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Reasons to go Dedicated

March 28th, 2011

Shared hosting services are often used by individuals and small businesses who have not reached their online potentials yet. These websites typically have around 14-20 visitors per day. With these quantity of traffic, shared hosting is more than enough to accommodate their needs.

However, as their services are slowly known to the public and traffic gradually increases, shared hosting can become a bottleneck that slows everything down. For this reason, people are finding ways to improve their website availability which can be solved by changing to a dedicated server hosting. To check if you are ready to move to the prime time, here are some points to consider.

A web server is a computer that sits on the internet typically on a high speed connection that serves your website pages to visitors all over the world. Maintaining your own web server on the same location as you are would be impractical especially for small companies. This can be heavy on the company’s financials and on some occasion might prove to be a liability. A shared hosting is the process of renting a server space with several people or organizations.

The cost is divided among the users of the server and it is up to the management to ensure that the resources are protected and prevented from being accessed between users. This division can have an impact on how you can access the server’s resources. You might find it restrictive especially if you are customizing some applications that are not allowed by the management. On the other hand, dedicated hosting is a term used to describe as renting the whole server. Not only are the restrictions removed, but all the full power and authority of the entire server is handled to you.

Shared hosting can be thought of as moving to a neighborhood that has lots of houses within it. You share the same water pipeline with the people living in that community. Resources are restricted and are divided equally among the user’s websites. Typically, there are around 300 to 400 users that populate per server. This is alright especially if the website is parked or receives very few visitors. One reason why people would prefer shared hosting over dedicated server is when they are not expecting visitors or profit with it. Most people would invest on a domain much like a stock investor would invest on a particular stock. Oftentimes, they would ‘park’ the domain for several years waiting for an increase in the domain’s value and sell it in earning for themselves a handsome profit. Others have unethical reason to park a domain, mainly for black hat SEO purposes. When you are ready to move to the next level and find that your current hosting is not sufficient, you will find that the dedicated server is your next best option. Dedicated server provides you with your own internet connection and the whole server space. There will be no divisions and sharing like it was with a shared hosting.

Dedicated hosting is a whole lot expensive than shared hosting. This is because the cost of the whole server is now shouldered by you. This may not be a problem since the benefits of a dedicated hosting will often override the cost. The increase in traffic volume may mean increase sales and visibility for the company.

Shared hosting has complex means of sharing resources to each of its members, and it would be downright difficult to modify certain settings that will allow customization. If you have customized software that needs access to special privilege account, a dedicated hosting is the answer. A shared hosting has to limit some of these resources since it may cause problem for some members. A customized software or application will inadvertently modify some files that may affect all the users of the server. No administrator in his right mind would sacrifice the majority for the sake of one person’s whim. Shared hosting limits the application and features a user can access and modify. Dedicated hosting gives you unfettered access to every resources and privilege. It is almost like having the web server right in the front of you physically. If you are using the server for highly specialized application, a dedicated server will serve you well.

Another incentive to shift to a dedicated hosting is the security it provides, a dedicated server has more security options and is more secured than a shared server. If you are transacting through your website, it will be safer to choose a dedicated hosting. Privacy is another matter that is not an issue with a dedicated server. There are no other users to contend with unlike a shared hosting whose user’s accounts are all stored within one registry system. Although there are security measures that are being undertaken in a shared hosting, it is not as strong as with a dedicated server. One security measure that can be implemented with dedicated hosting is the introduction of firewall to your server. You can specifically block unwanted or dubious entries.

There are still other benefits that a dedicated server can provide. Your business can grow with your hosting as there is a great deal of flexibility for future expansions. Hard disk space is set to the maximum and bandwidths are not limited. The large space and bandwidth available may be more than you can use but it is definitely nice to know that you have more than enough to accommodate future traffic surge for your websites.

A dedicated hosting allows its clients to make changes to the server as needed without permission. You can have unlimited access to any type of resources without fear of restriction. You can also increase hard disk space as needed. You can add additional physical hard drive by requesting to the owner. As with any other resources, you can also request additional ram modules, and even the server’s motherboard.

This can be done without any permission from the provider. There are no restrictions and clients have total control on their server.

Sometimes we underestimate how many visitors we can have and often overlook the traffic needs of the company. This is not a problem with a dedicated server as all the bandwidth is dedicated for your own needs. With the advent of multimedia and other interactive applications, more and more application are customized to better enhance a visitor’s experience when visiting your website. You will need a dedicated server for these types of applications.

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The Perks of Managed Hosting

March 27th, 2011

If you are in the market for a dedicated server, you might want to take a look at managed hosting. What is managed hosting? It is a form of dedicated server hosting in which the web host company provides a variety of services besides the usual web hosting installation and configuration. In a regular dedicated hosting service, you are in charge of the configuration and monitoring of your site. It is up to you to perform backup and other maintenance tasks of the server. Managed hosting can be a great option especially if you are busy and don’t have time to tinker with the server. While web hosting configurations isn’t rocket science, you might find the technical aspect of web hosting boring. It is also better to have someone with sufficient skills to handle the issues as you might inadvertently modify some configuration that might cause more problems than intended.

Whether it’s a dedicated server, shared hosting, or virtual private hosting, the quality of support is of utmost important. Previous customer feedbacks are important. A web hosting company that provides bad service usually receives the end of the whiplash of irritated customers. Downtimes are inescapable fact in the world of hosting and even the best of them suffer from bad connection problems. The best hosting company to choose then is not whether they have a perfect score on being uptime but rather on how well their responses are. Taking care of your customers is much more important than brandishing a fine piece of hardware. Although the adage that too much of something is also a bad thing, a hosting company that does not improve their services and only offer promises can also be considered as bad customer service. The goal of every business is to have a website that is highly reliable and can have close to 100 percent uptime. Opportunities are capricious beings and it might happen during the times your website is down. If problem do exists, you want it solved as fast and as effective as possible. Be very objective when reading forum posts and feedback regarding website hosting provider. The business of web hosting is very competitive and there will definitely ‘hecklers’ that will try to destroy a competitor’s integrity. 24/7 help is a common feature and most widely advertised feature of a Web hosting company. However, if your web hosting plan does not cover managed hosting, you might have to employ somebody to monitor your website. It does not pay to have two separate services when you can adapt an all-in-one approach. What is important to know is how the company will resolve the issue. Are there technicians available on the job or do you have to wait office hours? Customer support and assistance is different from technical support. How fast the technical support can adjust to your needs should be the primary concern of the business owner.

The backbone of every website company is connection of their internet. It would help to know which ISP your hosting company is hooked up since most of the connection issues are ISP-related. T1 connections are common nowadays but depending on the volume of customers pouring onto your sites, it might get slow even wheezing into a grinding halt. A gigabit connection is the next step in upgrade and as of this writing is the cream of the crop. Another thing to watch out for is the redundancy of internet connections. These are safety nets which provide continuous connection throughout in case one of the connections fails. While there are advantages on this type of hosting arrangement, most fallbacks are on a slower speed and it can also affect the ability of your website to perform. It is therefore prudent to ask the hosting company of their tiered connections and how long does one have to wait during these downtimes. Having problems and solving it effectively should be deciding criteria when choosing your hosting. Remember, one second of downtime might mean opportunity or failure. It is important to make sure that your website can stay online and perform immaculately to convert profitably.

Managed hosting provides users with backup schedules that you can customized. There are several methods of backing up and the most common perhaps are snapshots. Snapshots are configuration files that are saved and are incrementally back up throughout the day. Compare this to a full backup where all the image of the data center is ‘photographed’ and later be restore within minutes. Another thing to consider is events that will lead to interruptions such as power outage to terrorist attacks. While we can not do anything about the latter, the provision for uninterrupted power supply is a must and should be included in your checklist. Most UPS in the market today have software that interacts with the UPS unit. Requesting for a screenshot that proves the existence of UPS hardware can easily be determined. There are still other means that can ensure the uptime of your server and it can be an advantage to scourge the net for new information and technology. Although it is the company’s responsibility to make sure that 24/7 uptime is realized, a little researching on your part can help to future proof your business.

There are a lot of web hosting companies right now and choosing one can be a real pain. Typically, the higher the price you pay, the better the service. You can also look for companies that offer any sort of guarantee. This can make the decision making less hard and the choices more flexible. A company that is confident of its services offers guarantee that is their goal to achieve total customer satisfaction. A background check should be conducted although it must be done with objective eyes. Longevity often times is synonymous with stability but sometimes a new company may have more to show since they are new and generally would want to create waves.

Past clients can also influence your choice of web hosting company. Some companies offered an impressive suit of reference that can help in your decision.

It would not hurt to ask for a comprehensive summary of the server’s specification and study it. Make sure that your requirements are adequately served with the current hardware setup. It is better to go for the largest storage allocation that your budget allows. Oftentimes, we underestimate our needs and may result in delay and minor problems when upgrading to a larger disk space. Most companies offer either a windows controlled environment or a Linux one. It is therefore important that you can use your application without any problem with either of the platform they are offering.

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What are the Drawbacks of a Dedicated Server?

March 25th, 2011

There are some issues you should take into account before subscribing to a dedicated server hosting. While everybody is talking about the advantages of a dedicated server there are also disadvantages. The primary concern for most people especially internet marketers is the cost of setting up on a dedicated server. Oftentimes, the risk involved and the hype over virtual dedicated server have influenced the way people think about dedicated server. For them, websites that are in the magnitude of Yahoo are the ones likely need to have a dedicated server. But if cost is not of primary concern, then the benefits of having a dedicated server is tremendous. But beyond the cost of a dedicated server, are there any other considerations that one needs to know before making the final decision?

Shared hosting service is way cheaper than a dedicated server hosting. There are dedicated hosting plans that fetched as high as $150 a month. Paying $150 for a web hosting service is way, way off the budget especially if you are starting as an internet marketer. This could be a potential turn off especially if you add up other expenses such as paying for other services like content creation, website promotion, website design and so on. With the current economy and the great dot net bubble burst in the late 90′s, people are wary and reluctant to invest in e-commerce. While dedicated hosting poses no problem for the rich and big businesses, most readers of this article are mid class people who would want to find the best and cheapest way to do things. The risk involved isn’t worth the cost since they can always upgrade or discard their previous hosting company in case their efforts catch up and their websites has caught fire. There are even those who needed a website for diversionary purposes or hobby. It would just be impractical that huge amount of money monthly for something as simple as Peter’s butterfly collection website. Big businesses that have adequate cash flow do not have to concern with the price. In fact, it is only a fraction of the cost in advertising in TV and radio.

Whatever your preferences may be, it is essential that you select an excellent hosting provider. A bad hosting provider will tear your business down leaving you frustrated over the slow connection and slow response to downtimes. A quick plunge to common forums and forums online will give you some insight on the type of service a provider has. All of your website data is stored at the hosting provider’s data center and it is their responsibility to maintain and overlook the server and its corresponding hardware and equipments. Just imagine if the computer where your website resides has faulty memory or if the hard disc crashed and there is no easy way to retrieve the data. You would probably lost thousands if not millions in revenue. So it is important to select a host who is not only very reliable, but also has a responsive support and fast response. The saying you get what you pay for rings true especially when talking about a dedicated server and a shared server. However, shared hosting does have its benefits too. There are those who are buying domains and are parking them just in case the keyword will increase in value. Parking is a term for buying domain or domains for the main purpose of selling them at a latter date at a greater value. Here you can see that a shared hosting can be beneficial for these type of investing.

While downtimes can also happen to a dedicated server, the higher cost charged to their customers gives the client a worry free hosting experience with virtually hands-free operation and 24/7 customer support.

One good thing about managed dedicated servers is that you don’t have to worry about backups and other application requirements. Managed plans are packages in which hosting companies provide technical personnel to provide the configuration and all the needed services needed by the client. If you are not technically inclined, it is better to have well trained IT to perform the tasks for you. This can make you not only stress free but also frees your time for more important matters. Unless you enjoyed working on a holiday when your server is down then it is better to leave the technicalities to the provider.

Maintaining a server is a full time task. Your website is under the constant threat of virus, malware and DOS attacks. To have your website operate smoothly, you need to have someone looking over your web server all the time. For large companies, hiring their own IT staff is necessary. or even practical. But for small businesses, it can be a liability and might even hurt the company in the long run. A wise alternative would be to let the hosting company provide the IT support and settle for a monthly fee. Most established dedicated server hosting company offers a managed dedicated server.

For all the good and benefits that dedicated hosting provides, it is still a remote server and you have no physical access to it. The actual server where the data of your website resides is remotely located on the hosting provider. These can be a disadvantage particularly if you have sensitive information that may get leaked. Although companies are sworn to secrecy, there will be times that government agencies or other organization may be legally permitted to open those files. It is therefore recommended to place important documents on a secure server preferably one that resides on your own building. Backups are also performed by the provider and have option to manually or automatically do backups. There is also a feature called snapshots wherein the server disc image is preserved and can be retrieved at a latter date. Depending on the hosting company, dedicated servers can allocate at least 6 snapshots a day.

And so, before heading out and get yourself a hosting provider, it is well recommended to take a consultant and work out goals to determine the requirements of the company. After all, a good host can always add to your company’s image.

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Microsoft Exchange Dedicated Server

March 22nd, 2011

There are three options to choose from when using a Microsoft Exchange Server and it is to your advantage to understand the benefits of one over the other. These are self hosted, private and shared installation option.

Many large industries and companies have Microsoft exchange server as their mail server and usually host their own exchange server. This is due to the cost associated with installing and maintaining exchange servers. Large companies have the resources to implement and foresee the setup of the hardware and maintenance issues. Self hosting can be a good option especially if the company has more centralized users and a well trained IT staff to respond to downtimes.

Self hosting an exchange server is expensive and are not practical solution for companies with less than a hundred users.

Microsoft Exchange environment requires two dedicated Active Directory Domain Controllers and at least one dedicated Exchange Server to properly function. The cost quickly piles up as each of the software requires a separate license. One is licensed for Microsoft Windows Server 2003, and the mail server must be licensed for Microsoft Exchange. You are also required to obtain license for each user of both Windows Server and Exchange Server. A 20 user system can costs between $5000 & $6000 in licensing fees alone and that does not includes hardware and implementation costs. It is hard to conceive you could get the entire system installed for less than $6000 even with a less robust hardware system.

The cost stipulated is just the basic messaging system not including other components needed for proper functioning in a real time environment.

Other components such as web hosting, anti virus, firewall and other security measures like data backup and archiving.

To put it mildly, one should have a fair estimate of at least $10,000 to have the system run at the bare essential.

For large companies with many users, self hosting can be a viable option. The greater the number of users, the greater the cost is divided among the users. The email accounts of many users can spread the equipment and licensing cost, significantly reducing the cost per user. Not only that, large companies usually have well trained IT staff to handle the maintenance and proper functioning of an email system throughout the year.

For those companies who cannot afford the high cost of installing and maintaining an exchange server, there are several shared hosted exchange servers that are commercially available. This type of hosting provides large Microsoft Exchange Server infrastructures capable of supporting thousands of users. Commercial Exchange servers offer small companies the capabilities of a large scale exchange server setup of big companies at a fraction of the cost. Exchange server providers usually charge per user account. For a nominal fee per user, their plans include a specific amount of storage for each user account per month.

A shared hosted Exchange Server environment has many benefits. Firstly, the operating cost is much lower. Large enterprise can keep up with the cost of maintaining and operating an exchange server due to the large volume of users it handles. The cost is distributed among the users and the greater the number of users, the more economical the server will be. Small companies will truly benefit from a shared hosting. Most companies that offers shared hosting fees charged a flat rate to its customers. One advantage of having an exchange server over free email servers is the support given by Microsoft and access to services like Blackberry Enterprise Server and Good Link Server.

However, Shared Hosted Exchange has also its share of drawbacks. Depending on the number of users, email accounts might have a slight delay since the bandwidth is spread across multiple users of the exchange server. There are also server farms that linked the exchange server into many different servers and this might mean a slight delay in receiving and delivering mails.

You can forget about configuring these types of servers since most Exchange server companies have a cookie cutter approach and disallow any further customization by its users. There are a lot of great plugins and add-ons for the exchange server and works well with its application client outlook. Getting other email client to work can be a real problem especially if you are on a shared hosting environment. Features such as anti-spam plugins and other protocols are useless at this point since administrators of an exchange server have a one-for-all approach preventing users to further enhance their mail -collaboration experience

Basic web control panels that are limited to the most basic chores are only what is available. Using Active Directory Users Management system and other integrated management tools are restricted and can not be configured.

One great Exchange server feature that will be sorely missed is the Single Sign-on. A single-sign on feature means that the users’ login credentials for their Active Directory user account and their email account can be used interchangeably. This is a great setup since the workflow is much simplified and organized. Unfortunately, Shared Hosted Exchange does not offer this type of integration.

To get around the limitations of shared exchange server hosting, web hosting companies offer a cross breed between the two. It is called the Privately Hosted Exchange, the third installation option. You can get the benefits of Self Hosted Privately Hosted Exchange at an affordable price. This is done by using a virtual server that emulates the process for a fully loaded exchange server and yet resides on the same bandwidth as shared hosting thus preserving cost. Every customer is arranged with a complete messaging system, including two dedicated Active Directory Servers and a dedicated Exchange server. Private Exchange hosting server is also offered at a fixed monthly price.

Access to management utilities can be delegated to users assigned by customers. With a private exchange server hosting plan, customization to every aspect of Active Directory and Exchange Server is allowed much like that of a self hosted server. All the restrictions to shared server are lifted such as plugins and other third party applications.

Dedicated virtual private hosting exchange server can support single sign on and VPN. If you have an existing active directory structure and wish to incorporate your system to a PHE, it can be done by joining the active directory object to the host’s datacenter. These migration is as easy as entering a few information on your part and a few click of the mouse.

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Dedicated Hosting Plan Deciding Factors

March 19th, 2011

If you want to have an online presence, there are two things to consider. The first is the website development itself and the next is the website hosting provider where the website will reside. The creation of website and its content is easily managed as there are many tools that automate, as well as templates where you can change a few variables to suit your needs. The real main issue is in managing its operation. The daunting tasks of hosting your own website on your own computer possess a real challenge even for the technically inclined individual. The server in which your website resides is called the web server. Renting a service from a company which manages the computer that host your site is referred to as web hosting provider. Choosing a host provider can spell success or doom to your online business. Even if you have the most visually appealing website on the block but is hosted unreliably, your visitor will switch to other sites which may even sport a poor design but fast and reliable access. It is therefore necessary to choose the best online provider by knowing the basics of web hosting. Give as much attention to your website hosting as you would in building your website. There are two options available when obtaining the services of a host provider. The shared hosting service and the dedicated server hosting provider. The shared hosting as implied by the name is shared by different users. It is cheaper that dedicated hosting and is great for startup entrepreneur. Due to the increased number of users in the internet, more and more people are seeing the benefits of a dedicated server. This article will give you the heads up on some information and the basics regarding these types of servers. As said earlier, more and more people around the globe are connecting and using the internet in almost all areas of their lives, having a website that is hosted on a slow server will lose this opportunity.

The basic thing to know is the difference between a dedicated from a shared server hosting. There is a reason why shared hosting service is less inexpensive among the two. The total cost of the whole server is divided to the different users. Depending on the current load of the server and the type of application and visitors that it gets, those on the same line of connection will definitely suffer if one or two of those users have reached their peak. Disk allocation is also limited by the number of users simultaneously using it. There are times that the crisscrossing of disk space might create problems especially if the server is experiencing high traffic situation. This will definitely have a major impact on how your website is being served to your visitors. With the disk reaching low space, critical transactions might fail resulting in a failed opportunity. And as the saying goes, cheap is as cheap does. Even though getting a dedicated server will set you back for a few hundred dollars more, the advantage that you will receive will far outweigh the cost. A dedicated server is also great especially you are given the controls to every aspect of the server operation. You can do anything as if the server is just on your house. These can make it easier and faster to edit and make changes to your site as the need surfaces.

Now that you decided on having a dedicated server, there are also some things to consider since there are different types of server in the market today. Dedicated servers differ primarily on their operating system and application. Among the best dedicated server in the market today is CPanel dedicated server, Linux dedicated server and the Windows dedicated server. Dedicated servers also differ on the hardware platform it uses. Intel Quad Core machines are commonly used hardware platform by many hosting companies and are gaining a lot of popularity among webmasters.

Cheap dedicated servers are available to those whose budget is in tight reins. With the proliferation of web hosting companies and technology getting cheaper, it is not hard to find one that can suit your needs. There are several companies that are offering prices at a standard price of a shared hosting server a few years back! Despite their price difference, they can rival more expensive servers and offers the same features such as un-metered dedicated server for the customers.

Dedicated servers can have contracts as well. Contracts are one-time payment based schemes that offers all around support without charging for other services. This put an end to the issues regarding payment for added services, special considerations such as assistance that is not stipulated in regular plans. The contract usually lasts for one year where you may decide to renew the contract on a daily basis. Big discounts are offered to people who will go for a 2 year plan. Discount varies from company to company but most discounts border on 20 percent. As long as you are in the contract, all services that you might need in the future will incur no additional cost and you can also specify which services to retain or booted out. These makes it possible to have a flexible environment in case there are changes required. Contractual basis offers more value to the client and it can pave the way for a more consistent performance. It does cost much more in the beginning but the investment is well worth the cost.

Another thing that can not be stressed enough is the need for a company that offers excellent customer service. The need for 24/7 consultation is a must knowing that even one hour of downtime can mean loss of income. An excellent customer service must have a quick response on the problem at hand. This will give you the peace of mind to work on the other aspect of your business and leave the hosting to reliable dedicated web hosting partner.

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Evaluating Dedicated Server Hosting Costs

March 17th, 2011

Web hosting is very important particularly if you are running an online business. Maintaining the site is a full time job and requires technical know-how. A business owner should make use of his time more wisely with other things such as marketing and promoting the business, launching new products, talking with the customers and checking his inventory and accounting. It would make him more productive since he can concentrate where it mattered most. Having your own server and maintaining them is the least of things that a business man should worry about.

There are different features that are available and you can have one customized if you are looking to implement a special application. Depending on your needs, a fully automated web hosting plan can be geared up for the best possible performance based on your requirements. To determine which hosting plan is best suited for you, it is best to analyze whether an application you need might not run on particular operating software. For example, an application such as Apache will not run optimally on a windows server environment. The same is true with SQL server with a Linux box. A fully automated server can easily be tweaked with pre-configured templates or plugins. A website’s security is important and a fully automated server can provide it lesser hassle. If you are looking for more option to have a larger capacity to accommodate more files on your web site, there is a hosting plan that can handle your requirements. Other services include email support, security patch and update, backup system and support and other technical management services.

Fully automated, hands free dedicated server hosting is an advantage. Choose your hosting provider with care since it can make or break a business online presence. There are companies offering hosting plan and choosing the wrong type can be disastrous. Businessmen who are busy and does not want to be bothered by web site administration work should opt for a fully automated web site hosting provider. This frees the businessman of the clutches of configuring the web server and can focus on more important projects. A managed web hosting is also the perfect business solution for those non-technically inclined.

Fully automated systems can be used to manage a single site and also multiple sites. This is an advantage since you don’t have to shift from one administration panel to another. It can manage all the complexities of multiple sites without worrying you of any intricacies. A fully managed hosting would work for you. If you are a business owner who does not want the headaches and complication of dealing with the difficulties concerning the supervision or technical problems of handling a dedicated server, then this type of service is for you. The time spent on administrating a web server can be allocated to more revenue generating tasks. This also means that we can also have more time with our family.

A comprehensive plan can get you the most out of your business and provides you with all the solutions you’ll ever possibly need. There are a lot of web hosting providers that offers cheap fully managed dedicated server hosting. Price range differs from one provider to another but the price difference in costing is not far enough. The best hosting plan is usually a balance between pricing and features. A fully managed dedicated server is only a few hundred dollars difference with a regular dedicated hosing. But the price difference is not much of a factor since you will be getting tremendous benefits especially if you knew nothing about networking or does not have any time to learn it.

Getting a well rounded hosting plan also entitles you to services of top notch system administrators. A good hosting company employs top people in the field who can provide a well secure environment. This makes it possible for your business to be safe from potential attacks 24/7. Having a secured environment means people can safely browse or purchase items from your site without fear of being compromised. Besides phishing attacks and identity theft, server administrators also safeguard you from threat of malwares and trojans.

With all the features and benefits that one gets by having his website from a fully automated hosting plan, the extra money that you pay is well worth it.

Any company of any size will truly benefit from a fully automated hosting plan. The time and frustrations saved are one of the key benefits of having a fully automated hosting plan. Any sensible businessman will see through the inefficiency of downtimes, especially if you have to do the web administrating by yourself. Not only that, the time wasted can be allocated to more productive endeavor or spending time with family and friends. Especially if you are just starting, be sure to host your site with fully automated plans. There are a lot of companies that offer different hosting plan at very reasonable rates. Be sure to read in the forums of the current hosting provider or others which can give the best hosting service.

There are several hosting packages available online that offer full managed hosting support. Fully automated hosting plans gives you hands free operation and also other benefits including network and traffic monitoring, operating system updates, managed domains, superb bandwidths. System administrators of hosting companies also provide additional security such as firewall protection and real time scanning. But be sure to check if this is included in your package. Inquiring may also lead to other options offered by the hosting provider. Options such as spam filtering, email filtering, and anti-virus software may incur additional cost. Depending on your budget, hosting providers made It possible to customize the amount of storage space, memory allocation, frequency of backup. Creating a firm goal on what to achieve must be implemented before deciding on what plan to pursue. If you are still undecided, you can opt to try a smaller package with an option to upgrade later. Test the waters first before you dive in. Getting advice from a professional can also do wonders especially with the plenty of hosting plans available that makes it more confusing.

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Dedicated Linux Server Hosting

March 14th, 2011

Let us talk about the basics of networking and what dedicated servers mean before continuing with more specifics. An overview of what hosting service does can best describe what dedicated servers do. Webmasters rent computers to host their web site and which can be accessed by the public through HTTP. There are different types of hosting package but more expensive ones are generally given access to all facilities of the server. It is as if the computer is inside your room! That is the advantage of leasing on a dedicated server. It can give you more control and security by having full access to the server’s facilities including all of its resources.

While web hosting can be done by setting up your own computer as the web server, there are a lot of advantages when choosing a professional hosting service. This is particularly true if you have a web site that accommodate massive amounts of visitors per day. Web sites tend to bog down when hosted on slower, tier 1 provider. Looking after and maintaining the servers such as regular updates and revisions is a 24/7 job that requires professional personnel. The modifications needed in hardware are also very technical and it is very convenient to just rent a dedicated server and let your provider worry about it.

While there is a cost attached to these types of services, you need not worry much about the expense of hosting in these services since they can make up for it by getting you more traffic. Hosting companies buy bandwidth in the bulk and offered unlimited bandwidth packages for dedicated hosting service. It is for this reason alone that users would want to rent or lease a web hosting service. Getting traffic is the main reason why you develop applications. There is no use for such applications if there are no users in your site. Getting customers into their website is the main reason why people want their business in the internet. Due to its free nature and the vast, open support of Linux, a lot of companies have used it as their operating system for their web server. Linux dedicated server and UNIX dedicated server are preferred more than any operating system offered in the market today.

Choosing which operating system that is best for you boils down to what type of application you will need. It is important to note that many applications are operating system specific. An application can be made run in a different operating system than it is intended for but you may not be getting the full power of the application. A lot of people are not comfortable with the console based UNIX system. However, there is a new GUI management system which you can configure your web server through a web browser.

This application is known as cPanel. It is a UNIX based graphical web hosting control panel that you can access using a web browser. It provides hands free operation developed to streamline the procedure of web site hosting. The flexibility of cPanel makes it possible for layered control that provides different access to different users of the server.

CPanel has many functions including the ability to analyze statistics, organize files, perform email functions, and configure preferences. It has support for most databases and a can be customized to add a whole lot more. The graphical nature of cPanel makes it at par with windows as far as ease of use is concern. It definitely can make life easier for site administrators as well clients who want more control for their websites.

Anyone who has been working with VPS has certainly come across the word cPanel. CPanel has been synonymous with virtual private servers. It is the first thing that comes to mind whenever someone thinks of Linux VPS. Its code leads naturally to the use of VPS. Using cPanel VPS has many advantages.

Perhaps the most celebrated advantage is the departure from console based interface to the familiar point and click graphical interface of Windows. This led to easier navigation on the part of the user and more eye-catchy too. The GUI interface has come a long way and has been redesigned numerous times to make it the cPanel we know of today. Those familiar with Windows OS can attest to the ease of use and moving around while performing and changing different server function with a click of the mouse. Icons are now used instead of typing in the root to access the different functions.

There are lots of skins that are available to cPanel and changing one theme to another is as easy as a few clicks of the mouse. CPanel VPS is also cheap compared to other commercial control panels. CPanel can be brought direct or at a reseller. However, buying through reseller has its advantage of low price compared to buying it from directly from cPanel website.

You can choose the best hosting provider by looking at the services they are offered. Typically, the ones that have the latest features installed are the best hosting companies. CPanel supports many Linux variants including Red hat Linux, FreeBSD and others. It can be the control panel for a VPS (virtual private server) or a dedicated server. CPanel are often used by cheap hosting servers basically due to its low cost and stable system. It is worth noting that cPanel provides access policy much like the UNIX server administration. It provides different access privilege to different users of the server. CPanel is regularly updated to keep it stable and reliable. CPanel is available in different language which makes it more accessible to non-English administrators.

Compared to other operating systems, Linux provides the most stable and reliable web hosting server currently on the market. It is often criticized as not as robust as the Windows dedicated server but nevertheless, it gets the job done. The majority of virus attackers go after the Windows operating system in so much as it gives Linux the advantage when it comes to being secure.

And unlike a Windows server, Linux has been tested to undergo intensive usage for days without needing a reboot. Windows server needs to refresh itself by having an allocated reboot time. With the benefits and advantages of Linux from other type of OS, it is probably the best option for your web hosting requirements right now.

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Linux Dedicated Hosting Server

March 12th, 2011

Currently, only two OS are dominating over the hosting server scene. Microsoft’s Windows Server Edition and the open source Linux. Windows offer a more stable and user friendly interface that controls every aspect of server application. It has all the bell and whistles readily available and very easy to configure. Every body is familiar with the Windows client interface so it isn’t hard to understand the Windows server interface. So why would people choose Linux over Windows when it’s harder and more complex than Windows?

But before we delve in and explain the reasons why Linux is the choice of many despite its complex interface, let’s have a look on how Linux came about.

Linux descended from the UNIX operating system and thus pretty much behaves like it. It is a freely distributed operating system and is open source. It was primarily developed to give users very similar overall performance to high-end UNIX work stations using the PC platform. Linux have been used in many big-name companies such as IBM and Compaq in their various packages. Among the popular Linux distributions include Red Hat, Corel, and Samba. Linux is defined as free to use so companies using them can only charge for services and user manual. As such, more and more companies are using Linux. They found it to be efficient, cost-effective and stable for their networks.

Linux is very much like its parent operating system UNIX. Anyone who has used UNIX before will be pleased that Linux’s kernel environment and hardware support are very much alike. Linux is also a multitasking OS. It has support for multi-user and has privilege control like Windows. The best part of Linux is that it is open source code and has a number of freely available tools and utilities.

The Linux kernel permits multi tasking as a consequence of the hardware that it was originally built on – the Intel 80386. The kernel can be described as the lowest level that communicates with the hardware. The kernel duty is to schedule the processes to accomplish multi-tasking, It also regulates the interface relating to user applications and computer hardware devices. The device drivers are portion of the Linux kernel which is also called monolithic kernel. Linux code tends to make excellent use of the superior multitasking functions developed into the Intel CPU’s instruction set which is far advanced compared at its rival during those times, Microsoft’s MS-DOS. One of the properties that illustrate the capability of Linux to support multi tasking is through paging or portions of a program that are required are loaded into Memory. Linux support for multiple applications loaded at the same time in memory is also far better than DOS memory management system.

Linux is the first OS to implement a technology called swap space. A swap space is a space in memory wherein good sized amount of memory are made available to the requesting application even though there is a limited amount of physical RAM available. A portion or extension of physical memory is placed on the reserved area of a disk which is seen as memory by the application. But due to the hard drive’s slower access, the application will have to wait much longer than having all its data on readily available in the memory. Hard disk is much slower than electronic gates and moving the data between the two will result in slower access. DOS and OS/2 file systems are compatible with other file system and so data can be ported without too much work converting files to one platform to another. For best possible use of the disk, the ext2fs is Linux native file system is much better to use when using Linux.

Linux is open source software which is officially protected by GPL aka General Public License. An open source is different from a shareware or public domain software. What GPL means is that it allows people to acquire free software and give out their own variants of the software or in some parlance, versioning.

Companies who sell packages with Linux installed can’t limit their rights to re-sell the free software. That is because Linux is covered by GPL which permits it to be distributed free of charge. GPL also declares that the vendor should supply the complete source code for the software at no charge. When one thinks of the word ‘open source’, Linux is the first thing that comes to mind.

And so, now that we know a little bit of how Linux came about, we will delve with the concept of Dedicated Server. A dedicated server is a type of service that can be leased for hosting purposes. Leasing is much more practical than owning one. And unlike email servers, you get the whole setup, which means you have unfettered access to the whole computer complete with its software and operating system. And with issues regarding security and speed, more people are likely to rent the whole computer than portions of it. This can make them more in control on who has access and permissions.

Some people saw the opportunity with the demand to set up a computer and lease these systems as servers. And like renting an apartment, you are given the key and you can do whatever you like. Among the common operating system are Windows, Linux, Free BSD and at times an IBM based server or Solaris. The most popular however, is Dedicated Linux Hosting which, as you have already guessed, has Linux as its operating system.

What are the reasons why people would want a dedicated Linux Hosting? Besides the economic advantage a dedicated Linux hosting, you will also save yourself some of the technicalities in handling the server. The Cost of maintaining is also of special concern especially in these hard economic times. Linux Operating System is free along with the tools and utilities that operate on it. Compared to another operating system in the market today, Linux is more secure and much reliable platform. The sheer power and versatility of Linux have made top companies choose it as their operating system for their super computers. Most dedicated hosting plan there charge extra if you have a windows operating system as your server. And the expenses continue to soar when you take into account the different software such as SQL server that goes along with Microsoft. There is indeed some free software for Windows but these are poorly built and will result in disaster which will cost you money in the long run. That is why the hosting company that offers Windows OS is more expensive than a Linux based system.

The next thing that concerns people who will decide on a Linux system is the level of support Linux provides. Since it is free, one could not expect the top notch service of Windows or other paid services out there. However, there are a lot of ‘professional’ support service that is offered for free or at low cost. These are people who have experienced the same problem as you and had it documented and rectified. This community based support consists of all kinds of people on all manner of expertise. It is like a big community of support happily assisting each other.

When a problem is been identified, most Dedicated Linux Hosting comes with a patch and security update. The hosting company normally is responsible for applying the patch or any security update on their server. So, you can continue performing your everyday tasks without worrying about it. The hosting service will provide you this.

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Shifting to a Dedicated Server Hosting

March 11th, 2011

Perhaps the greatest single decision that you can make with respect to your business hosting requirements is by having an upgrade to a dedicated server. You also needed to have a reliable hosting partner. As clients, we are looking for the best possible service and what to look for in order to get the best possible service.

The availability to select the operating system to run on your dedicated server is one of the primary concerns that one should make clear before proceeding. As of this writing, the choice is narrowed down to Linux Redhat and Windows Server Edition. This is simply because they are dependable and offer all around superb performance. However, the choice should be related to your application and that it has native support for it. Secondly, you should have a good understanding or a decent degree of familiarity with the software. And in this regard, the Windows server system is the hands down winner as it is very easy to use. This is due to the familiar look and feel of the Windows desktop environment to the networking server setting. Despite the fact that Linux is considered as one of the most secure operating systems, it is not much in terms of user friendliness which contributes greatly to its negative aspect. Microsoft’s software has been hitting consumers with a pleasant operating system interface that is preferred by many clients. However, there are benefits with Linux that makes it appealing to customers too. One such thing is that it is easily scalable provided you are familiar with Linux intricacies. Choosing between the two operating systems is a very critical decision that will have a substantial effect on the overall functioning.

There is a level of sophistication when it comes to selecting dedicated windows server hosting providers. Before finalizing the transaction, there are a lot of variables to be taken into account. The delicate process of creating Windows Dedicated Servers should be handled by a team of qualified IT specialist who has the satisfactory ability and know-how to guide you in a number of applications and hosting configurations without any problems. There are a great deal of complicated functions and programs that a slight mis-configuration might cause some difficulties preventing the smooth functioning of the server. A trustworthy windows hosting service provider would offer the following options:

One particular feature of a good service provider is that it should maintain an individualized services and assistance. In order to help the customer and correct errors in the server on a regular basis, classifications of tasks are designated to a particular team that will handle them. Professionalism ensures that the client gets the benefits for every dime put in employing dedicated windows server hosting providers. The service provider should have qualified support personnel who must have experience with effective development, administration and repairs and maintenance. The information of a client’s windows dedicated server hosting are indicated out plainly and any problem that may arise can be resolved by means of it. The customer has a spot in the organization held data center where all the technical specifications can be requested. Throughout the day 24/7, the specifications are tightly monitored for any discrepancies. Software such as PHP, ASP, .NET technology, SQL, Sharepoint and other Microsoft web applications are covered by the company who provides the dedicated window server hosting.

Apart from those pointed out earlier, the tasks of web analytics, generating reports and other customized programs are also handled by the provider. The client obtains customized web reports that deal with the most important details and substantial website information. This is made probable with the addition of robust website statistics. This can assist in attaining a smooth operation and high visibility online rate for the client. Clients are supplied with reseller programs that have improved and customized applications that are used in conjunction with Windows web hosting server software. Any application that get set up in the server are delicately made available to the client for additional evaluation. This transparency gives the client more control and option should they choose to use the application directly. the client gets all the authority and control needed over the applications and doesn’t have to be concerned about the server space since it doesn’t have to be distributed with any other users on the server, For people who are more technically challenged, an open source code is provided to ensures that changes can be constantly integrated to suit the requirements of the customer. High traffic websites, e-commerce hosts and critical applications are especially the ones who will have an advantage with dedicated windows server hosting services.

Dedicated server packages leave the server setup and configuration up to the user as opposed to distributed hosting platforms where server management is taken care of by the service provider. The degree of administration is managed by Cpanel or control panel web application software which is comparable to a distributed system. Plesk and WHM (Web Host Manager) are cPanels developed for dedicated server management. It is currently the top leading software on the industry. It has standard command center console on all the necessary factors of the server and enables you to hold several domains. Installation is pretty easy and uncomplicated. Whilst very much similar, there are a couple of distinctions worth noting.

WHM at this time is only available for the Linux environment although there have been hints that development is in the works for windows environment. On the other hand, Plesk is a multi-platform management console that works with Linux and Windows. Plesk offers the benefit of having the ability to use the same control panel interface in both Linux and Windows environments. it would almost certainly be a excellent idea to find a dedicated host that manages the identical console panel. If you were using Plesk on a distributed server, always take into consideration that the cPanel web console for the distributed server hosting is completely different than that of WHM for the dedicated hosting server.

The ability to manage almost all its high end applications operating on Windows is offered through a specialty server that is asked for by the buyer. The end user is authorized to make the necessary modifications as per demand and also provide him that authority to correct all errors. Almost anything can be re-structured and altered since the hosting services offer flexibility and gives the user freedom to operate. It is the job of the service provider to make certain that all these configurations are well provided for and that every weak spot has been plugged. Once the application and site is up and running, the service is passed on to the client. Only when all the tests on the server are conducted and is passed satisfactorily before the service is leased.

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Windows VPS Hosting Perks and Shortcomings

February 20th, 2011

What is VPS and what advantages will it have?

A VPS is a form of web hosting which is developed by means of dividing a physical server down into several virtual servers. The VPS is short for Virtual Private Server and is the same and used interchangeably with VDS or a Virtual Dedicated Server. It has its unique completely separate operating platform without having any impact coming from various other end users. Additionally, it can also be rebooted on their own ‘virtual space’ from other servers. What is apparent regarding each and every of these types of virtual servers is that they have the presence and functionality of functioning by itself. Virtual Private Servers are significantly better in contrast to shared web hosting servers but is one step below dedicated web hosting servers. VPS comes for less cost than a dedicated web hosting server and provides a high degree of freedom to the users without the dedicated web hosting servers high cost. Virtual servers give their customers a middle ground between true dedicated servers and shared hosting.

The component that handles the diverse servers and VPS hosting is made probable by the dependable system of the most recently released VPS hosting operating system. It has a lot more advantages when compared to its forerunner Windows Virtual Server 2007.Now more than ever, Hosting providers will now take over a much more secure and risk-free environment. All these are made possible with the release of Hyper-V and Windows 2008 VPS hosting. The existing solutions by top companies such as VMware simply leave other products in the dust. Poor scalability and securities issues severely plagued the 2007 offerings. Other issues also stemmed from lack of speed and performance. It was inundated with lots of update to improve overall performance but it just could not compete with VMWare. However, with windows 2008 customers can expect to have a significantly better experience and efficiency boost from VMWare. A Windows VPS server that is hosted on Hyper-V is the top choice among professionals in the market today. With larger traffic and security issues, other VM managers and servers running the Windows OS would benefit greatly without the ridiculously high cost of VMWare.

Windows VPS Hosting Advantages

A network administrator would certainly look ahead to the manageability and scalability from its developer with the very recognizable capabilities of Windows VPS hosting. One such advantage is putting together windows VPS hosting which is very straightforward under the familiar windows user interface. Windows VPS hosting has been revamped to improve security and speed. And the complex controls once associated with re-configuring and deployment which can easily be rectified with the administrators easily adapting the windows application to different types of web site hosting. All these configuration comes in handy when upgrading to a much powerful software that could be quite complex if not for the familiarity of the Windows operation system.

For business organizations and individuals that operate increased-traffic Web sites, the Windows VPS Servers are particularly valuable. You will find a lot of benefits to be obtained which cannot be supplied in shared hosting. The most crucial application which requires modified environments can host even the most sophisticated applications. It has also a much better control over the security over head cost of dedicated hardware without the burden of the excessive price associated with a VPS.

Windows VPS Hosting Drawbacks

VPS software forces you to think carefully particularly when operating it with conjunction with the Windows OS. This is due to the fact a sizeable quantity of resources from the server will probably be necessary. The processing power prerequisite and the high resource demands placed on the system and the hardware itself will create a taxing effect on a lesser able system. A mini version of the windows OS might be all you need depending on your current demands. While not as powerful as its big brother, the Windows 2008 Secure Core can efficiently address the issue at hand.

However larger corporations with higher needs may need to install or upgrade to using the latest version of Windows dedicated server. The corresponding hardware especially the CPU must be enhanced to meet up with the resource specifications of the Windows OS. But some clients who will be running a significant number of applications may call for spanning of processing power over a multiple of servers to be able to cope up with the demand.

When compared to Linux VPS Hosting systems, the Windows VPS Hosting generally look more robust despite the fact that the price arrangement can cause some companies to decide on one over the other. The open source, free of charge Linux based VPS hosting has its own advantage and disadvantages. These two operating systems OS clearly ruled other systems for decades and Linux is supported with millions of developers all over the world congruently spicing up the Linux code. And so, when the price of setting up your hosting is a major issue in your company, then open source software such as Linux is the way to go since it means the server host could obtain the software for free. This makes Linux very attractive especially to the start up entrepreneur.

On the other hand, every body knows that Windows operating systems are the bulk of Bill Gates wealth. There is a need for separate license for each of the applications besides the operating system itself. This can quickly add up the cost making the Windows operating system and its applications a costly alternative. However, the not so familiar feel of Linux for this type of hosting makes it awkward to use. The disadvantage of Linux is basically largely based on manageability but both are almost the same when talking about performance. This is due to the fact that both OS primarily based their performance mostly on their hardware as opposed to the operating system. So, it can be said that there are no real performance gain when deciding on either Linux or Windows. It is a matter of familiarity and pricing issues where most of the debates circulate upon.

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