A1 Web Hosting

Moving up to Virtual Dedicated Hosting

2005-10-19T01:45:00.000-07:00

Most webmasters on the net today are familiar with what the
industry calls "shared" web hosting accounts. A shared hosting
account is where you rent a small amount of space on a server
which is shared among many other users.

This is a cheap way to get started online but it has many
disadvantages - you will encounter email delivery problems
because of spam complaints against other sites on the same
server. You will find your site's grinding to a halt when
someone else does some heavy database work on your server. You
might even find your site going down because of a denial of
service attack against someone else hosting hacking or piracy
related material on your server (these type of sites attract
antisocial elements!)

How can you avoid all of this drama?

By upgrading to a virtual dedicated server. A virtual dedicated
server lets you run your sites as if you had your own
"dedicated" server, except it is cheaper because you are really
just using part of a server that has been split into multiple
virtual dedicated servers.

You can find out more about this by searching Google for
"virtual dedicated hosting". Virtuozzo is the main commercial
software that web hosts use to run virtual hosting services.

You will find virtual dedicated server accounts starting at just
$30 a month. You'll get a much larger chunk of bandwidth
compared to shared hosting, and none of the problems that go
with a shared host. You can also get multiple IP addresses that
are exclusive to your sites.

So what's the catch? Not much. You'll probably spend a bit more
on hosting each month. The main disadvantage of upgrading to
virtual dedicated hosting is that you will need to be more
technically proficient so that you can administer the server.

This requires a bit of time learning the necessary Linux skills
to make sure your server runs smoothly.

Many hosting providers will have a "premium" support offering
that includes a bit more hand holding - this is definitely
recommended if you don't have much experience with Linux, or are
new to virtual dedicated hosting.

With the increased speed and bandwidth that a virtual dedicated
host offers, and none of the shared hosting headaches, the move
is one you will never regret.

About the author:
Jeremy runs http://www.bighomebusiness.com/ which provides free
news, articles and tips to internet home business owners.

How to Choose a Web Hosting Company

2005-10-19T01:43:00.000-07:00

Web hosting is a big business on the internet nowadays...so big,
in fact, that it can be difficult to choose from amongst the
myriad of options.

How do you know you're going to get reliable service and
customer support at reasonable prices? And how do you compare
what one company offers versus another?

A web hosting review site can help you sift through the multiple
options by showing you the good, the bad and the ugly of web
hosts. A good review site like href="http://www.hosting-review.com">www.hosting-review.com
basically does the homework for you - you can compare prices and
packages easily in one place, as well as read detailed
information about various web hosts, as written by webmasters
who have both user experience and customer feedback on the
different hosting companies.

Still not sure what to do? Let's go through some of the
different criteria you should consider when evaluating the best
web host for your needs:

Space & Bandwidth

Your needs for space and bandwidth will depend on how large
and/or graphics-heavy your site is, as well as your expected
volume of traffic. Most plans typically offer at least 50 MB.
However, make sure that you are not going to get charged extra
for features such as mail, system programs, and other elements
of your web site as these may or may not be included in disk
space limit provided. The same goes for bandwidth - 500 MB is
typical for many average-sized sites, but you may need more or
substantially less.

Price

How much does the hosting package cost? (remember, the lowest
price is not necessarily the way to go here). Is payment monthly
or annual? Is a contract required? Some hosting companies offer
substantial discounts when you sign up for a multi-year
contract. What price implications are there if you go over your
bandwidth limit? Read the fine print!

Scalability

If you run out of space or use up all your bandwidth and need to
upgrade to a more robust package, what are the implications? Are
you able to upgrade packages easily if required?

Technical Support

What types of help are offered, what are support hours, and is
support free? You'd be surprised - web hosts range from offering
virtually no support all the way up to free phone, fax, email
and chat support 24 hours, 7 days a week. Also, beware that some
hosts charge for certain types of support. This is more info
you'll get from those hosting reviews.

Domain Registration Does the web host supply domain
registration services or must you register your domain yourself?
How portable is your domain name? You will want to be able to
take it with you if you ever change hosting providers.

Additional Services What additional services are offered
with your package? This can include free scripts, web traffic
statistics tools, shopping carts, design help, and many other
features and functions. Many of these can be very useful and are
worth checking out. On the flip side, try not to pay for what
you won't use.

Speed & Uptime

Above all, you want a reliable site that does not bog down or go
down. It is a nightmare to have visitors leave your site because
it is not working or it is so slow that they lose interest. A
good web host will have an uptime guarantee and will notify you
of any scheduled downtime.

Email Addresses

Ensure that your chosen web host package gives you enough email
addresses for your needs. Remember, too, that if you're a
one-man show, it can't hurt to have multiple email addresses
(eg. sales@mysite .com, customerservice@mysite .com, etc) - even
if they all go to your inbox, you look like a bigger company,
which can add to your credibility.

Choosing that hosting company can be time-consuming and
complicated, so use hosting reviews to your advantage - after
all, these are webmasters who have used different hosts
themselves!

About The Author:

Hosting-Review.com
is an independent source for finding the best web host to match
your needs. Find out the good, the bad and the ugly when it
comes to web hosts.

About the author:
In addition to valuable web hosting reviews, http://www.hosting-review.com offers informative articles covering a wide range of web
hosting topics.

Thinking About Free or Cheap Hosting For Your Site? Think Again!

2005-10-19T01:42:00.000-07:00

A host is a server which provides a home for your website on the
World Wide Web. Just as your computer contains all your files,
so a host contains all the files needed to run your website. Why
can't you just keep all those files on your own computer?
Because that would mean users would have to connect directly to
your computer to see your website. Not a good idea--it wouldn't
be secure and it would make your machine run like a tired snail.
With a host, you can simply upload everything you need to the
server and your users can then connect there to see your site.
It lets the site run faster and allows it to have all the
security and extras it needs.

Selecting a host is the first important step towards building
your Internet business.

Hosting services and companies vary from totally free, shared
servers to large-scale dedicated machines. You'll have to decide
which is right for you and your business. To help you make that
decision, study the following:

Free Servers:

Advantages: *No Cost *You manage the server software and network

Disadvantages: *Search engines view free hosting services as
inferior and sometimes do not include them in their index. *Some
free hosting services do not allow you to use a custom domain
name *The bandwidth is restricted and may cause difficulty for
visitors attempting to access your site. *Because the service is
free, some providers do not strive for 100% uptime which could
result in your site being frequently inaccessible. *Software
availability is limited, and free hosts do not generally provide
database options. *Disk space is sometimes limited; ensure that
you are getting all the room you need. *Poor response time for
support. *Very limited support.

Cheap Web Hosting:

Advantages: *Server, software and network is managed and
supported for you. *You can select a custom domain name. *Search
engines don't view you as second class if you have your own
domain name. *Improved response time for support. *Uptime is
improved. *Technical support is provided, generally 24 hours a
day

Disadvantages: *Bandwidth restrictions *Shared processing power
*Limited software *Potentially limited disk space

Mid-Priced Web Hosting--Shared Servers:

*Server, software and network is managed and supported for you.
*You can select a custom domain name. *Search engines don't view
you as second class if you have your own domain name. *Improved
response time for support. *Uptime is improved and generally
guaranteed *Technical support is provided, generally 24 hours a
day. *Generally offer a wide range of software options and
configurable bundles. *Improved bandwidth.

Disadvantages: *Shared processing power.

Expensive, Dedicated Servers:

Advantages: *Server, software and network is managed and
supported for you. *You can select a custom domain name. *Search
engines don't view you as second class. *Improved response time
for support. *Uptime is improved and generally guaranteed.
*Technical support is provided, generally 24 hours a day.
*Generally offer a wide range of software options and
configurable bundles. *Improved bandwidth. *Processing power is
not shared

Disadvantages: *The cost is higher than any other options, but
well worth it if you choose wisely.

Your choice of server will depend on how much money you have
available at the beginning and how much you plan to grow in the
future. In my opinion, for commercial sites, free hosting is a
waste of time. Your users are going to get blasted with annoying
pop-ups every time they surf to your page, it's going to be
impossible to get a decent position in a search engine, and you
don't even get a real business URL. No one's going to remember
your Web address if they have to type . Also, you won't have to
worry about down servers, which can happen frequently with free
hosting. But it is possible to choose a cheap host at the
beginning and move up as your business begins to bring in money,
but I don't recommend it.

If you are serious about your on-line business, then go for the
gusto right away and get the best. You can get professional
hosting for an average of $25 per month. It might seem like a
lot, especially if you are just starting out, but it will save
you loads of headaches down the road. Here is a first-class,
high-quality site that offers professinal web hosting: href="http://3487053150.thirdsphereclassic.com/">
ThirdSphereHosting.com You will find that all my
recommendations are of the highest quality. I have been through
the mill probably like you have and now my standards are high.
Anyway, it doesn't cost to have a look.

Professionally Yours, Tony Smith

About the author:
I, like most of us, have learned a lot of lessons the hard way.
To keep you from having to do the same, I write only about the
best, most professional, reliable and trustworthy tools on the
net. ThirdSphereHosting.com is a lot more than just a host. Have
a look. I guarantee that you will be hard pressed to find
anything else like it.

Web Hosting Review Simple Host

2005-10-19T01:40:00.000-07:00

SimpleHost A Web Hosting Review

SimpleHost has been providing reliable hosting services since
1996, and have grown to become an industry leader hosting over
10,000 clients world-wide. SimpleHost was launched to make web
hosting simple for the novice and expert alike. We offer
powerful web hosting solutions in one simple package for small
to medium size businesses. We make it simple enough so that the
novice user as well as advanced user can take advantage of all
the Internet has to offer. Since our initial release we have
been striving to raise Internet standards.

SimpleHost is committed to providing quality reliable hosting
solutions for your business. As our name implies, we strive to
make the hosting experience as simple and straightforward as
possible. The simplicity of our service allows beginers to get
online with ease while our technical superiority provides
excellent service for the more advanced. Whatever your level of
expertise, our support staff will be there to assist you as
needed. Our top priority is to provide high-quality reliable
services and top-notch customer service to all customers.

We may focus on making web hosting simple for our clients, but
the technology behind the scenes is definately not simple. Our
network is maintained by redundant OC-3/OC12 backbones and state
of the art equipment. Our servers run the Unix/Linux operating
system for unsurpassed performance and reliability. All of our
equipment is kept in our data network facility and monitored by
our advanced alert system. We are notified of problems within
seconds and are able to respond immediately to take corrective
actions. As a result, we are able to provide a 99.9% uptime.

Learn more at http://www.bestwebhostingco.com/simplehost.htm

About the author:
J. Ratliff is a writer for http://www.bestwebhostingco.com

Why free web hosting may not be a bad thing

2005-10-19T01:38:00.000-07:00

There is paid web hosting and there is free web hosting. Most
people tend to steer clear of free web hosting as they tend to
believe that "there is no free lunch". href="http://www.buildtolearn.com">Free web hosting must
have its catches?

Well, that really depends on your purposes and your position.

Why purpose? If your web hosting is for your website which is
for commercial purposes, such as an ecommerce web-store, you
need absolute reliability and uptime. Every second of downtime
is lost revenue. While some free web hosting providers guarantee
uptime, you cannot hold it against them if their services do not
meet expectations and cause your business to lose hundreds of
dollars of revenue. Why? Because most free web hosts will have a
clause in their terms that state that they do not guarantee
uptime at all because they are a free service. Now, most free
hosts will not even guarantee any uptime and those free web
hosting services are provided on a best effort basis. You cannot
risk hosting your crucial business website on such a free
hosting plan. However, for most individuals who are
experimenting with building websites, free web hosting is the
ideal choice as there is no monetary commitment and no lost for
both parties. Everyone deserves a chance to learn and what
better way to learn than to do it? Free web hosting plans from
free hosts are the ideal platform for aspiring webmasters to
start their web-building careers. Of course these free hosts may
require something in return: visiting sponsors, displaying ads
on hosted pages, reading emails, and lately, participating in
online communities of the free web-host. This last option may
not be a bad thing as online communities allow the users to
interact and learn from each other. There is also a last
category of users who just want free web hosting for a personal
site which they do not find the need to be up all the time and
do not see the need to pay for it and do not see the need to do
anything for it. There are some free web hosts out there who
offer free hosting for nothing - just a simple sign up.
Therefore, a clear purpose for using free web hosting is
important. If the purpose is critical and there is no tolerance
for problems, then free webhosting is not suitable. Other than
that, free web hosting is not a bad thing.

Why position? Web hosting plans are relatively affordable these
days (some plans as low as $1 a month) that almost any working
person can afford it for their websites. Therefore, paying for
web hosting should not be a problem for those who have an
income, or some savings to spend on developing their websites
further. Also, any working adult should be able to afford using
a Paypal account that most web hosts will accept as a form of
payment. On the other hand, students and young people do not
have much to spend, much less a Paypal or Credit Card with which
to pay for hosting. For this group of people, free web hosting
plans are the obvious alternatives if they wish to set up
websites without paying anything for them.

To conclude, free web hosting may not be a bad thing for
selected groups of people who have a specific purpose. For
students and people looking to learn about developing websites,
free web hosting is a good thing.

About the author:
Dax Christopher maintains a two year old webmaster community at
http://www.Buildtolearn.com, a forum community that provides
free web hosting to members discusses web-hosting and webmaster
related issues such as web-design, page coding, SEO and many
others.

How to Choose a Web Host

2005-10-19T01:35:00.000-07:00

Once you decide that you need web page either for your business,
non-profit organization or simply a fun personal page, you then
have the Herculean task of choosing a web host. Hopefully, the
host you choose will be easy on the pocket, and offer maximum
uptime, enough bandwidth support, appropriate web-space, and
excellent customer service and support. Most web hosting
services will not excel in all areas, however if you take the
time to make an informed decision you can have it all!

The type of web services you desire and the purpose for which
the web site is being created plays a major role in the choice
for a web host. If the web site to be hosted is a commercial
website, checking uptime period of the considered server is
vital. Anything less than 99.5% uptime would be unacceptable for
most commercial web sites. This is because search engines may be
indexing your site at any moment of time and if your site were
down it would lose its chance to be indexed on that particular
search engine and hence lose probable business. Also, existing
customers who would be visiting your site and are unable to load
your web page may develop a negative impression about you that
could harm business reputation. If the site is for a non-profit
organization, a club or any personal page intending to only keep
related people informed about certain aspects, a requirement for
99.5% uptime might not be a major criterion in your decision.

Another important aspect is the amount of file space that host
offers. An average commercial web site normally contains not
more than a few hundred web pages, some java or php scripts and
image and multimedia files. All this information ordinarily does
on not require web space more than 50-100 MB. Some hosts will
charge a lot for additional space, while others will provide
much more than 50-100 MB at a minimal cost.

Bandwidth is another issue you should carefully consider. If
your site is just a personal homepage, it is unlikely you will
get much traffic. However, if your site is an ecommerce site and
you are expecting upwards of a thousand visitors a day, you
should check the monthly bandwidth allowance that the host
offers, since you will be charged if your site goes over this
amount.

Make sure to check what "extras" the host offers. Does it give
you up to 3 email accounts, or up to 100? Does it allow you to
setup subdomains? What technologies does it support? For
instance, if you plan to use PHP, make sure that server actually
has PHP installed!

Finally, you should check out the web host's reputation. Have
they been in business a long time? Do they have a good
reputation within the industry? Are they known for customer
service? If your web site is a critical piece of your business,
it would be wise to entrust it to a reputable hosting service.

About the author:
Paul Herbert writes about a variety of Internet topics, but
focuses on UK Web Hosting.

How to Find the Perfect Web Hosting Company

2005-10-17T10:19:00.000-07:00

So you have a web site and now you need to figure out where to
host it. There are many choices but not too many affordable,
reliable solutions. So how do you know which one to choose? What
makes a hosting company good? Here are some general guidelines
you can use to help you find the perfect hosting company. * Is
their website professional looking? It's safe to assume that if
a hosting company has a sloppy looking website then the company
is also run sloppily. You don't want to get stuck dealing with a
company that's run by a bunch of kids out of a garage.

* Is their customer service available by phone during business
hours and by email 24/7? Many Hosting companies take a long time
to get back to you and some don't even have a phone number
listed. You can get an idea about how good customer service is
by contacting them anonymously with a question. See if they
answer the phone and/or get back you quickly. This will help you
gauge how long it will take them to get back to you once you're
a paying customer. *Are they charging too little or too much?
Remember the old saying "If something seems too good to be true,
it probably is". This is very true when it comes to web hosting.
If they are charging under $5 it is likely that the service is
poor and their technology is antiquated. Also if the prices seem
astronomically high, it's likely you're being ripped off. There
is no regulation when it comes to web hosting pricing so some
companies will charge an arm and a leg hoping that someone
"bites". So keep in mind that you want to find a hosting company
that provides superb support, stability and value. Don't be
fooled by ridiculous claims and don't assume that paying more
means you're getting more.

About the author:
Spencer Steele is the owner of Bsleek.com - a site that specializes in web
hosting, design, promotional items, printing, CD Presentations
and more. Spencer also owns WittyShirts.com which sells funny t-shirts.