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Web Hosting 101

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Web hosting 101

Web hosting refers to a service that makes your website available to your users. Websites are intended to be viewed by anyone on the Internet, at any time.

If you want anyone on the Internet to see your website at any time, you’ll need to make sure your website is running on a computer that’s connected to the Internet all the time. Otherwise, if the computer’s off, no one will be able to see your site.

It is possible to host the website yourself. You’ll need equipment like a web server and a permanent connection to the Internet. You’d also need to be sure that your Internet Service Provider (ISP) is OK with this kind of service. You’ll also need to have important skills like managing and configuring a web server, use of firewalls and virus protection. However, hosting a website yourself is time consuming and can be unreliable. Even if a company has the skills or equipment to host the website, they often bring in a third party host.

Using a third party host is the most common choice for web hosting. Using a third party provider gives you time to do everything else you need to and focus on the development of your website and web design.

What do I need from my webhost?

A good web hosting company should provide you with 24-hour support and FTP access. FTP access allows you to update your website.

Many web hosting companies will also provide you with email accounts, online control panels to manage your website, traffic information to your page and a database management system. Some websites may need specialized software such as a SQL Server or PHP. If that is the case, you’ll need to check that your hosting company provides those services.

The space and other features you need will vary depending on what you plan to use your site for, how much traffic you’re getting and expect and how much content you want on your site. For more specific information, consult a professional since it varies on a case-by-case basis. You can check to see if you can upgrade your plan later, and stick to the minimum you think you need.

Shopping for a webhost

Besides checking for certain features, you should also look at deals that different webhosts offer. As you shop around, you’ll see prices vary quite a bit. You can also usually find deals that bundle your domain name with your web hosting.

Some webhosts will offer web design tools, templates or “builders” too. If you’re unfamiliar with HTML and CSS, or only know the basics, you’ll want to look for a webhost that bundles this feature, too. However, you may find that hiring a web designer in addition to a cheaper webhost that doesn’t offer design services may save you money in the long term.

Different hosting plans

Most webhosts offer different levels of pricing based on different hosting plans. If you’re just starting out and only need a small website, shared hosting is fine. Shared hosting means your site is on the same server as other websites. Your customers won’t know and you won’t know what other sites are on the server. Dedicated servers are when your site is the only one on the server. You only need this if you’re expecting very high volumes of traffic or extra security requirements.

No matter what kind of webhost you go with, make sure they provide you with great technical support. If you need help designing your site, finding a webhost that includes those services will make the process easier. The amount of space you need and expected traffic will determine which hosting plan will work best for you. If you have specific questions, it’s always best to consult a professional.

Server vs. Cloud: Choosing the Right Email Hosting Service

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dedicated_serversWhether it’s an enterprise-level company or a brand-new startup, email is an essential tool for any business. Consumers use email to ask questions and provide feedback, and professionals use email to communicate with employees, colleagues and other organizations. Being able to efficiently and reliably send and receive messages is crucial to a business’s day-to-day functions, so it’s important to choose a reliable email hosting solution that fits your company’s needs.

The types of email hosting

Two main types of email hosting exist: server based and cloud based. A server-based systems involves an in-house server your company launches and maintains on its own. This server stores all your email accounts and their contents, and your IT team is responsible for repairing server problems and keeping your accounts safe from external attacks. This kind of hosting requires a great deal of involvement from your IT team, so be sure your department is well staffed and knowledgeable before choosing this option.

Cloud-based email hosting, on the other hand, involves sharing space with other companies on a server provided by the hosting provider. Here the host is responsible for maintaining the server and ensuring that your email is accessible and secure. This kind of service requires little to no involvement from your staff, but when you trust a third-party with sensitive data, inherent risks are involved, so choose your hosting provider and plan carefully.

Finding a provider

Not all email hosting providers are created equal, and the cheapest provider isn’t always the best choice. When selecting an provider, consider the following characteristics:

  • Security: Emails often contain confidential information, so be sure to choose a provider that offers a high level of security. Otherwise, your customer’s sensitive data may be vulnerable to hackers, identity thieves and other such criminals.
  • Customer support: When you have problems accessing or utilizing your email account, your hosting provider will be the one to resolve them. For this reason, you’ll need a hosting provider that offers continuous customer support.
  • Reliability: Take some time to research each candidate’s reputation. Choose a provider known for reliable service with few incidences of server failure or other malfunctions.
  • Price: After narrowing your choices down to a few providers using these criteria, consider each provider’s price and choose one that will be affordable for your company.

Choosing a package

After selecting a hosting provider, the next step is choosing the best service the provider offers that will match your email needs. Packages may offer varying levels of storage, bandwidth, customer support options and security measures. Expensive packages may even offer you your own private server. If your company receives thousands of emails on a daily basis, you’ll probably need a large plan, but if you use email infrequently, paying for the biggest available service is a waste of money.

Every organization has different requirements when it comes to email hosting. While a small server-based hosting system may be sufficient for some, others will need a large plan on a dedicated server in the cloud. To choose the best option, simply consider your preferences, usage history and ultimate goals. With so many options available, you can easily find an affordable package that works for you.

The Advantages of Dedicated Hosting

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Dedicated hosting definitely has a lot of advantages over shared hosting for that matter. Dedicated hosting as the name itself indicates is the type of hosting wherein you can have your own server that is not shared by any other person as is the case with shared hosting. This only means that you are entitled to get unlimited hosting in the case of dedicated hosting. If you want to load or store software then you should consider dedicated hosting.

One of the most important advantages of dedicated hosting is that the disk space and bandwidth are close to being unlimited in the case of dedicated hosting. Since the extra bandwidth is bought along with the pack of dedicated hosting, it is often the case that dedicated hosting is characterized by unlimited hosting.

Unlimited hosting helps in the mission of expanding your business in the sense that the more and more your business expands the more and more it could be accommodated by the hosting server. This is the advantage of dedicated hosting. Shared hosting on the other hand is not endowed with the feature of unlimited hosting. Your hosting plan becomes limited in the case of shared hosting. This is because of the fact that the server is shared by others too in the case of shared hosting.

It is interesting to note that small business will not need more that 1GB of bandwidth. On the contrary if you expect your business website to be visited by a large number of visitors then you can opt for hosting plan with more bandwidth. This has to be done during the selection of the appropriate hosting plan for your website.