with Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) to help online businesses improve performance of their web sites by making web testing and monitoring services more widely available. Mercury Interactive offers an integrated suite of tools, ActiveWatch and ActiveTest, to monitor and test web sites. ActiveWatch is powered by Topaz technology, while ActiveTest is LoadRunner technology. Akamai provides global, high performance services for the delivery of Internet content, streaming media and applications, serving over 2,800 customers worldwide.

As part of this agreement, Akamai will resell Mercury Interactive's web performance management products. These products will also be offered through the I.AM.AKAMAI portal. As part of the arrangement, Akamai will deploy a special network of dedicated servers reserved for Mercury Interactive's exclusive use. The deployment will be worldwide, including ten locations in Asia Pacific, twenty in Europe, and approximately sixty-five in the US. This network will enable Mercury Interactive to develop new root cause analysis and early detection capabilities to augment the performance monitoring products and services in its current suite of web performance management products.

According to Mercury Interactive, "It is important to remember that any component within the Web infrastructure-including routers, firewalls and load balancers-can potentially contribute to performance bottlenecks. Because these devices perform demanding operations, such as packet cracking, IP source address analysis, protocol analysis URL parsing, cookie parsing and others, they can easily cause bottlenecks that are difficult to detect. For this reason, it is critical to monitor these components when load testing a system."

George Conrades, chairman and CEO at Akamai adds, "Our content, application and streaming media customers are looking beyond performance metrics; they need solutions like Mercury Interactive's that can test, monitor, isolate and fix performance problems that affect the overall user experience. Taking our relationship with Mercury Interactive to the next level serves our top priority - making our customers successful."

Segue Software announced NaviSite as its first Hosted Services Partner. NaviSite, acting as an ASP, will enable Segue's customers to deliver actionable results to their own customers by using Segue's eConfidence suite of services. This suite includes eConfidenceScale (eCScale), Virtual Private Monitoring (VPM) and Continuous Verification Monitoring (CVM).

As a Segue Hosted Services Partner, NaviSite can offer these value-added services:

* Load testing to assess customer site scalability

* Monitoring to measure the response time of global networks

* Verification to confirm the accuracy of information exchanged between databases and servers

In addition, Segue's eCScale's technology allows for testing with as many simulated concurrent users as a network can support.

"NaviSite is a perfect fit for the Hosted Services Partner program," said Stephen Butler, president and CEO of Segue. "We have the experience of more than 1,500 scalability engagements, and NaviSite possesses the infrastructure to support the Hosted Services Partner offering. Many of NaviSite's current customers already need scalability and performance testing. Now they can get the hosting and testing services they need from one organization."

Market Impact

These announcements reflect the real challenges of testing Internet applications. A web site is a complex system with interacting infrastructure, hardware and software. The complexity of these interactions means that test plans cannot be comprehensive and typically require a number of types of expertise. They must attempt to identify problems that will appear only under conditions of stress or when one or more components are in atypical states - situations that occur much more frequently on the Internet than for client-server or desktop applications.

Mercury Interactive and Segue have both turned to Internet service and support vendors to market their web performance management solutions. Before the explosion of e-business, performance management and testing tools focused primarily on testing functionality, and were marketed directly to the application software companies. Mercury Interactive has been providing load testing for just over ten years, focusing on CRM, ERP, and similar architectures prior to the web explosion. LoadRunner has been testing web applications for over four years.

Responding to the development of major web business projects, Mercury Interactive and others developed new testing tools, including ones that test critical aspects of web usage, application performance, scalability, and user experience.

Web site testing is an area of much confusion and conflicting claims as each company scrambles to assert its position as the one to supply the tools for testing your web site. Some of the earliest web testing tools were little more than existing tools modified to accommodate web sites and the Internet. They didn't test the factors that cause a web site to fail. Only recently have testing tools that involve the hosting servers and anticipated demands on the web site been announced.


SOURCE:-
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/web-testing-has-changed-the-testing-landscape-16245/

If you want to learn more about web hosting, then you might want to start with the very basic. This article discusses what web hosting is and what specific web hosting types you can opt for.

Web hosting is a form of Internet hosting service, which enables people and businesses to make their own Web page or website accessible through the Internet. It is provided by companies that may lease a space on their server and offer Internet connectivity via their data center.

Furthermore, web hosting services may also offer Internet connectivity and data center space for other company's servers to be placed in their data center. This is referred as colocation.

The basics of web hosting services include small-scale file hosting as well as Web page, where a Web interface or a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is used for the uploading of files. These are sent to the Internet with little changes or even without modifications at all. This particular service can be offered to you by some Internet service providers (ISPs).

You may also get web hosting services from other providers, who can offer both business website hosting and personal website hosting. Business web hosting, in particular, is more costly compared to a personal web hosting, which can be free or more affordable and is sometimes run by advertisers.

If you wish to simply resort to a single page web hosting, you may still benefit from it particularly if you are running a personal website. However, if you want to expand your website into something more complex, then you might need a more complete package, which already includes application development platforms, such as ASP.NET, Ruby on Rails, ColdFusion, Java and PHP, as well as database support.

A more comprehensive web hosting service allows your consumers to install scripts for applications, such as content management and forums. In addition, if you are running your business via the World Wide Web, then you might also want to include a Security Socket Layer (SSL) onto your website.

A web hosting service may also offer a control panel or an interface so that scripts can be installed and the Web server can be managed as well as include important features such as e-mail.

Hosting Uptime

A web hosting uptime is the amount of time that the hosting service is accessible through the World Wide Web. Though almost all web hosting providers declare that their goal is to have an uptime 99.9% most of the time (this can reach more or less 45 minutes of downtime each month), there are still unforeseen circumstances when the server is deliberately restarted because of planned hosting environment maintenance.

In addition, there are times when an unplanned maintenance is performed leading to the break of the web hosting providers initial uptime assurance. You do not need to worry though since most web hosting services bind accessibility and uptime into their Service Level Agreement (SLA), which may offer decreased rates or refunds once the web hosting promise is broken.

Web Hosting Services on the Internet

Internet service providers are not the only ones who need to have a constant uptime of web hosting services because there are also many big companies that require a computer to be constantly connected to the Internet just so they could send files like emails and other important documents to other websites.

Furthermore, these companies may also utilize the computer to become their very own web hosting provider, allowing them to supply pertinent information about their services and products to potential clients, who may want to order online.

1.Home Server - This is commonly a solo device that is usually situated in a personal office and can provide web hosting to more than one website using a consumer-grade broadband connection. Home servers can be comprised of old personal computers or customized devices. There are Internet service providers, however, that try to block home servers. Hence, you must create an account with a reliable and dynamic DNS service.

2.Virtual Dedicated Server - This separates server resources into virtual servers, wherein resources may be apportioned in such a way that the primary hardware is not completely directed. This web hosting allows you to have your own access of your virtual space, yet you are accountable for patching and maintaining the server.

3.Free Web Hosting Service - This may only feature a limited number of services compared to the completeness of a paid web hosting. It is usually sustained by advertisements.

4.Dedicated Web Hosting Service - This is the type, which allows you to get your very own server, and provides you the ability to control this, yet you do not own the Web server at all.

5.Shared Web Hosting Service - Your website is put on the same server along with hundreds or even thousands of other websites. It is possible that you share CPU, RAM and other types of server resources.

6.Colocation Web Hosting Service - This is just like the dedicated web hosting service, only that it is the most expensive and powerful because you get to own the collocation server.

7.Clustered Hosting - This provides numerous servers to perform web hosting for the same content for an improved resource usage. It is ideally recommended for making an accessible web hosting solution or a high-availability dedicated web hosting. It may divide database hosting form web serving ability.

8.Reseller Web Hosting - This enables you to become a web host yourself. You could operate, for single domains, under any type of web hosting, basing on whom they are associated with as a web hosting provider.

9.Cloud Hosting - This is one of the latest types of web hosting program that enables you to experience a steadfast, accessible and dominant web hosting depending on the utility billing and the clustered load-balanced servers.

10. Grid Hosting - This distributed web hosting is comprised of numerous nodes and a server cluster that operates similar to a grid.

11. Managed Hosting Service - Though this allows you to obtain your very own Web server, you do not have the authority to take complete control over because the web hosting provider can only assure the service quality if it does not permit you to change the server and eventually make possible configuration problems. The good thing is you are permitted to handle your data through remote management tools like File Transfer Protocol. You do not own the Web server, yet it may be leased to you.


SOURCE:-
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/the-basics-of-web-hosting.html

Dedicated web hosting a process in which the client leases an entire server and is not with shared one. However if the web hosting is shared then the hardware and software is shared with many different sites or web pages. In dedicated web hosting the webmasters are given the independence to decide on application that is established on the server, to create specific configurations for their web needs. Dedicated web hosting thus provide right administration and these servers are mainly based in data centers. To choose dedicated web hosting i.e. how to pick a hosting provider becomes a big question. But with the following advantages and disadvantages it would become easier for you to choose the dedicated web hosting i.e. to pick a hosting provider.

There are numerous advantages of dedicated web hosting. The majors are control and consistency. In dedicated web hosting the server administrator has the full control over the processes, the software’s installed and hardware as well so it is quite safe and sound. Also the system administrator knows what is installed on the server so it becomes easy for the administrator to decide better on software and hard wares. It also makes easy to give an optimal configuration and moreover dedicated web server is easy to maintain and so is the business. When one is working through dedicated web server, the server administrator is in the state of being self sufficient as he has the full control over page loads and also resource distribution. This in turns brings about customer satisfaction and makes it easy to reach company goals. Thus we can conclude that dedicated web hosting provides the effective administration and is quite stable.

Dedicated web hosting is now a business but one major disadvantage of it is that is quite costly. The costs range from about $150-$1000. However more and more businesses are now opting for dedicated hosting process because it is safe and can deal with the potential hacks and more over the costs can be justified in long run. Another major disadvantage of dedicated web hosting is the lack of able server overseer who can deal with every aspect of web hosting like monitoring, installation, up gradation, configuration of different programs, dealing with the hacks and addition of different sites etc. If there is no such system overseer then it makes the web hosting process a hectic job.

So if you want your business to be stable then opt for dedicated web hosting and to give your business a better position in market opt for it. Look out for the pros and cons of dedicated web hosting to pick up a hosting provider which will make your business zoom.



SOURCE:-
http://www.helium.com/items/1720306-how-to-pick-a-hosting-provider

Trying to compare web hosts can seem like a daunting task. However, with a little research, it can be a simple process. The most important criteria in deciding on a business web host include:

* Reliability
* Support
* Pricing
* Usability

Web Hosting Packages: Reliability

While there are a number of factors involved in picking a business web host, reliability is the most important. The best web hosts are those that have strong customer satisfaction reviews. When choosing a business web host, it is best to start researching for a top web host based on solid reputation and good reviews from happy customers.

A list of potential best web hosts should be developed to compare web hosting options. It is best to start searching online for user reviews, paying attention to how satisfied (or not) their customers are.

Professional Web Hosting Support

Another key factor for choosing the best online web hosting is customer support. It is best to try the live chat, customer service number, or email to see how quickly the web host service responds. If any problems occur with a business website, a fast-acting and helpful support team is mission-critical for a small business web host.
Web Hosting Prices

When choosing web hosting packages, the shared web hosting solution, which offers the most flexibility and lowest prices, is the most popular. For most small to mid-sized websites, more than enough space and bandwidth is available with shared hosting.

For a small business web host, a shared web hosting solution typically costs less than $10 per month. A yearly discount plan is offered by many web host services. Prices are always dropping but it doesn’t always pay to go with the cheapest. Quality should not be compromised; reputation, support, and usability are more important than a nominal pricing difference.
Easy Web Hosting and Usability

Finally, the user interface should be tested or researched. An easy to use control panel from the business web host is key to managing a website. For some businesses and webmasters, certain technical preferences may also be an issue. However, for a majority of people looking for a web hosting service, the above factors are the most important considerations for professional web hosting that will meet business needs.

SOURCE:-
http://webmasterresources.suite101.com/article.cfm/compare_web_hosts_for_professional_web_hosting

HostGator is recognized as 1 of the best (if not the finest) internet web hosting companies.
Even even though they also supply other companies like SSL certificates, domain registration
and script installation, web web hosting is their major support.
At this time HostGator offers house to around 2,500,000 domains and has much more than 300 employees. They offer you 45 day dollars back guarantee. They also assure your site will be accessible 99.9% of time. HostGator is also known as a green hosting, meaning their servers are extremely effective and they also use renewable power. Their assist is recognized as one of the finest in market! You can request live chat assistance 24/7 and likewise phone assist. Ticket assistance is also obtainable.


HostGator features a selection of devoted, shared and reseller internet hosting strategies, so anyone can find something for themselves. All the strategies contain:
unrestricted disk space, bandwidth, MySQL databases, sub domains, FTP accounts, electronic mail accounts and a truly easy to use manage panel. Besides all that you get sitebuilding software program, more than 4500 templates, preprepared scripts and $50 Google AdWords Credit. All important programming languages are supported. Amongst individuals are: PHP, CGI, Perl, Python, Ruby on Rails and they're beta testing ASP assistance.

Their e-mail accounts are also surprisingly quickly. You get limitless email accounts which you can entry either via POP3 or IMAP (which also means, you can receive your e mail directly to your telephone) protocol. Couple of internet mail applications are supplied for those people that don't use regular e mail applications: Horde, SquirrelMail and my individual favored RoundCube. They also offer spam prevention program referred to as SpamAssassin which is highly customizable and configurable.


HostGator received a lot of awards in their 7+ years of supplying net hosting companies. Some of those are: About.com 2010 Reader's Selection Award, Reviewhut.com's Greatest WebHost of 2008 Award, HostReview.com Leading 10 Budget Web hosting Award for years 2008 and 2009. They were also named 21st Quickest Growing Exclusive Firm in America in 12 months 2008 and 239th Speediest Expanding Private Business in America by Inc.

Costs differ from 4.95$/mo for shared "Hatchling" strategy up to 374$ per 30 days for committed server. Every single now and then they market their providers by delivering discount coupons.Utilizing those coupons you can help save fantastic deal of money. For example - this way shared web hosting can be had for totally free for first 30 days. You can also help save 20% on last cost or get 25$ off. Discounts differ from 1.79$ for 1 30 days Hatchling plan up to 503.88$ for 1 yr VPS.



SOURCE:-
http://www.a1articles.com/article_1619757_2.html

Companies need quality business website hosting for their web sites. A quality web hosting service company provides the servers and uptime needed to keep your websites running, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Web hosting companies offer different levels of services to meet your company's needs and budget.

Companies can choose from different web hosting plans. Business web hosting services typically costs about $12 per month. The number of features included in the price is substantial. Web hosting has become increasingly affordable in recent years.

Businesses have different hosting needs for their websites. Business web site hosting companies typically include support for an unlimited amount of domains, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited disk space, a dedicated IP and private SSL, and a toll-free phone number as part of their monthly.

While price is an important factor, businesses should not cut corners with their web hosting service. Company web sites can be vital to the success of their business. The Internet is a multi-billion dollar marketplace and is increasingly valuable place to advertise and drive sales. As the old adage says, you get what you pay for. Saving a few dollars a month on hosting service may seem like a good idea, but it can cost you a lot of money and frustration in the long run if you websites are not well supported.

Business should carefully consider a web hosting service before signing an agreement. Ease of use, functionality and support are all key factors in your web hosting service decision. Business should not cut corners with their web hosting, as websites are vital to a company's performance.

There are several other factors businesses should consider with their web hosting service. Businesses need to be careful how they handle their domain name registration for their websites. Some web hosting companies require their customers to register the domain with them as part of price of their service.

While bundling can seem like a good deal, it can cause problems down the road. If the domain registration for your company’s web site is tied to your hosting agreement, it may make the domain difficult to transfer in the event your company changes web hosting service companies.

Business web hosting services provide your company with ample server space, voluminous bandwidth, 24-hour web page delivery, private SSL, dedicated IP, the support you need to keep your company websites up and running optimally. Having the right web hosting service can make a difference in the success of your company.

Quality business web hosting service provides you with a number of features to help manage your company's sites. These services, which may be included in your regular monthly bill, may include e-mail hosting with unlimited e-mails for your domains, e-mail forwarding, FTP upload capability, easy Word Press downloads, and support for ASP and PHP server side pages, and programming language such as Java, Perl, CGI, Ruby on Rails, SSI, and Python. Other services may include limited free website templates to use, one-click script installs, and site builder tools.

Businesses need a quality business web hosting service. It is truly worth the investment. They provide the tools and upload bandwidth you need to manage your company's websites with optimal performance and uptime. No business should be without one.

Business web hosting companies offer a variety of different plans for their customers. Many web hosting companies also offer other technologies such as Virtual Private Server hosting and Dedicated Servers. These services can really be great assets when you consider all the tools and support they provide to grow your business. Learn more about business web hosting and related services at businesswebhostingservices.


SOURCE:-
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/business-website-hosting.html

In today's world of web technology and connectivity are those certain factors which are so important in every online business type, if you want to grow your business you need to have a good web presence on the Internet. Even you require the best web presence where your online customers can read about your products and services easily and with a good e-mail hosting service they can easily communicate with you directly without any trouble. That is the role of web hosting and email hosting. These two concepts are very complex and you need to understand in depth each if you plan to get one.

First, see what is a web hosting? Web hosting is the use of a specific Hypertext Transfer protocol and its necessary services to view Web documents or files in Hypertext Mark-up Language. The usual extension for the file type is a HTML. A web hosting company provides you disk space and bandwidth to loads your site quickly on the Internet. With sufficient amount of disk space and bandwidth your web site will receives more web traffic. Most hosting providers do more than simply host static web pages, many also offers management services where you will get around the clock technical support to manage things much easier such as data backup, regular services for domain name extension and much more.

Certain services include additional web hosting services such as database management, where you have access to a MySQL or SQL database back end. SQL allows you to gain access a database hosted by the site resulted in the use of a content management system. The advantage of using a content management system is it allows you much more co-ordinated and complete control over how your Website looks.

Usually, web hosting service providers offer the best quality email hosting service with custom configurations and the large number of email accounts. For this service, hosting providers use client's own domain name, including any system of valid e-mail that the domain owner wants. Also make sure to set the type of Web Access that you want your mail queue.

Eventually, you must decide the platform on which you want to share your web hosting and e-mail hosting services. Usually, there are two choices, Linux and Windows server. You can choose the suitable one according to your needs and requirements.




SOURCE:-
http://ezinearticles.com/?Difference-Between-Web-Hosting-And-Email-Web-Hosting&id=4740018

The best way to explain Web hosting is considering it as the process of ensuring that one or more websites are running from a certain designated computer known as a server. In most cases, some parts of this long process have to be outsourced to companies whose work is to specialize in the maintenance of web servers.

A web host is a company whose task is to provide Web Hosting services for website owners. The web host also maintains the websites to ensure that they are functioning as they ought to. The owner of the host computer might be you the website owner or the host. To explain web hosting in the most efficient manner, it is good for the internet user to understand that the server needs to be physically positioned in the premises of the service provider and is also connected to his internet connection.


It is possible for you to host the website yourself in your home or in the office. You need to have a DSL, a T-1. In some cases, you also need a cable connection at home or office. Then you need to dedicate one of your computers to act as the web server. This is one of the ways through which you will avoid web hosting costs. You need to note that you will be required to have internet connectivity.

However, the option of hosting your own website is often taken as one of the least efficient methods of hosting a website, no matter how you explain web hosting. This is because it leads to high costs of buying a symmetric DSL. There is also exposure to security risks and needing to a dedicated computer that is going to handle all web hosting tasks. Needless to say, this computer cannot be shut down at any time. But yes, hosting your website from home is a real possibility.


As an attempt to explain web hosting and differentiating it from domain registration, we can look at the nature of the companies that provide these services. These are two different services which in most cases are provided by two different companies. All domain registrars need to have the approval of ICANN. The choice of any domain name registrar does not tie you to the services of any particular web host. You can keep on changing the names of your web hosting service providers while still retaining the same provider of domain registration services and vice versa.

Although it is possible to move from one web host to another, it is really difficult for you to make a transition between different web hosts. This therefore calls for careful assessment of the services of various internet service providers before making the ultimate decision on one web host and not the other.



SOURCE:-
http://www.a1articles.com/article_979708_2.html

There are many websites online that offer free hosting services. Some of these sites include BlinkWeb, Yola and Weebly. The goal of these websites is to help you to make money, and then once you do make money, that you upgrade to a paid account with them. Whether or not you use them is up to you, but here are some pros and cons of free hosting to help you make the decision.

The Pros.

Free. The thing that is appealing to so many is the fact that they are free. Many people who come online do not know whether or not they will succeed, and therefore they are reluctant to pay into anything. Therefore the free websites are a great place to test the waters.

Learning Experience. The goal is to get you started with making money online so that you will become a paying customer. Thus most free hosting providers will provide you with step by step training to help you set up your site so that you can begin to make money online. BlinkWeb and Yola are two of those site who provide you with excellent training.

The Cons

Downtime. One of the greatest downs is the fact that a lot of these free hosting providers are not reliable. If your website is down, you not only will not be making any money, but it can also ruin your credibility as an online entrepreneur.

High Hosting Fees. You can always upgrade to a paid hosting account, but the truth is that the price which you end up paying, is much higher than if you were to purchase your hosting from a hosting company. One of the cheapest and most reliable web hosting companies is HostGator.

No Control. Another one of the cons is that you have no control of the layout of your website. You are provided with several layouts which you can somewhat customize, but when it really comes down to it, you are very limited with what you can do. On top of that you do not own the design, and thus if you ever want to switch to a new provider you have to start all over again.

So hopefully this information will help you to make an informed decision as to whether or not a free hosting account is something that you want to get started with. To be honest with you, they are a great way for you to learn the ropes of internet marketing, but in the long run you are better off going with a more reliable hosting company such as HostGator.



SOURCE:-
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Pros-and-Cons-of-Free-Hosting&id=4772698

A good web host can mean the difference between a website that works and one that causes more headaches than it's worth. A good web host will have a good security record, serve your pages quick to people all over the globe, have a responsible customer service that doesn't ignore your calls and offer you a price that it's adequate to the features it offers. If you search Google for "web hosting companies" you will find that there's thousands of different hosting companies, all promising to be the best that web hosting has to offer. So what other ways are there to find a good web host?



First of all, you need to decide what exactly you need your web hosting for. The products included on web hosting go from a small, very limited account with low bandwidth and storage limits and reduced configuration options to dedicated servers, and that greatly affects the price. The most basic package can be less than 5 dollars a month, whereas a dedicated server will often cost a hundred times that. The operative system the server is running on also will influence both the price and what you can do with the site, as well as the programming languages that will power your website. For example, if you want your website to be powered by Wordpress you will need a web host that offers PHP, MySQL and mod_rewrite or its IIS equivalent to enable user friendly URLs. If all of this sounds totally alien to you, the best thing you can do is either ask somebody who is technically savvy to take a look at what you need or go for the recommended hostings for the content management system that will power your website. Don't make the error of choosing a web host that cannot run your website or web application!

If your website is being externally developed, you can probably ask the developer what web hosting choices can he recommend. Web developers work with many different hosts, and can usually either offer hosting themselves or recommend something that works with your website and expected amount of visitors. At the same time, they won't recommend a bad web host because that would endanger their relationship with you, their client.

If, on the other hand, you are looking for a web host for a website you are developing yourself you can reach out to your personal and business network and ask them what web hosting companies can they recommend. In many cases, people will be most willing to share both terror histories and good experiences, and those recommendations hold certainly

SOURCE:-
http://www.helium.com/items/1832973-how-to-find-a-good-web-hosting-company

After the registration of domain name selection of web host is another rational step a user need to consider. Though, finding an ideal host is a daunting task. One can find several companies offering web-hosting services to the clients. While locating keyword web hosting in the search engines one will find more than 100 million outputs!

One cannot deny the fact, for a successful online presence a dependable web hosting is must. Online presence and accessibility of a web site is must. If not, one should remain ready to loose clients and prospects. For an instance, if one compare this with a traditional business.

CATEGORIES OF WEB HOSTING:

One should select a web hosting deal according to his/her site. One cannot fulfill his/her requirements from same hosting deal for a personal web site, web site meant for email newsletter subscription and archives, e-commerce site or web forum. Web hosting can be divided into four prime categories:
1. Virtual (shared) hosting,

2. Dedicated server,

3. Collocation server and

4. Reseller hosting.

Two most applicable hosting are virtual (shared) hosting and dedicated server.

What is Virtual (shared) hosting? It is a condition in which several web sites share one server. It is a low cost hosting because price is divided between several users. One can locate a standard virtual hosting at a rate of $100 a year.

In a Dedicated server hosting company lease the whole web server from a particular web hosting company. The site of web server is the web hosting company. One can opt dedicated server as a suitable option who does not wish to share a server with other web masters. One can find a dedicated server in two forms managed and un-managed. If one talk about managed server, company will take care of all the setups of user’s server. However, in unmanaged server user needs to take care of all these by him/her self. The benefit of this sort of hosting is that one can fully lodge web hosting as per his/her requirements. Moreover, for a site with ample amount of visitors a dedicated server is the only rational choice. Due to higher cost, starting from $100 per month, those companies that know the worth of Internet business generally use it.

One can say that Collocation server is quite identical to dedicated server. Disparity lies in the fact that company doesn’t take the web server on lease. Their own web server is placed in the web hosting company. In addition to it, company has material access to their web server, which is not available while talking about a dedicated server.

If one mention about Reseller hosting it is aimed to those companies only wishes to begin their own web hosting business.

ASPECTS, WHICH ONE NEEDS TO CONSIDER:

There are many factors which a user needs to consider to prevent any future miss happens:

Web space:
Requirement of Web space vary from site to site. Off course, if user requirement is only a web site containing basic information about him/her and his/her work excluding the use of web applications, then space of 50 MB is quite sufficient. However, a complex e-commerce site along with numerous products in one’s database demands a capacity of 1 GB.

Bandwidth:
The term Bandwidth refers to data transferred from user’s web site and that comprise of graphic details, images, banners and files for download. One should have accurate knowledge of Content before going for an amount of bandwidth. When one talks about the majority of sites, bandwidth of 10 GB a month is quite sufficient, though for few other sites like sites related to desktop wallpapers can frequently consumes even hundreds of GB a month.

Up time or visibility:
It symbolizes time articulated in percents displaying the period a site remained online. One should not be cheerful because someone assured him/her to provide say for 98% up time because it is not going to fulfill his/her requirement. One should get at least 99.7% uptime. Believe it or not, it definitely matters.

Email accounts:
Email accounts are an integrated and crucial part of web hosting package
. It is quite interesting to know for how much will one get only a so called catch –all forwarding which means that all emails sent to somewhere@mydomain.com will arrive to one’s email address or one can set-up email accounts for several users? Also the thing is for how much? Is it intended for 5, 10, 100 or limitless email accounts? In addition to it, there is no harm to verify whether user get a so-called POP3 email address (“real” email address), web mail or rather both? If one has a POP3 email address then he/she can check his/her emails via favorite email client and web mail facilitate the user to inquire his/her emails at any place demanding just a computer and Internet connection.

Form of Server, tools and control panel:
When one mention the two generally utilized hosting then the name of Unix-based or Windows platform comes first. It matters for the result program languages, databases and scripts that one can apply. When one talks about Unix-based platform, general selection is relayed to PHP language along with MySQL, however, when it comes to Windows platform ASP or ASP.NET language will be along with SQL Server. One should enquire that is database is available with package or not, if yes, then how many? Nowadays, contemporary web site must be database-driven.

Too, one should have full knowledge related to tools coming along with web hosting package, if there is only applications for web statistics, file manager and things it is not an concern issue.

Technical support:

A crucial aspect while selecting a web hosting particularly for a user without having adequate technical skills is technical support. A proper technical support does not take a responsive time more then a day. This is not liable only to selection of web hosting company, but, crucial to any of the company selling products and services, Software Company can be one of the examples.

The coordination of few of the companies is so well thought-out that it takes only 1 hour to give response to user’s queries! Through their source of contact one can predict about the future response. Do the concern company has only email support or also have phone support? Does they provide a toll-free number? Do they offer the facility of trouble-ticket system? Working time is another crucial aspect. What is their strategy of providing technical support is it during working hours only i.e. 9 to 17 or does they provide the facility of 24x7 technical support? An ideal way to detect their professionalism one can create a list of fake queries, drop a line to them and hang around to know their reply time.



SOURCE:-

http://www.articlesbase.com/web-hosting-articles/important-tips-for-web-hosting-323951.html

The Internet is a place of wonder and thousands of websites are created every day. All websites need to be hosted with a web hosting company of some sort in order to make their appearance on the World Wide Web. There are various types of hosting services available, each with their own advantages and disadvantages, allowing different people to use the appropriate hosting plan for their website. Here we take a look at the 3 main type of web hosting solutions that you may need to consider and understand the options that are made available to you.



Free web hosting

This type of hosting speaks for itself. It is free for the website owner and is a great starting place if you are trying to test out the whether starting a website on the Internet is for you or your business. With this unmatchable price, however, you will find many restrictions may be imposed on a free web hosting plan. Some restrictions are the placements of advertisements on your website. These ads may sometimes be distracting and placed at the top of your website, a huge disadvantage as it can "hide" the details and relevancy of your website.

Other restrictions are limited bandwidth which can make your website run slower, low storage space which can limit the amount of data, pictures and files you can put on your website and restricted website size which can limit your website to 5 pages or 10 pages. You can always choose to start with a free web hosting company and once you get more experience and exposure you can then choose to upgrade your web hosting plan.

Some free web hosting services also restrict the use of your own domain name. In such cases you would be using a subdomain under their own domain name. For example, if you were selling books then you could host a subdomain on their website such as books.freehosting.com. This would be a great disadvantage as it would be harder to self brand yourself and your services.

Home web hosting

You may also have the option to self host your website. This is also another cheaper option since once set up your servers will be working for you indefinitely and you do not have to keep paying monthly fees. A home hosting setup can be done by designating a computer as your server and having it connected to the Internet via a broadband connection. This connection should stay permanent 24 hours a day 7 days a week. You need to check with you Internet Service provider that you can do this as many may block home servers and disallow static IP addresses.

When building a hosting server for yourself it is imperative that you look at security and protection measures for your server to prevent hackers from accessing your server. In addition a backup server may also be vital. Home web hosting may require more work at the beginning and technical knowledge is beneficial.

Paid web hosting

Paid hosting services is probably the best option for website and the cost has dramatically decreased compared to 10 years ago. Paid hosting plans give you greater control and flexibility over your website. Charges are usually made on a per month basis and usually hosting companies would provide you with a few options. These options usually differ depending on extra services and benefits for your website. Basic plans are usually enough for personal or small website owners. You would only have to upgrade to the more premium plan if you had a large companies or business.

There are many factors in which you need to consider when you are looking at the different hosting plans. These are bandwidth, storage space, number of email accounts allowed, choice to host multiple domains, control panel interface used, inbuilt website builders and templates and service guarantee. It is important that you to understand your needs and the differences between these options and the price you pay for them.

Overall, when choosing a web hosting solution for your website you generally have 3 to choose from. You need to understand your own needs and choose the type that is best for you. Each has its own benefits and downfalls. Remember though that you can always change later.


SOURCE:-
http://www.helium.com/items/1784646-types-of-web-hosts

Drupal is a person of the most common CMS on the Net. It has an active community of developers, and these developers function challenging at enhancing the general effectiveness of the process dependent on person feedback. Because Drupal is open resource computer software, which suggests that it is cost-free to use, much more and extra webmasters are switching to Drupal to consider advantage of this free of charge and highly effective software program. Nonetheless, make certain that you don't opt for the incorrect style of web hosting or you will operate into setting up concerns. Below is a fast manual to guide you opt for the ideal web hosting
for Drupal.

1) cPanel hosting.

cPanel web hosting is very affordable and frequently readily available. cPanel is the name of the admin command panel. Using the command panel, you can add new sites, new e mail accounts, or set up further scripts. A contributed organizing account cost as small as $10 a month.

In the cPanel command panel, there is a feature that is called "Fantastico". With a couple of straightforward clicks, you can set up the CMS on your website without the need of having to offer with FTP or database installment.


2) Linux web hosting.

cPanel is only obtainable on Linux machines. Because Drupal is centered on PHP language, it's very best that the internet site is hosted in a Linux atmosphere. Nowadays, Windows machines do aid PHP as properly. The the greater part of the capabilities can also be hosted on a Windows server. Even so, be mindful that some bugs will even now exist. To stay away from set up or functionality problems, attempt to stay clear of Windows machines if you are considering of applying Drupal.

3) Reliability and stableness.

It doesn't matter what machine you decide on if the machine keeps planning offline. The web web hosting marketplace went as a result of a short time period of evolution. Individuals ended up complicated occasions, as web hosting providers struggle to obtain the appropriate remedies to offer secure web hosting at a really competitive pricing.

Currently, most of all those troubles have been ironed out. The principal problem that the web hosting businesses face is to retain stableness in a discussed organizing surroundings. On a contributed machine, several consumers and internet sites reveal the identical options. So it only requires 1 individual to abuse the sources and the complete machine can go down. Unique application has been created to defeat this concern. Web hosting staff members are capable to determine abuse accounts quite rapidly and will not hesitate to suspend all those accounts so as to manage stability for all users.


The greatest way to uncover out if a web hosting company
is stable or not is to study web hosting testimonials. Organizing evaluations produce all sorts of priceless data this kind of as uptime, pricing, and client reviews. You may perhaps also would like to participate in forum discussions to see if the corporations that you plan to signal up with occur remarkably suggested. It's constantly far better to signal up with reputable organizing corporations as they have far more encounter in managing machines.

4) Assistance.

In conclusion, don't forget about to signal up with a company that gives fine aid. Some hosting corporations outsource service to nations like India. But if help personnel don't have the correct methods (e.g. instruments to entry machines), they can't genuinely support you. Those are the corporations you want to stay away from.

SOURCE:-
http://www.a1articles.com/article_1554201_2.html

Shared web hosting is the oldest type of hosting and it is also the most popular. Shared web hosting is cheap and it can be very reliable, if a webmaster has chosen a good web hosting provider.
What Is Shared Hosting?

Shared hosting is this type of web hosting in which many users have accounts (and each account can contain multiple sites) on the same server. This way server resources are shared between tens and even hundreds of sites and the result is that the cost per hosting a site is very low – often around $1 a month or even less.

For many users shared hosting is the only type of web hosting. This is not surprising because almost any web hosting provider has shared hosting plans and shared hosting is really popular. For many webmasters, especially those of small and midsized sites, sharing hosting is all they need.

Advantages of Shared Hosting

The fact that shared hosting is the most popular type of a web hosting plan certainly implies that shared hosting must have some special benefits. Yes, this is so and the main advantages of shared hosting are these:
Shared Web Hosting is the Cheapest Type of Web Hosting

There is no doubt that the affordable price of shared web hosting is the main reason why it is the most popular type of hosting. Shared hosting is hundreds of times cheaper than dedicated hosting, yet this doesn't mean that dedicated hosting is hundred of times better.
Shared Web Hosting Requires Less Skills and Knowledge than Dedicated Hosting

Shared hosting is relatively easy to use because a webmaster doesn't have to deal with server setup, as is the case with unmanaged dedicated hosting and reseller hosting. With shared hosting a webmaster has his or her user area and no access to the server software or the operating system of the computer where the sites are hosted.

Disadvantages of Shared Hosting

For those webmasters, who need more bandwidth and more freedom in administering their hosting environment, shared hosting is not the best option because it is exactly these two features, which can be considered as the main disadvantages of shared hosting.
Shared Hosting Comes With Low Space and Bandwidth

All equal, shared hosting offers provide no more than 10-20GB of bandwidth a month and times less storage space. Of course, for a small site these amounts are more than necessary and if a site outgrows these provisions, migrating to a dedicated server is always an option.Also, generally speaking with shared hosting there is no minimal guaranteed bandwidth per user, which means that if some of the sites on the shared server are bandwidth monsters, this will affect all the other sites and they can become very slow.
Shared Hosting Doesn't Give Much Freedom in Administering the Server Where the Site is Hosted

As far as administration opportunities are concerned, shared hosting is the least flexible type of hosting. There are many options a webmaster can change but most of the vital ones are left outside of his or her reach. Still, in many cases this is actually a good thing because an inexperienced webmaster can make a real mess and compromise the security of the whole server, while applying the trial and error approach to server configuration.

Shared web hosting might have its limitations but it is a great offer for its price. Shared web hosting is not only the cheapest web hosting package but it is also one of the most reliable (because it is the pros at the web hosting company who administer the servers and not the webmasters themselves). This is why it is a safe bet to say that shared web hosting will continue to be the most popular type of web hosting in the years to come.

SOURCE:-
http://webmasterresources.suite101.com/article.cfm/shared-web-hosting-is-cheap-and-reliable

There was no word late, an important benefit.

Prospects are very good if you have a website for your small business, because by having sites that are connected and can be accessed from around the world and your hard work, I'm sure your small business will be great.

How to choose a web hosting providers vary for each person. Each website has specific needs and you should find a web hosting that provides specific requirements for your web site.

10 Tips For Web Hosting Service Provider choose good. but how to choose the right hosting service? It's hard to choose one of hundreds of service providers. Here is a list of things you should consider when looking for your hosting company.

1. Tech Support (Support and Troubleshooting)
Technical problems can arise anytime. A good web hosting company will always help you overcome technical failure as early as possible. Therefore, 24×7x365 support is important - there must be a professional team with sufficient knowledge about the problem available at all times. Email, live chat or phone - all forms of communication must be available to you.

2. Well-defined agreements
There are web hosting companies that promise a lot of things. Do not go with the words - asking for something in black and white. The agreement should include what the service provider will offer you and your course of action in case they fail to stick to the agreement.

3. Flexibility
Looking for operators who are flexible enough to meet your business needs change. As your business grows, you may need a larger web space, greater bandwidth, seamless service and advanced technology. Judging whether operators can extend the standards higher.

4. Personalised Business Relationships
A popular web hosting companies always offer personal service to solve technical problems with ease. Once you know who can help you resolve billing issues, and who the right person to contact if your site is not active you can solve problems easily. Make sure your service provider will give you a list of personal contacts.

5. Infrastructure
Ensure that service providers can protect you from natural disasters, malicious scripts, technical errors and other problems such. Back to the top, recovery and protective hardware and software must be present to maintain the servers and data centers.

6. Reputation of providers
It is very difficult to assess companies and their service quality by asking a few questions. Therefore, the agreement with the well-known provider. Looking for an award winning and most discussed on the web host your country. Be assured that they will return more than what you invest.

7. Data center location
Local search has become popular day by day, but it is often said that the search engines give a higher importance to websites hosted on local servers. Therefore, to do well in local search engines, to go with local hosts who have their data centers in your country. If you are from England, looking for web hosting only English.

8. Understanding the hosting package
Most web hosting providers offer different hosting. specific features packaged together to form a different plan. Make sure your hosting plan has the features you need.

9. Scalability
Go to scalable hosting plans. Likelihood of your web hosting requirements will change as your business grows. For example, you may need some email id and several sub-domains in the future. You may need a few technical and hardware upgrades as well. Make sure your hosting plan allows you to do this and when required.

10. Cost
Never compromise with quality for the sake of saving, low-cost service could damage your reputation and reduce your profits. By hosting your business web site hosting service providers who are competent, you can ensure success, profitability, customer satisfaction and goodwill.
Perform a comparative study of standard hosting plans and choose the right package that includes all the features you need.


SOURCE:-
http://ezinearticles.com/?10-Tips-How-to-Choose-Web-Hosting-For-Your-Small-Business&id=4362521

Web hosting may be defined as renting space on a web server in its simplest form. One should keep in mind that a website is a collection of files linked together by HTML code to display text and graphics on a computer
. However website is not complete here until and unless it is displayed on the net. To make it visible for the world it has to be housed on a computer somewhere that has access to the Internet. This is not possible by just a computer rather special device is required termed as web server. A web server may be defined as a computer set up with special software that allows it to receive requests from the internet for the website files it has stored on it and to send those files out over the internet so that the requesting computer can display them.

Web server in addition to making site visible performs several other functions as well like it provides the ability to create email addresses based on one’s domain name and even helps in sending and receiving emails with them. There are several types of software installed on the web server that allows one’s website to run programs, create and manage databases, display video, etc. One must note that almost any type of computer can function as a web server, but it's the software that's on it that makes it a server.

When one goes buying a web hosting, the monthly fees to be paid includes cost for maintenance and upgrading of the server's hardware and software, the cost of keeping it online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in a secure data center with a fast and powerful internet connection, and cost of professional proving these services. It is surprising to know that it is possible to turn one’s home or office computer into a web server if one really desires, but it is just not economical. Therefore it is better to outsource it. There are several kinds of web hosting available which are discussed below:

Kinds of web hosting:

Shared Hosting – Through a shared server one can save a high amount. If one talks about the drawbacks then Spamming and blacklisting from different search engines are the key problems. Such problems arise due to the reason that several sites are assign to one particular IP address. One should demand for a separate IP address for his/her website (on additional monthly charges) to secure the user from such problems.

Dedicated Hosting –Dedicated servers are best for big, highly trafficked websites, which will require large amounts of server resources to run. One of the downsides to shared hosting is that the server’s resources are divided across all the sites it’s hosting and answering page requests for. If you are in a dedicated environment you can better monitor your server resources. The downside is that dedicated servers will run you generally $50 per month or more. Shared hosting can be purchased for as little as 5$ a month. Most small or medium sized businesses will have neither the website size or bandwidth requirements to make dedicated servers cost effective.

Server Co-Location - If one wants to have full control over every aspect of his/her web server, he/she might very well choose to buy one and maintain it himself/herself if he/she is having sufficient knowledge. Still there are possibilities that one is not having enough resources to keep his/her server completely safe from power outages, roof leaks, thieves, unwary employees and other problems and in addition it is not possible for him/her to keep it on the internet on a fast, high-bandwidth connection through out. Thus he/she needs a data center to provide those services for him/her.

Co-location is the center providing facilities like physical security on rental, continuous electrical power and a fast, reliable Internet connection for a server that one owns. However, the data center is not responsible for any of the hardware or software maintenance of a co-located server, rather user his/her self. Thus it is a cheaper alternative to dedicated hosting if one is having the necessary expertise and time to run a web server by own.

SOURCE:-
http://www.articlesbase.com/web-hosting-articles/web-hosting-defined-323936.html

Linux web hosting (often referred to as LAMP - Linux, Apache, MySQL & PHP) solutions are suitable for webmasters who use Linux hosting features, such as Perl programming, PHP programming and MySQL database.

Windows Web Hosting gives a company the capability of designing web sites using the ever-popular Windows Operating System. This allows development using technologies such as Active Server Pages (ASP), COM, and the newer.NET infrastructure.

Advantages of using Linux based server compared to Windows based web server:-

1.Stable:-

Linux operating system is very stable and robust. A website hosted on a Linux operating system will have very high up-time.

2. Low cost of ownership:-

Linux OS comes free of cost. Also, it has fully fledged server, and desk top applications that come free with the OS. These server applications (such as FTP, Web Server, DNS Server, File Server etc.) are also very stable.

3. Easy to move between hosts:

A website designed to host on a Linux server can be hosted on a Windows server easily, where as the reverse is not always true.

4. Most widely used: Linux/Unix based web hosting is most widely used compared to Windows web hosting.

5. Scalability: A web site designed for compatibility with a Linux/Unix based web server meets the scalability requirement easily without making any site wide design changes.

Disadvantage:-

Linux based web server is not fully compatible with Microsoft technologies. If you are using any specialized applications or VB for development of your web site, it is preferable to host with a Windows based web server.

Both these web server are used by users for different purposes and the selection of the web hosting depends upon the nature of the website or business. Linux server administration and Linux server management has been more effective for complex websites, where as Windows servers are used for sites which needs different configuration.



SOURCE:-
http://ezinearticles.com/?Linux-Vs-Windows-Web-Hosting&id=4717352

What are the things you consider when you are building a website – content, design, purpose, target audience? But how many of us actually think about how to get web hosting that is best for our business?

A good hosting plan is the backbone of all websites and you need to choose it wisely. Here are a few critical things you should know about how to get web hosting that is perfect for your online business:

1.) Credibility of the Web host

An important aspect of how to get web hosting is to stay clear of the hundreds of run-of-the-mill hosting companies. More than financial loss, such hosting can have a negative impact on your website. Compare various web hosts, check hosting reviews and take advice from other successful webmasters regarding the most reliable and professional web hosting companies.

2.) Server access

Check with the hosting company regarding the kind of server access you'll have and how you can control your site. If you choose Shared or VPS hosting, you will not have much control on your server while with dedicated servers you can enjoy complete control & flexibility.

3.) Bandwidth

Bandwidth governs the amount of data transfer that can take place on your site and also the amount of traffic your website can handle. In a hosting plan, the main cost is of the bandwidth provided and it is important to calculate your approx. bandwidth usage wisely. Stay wary of unlimited bandwidth as most such packages are either priced very high or impose restrictions on the type of file you can upload.

4.) Connectivity

The best web hosts use redundant lines to ensure that your website remains up and active, even when their primary Internet connections are temporarily unavailable. While choosing a web hosting check which hosts offer backup connections and high speed connectivity.

5.) Affordability

There are a plethora of hosting companies today offering packages from as low as $1.99 to as high as $800 per month and even more. Depending upon your website needs in terms of bandwidth requirements, disk space, server type etc, you can find a hosting plan that suits your budget and is cost-effective.

6.) Customer Service

A hosting company is known by the kind of technical support it provides as when it comes to online businesses, webmasters cannot take any risks. When you are learning about how to get web hosting, customer service is an essential ingredient you need to look for.

Ensure that the hosting provider offers 24/7, 365 Days customer support through Live Chat, Email and Phone. Check for the response time too i.e. the time taken to resolve a query.

7.) Flexibility

You are just starting out and your website requirements are limited, but when your business grows (which it will if you choose the right host) you will require more bandwidth, disk space etc. Talk to the hosting company about this and ensure that their plans are flexible enough to accommodate your growing needs.

8.) Security

The answer to how to get web hosting will be incomplete without mentioning about server security. All your website information including the files, emails, customer data and other details are stored on the server and it is imperative to keep it secure.

Virus & malware, hacking, physical damages, spam mails, URL hijacking are all potential dangers that can affect your server and eventually your business. Your hosting provider should incorporate high-class security mechanisms such as video surveillance, security codes and software to provide complete protection and security.

The best answer for how to get web hosting is to look for dependability, redundancy, affordability and customer support. Follow these tips for a hassle-free hosting experience and for finding the perfect web host.

SOURCE:-
http://www.helium.com/items/1786672-get-web-hosting-how-to-get-web-hosting-hosting-web-hosting-package-web-web-hosting

Website hosting Is a competitive and Interactive field. Today I'm going to explain to you the Types of website hosting services available for you to utilize.

However one should remember that a service has to selected after complete research.

Website hosting can be distinguished Into 3 broad parts.
-Shared hosting
-Virtual private hosting(VPS)
-Dedicated hosting

Shared hosting Is also known commonly as 'Basic hosting'
While virtual private hosting Is known simply a VPS

A decision on what hosting service to utilize has to be taken after careful research and surveying.
Each hosting service has their own advantages as well a draw backs.

Let me now go Into more details and explain to you what each web hosting service Is all about.

Shared hosting
Shared hosting Is what most website hosting customers end up with. Shared hosting Is the most basic part of hosting, Its simple, non-complicated and the most economical out of the 3 web hosting services.

Shared hosting Is where multiple single websites sit on a single server that
due to this the charges are economical when It comes to shared hosting.

A basic shared hosting package comes at 3-10$/month

Some web hosting companies that Offer Shared hosting.
-Hostgator hosting
-Lunarpages hosting
-MD hosting

VPS hosting
A VPS Is also referred to as a VDS. (virtual dedicated server)
Under VPS hosting multiple websites can run on a single web server. The biggest difference from a shared package Is that a VPS Client can run their own operating system.

For Example:
Both Website A and B are hosted on the same server
-A can Run on a Unix Platform while B can run on a Windows platform.
This flexibility Is not possible In a shared environment.

A VPS server comes between 20-75$/month or more.
In general a hosting company that provides shared hosting also provides VPS hosting.

Dedicated hosting
Dedicated hosting Is the most advanced type of hosting available.
Under dedicated hosting a single website Is run on a single server, this Includes complete control of the webmaster(of the website)
If multiple websites reside on a dedicated server, then It will no longer be called a dedicated server, it either becomes a shared server or a VDS.

This Is the most expensive type of hosting.
It generally cost's between 50$-500$/month or even more then that.

Some companies that offer dedicated hosting are:
-MediaTemple
-RackSpace
-Peer1




SOURCE:-
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/types-of-web-hosting-services.html

For any people who want to establish a website on the Internet, a web hosting service plan is something that they must look for. If you are a website owner now or before, you will understand that it is quite difficult for you to get the suitable web hosting plan indeed.

There are plenty of suitable candidates in the world to provide the service for you. You will see a lot of names of some possible web hosting companies
in the world. And it takes a lot of time for you to do research for the reliability of the web hosting companies. And in recent years, you will find it more difficult to get the web hosting companies
right because there are a lot of the cheap web hosting plans available in the market.

In fact, this is something inevitable. In recent years, more and more competitors are there in the market. And the competition is very keen. Everyone wants to get customers for his or her own business and they will try to provide cheap plans for customers to choose.


But the cheap web hosting plans may not really be reliable. Yes, this may be the question in your mind too. You may think that there is no free lunch in the world and it is a bit impossible for you to see such a cheap plan in the world. And it will be more impossible for you to hear that you can enjoy the unlimited bandwidth and storage by purchasing the cheap plans. You might have a question in mind. If I can use such little amount of money to purchase unlimited plan, what can those people get if they pay for a lot of money?

Well, you get the focus. The web hosting company may claim that you can get suitable unlimited webhosting services. However, you may be sharing the same server with other internet users. And this means that the server will have a higher burden. If all the users of the same server are using the web hosting service, the actual amount of bandwidth enjoyed by your website is limited.


And since you are sharing the server with the others, there is a chance that your data will be stolen by hackers. This is the reason why people will prefer paying more money for a better plan to saving money for a cheap web hosting plan.

Besides, the amount of tools provided for establishing the website will be limited. If you are a beginner in web hosting, you surely need help from the convenient tools for creating your website. Without these tools, you cannot create a good website. If you want to have more tools, you need to pay extra money. Yes you realize that now.


SOURCE:-
http://www.a1articles.com/article_1631743_2.html

Web hosting companies can make or break an online business or Web presence. As the backbone of Internet business, Web hosting is essentially the storefront and building where customers find online products and services. Just like the building of a traditional company, Web hosting provides the online "storefront" for a business entity. This is why the Web hosting service chosen by a business owner is one of the most critical decisions that he or she will ever make.

Web hosting services provide individuals, companies and organizations with server space where client Web sites are stored so that their businesses are accessible through the Internet.

There are numerous companies providing Web hosting on the market. Below is an outline of what to look for when considering doing business with a Web hosting company.

Determine what operating system your Web site will require. Many Web hosts offer both Windows and Linux Web hosting. Which operating system you choose will also be dependent upon what other kinds of applications you will need to run. Hosting on Linux servers can be more reliable and cost effective, however, Windows has advantages of supporting ASP, .NET and PHP applications.

Check into the technical aspects of the Web host's offerings. Consider how much disk space you will need for the Web site. The average needed for most companies is between 20-50 MB. More space may be needed for a full-fledged ecommerce Web site or one with a database. The Web hosting plan should offer adequate email, ability to use software you will need and have a control panel interface that is easy to navigate. Ensure that there is room for growth by upgrading to different Web hosting packages as needed.

Check out the Web site speeds. Web site visitors generally do not have the patience to wait long for Web pages to load. Therefore, the Web site page load speed is an important aspect to consider. Ask customer support about Web sites hosted on the company's servers and check out their speed rates.

Try out tech support. Send an email to tech support and try the phone line. Make note of response times and visit the Web site at different times and on various days. Evaluate your experience for comparisons between the Web hosting firms.

Measure the reliability of the Web host. Check into the Web host's uptime and security for protection against viruses and hackers. Ask if the company has ever been attacked and how it handled the situation. Ensure that there is adequate backup in place and make note of how much it costs to reconstruct data failures.

Evaluate all costs associated with the Web hosting service. How much you need to spend on Web hosting will be dependent upon how you will be using the Web site. A simple Web site service can cost $15 or less each month. However, if you require ecommerce services or databases, it will be necessary to pay more for those services.


SOURCE:-
http://www.helium.com/items/1715690-how-to-find-a-web-hosting-company

Starting a small business or refurbishing an old web site? Choose environmentally-friendly web hosting providers to help green a business. Whether a web site is for a professional environmental business or simply for a company that wants to create a green brand, it is important to compare web hosting providers when searching for the greener choice.
How Can a Web Host be Green or Eco-Friendly?

The Internet appears to be something that requires very few materials. It’s not like paper. Paper is something tangible: it can be purchased as recycled paper, then recycled again. Most people understand the basic mechanics of recycling paper, but few people understand what powers the world of the web. There are many computers connected to it, and each of those requires energy, but isn’t a web site environmentally friendly? Not necessarily.

Even though a web site is not printed on paper, it still uses energy and resources. Running a web hosting business requires space, and a space entails office materials and transportation. All of these things use energy and materials, and these create a carbon footprint.
Why Choose Carbon Neutral Web Site Hosting

Web hosting providers have a range of carbon neutral products. The company may actually produce its own energy through solar or wind power, and it might use recycled and reused products. A company may also buy green power that comes from renewable sources. Many companies are also going carbon-neutral by purchasing carbon offsets, essentially donating money to organizations that help people access renewable energy or plant trees. These hosting providers may purchase carbon credits to offset the emissions produced by their office energy use, equipment, supplies, and employee transportation.

Compare Web Hosting Providers

Green is just a color, and it’s easy to claim to be green. What does green web hosting really mean?

* Go Green Web Hosting offers hosting that is powered by Oklahoma wind energy.
* Host Papa purchases green energy credits through the electrical grid.
* Ethical Hosting is powered by green energy purchased through Bullfrog Power and PlanetAir and also purchases carbon offsets to offset other business-related carbon impacts.
* Thinkhost offers wind and solar-powered web hosting. Most of its employees telecommute and they are involved in socially-progressive volunteerism.

The Cost of Environmentally-Friendly Web Hosting

Like many web hosting providers, green or eco-friendly web hosting providers come with extras. These include free domain names, unlimited registration of domain names, and some extras like site builder programs and marketing bonuses. Monthly fees range from $3 per month to over $8 per month.

Many businesses are concerned about the environment, and they want to communicate this ethic to their customers. By reducing and reusing office supplies and using green transportation options and conference calls, businesses can reduce their environmental impact. Using green or carbon neutral web site hosting is all part of this choice, and this adds to a business’s green branding.

SOURCE:-
http://ecommerce.suite101.com/article.cfm/carbon-neutral-and-green-web-hosting-plans

After designing of website next important thing is to get it hosted on the internet. The task is not at easy as there are so many companies offering various types of web hosting packages like shared web hosting, dedicated web hosting, managed web hosting etc. Now the problem is which one to use?

In general it is considered a good idea to go for shared web hosting if the user is in a small business and wants to save cost. However before finalizing the deal it is good to know what is shared web hosting service and what are the merits and demerits of shared web hosting.

Defining shared hosting:

If extremely high performance and high bandwidth are not the points in question, then shared web hosting service can be a most convenient and economic way of hosting web sites.. As name implies, in case of shared web hosting service, the web server that hosts the web pages is shared by several other websites. Talking about number of websites on a shared hosting server, they can be in thousands. Now due to the fact that just one server is fulfilling the requirements of many other websites, the plus point is they can offer cheap prices for their server.

As there are so many websites hosted on a single web server, still there is no pint of worry for the user as the web hosting providers will not compromise on any kind of security and performance issues in case of shared hosting servers. Not only that, shared hosting web servers are operated, monitored and look after around the clock by IT professionals, so as to minimize server downtimes.

Shared hosting servers run on UNIX or other multi-user operating system and each website hosted on the web server is provided a separate account in the operating system. These websites hosted on shared servers are provided unique shared IP addresses and are provided with a fix amount of web resources.

The following are some of the merits and demerits of shared web hosting:

Merits:

1. Cost effective: Due to the fact that many websites are hosted on a single web server, web hosting providers provide economic shared web hosting services. Generally, the cost is as low as $5-10 per month for shared web hosting services. Now-a-days due to cut throat competition in web hosting industry, one can find several web hosting companies offering huge web space and bandwidth with as high as 1000 MB disk space and 40 GB bandwidth.

2. Feasible: Due to the fact that shared hosting web servers are operated, monitored and look after around the clock by IT professionals, who are experts in their respective field, one can concentrate more effectively on his/her web business and the problem of downtime and maintenance will not bother him/her any more.

3. Utility options: In case of shared web hosting, though web resources are shared, utility options are provided by the hosting company so that user can manage his/her website using control panel or similar tools. User is having an option to upload files, modify /remove web pages, add database, check web statistic etc. Not only that, user is also provided facility to create domain name specific e-mails accounts.

4. Efficient: Now-a-days shared web hosting service usually comes with web space and bandwidth that are more than sufficient for small business websites. Efficiency lies in the fact, that in addition to above, one can add more resources and can even overrun the web space or bandwidth usage.

SOURCE:-
http://www.articlesbase.com/web-hosting-articles/concept-of-shared-web-hosting-312262.html