Is WordPress Really a CMS?

Blogging is still soaring in the Web 2.0 era and WordPress is easily the most popular engine on the market. This multipurpose blogging software is used for everything from personal diaries to business applications, helping many achieve online notoriety and even more bring in consistent revenue. Although WordPress is generally referred to as a weblog publishing tool, some are calling it a CMS. Do you agree? We don’t. And this article will explain why.

In order to determine whether WordPress is a CMS or not, you should first become acquainted with the three main types of content management systems, as outlined below.

Open-source Systems – Software packages like Drupal and Joomla that are becoming more popular for small to medium sized ventures.

Enterprise Systems - Proprietary solutions like Microsoft Content Server. This type of CMS is geared towards corporate users that require powerful business applications and frequent database interaction.

Home Grown Systems – These systems are developed in-house by webmasters who have specific requirements for content management.

When comparing the WordPress platform to the software in these classifications, it falls short as merely an over-hyped content delivery system. Though it has a tremendous following and a number of benefits, WordPress doesn’t have what it takes to be called a real CMS. In fact, it lacks several of the necessary protocols the average CMS provides as standard. This includes update features, security tools, user permissions and more complex content management functionality. When considering the all the capabilities it is missing, calling WordPress a CMS may be like unfairly moving it up in weight class.


Should WordPress be a CMS?

Perhaps the real issue should be whether or not WordPress needs to be more like a genuine CMS. While this software gives you a lot, there are limitations and thus disadvantages. Ask a fan of Mambo or PHP-Nuke and they will probably tell you that WordPress is highly inferior.

Despite the shortcomings, it still is a very efficient tool and rightly embraced by millions of users around the world. It can also be a nice alternative to some of the more complex and intimidating content management systems. For the most part, the user community is happy with the functionality and would probably prefer to keep things as they are. After all, turning the platform into a true CMS would tamper with a relatively clean code and possibly cause the software to lose some of its natural appeal. Besides, simplicity and ease of use are two of WordPress’ biggest advantages.


Conclusion

There is no denying the capabilities of WordPress. The overwhelming enthusiasm the community shares for this platform is certainly warranted. It is very cost effective and makes and ideal tool for small to medium sized operations and can even move up to a larger scale as well. Be that as it may, tagging WordPress as a content management system is not inherantly accurate. In order to earn that title, the software would require a major overhaul which would in turn, cause it to lose so much of the qualities that has made it so popular.

A Worthy CMS Battle: Joomla vs. WordPress

Joomla vs. WordPress has become one of the hottest topics around the web. In actuality, the comparisons aren’t all that fair because these platforms are designed with different purposes in mind. WordPress is more of a website engine based on the premise of installing the software, running it and publishing basic content in a fast and easy manner. Joomla is completely different, built for publishing and managing all types of content. This gives Joomla many capabilities WordPress lacks.


Distinguishing the Two

A good way to compare the two systems would be to look at the fundamental differences. With Joomla, you can place ten different menus on a web page in any position or style you like. Much of this can be done from scratch in a few easy clicks. Its functionality is ideal for multiple users who have their own roles on the site as well as the administrator who needs to control the whole operation with ease.

If it has to be a user-friendly publishing tool for simple content that only requires one administrator, WordPress is the way to go. This platform covers the blog scene with more efficiency, which is exactly what is designed to do. It is very useful for attracting search engine bots with features such as ping and tracks, tag capabilities, and optimized URLs. Though Joomla can be configured to produce clean URLs, it does take a little more work. The overall theory is that blogs are search engine friendly and WordPress makes up a good portion of the argument.


WordPress as a CMS

WordPress has many beneficial uses but the results aren’t always that good when using it for larger jobs. When the page count starts to add up in different categories, you may start to experience management issues Joomla on the other hand, is made to handle such jobs and does it with relative ease. If you’re looking to use WordPress for something that was created with a true content management system, you could be in for a rude awakening. This platform will support a couple of hundred pages and basic content but don’t expect more than that. Try to over do it and you could find yourself spending time on things that wouldn’t have been an issue with the proper software.


The Last Word

If your goals call for a blog or even a more interactive website, WordPress could be a viable option. This platform is highly regarded as the most streamlined publishing tool available, allowing you to get online fast with little to no technical knowledge. Joomla is better for managing a larger amount of more complex content. In the end, an expert user should be able to make the most of both solutions. With all the available plugins, WordPress can be extended to the point where you wouldn’t know the site was power by a blogging tool. If this platform can’t deliver the functionality you need, a genuine CMS such as Joomla makes a great choice. The key is knowing what you need to get the job done and making the right choice from the start.

E-commerce Hosting and Web 2.0

The phenomenon that is Web 2.0 has made its mark, originating in social networking platforms and evolving through traditional business applications. Because it has become more widespread, web hosting providers are increasingly customizing their offerings to meet the demands of this trend. This allows customers to benefit from a dynamic set of features that enable websites to thrive in the world of Web 2.0.

What is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 can be described as a trend that revolves around using interactive, community-driven sites to promote the sharing of information, networking and other forms of collaboration among users. Some of the most common examples of this activity are blogs and wikis along with social bookmarking sites like Digg and Reddit. Thanks to Web 2.0, the customers are now able to interact with the business and actually play a significant role in the company’s successes. This new wave of web interaction is quickly replacing the dull, static website of past times. These days, users can interact with the website content and get involved in ways that were not possible before. By allowing the customers to play an active role, your business will gain trust, popularity and most importantly, credibility in the eyes of your audience. The web has changed and this is now one of the essential keys to succeeding.

You may be familiar with Web 2.0 and not even realize it. In fact, popular sites like eBay and Facebook are perfect examples. Ebay has its detailed feedback report while Facebook offers many web-based applications that allow profile users to get hands-on with the site. These large, dynamic websites are powered by e-commerce hosting services, thriving off the same features and administrative tools that can be used to bridge the gap between you and your customers.

The Role of E-commerce Hosting

Here are some of the Web 2.0 features you will find in an e-commerce hosting solution:

Free Blogging Applications – Blogs can be considered as some of the Web 2.0 pioneers and many web hosting providers offer these applications free of charge. WordPress is one of several blogging programs that functions well in the business environment. These platforms are generally easy to use and very friendly in the eyes of the search engines.

Multimedia Support – Internet gurus are raving about how effective video marketing has become. With support for multimedia technologies such as Flash and Silverlight, you can incorporate rich features that enhance the experience for your visitors.

Social Networking Tools – Social networking is the core of Web 2.0. E-commerce hosting features such as chat scripts and bulletin boards will give you the power to create a community environment that makes your site the place to be.

Why Jump on the Bandwagon?

The internet is driven by Web 2.0 and if you don’t catch on, your business could get left behind. Many have found that this is the most effective way to establish and strengthen brand recognition and keep existing customers around as well. There are many ways to approach this trend and as long as you stick with the program, you can make your business a success.

Establishing Your Online Presence with WordPress Hosting

Even though social networking has evolved to include sites like MySpace, FaceBook and Twitter, traditional blogging continues to be one of the hottest phenomenons in today’s web-based world. There are quite a few blogging platforms, but WordPress is easily among the most widely used and perhaps the most popular of them all. This powerful web publishing tool is easy to install, customize and maintain, providing you with the ability to have your very own blog site up and running in no time. You can blog about a hobby, something that interests friends or family, or use this medium as tool that helps propel your business to the next level. Regardless of what your plans call for, Wordpress can act as that stable and reliable platform you need to make a name for yourself as a blogger.


The WordPress Phenomenon

WordPress has become an immensely popular blogging platform due to its ease of use and cost efficiency. The software is open-source with no licensing fees required, making it absolutely free to anyone who wants to use it. Being open-source also allows the WordPress software to be customized to meet the specific needs of the user. Over the years, developers have created a number of themes and plugins that are now widely available to its large community of users. All this activity gives you the opportunity to start out with a simple blog and later incorporate all the features and functionality needed to enhance your site.


Meeting the Requirements for WordPress Hosting

Perhaps the most unique quality of WordPress is that is can be self hosted through WordPress.com or WordPress.org, with the latter requiring you to install the software on your own web hosting account or server. Finding the right solution isn’t necessarily difficult, but it does call for you to evaluate all of the available options before choosing a hosting provider. Because it is such a popular software program, WordPress is widely supported by many companies on the web hosting market. However, one must still conduct thorough research in order to make sure their requirements and expectations are met. When shopping for a service, some important factors you want to keep in mind are bandwidth and disk storage so your blog will have enough resources to support traffic and store your files. There are also some basic requirements that must be fulfilled to complete a WordPress hosting package. The two most essential features you will need are a MySQL database, and a web server such as Apache with PHP installed, which is the programming language the software is written in.

There are many web hosting providers offering a wide variety of features and options that make it much easier to work with the WordPress software. For example, some offer auto-install utilities and upgrades that allow you to remain current with the latest functionality and security features. Others permit the hosting of multiple domains, which gives you the opportunity to host more than one blog under a single account. WordPress can work wonders for your web presence, but the journey all begins with finding a company that can provide you with a reliable hosting solution.

Choosing the Best Web Hosting Solution for Your Blog

Blogging has become a common way to publish content and express yourself online. This popularity is reflected in the countless number of new blogs that go up each day. No longer do you have to be restricted on who you to run your blog with because you can easily host it yourself on a variety of platforms. Before creating your blog site and throwing up your first post, there are some important factors that deserve careful consideration.


What Blog Software Will You Use?

There are many blogging applications available to you, with WordPress, Blogger and b2evolution being among the most widely used. This is all a matter of preference, but it should help to know that WordPress is the most popular of the bunch. Supported by a large community of developers and users, WordPress is highly customizable through a vast selection themes, widgets and endless plugins. Regardless of the platform, you may want to put an emphasis on ease of use as some blogging applications are more complex than others.


Free or Paid Blog Hosting?

When making the decision to set up a blog site, you also need to determine if you want a free or paid hosting service. Free services are abundant and usually do not force you to litter your pages with third-party advertisements like free web hosting offerings. However, there are some disadvantages you should know about. Opting for free blog hosting restricts you in terms of features and control, factors that could possibly limit your potential. If you want to make the most of your blogging experience, it would be best to purchase an affordable web hosting plan that comes with free blog support. Being that blogging has become such a phenomenon, rest assured that these services are plentiful on today’s competitive market.


Finding a Host

If you decide that paid hosting is the best move for you, the next thing you need to consider is the company that will be hosting your blog site. In the past, finding a good web host was a rather tedious process that often left prospective customers worn and frustrated. Things have changed as more resources are now available to aid in your search. There are numerous sites online that provide side-by-side comparisons of companies offering blog hosting services. These sites generally tell you the price you will need to pay for the service and the type of blog supported along with other specifications such as the amount of disk space and bandwidth included in the package. Review sites also make a good source of information, particularly the ones that offer both expert opinions and feedback from real users.

Technology just keeps moving along but it is hard to imagine an internet and World Wide Web without the blog. This medium is here to stay and will likely evolve with improvements that make the experience even more worthwhile. If you can find a web hosting solution that provides adequate support for your specific needs, a blog can give you a viable and near flawless connection to the rest of the world.

A Control Panel for Your Dedicated Server

When making the decision to host your site on a dedicated server, you need to prepare for an entirely different level of complexity. Unlike a shared server where the web hosting company takes care of all the management tasks, you are essentially on your own and responsible for making sure your site stays operating. There are several factors that need to be considered but one of the most important of all is the control panel software.

The control panel a company offers can make your web hosting experience a smooth one or extremely frustrating. Keep in mind that every provider has their own preference, preferences in which you may be forced to accept upon signing up with them. What is the primary significance of control panels? The answer is simple – power. A control panel gives you the freedom to control the features of your web hosting account. It allows you to access all the essentials such as your domains, email and FTP accounts, files, databases and much more. When it comes to dedicated server hosting, the control panel is what will enable you to create the best site possible by putting the administrative power in your hands.

Available Control Panels

With so many programs available, choosing one for your dedicated server can be a grueling process. The best way to make this determination is to know what you are looking to achieve and what a particular control panel has to offer. In general, control panels are designed for specific platforms or operating systems, which usually boils down to Windows, Linux or Unix. Some of the most popular options include cPanel, Plesk, Ensim, Hostopia, Sphera and vDeck, all of which are very reliable.

If you are new to the dedicated server environment then you want a control panel that is intuitive and easy to use. However, if you already have a bit of experience, you may prefer something that offers more power and flexibility. Programs such as cPanel and vDeck are very popular and extremely easy to use while control panels like Ensim tend to be more functional and suited for advanced users. If you want something that offers the best of both worlds, Plesk might be a good option as it is both user-friendly and highly functional.

Choosing a Control Panel

One way to find a control panel suited for your dedicated server is to play around with a few demo versions. Many companies will provide you with temporary login credentials to get a feel of the software before making a decision. By doing so, you will experience a number of different platforms and are more likely find a control panel that works best for your requirements. Always remember that any program has a learning curve and will take some time getting used to. Because each control panel has its own set of features and capabilities, you should choose a program that matches your skill level. When basing a control panel on your personal needs, its functionality and your abilities, you will be able to find one that is just right for your dedicated server.

What to Look for in Colocation

If you feel that a dedicated server or managed hosting provider isn’t able to meet your needs, you always have the option of purchasing your own server and taking it to the data center of a colocation host. In most cases, you pay a housing or rack fee in addition to charges for internet connectivity and possibly other services. The provider is responsible for maintaining its data center and network infrastructure while you are responsible for your own server. Some of today’s most prominent internet companies rely on colocation hosting as it offers the customization needed to achieve the best possible server performance.

Choosing a Provider

When deciding to invest in colocation hosting, choosing a provider is the most important step in the process. As with any type of hosting, you should first determine your individual needs, write out a list and keep it in front of you while listening to offers from different providers. It sounds elementary but if you don’t, you could be easily sold on aggressively marketed services instead of getting exactly what you need.

Below we have listed some factors that must be considered when searching for a colocation provider:

Technical Support

The level of technical support should play a huge role in your final decision. A good provider following industry standards will offer support around the clock via phone and email. It is important to keep in mind that unless you pay an additional fee for maintenance, technical support probably will not cover any issues with your server. Technical support offered by a colocation provider generally includes addressing connectivity and setting up the hardware. In any event, getting a quick response is vital.

Redundancy

Equally important is redundancy as the provider’s infrastructure is what will ensure that your hardware stays running. We strongly recommend that you learn some background information on the connection to make sure you get the best performance. Even if you have a high performance server and all the best hardware, you could still experience unacceptable downtime if the provider doesn’t have a stable internet connection. A respectable colocation host has multiple backbones in place to provide a stable, fast connection to the internet.. Furthermore, they have other redundant systems such as 24/7 monitoring, climate controls and backup generators to keep you online in the case of a power outage.

Price

We saved price for last because although you don’t want to overpay for anything, going with the cheapest colocation provider isn’t always the best decision either. Choosing something more affordable is often tempting but could end up resulting in downtime if you choose the wrong company. The most important thing is to understand the contract and the services you are paying for.

Proceed with Caution

Colocation is one of the biggest moves you will ever make in regard to your business. We have heard far too many stories of business owners who were bombarded with hidden fees from hosts because they overlooked something as simple as a network card for their server. If you are financially strapped, dedicated or managed hosting might be the way to go. However, if you are certain that colocation is the right move, take extreme caution when selecting a provider.

Do You Need Dedicated Hosting?

Has your online business grown to the point where it exceeds the offerings of a shared hosting environment? If so, it might to time to upgrade to dedicated hosting. Often referred to as a dedicated server, dedicated hosting is a solution where you have the entire server to yourself. The hosting provider monitors the hardware, routing equipment and network connectivity while granting you control over the server software. Though more complex and expensive than shared hosting, leasing a dedicated server gives you the unparalleled flexibility and control needed to run a thriving business that experiences a high volume of web traffic.

Because of its highly technical nature, many online business owners elect to outsource the administrative tasks of their dedicated servers to experienced IT professionals. Despite the costs and complexity, dedicated hosting can serve numerous benefits to your business, especially if you have the resources required to maintain the server. Below are just a few of many advantages you will enjoy with this advanced web hosting solution.

Faster Server Response

One of the biggest knocks on shared hosting is slow server response time which is the direct result of sharing the machine and associated resources with other customers. In this hosting environment, the performance of your site could suffer drastically if another site experiences a sudden boost in traffic. This spells bad news for your business when potential clients stop by and are greeted by pages that take forever to load. With dedicated hosting, you have the server all to yourself, allowing you to plan for traffic levels and any other scenarios that may impact server response time.

Flexibility

What most business owners love about dedicated hosting is the flexibility it grants. In a shared hosting environment, you are limited to the operating system, software and technologies provided the web host. A dedicated server allows you to choose your own operating system be it Windows or Linux, as well as customized software applications that best suite your business.

Scalability

Scalability is what you need to support the growth of your business. Whereas options for upgrading are limited on a shared server, dedicated hosting allows you to scale up or down at any time. With this hosting solution you can increase the amount of storage space, RAM processors and even purchase additional bandwidth to support an increase in web traffic.

Security

Security is one of the biggest reasons to consider dedicated hosting. Try as they may, a shared hosting provider can never guarantee the security you get with your own server. A dedicated server will be as secure as you make it as firewalls, virus protection and other security mechanisms can be installed. The security of your applications and client data should be of the utmost importance if you are running a business.

Conclusion

Aside from all the benefits, you should also know that dedicated hosting isn’t suited for everyone. For instance, if you are running a small business with low to medium traffic, a shared server is probably the best option. After establishing your business to a point where it requires more flexibility, only then should you consider moving up to dedicated hosting.

Benefitting From VPS Hosting

Virtual Private Server or VPS, refers to a type of hosting where different customers host their sites a single physical server. They share the same internet connection and even the hardware itself. Sounds pretty much like shared hosting, right? Yes it does, but there are significant differences. A VPS is established by virtualization software which partitions and creates multiple servers within a single server. This process allows you to enjoy benefits similar to that of a dedicated server. For example, you typically get your own operating system, file system and root access to the server. Control is another aspect that is increasingly attracting webmasters to virtualization solutions. VPS allows you to perform administrative tasks such as making configurations to the server, installing software applications and hosting multiple sites without enduring performance issues. You also have the power to actually reboot the server.

Benefits of VPS Hosting

The major benefit of VPS hosting is enhanced performance as well as tighter security at a price significantly cheaper than a dedicated server.

If you plan to move from shared hosting yet can’t afford the high-end price tag of a dedicated server, VPS hosting is the solution you are looking for. Virtualization is becoming more popular, resulting in a price drop on VPS hosting packages. This type of arrangement can serve benefits to a wide range of users. With your platform and operating system isolated from other customers, you will enjoy guaranteed resources in terms of CPU, RAM and disk space.

Who Needs VPS Hosting?

Virtualization is quickly become the preferred option amongst entrepreneurs involved in reseller hosting. VPS provides you with a greater level of control on the services you can offer your customers, resulting in a edge over competitors still utilizing traditional shared servers. The power it provides is well suited for developers looking to a create highly functional blog or demanding social networking site. VPS is also an ideal platform for the webmaster that is already proficient at managing a shared hosting account and wants to upgrade their server administrative skills without fully being exposed to dedicated hosting. All users will have the freedom to install custom applications and change modules on the server. When considering the added privacy, extra layer of security, guaranteed resources and a higher level of performance, it’s no wonder that VPS hosting has become so incredibly popular.

Conclusion

Both shared and dedicated hosting will always serve their purpose but the Virtual Private Server is here to stay. This arrangement makes the perfect solution for anyone who requires more control over their hosting environment yet do not have the resources to invest in an entire server. With VPS, you get a cost not too far removed from shared hosting with a level of control and flexibility similar to a dedicated server, an ideal compromise that allows you to enjoy the best of both worlds.

Introduction to VDS Hosting

The great demand for more secure, reliable services has made virtualization technology increasingly popular in the web hosting industry. While many customers are not ready to handle the costs and responsibility that comes along with a dedicated server, more are discovering that the shared hosting platform isn’t necessarily the best choice for mission-critical operations. VDS is the latest in virtualization, a technology that offers more control than shared hosting and the power of a dedicated server at a fraction of the cost.

What is a VDS?

Short for Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS), a VDS is created by virtualization software that partitions a single physical server into multiple isolated servers. The result is a powerful platform that gives you the enhanced security of a dedicated server at a price that it isn’t too far off from shared hosting. After being partitioned, a VDS is allocated with its own disk storage and data transfer for added stability. The server has its own operating system along with isolated web server instances, a mail server and root access for custom software installations. This technology functions in a way that no matter what occurs on another customer’s VDS, it will have absolutely no impact on your environment. Unlike its virtual counterpart VPS, a VDS is virtually like having the resources of an entire server.

VDS vs Shared Hosting

In a shared hosting arrangement, multiple websites are generally stored in a single directory.

The mere structure makes this a security risk. With the average setup, shared customers have a dangerous level read and write access, meaning they could possibly access and modify your files. Other issues relate to stability as customers are required to share a variety of critical resources. This includes the operating system, disk drive, CPU, memory and applications. Depending on the severity, an error on a single account could force the entire server to run slow or even crash. With VDS, the servers are completely isolated, giving you a level of privacy that is equivalent to running the server all by yourself. In a VDS environment, you are completely protected from all the actions of other users hosting on the machine.

On a shared server, performance can still be an issue when no malicious actions or mistakes have been made. For example, if one customer starts to experience a heavy load of traffic, their excessive bandwidth usage could slow down the entire machine. This could result in a loss of HTTP requests and ultimately visitors for other customers on the server. Additionally, the possibility of their being hundreds or thousands of domain owners on a single machine makes shared hosting very susceptible to sluggish performance. This is especially true when many of them are using memory-hogging applications.

VDS is the perfect alternative to shared hosting as you are assured critical resources and the privacy you need from other customers. In this environment, you will not have to worry about anyone consuming all the server’s memory and bandwidth or having the ability to view and edit your sensitive files. The additional stability and security you get with VDS hosting makes it the next best thing to a dedicated server.

Introducing Cold Fusion Hosting

Now an Adobe product, Cold Fusion is one of the most powerful programming languages available. As a server-side scripting technology, it is used to create dynamic web pages and applications, quite similar to languages such as ASP, Perl and PHP. Cold Fusion gives developers the ability to create and deploy interactive features that power self-service applications, content management systems, e-commerce sites and much more. As a tag-based language, it is said to be one of the most comprehensive programming tools to use in the world. In order to enjoy all Cold Fusion has to offer, you need a web hosting provider that supports it.

This article will go over the factors you must consider when looking for Cold Fusion hosting.

Available Version

When it comes to Cold Fusion hosting, it is always best to choose a web hosting provider that offers the most recent version of the language. This will allow you to benefit from the latest features to create powerful, user-friendly web pages and applications. It also makes it much easier to integrate the language with the database system you prefer to work with.

Possible Limitations

Choosing the right Cold Fusion solution is very important as some environments prevent you from getting its full potential. For example, there are a few shared hosting providers that will limit the use of its tags because they are often viewed as security risks. This is mainly due to the mere structure of a shared server. This is very understandable as the vulnerability of your site opens potential threats to everyone else hosting on the server. You can get around these limitations by opting for dedicated server hosting. Though it is considerably more expensive, dedicated hosting gives you complete control over which tags can or cannot be used on the server.

Cold Fusion Features

Cold Fusion is a powerful feature in its own right but there are some minimal requirements. Most web hosting providers will set you up with everything required to get the maximum use out of this dynamic programming language. All that is really needed to excel with Cold Fusion is a complimenting database to provide back-end in support for your web applications. This shouldn’t be a problem as Cold Fusion integrates seamlessly with popular databases such as MySQL, Postgre SQL and MS SQL.

Cost Factor

Lastly, you need to consider the budget you have available to put towards a Cold Fusion hosting package. Because it is one of the oldest languages around, you can find Cold Fusion offered in many low cost hosting packages. However, some companies charge a pretty penny for all the advanced functionality it offers, especially when bundled with compatible Microsoft products.

In the end, it is mainly the complimenting features such as bandwidth and software add-ons that will impact the cost of Cold Fusion hosting solution.

While it goes without saying, Cold Fusion hosting is something you should only seek when having a specific need for the functionality it offers. Though it may not be as popular as ASP or PHP, the language is widely available. As with any hosting service, the most important aspects of this niche are reliability and quality technical support. A stable platform will give you all the ammunition you need to thrive with a Cold Fusion website.

Free Control Panel Software for Your Server

If you need a control panel program for your server, it is important to know that the options span much further than commercial versions such as cPanel and Plesk. In fact, there are some free control panels on the market that make excellent choices for a dedicated server. The options discussed in this article will be GNUPanel, SysCP and Webmin.


GNUPanel

A relatively new option, the GNUPanel is an application scripted in the PHP5 programming language and designed to run on the Debian distribution of Linux. The standout features of this software include domain and FTP management, mail management and database administration. This control panel lets you control popular applications such as the Apache web server as well packages like PHP and MySQL among others. The software also enables the automatic installation of various third-party programs including Joomla, phpBB, osCommerce and Wordpress among others. Hence the name, GNUPanel has an open-source license under the GPL. Although this control panel is currently restricted to the Debian platform, its developers say the application is currently being designed to support other operating systems.


SysCP

The SysCP control panel allows you to manage your web space, mail, CGI scripts, DNS settings, create custom error pages, view statistics and more. The features integrated into the software provide you with the ability to control a wide variety of applications including Apache, BIND, Courier and ProFTPD. While there are numerous modules built-in into the control panel, there are even more extensions available for download that enable you to administer other aspects of the server. Some of the third-party modules for SysCP include tools that allow you to manage applications such as Fetchmail and SpamAssassin, perform backups of your critical data and more. This control panel supports five major Unix-like distributions with the most notable being Debian, Gentoo, FreeBSD, OpenSuSe and Ubuntu. Under the GNU GPL, SysCP can be freely distributed and modified. Before installing SysCP, be sure to check for compatibility as it supports certain versions of the afore mentioned operating systems.


Webmin

The Webmin control panel is becoming an increasingly popular option for dedicated server customers. This software is incredibly easy to use and loaded with a number of features, which are primarily modules that provide the ability to administer the server. It comes standard with modules for Apache and BIND, a BSD firewall, bandwidth monitoring, a cron job manager and much more. Aside from the built-in modules, Webmin supports a variety of third-party extensions that can be downloaded from the web. It also gives you the option to develop your modules. Webmin currently supports more than 80 different operating systems including Unix, FreeBDS and several variations of Linux. Because it is under the GNU GPL as open-source software, many developers from all over the world have contributed to the code and improved the software. The most recent versions of Webmin have been released under a license similar to that of BSD, basically meaning that it can be freely distributed and modified for both commercial and non-commercial use.

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Unlimited Domains

The more popular the web hosting business becomes, the most difficult it becomes to distinguish a quality provider from an inferior imposter. It takes far more than a few testimonials and a professional website design to identify a reliable host. The search becomes even more difficult when running across companies that offer “unlimited” domain hosting plans. Unlike the multiple variation, this form doesn’t limit you to a measly two or three domains – you have the freedom to run as many websites as your heart desires. With these capabilities you can scratch that expensive dedicated server off your list. Virtualization is no longer worth looking into, right? Hold on before you put off your plans. There is a lot you should know about unlimited domain hosting.


Uncovering the Truth

As a customer, it is important to understand that web hosting is a major industry with a terminology all its own. What a particular term means to you can have an entirely different meaning in this environment, as is the case with unlimited in regard to domains. Although several companies will lead you to believe that you can launch websites until your heart is content, you can probably host up to 5 domains before things go haywire. Anything more increases the likelihood of draining critical resources such as bandwidth, memory and CPU. When this happens, you might not have a single website available let alone 5 of them. Therefore, you should look at unlimited domain hosting as another clever tactic similar to the incredible disk space and transfer offerings used to entice unknowing customers.


Instead of allowing you to broaden your web presence, an unlimited domain hosting solution could end up creating unlimited ways to get your sites shut down. Despite the advertisements, some of these plans come attached with complex stipulations and restrictions that typically don’t work in your favor. Beneath the technical jargon and fine print you will discover limitations on CPU and RAM usage, file size, FTP uploads and the list goes on. All these complications in an arrangement that is supposed to offer the freedom of unlimited. Go out of bounds and you could find yourself trapped at the mercy of an unruly web host.


Save Yourself

It may not be fair, but it is pretty easy to understand why companies heavily promote unlimited domain hosting packages. It is just another way to sell a service to customers who simply don’t know enough about how the technology works to realize the ploy. In most cases, no harm, no foul. Others however, turn out be disastrous. The truth is that some of the industry’s leading providers are making their names off of these misleading yet ingenuous marketing gimmicks. It is up to you to know the game and read between the lines. There is a great chance that unlimited domain hosting will continue or eventually be replaced by offerings promising even more irresistible capabilities. While you can’t change the hosting market, you can prevent yourself from getting stuck in a jam.

What is Database Hosting?

Database hosting providers deliver services that enable you to run data and database-intensive applications. The underlying server can either be exclusively used for databases or other applications such as a website, all of which depend on your requirements. This type of hosting is particularly useful for clients with a need to run programs such as CRM (Customer Relation Management) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software or custom-built applications. Because they typically require more memory, customers often turn to database hosting solutions to increase the speed and reliability of their applications.


The Benefits of Database Hosting

A database server is an intriguing piece of software as it has the ability to store tons of information. Unlike the average web server application, this type of server stores information in tables, which consists of columns and rows. Through the use of a database, users can get the information they need in a matter of minutes. For example, Google aims to keep its online searches below a half a second, all made possible by the more 3 trillion pages in its extensive database. What makes a database such a good source of retrieval is that it mainly pulls data out of memory opposed to a hard disk drive, something it does up to 10 times faster. Since the database is the core of the entire application, it tends to have more RAM and therefore, functions much faster than the typical web server.


Downside of Database Hosting

Similar to the software application side of a dedicated server, a database server calls for heavy administration. For this reason, it may be a good idea to go with a managed service if you lack the experience this type of hosting requires. A managed service will get you a package where the hosting provider handles some or even all of the database server administration on your behalf. These services generally range from simple management operations to more demanding tasks such as system security patching. If your plans call for a complete database server but you do not have time or skill needed to maintain it, you might be interested in a managed solution or at least one that allows you to purchase some sort of service upgrades to ease the pain of administration.


Do You Really Need Database Hosting?

While there are tremendous benefits involved, database hosting is not made for everyone. For example, if you simply have a need to run a small online business with shopping carts and other e-commerce features, you can probably get by with a normal web hosting package that provides you with access to multiple databases opposed to the entire server. It is imperative to keep in mind that there are significant differences between database hosting and simply having access to one, or even multiple databases. In this type of arrangement, the database system is the most essential element of the entire application as this is where all the processing is handled. True, there are similarities, but the MySQL database server is an entirely different animal than the Apache web server.

Common E-commerce Hosting Terminology

Choosing an e-commerce hosting plan can be extremely difficult for two reasons. One is because there are so many options available to you. The second is all the confusing terminology and technical jargon a hosting provider will throw at you. This article will aim to clear up some of that confusion.

Affiliate Program – An affiliate program refers to a revenue sharing program where webmasters can earn commission by generating leads, traffic or sales of a web hosting service. If you feel that have signed up with a respectable hosting provider, you may be interested in their affiliate program to earn some extra cash.

ASP - Active Server Pages is a technology that allows developers to create dynamic, database-driven websites. The web server processes the ASP code and then translates it into HTML for your visitors to view.

Auto Responder – An auto responder is an automated program that can be configured to acknowledge the receipt of an email, and automatically sends a reply to the sender. This is an effective tool for keeping base with clients when you’re away from the desk or on vacation.

Backbone - A backbone refers to a single high-speed line or a series of connections that enable a pathway to a network such as the internet. The more backbones or the higher the capacity, the higher level of availability your site will enjoy.

CGI Scripts - Common Gateway Interface scripts are small programs installed into a web server. They are designed to perform specific tasks and enable functionality that a simple HTML document cannot.

Control Panel – A control panel is a software package that allows hosting providers and customers to simplify various web server tasks. This type of application gives you the ability to easily maintain your mailboxes, files, manage domains and more even if you have little to no experience.

Dedicated Server – Also called dedicated hosting, a dedicated server describes a situation where you lease service from a hosting provider and get the entire server to yourself. This in contrast to shared hosting, which hence, calls for you to share the server with other customers.

IP Address – An IP address is a unique numerical code used to specify hosts (computers) and networks. Every machine connected to the internet has its own IP address.

Reseller Hosting – Reseller hosting is a type of hosting where a customer purchases service from a provider and then sells hosting package to customers of their own. This has become a popular and affordable way for entrepreneurs and small businesses to profit from the web hosting market.

Shared Hosting - Shared hosting refers to a hosting arrangement where multiple websites are stored on a single server. This is the most affordable and common type of web hosting there is.


Web Host – The web host is the company who provides you with the e-commerce hosting solution. They run computers known as severs that have dedicated lines to the internet. The purpose of a web host is to serve your pages to internet users and assure its availability.

Shared Hosting: The Ideal Small Business Solution

Shared hosting is the most popular web hosting solution today, ideal for individuals and small business owners as well. So, what exactly is shared hosting? Well, as the name implies, it refers to an arrangement where you share space on a web server and resources such as bandwidth and RAM with other hosting customers. Though shared hosting providers are abundant, the key is finding a company that will set you up for success. This article will provide a checklist to help you use the shared hosting platform as a vehicle to establishing your small business.


Finding a Reliable Shared Host

In order to give yourself the best chance of succeeding with a small business, you need a shared hosting provider that takes hosting serious. First and foremost, they should be dedicated to making sure your site is always up and running, ensuring that visitors enjoy a smooth performance. If your site is frequently down due to technical difficulties or performs sluggishly, converting visitors into customers will be nearly impossible. You can better assure accessibility and performance by looking for these technical specifics:

Uptime - This refers to the amount of time your site will be available on the web. Right now, the industry standard is 99.9% so anything less than that can be considered unacceptable. Don’t simply take the provider’s word on its advertised guarantee. Do a little investigating and find out how the percentage is calculated and what is actually covered in the guarantee.

Disk Space – If you are planning to start an online business, a shared hosting plan must provide an adequate amount of disk space to store your content. You probably won’t require a tremendous amount of storage space so look for something that suits your needs rather than falling for the glamorous “unlimited” offering.

Bandwidth – Equally important is bandwidth, often referred to as data transfer. Bandwidth is another resource that is often advertised as an unlimited offering, but just as with disk space, that simply isn’t true. We suggest selecting a shared host that offers an accurate amount of bandwidth to support your web traffic. Without enough, your site will lag. If you exceed the allotted amount, you could be taxed hefty overage fees despite the unlimited offering.

E-commerce Tools – Shared hosting is your ticket into online business and essentially the world of e-commerce. Depending on the nature of your business, some of the e-commerce features you may want to look out for are shopping cart programs, multiple email accounts, SSL support, and database access among other features. These tools will give you the ability to open up an online storefront, keep in touch with customers and facilitate secure transactions on your site.

Support - A small business hosting solution just wouldn’t be complete without solid support. A reliable shared host should offer support 24/7 to step in and make the save when you have questions or concerns. If they can’t provide quality customer support, the overall quality of their hosting service is questionable as well.

The most attractive benefit of shared hosting is cost efficiency. By referring to this checklist, you should be able to find a small business solution that is both reliable and affordable.

How to Find Secure Shared Hosting

If you are looking to save money on building and managing a website, shared hosting may be the way to go. Shared hosting is incredibly affordable these days, so much that you can have a personal or business website for just a couple of dollars a month. What makes this arrangement so affordable? With shared hosting, you are literally sharing disk space and various resources with other customers. This allows the web hosting provider to rake in guaranteed profits while keeping expenses to a minimum. Shared hosting is very economical but there are some drawbacks to this type of arrangement, mainly security.

The major issue with shared hosting has always been the same – the availability of security and the fact that this platform can only be so secure. Without adequate protection, the web host’s server is vulnerable to a wide range of threats including DDoS attacks, malware infection and network intrusion. You could also be exposed to attacks such as SQL injection, cross site scripting and even the malicious actions of your neighbors on the server. When your hosting environment isn’t properly secured, you stand the risk of losing the most sensitive of information.

Security is definitely an issue in the shared hosting environment, one that could make the low cost an uneven trade. The good thing is that several web hosting providers are aware of these vulnerabilities and they are taking the necessary approaches to deliver a secure service. When looking for a company to host your site, we recommend keeping the following security considerations in mind.


Protection from Thy Neighbor

When assessing the security of a particular web host, you must not only analyze the protection offered against outside threats, but security that keeps you protected against other website owners on the server. You never know who you’re sharing the server with, as they could be into dealing porn, distributing spam or malicious software. A few of your next door neighbors just might be prolific computer hackers. To keep yourself protected in this regard, you should make sure the provider doesn’t allow any unsolicited code to be executed or access to your directories.


Clean Code

One of the biggest threats to your website lies in the code used to build your applications. When they are not properly scripted, intruders can use them as an entrance to your data and reap major havoc. You can minimize the possibility of common website exploits by ensuring that the web hosting company offers the latest in development tools whether its PHP and MySQL or ASP and MS Access. Most importantly, it is up to you to make sure you are coding your applications and web pages in a secure manner.


Security Features

There are also a number of features that will give you an idea of how secure a particular web hosting platform is. This includes protection for the actual server such as software that defends against DDoS attacks and viruses as well firewalls and network intrusion systems to fend off hackers. If your site is to involve online business transactions, you will also require SSL support to protect your customers’ credit card information. When making sure all the vital security issues are addressed, you can better your chances of enjoying a smooth run in the shared hosting environment.

Do You Need Cloud Hosting?

Cloud hosting services have generated a lot of buzz in recent times. While you may or may have not heard of this type of offering before, you are probably more familiar with it than you think. In fact, if use Gmail for checking your webmail, Flickr for sharing photos and perform online searches with Google, you are making use of services that operate in the cloud hosting infrastructure. Let’s take a closer look at this unique form of hosting to see what the cloud has to offer.


What is Cloud Hosting?

Also known as clustered hosting, cloud hosting is a solution that often uses virtualization technology to facilitate load balancing, security and system resources over multiple servers. This basically means that instead of relying a single piece of hardware, your website and applications can benefit from the resources of multiple servers. In the typical shared hosting environment, a website is limited to the bandwidth, disk space, RAM, processing power and others resources allocated to the physical machine. Cloud hosting is a concept that frees you of these limitations, providing you with on-demand access to an infrastructure that is virtually inexhaustible. The mere structure of the cloud makes it easy to scale up or down based on your individual requirements.


Who Needs Cloud Hosting?

Throughout the years, a countless number of websites have been the victims of their own success. This is the website then ends up suffering because of its sudden boost in popularity and traffic. The environment in which this situation occurs the most is shared web hosting. Once your website exceeds the limitations of a single physical server, it is susceptible to choking. Cloud hosting is the perfect alternative as it gives you access to a cluster of servers, allowing your website to benefit from additional bandwidth, RAM, processing power and other resources it might require. The major selling point to this solution as that you can obtain this extra boost in computing power when you need it. If the popularity of your website subsides a bit, you can easily place the resources back into the cloud and make them available to other users.


Are There Other Benefits?

Cloud hosting services offer benefits from numerous angles. The most obvious advantages are its scalability and cost efficiency. Being that cloud computing is a highly scalable technology, websites and applications can be expanded greatly thanks to the additional resources. Dealing with slow responses and frequent crashes just because your site experienced a sudden surge in traffic is a common thing in the shared hosting environment. The cloud’s scalability allows you to avoid this problem with ease. Another major benefit of cloud hosting is the flexible pay-per-usage model. When signing up with a provider, you are only charged for the amount of computing power you use, similar to how you pay for your gas and electrical bill. No longer do you have to lease and maintain a costly and complex dedicated server just to improve performance. These are a few of many benefits that have made the cloud the talk of the IT world.

Finding the Perfect Balance of Disk Space and Bandwidth

You will find thousands of articles online stressing the importance of disk space and bandwidth. Many hosting companies will try to persuade you into buying the package that offers the highest allowance of both. Having a large amount is good but do you really need it?. If you are not sure, you need to find out how to carefully balance the two.

In order to estimate how much disk space and bandwidth you need, you should first determine what type of website you will have. In general, small business sites fall into one of the following classifications.

Mini-sites - Also referred to as one-product sites, min-sites are small and usually consist of two to three pages. The main focus of such a site is to sale a single product or collect contact information from visitors and try to market products to them at a later time. This is the type of site you often find with a lengthy sales letter along with an order form and contact page.

Brochure Site – A brochure site typically has about 10 web pages that describe what the business does. It goes over their products and services, location and targeted market among other details. The site might also contain a contact page, an about page and other pages where items can be purchased. These sites get their name because they essentially act as the company’s online brochure.

Theme-based Site - This type of website revolves around a specific niche market or topic. It could be a site dedicated to freelance writers, web hosting or work-at-home moms. These sites usually receive frequent updates and contain articles, tutorials and other resources. A theme-based site can either sell its own products, items from affiliates or simply exist to provide a lot information.

Each website classification has different disk space and bandwidth requirements.

A mini-site usually does not require an enormous amount of disk space. On the other hand, if it starts to gain popularity through effective search engine optimization, affiliate promoting or word of mouth, it will likely generate more traffic. In this instance, the amount of bandwidth becomes crucial.

A brochure site does not require a lot of disk space or bandwidth. This is the average small business site, one that can get by with the basic offerings of a good web hosting provider.

A theme-based site usually does not require that much disk space or bandwidth. In the beginning that is. If this is a website that truly requires frequent updates, the requirements for disk space can increase quite fast. Moreover, once you add more content and generate more traffic, your needs for data transfer will also increase.

Regardless of what type of site you have in mind for your small business, it is a good rule of thumb to expect the unexpected and take the future into account from day one. The best thing you can do in any event is to make sure your host doesn’t charge ungodly amounts for overages and provides an easy path to service upgrades.

Factors to Consider for E-commerce Hosting

Before opening up your store online, it is important to know that e-commerce hosting is a complex undertaking filled with confusing terminology and many types of services. Aside from figuring out that products or services you want to market, you must also determine how much disk space and transfer you need as well as what type of hosting solution can meet those requirements. It is a lot to process your first time around. This article will discuss some of the complicated factors that must be considered when shopping for an e-commerce hosting plan.


Disk Space and Transfer

Whether it is a blog, community or e-commerce site, disk space and bandwidth are the core elements of any hosting solution. It is these two resources that will ultimately determine what size package you need. Though making this determination can be difficult, it should help to know that most e-commerce sites require a little more than others. This is because you have to factor in product images, shopping cart applications and hopefully, frequent customers. Regardless of how much disk space and bandwidth you start out with, make sure you choose a service that has the future in mind with a path to easy upgrades.


Payment Options

The multitude of payment options is enough to keep you up for nights but this is a bridge that must be crossed. Fortunately, the preferred method of payment online is by credit card and there are several ways to meet this need. Services such as PayPal make a nice option for small start up stores that don’t have a need to sell a large number of products. The service is free, very secure and virtually anyone can get an account. The downside is the hefty transaction fees attached to every sale you make. At the end of the month, you might notice that these fees are taking a sizable chunk out of your bottom line. An alternative would be a merchant account as it shows more credibility and has considerably lower transaction fees. The problem here is a strenuous review process in which only a select few qualify. It would be wise to compare a few carts so you can make an informed decision on which method works best.


Shopping Carts

After getting your payment options together, you must then figure out how those transactions will be facilitated. The answer here is an aptly named piece of software known as a shopping cart. These days, hosting providers offer a wide variety of shopping carts to choose from, many of which come free in e-commerce hosting packages. While the software is a matter of preference, it is best to choose one that has your customers’ best interests in mind. The shopping cart should be simple for you to set up and easy for your customers to use. You can learn more about what’s available by reading shopping cart reviews as they generally give you a good idea of what to expect.


Conclusion

There is so much that goes into e-commerce hosting and most of it has to do with your personal requirements. Aside from the factors mentioned here, you will need a special set of management tools, security features and an overall reliable service. These are easily obtainable when purchasing service from a reputable provider.

Do You Need Free or Paid Web Hosting?

If you are in need of a website, it important to know that are many types of services that can help you achieve this goal. Rather than going into the endless variety of web hosting types, we will discuss two of the most basic services – free and paid hosting. Indeed, you don’t necessarily have to spend money to get a website. However, there are a number of factors that need to be considered outside of costs, all of which will help you make an informed decision.

What is the Intent of Your Site?

When it comes to choosing a service, the first step that needs to made is determining the purpose of your site. Some people use a website as a convenient means of sharing photos and information with family and friends while others are looking to start a business online. Although every website is based on the same general concepts, there are extremes that greatly differentiate business sites from their personal counterparts. Knowing the purpose of your site will make it much easier to decide between free and paid hosting.

What will it Include?

After determining the needs of your website, you should then have a better idea of the content it will include. Some websites consist of a single homepage and others contain multiple pages with dynamic features. If you only need to upload small text documents and photos, you will not require tons of disk space and bandwidth in a web hosting solution. The same holds true if you only anticipate a minimal amount of traffic.

If the above sounds like your plans, you can probably get by with free web hosting. Free services are typically easy to use and cater to individuals with no experience at creating web pages. With the right platform, you can learn more about HTML programming and put those skills to use for a professional site in the future. Many have used these services to build their presence online before moving on to a paid solution.

Can You Afford to be Limited?

Although a free hosting service can help you get a website, there are several drawbacks you should take into consideration. First and foremost, you have very little control over your hosting environment. Because of this, you may be forced to allow the hosting provider to place third-party advertisements on your web pages. Secondly, features are quite limited in comparison to a premium hosting solution. You only have a small amount of disk space and bandwidth to work with and technical support is almost non-existent. Such disadvantages are the very reason free hosting services are best suited for personal websites.

Paid hosting gives you more flexibility and control with a variety of packages to choose from.

You will have access to more disk space and bandwidth along with a number of highly sought after features. This ranges from powerful databases and dynamic programming languages to multiple email accounts and free domain names. These are features you just won’t find in a shared hosting plan.

Conclusion

As you can see, free hosting has its purposes, howevef, the usefulness is primarily limited to personal sites. Anyone who plans to make a serious impact on the web is better served with a premium hosting solution. In this case, it pays to have a service that provides the features and reliability you need to achieve your goals online.

Managed vs Shared Hosting – Which Type to Consider

Before deciding on a web host, it is important to know that web hosting is available in many different variations. Two of the most common forms of hosting are shared and managed hosting. While quite similar, the differences set these types of web hosting apart by far.

Shared Hosting

For someone who only requires a small, basic website, leasing an entire web server just isn’t practical. If this sounds like you, then shared hosting would be the perfect solution. It is cost effective and specifically designed to suite the needs of small websites. With shared hosting, the web host stores multiple websites on single server, allowing them to offer a service that is much cheaper than dedicated hosting.

Web servers are more powerful than the average computer used in the desktop setting. They offer plenty of disk space as well as RAM and CPU. The catch is that you are required to share these resources with other customers, a factor that could lead to performance and security issues. If your requirements are minimal, you should be able to find a shared hosting provider able to supply all the resources you need. However, as your site becomes more popular, it is very likely that you will exceed the resources the web host is able to provide. In this case, you need to either consider purchasing upgrades that supply you with additional bandwidth, storage capacity and other essential components. If the provider is not able to accommodate your needs, it is time to move up to a dedicated server and possibly consider managed hosting.

Managed Hosting

Websites that experience a high volume of traffic and run mission-critical business operations are best suited for a dedicated server. Unlike shared hosting, a dedicated server provides you with all the resources on the machine. This includes disk space, RAM, CPU and guaranteed bandwidth as well. On the other hand, a dedicated server calls for you to deal with server administrative tasks that can be very complex and time consuming.

In its purest form, having a dedicated server means you are responsible for all the maintenance. This includes basic administration to keep the machine thriving on a day to day basis as well addressing any security issues that may arise. Those who require a dedicated server but are not up for all the technical challenges often opt for managed hosting.

Managed hosting offers benefits to the website owner or business that either lacks the skills required to maintain a dedicated server or simply do not have the time to invest. You can generally select the options that best suit your needs, freeing you up to concentrate on other vital aspects while the server is maintained by the web host. When viewing it from this perspective, managed hosting is pretty much like outsourcing your dedicated server tasks to a third-party company.

Making a Choice

Managed hosting is the perfect alternative to the limitations of the shared server and complexity of a dedicated server. Keep in mind that these benefits come with a higher price tag. Therefore, it is very important to make sure you truly require this type of service before making an investment.

The Benefits of VPS Hosting

Seemingly out of nowhere, VPS has become the preferred hosting solution for small to medium sized businesses. VPS stands for Virtual Private Server, a solution that effectively bridges the gap between the limitations of shared hosting and the flexibility of dedicated server hosting. A VPS is created by virtualization software which partitions a single physical server to form multiple servers within it. Each virtual server is completely independent of its neighbors and functions like an actual networked server. What makes VPS hosting so popular is that it provides control at a level similar to a dedicated server at a price not to far removed from affordable shared hosting .

Here are some of the benefits that come along with VPS hosting:

Stability: Unlike shared hosting, the traffic and activities of other VPS customers will not adversely affect your operation.

Performance - Having your own allotment of resources allows you and your visitors to enjoy faster load times.

Dedicated Resources - VPS hosting provides you with more disk space, CPU and RAM.

Flexibility - You have the freedom to choose the operating system and software you want to install on the server.


VPS Features

The features and services of VPS hosting vary depending on the provider. Although the ones you will need all depends on personal requirements, here are a few you may want to look out for:

Root Access: Root access will grant you with complete control over your VPS account from configurations to software installations. All of the actions can be handled from the interface of your control panel application.

Management and Support: Similar to a dedicated hosting account, VPS hosting calls for you to manage your own server . However, there are many companies that provide support and management services to assist with administrative tasks. This feature is invaluable if you lack technical savvy.

Server Monitoring: A good VPS provider will actively monitor its network and hardware your account relies on. This ensures the physical security of the server and also helps defend against virtual threats such as hackers, malicious software and DDoS attacks.

Multiple Domain Hosting: Although shared hosts offer multiple domain hosting, most of them do not provide enough resources for you to do so and still enjoy a smooth performance. Many VPS providers offer plans that allow you to host multiple websites without suffering performance issues. In most cases, you can set up separate email accounts and allocate specific resources for each individual site.

Managed Data Backups: As with any hosting solution, a VPS plan should offer a way to backup your data. Because anything could occur within the provider’s network, it is recommended that you choose a service that allows you to manually backup your own data to assure that it can be restored at any time.

VPS hosting offers an inexpensive way to get many of the features, resources, control and flexibility of a more costly and complex dedicated server. With the technology increasing in popular, prices are dropping rapidly, assuring that you can find a reliable VPS solution that meets your hosting needs.

Types of Web Hosting

For the most part, what makes choosing a provider so challenging is that there are so many different types of web hosting. Narrowing down the choices is often as simple as finding one that suits your personal or business needs. To give you an ideal of what is available, we have provided some details on the most common types of web hosting.

Free Hosting

Yes, free web hosting really does exist. You can have your very own website without paying anything at all – that is, if you don’t mind being restricted. What do we mean by restricted? Well, with a free web hosting service, you generally have little disk space and bandwidth to work with. Features? You don’t get too many of those either. If you’re lucky, you may get a simple control panel along with the ability to upload a few images and integrate a free shopping cart into your site. How could we forget the advertisements? When hosting your site with a free service, the provider typically places third-party ads on your site and best of all, you have no say in the matter. If you can deal with the drawbacks, know that free web hosting is widely available.

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is the most common type of web hosting today. After free services, it is also the most cost effective. With shared hosting, you are literally sharing server space and resources with other web hosting customers. This arrangement calls for you to share disk storage, bandwidth, CPU, RAM and generally an IP address as well. Shared hosting allows providers to offer a cheaper service because the customers essentially pay for the cost of the hardware and critical resources. Although you have no control over the web server, you do have control over your site by way of a control panel application.

VPS Hosting

Short for Virtual Private Server, VPS is similar to shared hosting in the way that it involves hosting multiple websites on a single server. The major difference is an evolving technology known as virtualization. This type of software has the ability to simulate multiple servers within a single physical server. A VPS is partitioned in a manner that isolates you from other customers hosting on the server, providing you with guaranteed resources and enhanced stability. If you require more flexibility than shared hosting can offer but can’t afford an entire server, VPS could be the right solution.

Dedicated Hosting

Often referred to as dedicated server, dedicated hosting is an arrangement where you have the entire server dedicated exclusively to your personal or business needs. This means that you don’t have to worry about sharing disk space, bandwidth, RAM and other vital resources. Dedicated hosting provides the utmost in flexibility, stability and security but is also far more expensive than conventional shared hosting.

Managed Hosting

Managed hosting can be described as dedicated hosting in full turnkey service terms. Because a dedicated server requires extensive maintenance and administration, managed hosting is often needed for individuals who lack technical knowledge or the time required to keep the machine thriving. With this type of solution, you usually have the luxury to choose a predefined managed package or select the options and services that best suit your hosting needs.

Web Hosting Mistakes to Avoid

If you want a website, you should know that finding a web host is that first crucial step. It all seems pretty simple on the surface. You sign up with a company for a monthly fee, upload your content to their web server and they serve your pages for the world to view. However, beneath the surface are a number of factors that makes selecting a web host more challenging than it seems.

In order for your web hosting adventure to be smooth, there are three critical mistakes you need to avoid. If you want to establish yourself as an online business owner, these mistakes should be avoided at all costs.

Free Services

It’s hard not to find interest in a “free” service. When it comes to web hosting, you can reduce your start up costs significantly by signing up with a free host. Sounds good but take heed – the negatives outweigh the positives by far. More often than not, this type of service is only free because it is being sponsored by other companies, companies that want to liter your web pages with advertisements. That doesn’t sound like having your own business at all. The visitors you bring in could end becoming someone else’s customers. Or perhaps visitors will view your site as unprofessional and don’t even bother to return. With advertisements cluttering your site and a free provider’s stamp appended to the end of your URL, this only makes a good option for someone looking to have fun with a personal website.

Limited Options

Paid hosting outweighs free services easily with thousands of providers on the market. However, not all paid hosts are created equal. Some of them are limited and will only provide you with the basics. For this reason, you should avoid any companies that don’t offer or allow you to incorporate essential items such as web forms, email accounts and shopping carts into your website. Here are a couple of useful features you should look out for: adequate bandwidth, storage space, multiple email accounts, database access. While the features all depend on the individual needs of your site, these are necessary services that should be included with an hosting plan.

Cheap Hosting

Here is where things get tricky. Some companies will advertise their service as “cheap hosting” while others in the industry look down upon such solutions. Even if you are trying to host on a budget, stay cautious of providers offering plans for around $2 per month. When the price for hosting is this low, there is usually something hidden in the fine lines of the contract, something that could tremendously impact your bottom line. If you are working with limited resources, raise the bar a little higher and look for a company offering packages from $5 to $10 per month. Some might still consider this as a cheap service, but there are many reliable providers that fall into this price bracket.

The web hosting industry is like a jungle with companies swinging from all angles to win your service. Jot down a list of what your site requires to be successful, do a little research and go out and find a company that meets those needs. After landing a winner, you will be more than happy that you did.

How Does Cheap Web Hosting Stack Up? A Closer Look at Your Options

Ever wonder why cheap web hosting is so popular these days? Well for starters, it provides individuals and small businesses with a means for creating a presence online. It makes sense – but why go cheap when you can pay for something that is more reliable? Besides, “cheap” doesn’t have the most appealing ring to it. Moreover, if saving money is the issue, why not cut your costs entirely by signing up with a free web host? If you are still struggling with the concept of cheap web hosting, this article will explain why it makes a viable option between free and costly alternatives.

Free Equals Limited

Most free web hosting providers leave you very limited and are not recommended for business purposes. For example, most of them will litter your web pages with banner and pop-up advertisements in exchange for their free service. This can be a huge distraction to the people who come visit your website. Many of them also limit you in terms of ownership. Sure, they may provide you with a domain, but it is generally attached to their website, leaving you with a name that is both hard to remember and unprofessional. Last but not least, free web hosts typically provide you with minimal bandwidth and disk storage. Once you start to generate traffic and popularity for your site, you will eventually exceed the allotted resources and have no choice but to upgrade to a premium package.

More Freedom at a Great Price

The limitations of free web hosting is what leads most individuals and businesses to more flexible yet affordable solutions. Cheap hosting delivers the features and flexibility you need at a price that is easily within reach. With so many providers offering service, several companies price their plans considerably low to keep pace in the highly competitive web hosting industry. Play your cards right and you can find a host offering service for under $10 a month. It isn’t hard to get yourself a package with a generous supply of disk space, bandwidth and features. Today’s cheap web hosting services are geared for individuals and businesses, providing email accounts, e-commerce applications and everything needed to open an online storefront. These plans are widely available so why pay extra for something that could end up setting you back?

Don’t Forget the Essentials

Cheap web hosting offers many benefits but it can also be a disaster if you overlook some of the critical aspects. Even though you are paying less for service, your hosting account should still come with acceptable customer service and technical support. Getting answers from the experts is important as your customers will surely be needing an explanation from you if something should go wrong. Additionally, you should never go for any cheap web hosting plan that advertises an uptime guarantee less than 99.9%. Excessive downtime is something you can’t deal with as it is the best way to cripple your web presence. When knowing what to look for, you can go in on a strict budget and come out with a great web hosting package.

The Beauty of Cheap Web Hosting

It seems as if everyone is working on a tighter budget these days. Harsh economics times have not only affected consumers, but also caused several organizations to the rethink the significance of budgeting. As elementary as it may seem, this presents a tremendous challenge for many professionals. For most companies, budgeting involves critical aspects such as advertising and promotions, IT resources and general expenses. Small businesses and large enterprises today both have to factor web hosting fees into the budget as well.

Saving Money on Your Web Presence

Owning an entire web server isn’t practical for every company. After all, purchasing the hardware is quite expensive and the operation becomes even more costly when considering administrative tasks. This is where web hosting comes in as it allows you to establish a web presence for a fraction of what it costs to maintain your own internet-based infrastructure. Web hosting companies give you the power to run your business online while bypassing the cost associated with housing and maintaining a server. Not only do they provide you with the hardware, but also vital resources such as memory, bandwidth and disk space. They set you with useful features that allow you to create a dynamic site with relative ease. You can pay a premium price for such a service or save yourself a bundle by opting for cheap web hosting.

The Evolution of Cheap Hosting

The birth of cheap services can be attributed to the highly competitive market that is the web hosting industry. Whereas such services were simple and limited in the past, today’s web hosts offer a greater range of options at a price most small businesses can afford. Although a dedicated server is a totally different environment, cheap web hosting isn’t necessarily limited to a shared server. For example, you can easily find a VPS (Virtual Private Server) plan at a very reasonable price. A VPS is the perfect medium in between a shared and dedicated server. It provides the stability and performance that may be jeopardized by sharing resources with thousands of website owners and a level of flexibility that is similar to dedicated hosting. Fierce competition in the market has raised the standards of cheap hosting, meaning you shouldn’t have to sacrifice on much of anything.

Cheap Isn’t Always What it Seems

Many people have a misconception of cheap web hosting, believing it requires you to trade features, flexibility and quality of service for an amazingly low price. This is understandably so, as a number of companies have blemished the market with their shady practices. Fortunately, there are several outstanding web hosting providers that offer a wide range of features and services to their customers. Some of the most inexpensive hosting packages will provide you with numerous email accounts, e-commerce tools, security mechanisms and enough server capacity to support the growth of your website. Can you accomplish more with a high-end web hosting solution? Probably. Be that as it may, a cheap alternative can set you up just as well and put you on the path to success.

Beware of Cheap Web Hosting Practices

At first glance, cheap hosting is an ideal solution for individuals and small businesses looking to create a web presence. After all, why pay top-dollar when so many hosts are offering the same service for next to nothing? Yes, cheap hosting appears to be the route for obvious reasons but is it really a reliable solution? You may find this service questionable after reading about some of the most common cheap hosting practices.


The Ambitious Newcomer

It takes a lot to run a web hosting company. Providers require servers, bandwidth and a plethora of IT experts to help maintain the infrastructure. Those who lack the resources and expertise to run the infrastructure outsource their hosting operations to third-party professionals, thus enabling them to elude the hassle and enormous costs. Aside from financial resources, the cost savings obtained from outsourcing is what allows many companies to offer web hosting packages at competitive prices.

Along comes a new company looking to dabble in the web hosting industry. Noticing all the low prices on the market, they come up with the bright idea of offering their service at a fraction of the price. What better way to increase profits and overall growth of the company? Things usually start out well for the new ambitious web host. With everyone searching for affordable hosting, customers flock to the cheap service provider. The veteran hosts even notice some of their clients fleeing for the cheaper service as well. In the spirit of competition, they also lower their prices in order to keep pace in the market. Here’s the catch – more than likely, the prominent web hosts have the flexibility and resources that allow them to trim costs without suffering any major financial losses. The brilliant newcomer? Well, they usually find themselves in a world of trouble.


Cutting Back Equals More Losses

Despite all the customers, the incredibly low price leads the newcomer to cut corners and make sure the company remains profitable. They start by relieving some of their IT staff and technical support personnel. When that isn’t enough, they began to trim away more essential aspects of their infrastructure. They cut back on the maintenance and security procedures that are vital to any web hosting company. Next, they overload their servers with customers. From there, its reducing the number of servers entirely. The cheap web hosting provider is still in business but in bad shape. Limited personnel and IT engineers has resulted in horrible customer service. The lack of preventative measures leads to more hardware failures and excessive downtime. Overloading and minimizing servers results in poor performance and you’ve guessed it, more downtime. Now that cheap but reliable web hosting package isn’t nearly what it is was advertised to be.


There is Hope

The cheap practices of an overzealous web hosting company hurts you the most. Fortunately, not all cheap services are cheaply run as there are several reliable hosts on the market. There is nothing wrong with trying to save a few dollars with an affordable web hosting service . Just don’t go too low because you might get less than you paid for.

Heed the Tricks of Cheap Hosting

Cheap hosting has become a very popular niche, but there is another side to the service which the average customer may not be aware of. Some web hosting companies employ a wide variety of tricks in order to sell their cheap service, many of which could hinder your ability to be successful with a website. Learning about these practices will help you know what to expect and hopefully elude the hosts behind them.


Lack of Experience and Track Record

The web hosting market is filled with thousands of companies who are just waiting to provide you with service. One should also beware that some of these providers have not been in business very long. Even worse, some do not have the manpower, knowledge and experience it takes to run a web hosting business. Signing up with a host that is just hitting the scene and riding the learning curve might leave you with a lot of heartache when things to start to go wrong. While everyone has to start somewhere, it is best to find a company that has a proven track record. This is one that is most likely to provide you with the best service.


Lousy Support

There are many web hosting providers that will cut back on every aspect they can in order to save money. One of the most vital areas they sacrifice is support. These are companies who make it next to impossible to get the help you need. They may offer limited support by allowing you to only contact the staff via email. Some will even advertise 24/7 support but fall short by taking forever to respond to your inquiries or simply not answering the phone. This is why it is so important to make sure you sign up with a host that can provide quality support. It is a good rule of thumb to test the company with an email or call during late night hours or over the weekend. Whenever you need help, they should be able to step up and deliver.


Shady SLA

The Service Level Agreement or SLA, is often overlooked but you should never disregard it.

The SLA is to entail how problems that the web host encounters will directly influence the customers experience. This agreement needs to be read thoroughly before signing up with any web host. If the company doesn’t offer one, move onto the next. If the SLA does not clearly outline the level of service you are to receive and what will happen if is not upheld, you should probably find a company that offers something more comprehensive.


Beware of the Middleman

When running across a cheap hosting plan, there may be a chance that you are not dealing with a web hosting company at all, yet an agent selling packages on their behalf. This is known as reseller hosting, a practice that allows entrepreneurs and small businesses to profit from web hosting. Although reseller hosting isn’t necessarily a bad thing, you should keep in mind that you will have no direct contact with the web host, the company who is doing all the work and actually housing your data.


Conclusion

There is nothing wrong with cheap hosting as it can be a viable option in many situations. With that said, it helps to be informed on these questionable practices so you can stay away from the companies sacrificing quality for a cheap service.

Avoiding Common Web Hosting Traps

Web hosting providers come a dime a dozen but landing a good one isn’t always easy. There are many choices out there and some overwhelm you with so much glamor that it becomes pretty easy to get dazzled by their marketing techniques. This article will discuss several crucial web hosting traps that you need to look out for.

Amazingly Low Price

It’s true – web hosting is very affordable, so much that “cheap hosting” has become one of the most highly sought after offerings on the market. Unfortunately, some providers have to make substantial sacrifices in order to drop the price of their service. Whether it’s overloading the server with customers or cutting back on support, it all affects the overall quality of service and could leave you with major issues. Not all cheap web hosting packages are of poor quality but because several are, you need to be very weary of an amazingly low price.

Limitations

Whether it’s for personal or business matters, your website is almost certain to expand. Over time, you will need to upload more files, possibly add new software and hopefully receive more traffic. Don’t go after the first web hosting deal you run across or one that only offers enough to support you for the first couple of months. Instead, check out a variety of hosts and focus on those with features that allow your site to grow. Sometimes, a provider’s one-size-fits all hosting package isn’t the solution you need.

Unprofessional Site

A web host that comes with all the bells and whistles may warrant the red flag but so should a company with an underdeveloped website. It doesn’t have to be glamorous, but a respectable web hosting provider must look the part. They should have a professional appearance with a site that is simple to navigate, making all the essentials easy accessible. You should have no trouble locating the FAQ page and especially an email address or phone number.

Incredible Claims

Most web hosting companies advertise a 99.9% up time guarantee, which is to ensure that your website is up at least 99.9% of the time over a given month. Sadly, many hosts are just advertising this percentage instead of upholding it. A host that really lives up to its up time guarantee will offer money back, credit or similar items if they are not able to deliver as promised. This is actually a rarity and if you don’t know you’re supposed to be compensated, your site will just be down until the issues are worked out behind the scenes. This could be hours or days.

Questionable Business Practices

You should strongly consider avoiding any provider with complex pricing schemes and other questionable methods. For example, the price might be advertised as $3.95 per month but you may have to lock into a three-year contract in order to get that price. Although this is a common practice, you need to make yourself aware of situations where promises turn out to be tricks.

Non-existent Support

A web hosting provider’s approach towards support can tell you a lot about their approach to the overall service. When you call or email with questions, they should be more than happy to help, or at least act like it. Don’t just fall for their 24/7 support claim. Put them to the test to get an idea of how they will react when you really need help.

Critical Factors to Consider Before Choosing a Cheap Host

Even though cheap hosting has become more prevalent in recent times, there are many factors you need to consider before signing up for service. Because you never know what is behind that unbelievably low price, here are four critical factors you should keep in mind:


Downtime

A web host could provide you with all the tools needed to create a professional, feature-rich website that garners the attention of your audience. However, if your site is constantly unavailable, its beauty will not mean a thing to the users who cannot access it. Realizing that excessive downtime is one of the easiest ways to kills your online popularity, it is critical to find a cheap host that is more committed to reliability than a low price.


Limited Bandwidth

Before entering any type of hosting arrangement, it is vital that you consider the monthly bandwidth allocated to your account. It is a known fact that bandwidth is a key component needed to support website traffic and plays a huge role in its success. If your site has a large number of visitors, it will obviously require more bandwidth. The challenging part of it all is that you may experience traffic spikes when least expected and be left with a sudden shortage of resources. This is definitely a situation you don’t want to find yourself in as it could once again lead to dreaded periods of downtime. If traffic is of any importance, make sure your cheap hosting plan comes included with enough bandwidth to support your current and future traffic requirements.


Technical Expertise

The technical expertise of the hosting provider is one area that doesn’t get enough attention. This doesn’t necessarily refer to the company’s infrastructure or hardware, but the people behind all the technology. Web hosting providers must be technically inclined for the simple fact that many of their customers are not. This expertise will be needed to provide you with support and encounter all the technical issues that might arise. You may not know a thing about servers but there is no excuse for your web host, cheap service or not.


Level of Support

One of the biggest drawbacks of cheap hosting services has been the lack of support. It seems as if some companies are cutting cost in various areas to provide affordable service and the critical department of support is often the one to suffer. Support is very important and should come at no additional cost. Even if you are only paying a couple of dollars per month, ensure that your plan comes with world-class support that makes you feel like a million dollar customer.


At the end of the day, it is not impossible to find a company that provides a cheap service yet works hard to keep up the reliability. However, it may take you a little extra time so exercise a bit of patience and make your selection wisely. After doing your research, it should be much easier to find a premium service that comes at a bargain price.