Archive for the ‘Hosting Advice’ Category

These days, more and more web hosting companies are going “green”. That doesn’t mean these companies are experiencing motion sickness, but rather they are centering their hosting business around environmentally friendly operating policies. What types of changes are these companies making to improve the world of tomorrow? Some green web hosting companies are using renewable energy to promote environmental awareness. This is done in one of two ways:

• The web host purchases Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) in order to offset part or all of the electricity usage from the full downloads used in their business.  This is a simple solution that doesn’t require drastic changes to the web hosts’ business infrastructure.
• Wind, solar or geothermal energy is used to power and sustain the business operation. This can be an expensive option for a hosting company since full conversion environmentally friendly energy sources can cost a pretty penny. Plus, the full benefits of the conversion will not be realized for years due to the initial cost.

In addition to renewable energy sources, green hosting companies are making smaller changes that allow them to lessen their impact on the environment. These changes include allowing employees to work from home, switching to a paperless office, planting trees at their hosting customers’ request, and making donations to environmental non-profit groups. Web hosting companies are doing many wonderful things in an effort to go green. By choosing a green web hosting company, you’re doing your part in lessening our impact on the world.

The best things in life may be free, but great web hosting service is not one of them.

You may have seen free hosting companies in your search for a new hosting provider. Generally, the emphasis is placed on the price you will pay (nothing) rather than the account features you will receive.

Nearly all free web hosting providers will give you a limited amount of storage space and bandwidth. They will also prevent the upload and storage of certain file types, such as MP3 and MPEG. There is also no uptime guarantee with your site and you will not be able to use you own domain name as the URL.

So how do free hosting companies stay afloat? One word: advertising.

In exchange for your free hosting account, you will have advertisments placed on your site. These advertisments support your free hosting provider and give them a source of income. The advertising is not very targeted and can also be intrusive on the browsing experience (pop up and pop-under ads).

While free hosting may be great if you just want to write a small blog, it is not ideal (or even logical) to use a free
hosting account to run an online business or feature rich website. You can find many web hosting providers who have affordable prices without sacrificing performance or reliability.

Looking for a hosting company? Get a free web hosting quote today!

For newcomers to the world of web hosting, the vast amount of need-to-know information can be overwhelming. There are so many terms to know and understand. Here are a few defintions to increase your knowledge of web hosting and hosting technology.

Disk Space – The amount of hard drive space on the host server. This space is used to store all code, files, databases, images and videos for your site. You generally want to future-proof your site by getting a plan with larger amounts of disk space than you need.

Bandwidth – The amount of data that can be sent to or from the host’s server measured in bytes. This term is often used interchangeably with data transfer. Data, whether it be text, images, audio or video, is requested by visitors of your site and then transferred from the server your site is on. Many hosts have a limit in place for bandwidth, which is called ‘monthly data transfer’.

RAM – Random Access Memory, commonly known as RAM, is the amount of memory on the server that your site can use. If your site or service is very resource intensive, say a video site, you are going to want a large amount of RAM. A smaller site, say a personal blog, can get by on smaller amounts of RAM.

Now that you know these basic terms, why not request a web hosting quote! It’s fast, free and there is no obligation!

Not sure if you need Linux web hosting or Windows web hosting? Both have respective upsides and drawbacks.

Linux based hosting is the most prominent form of hosting on the Internet. This is because many of the technologies that run on Linux hosting, as well as the operating system itself, are all open source. Linux based hosting has a very low cost because of these factors. In addition, Linux web hosting scales extremely well, so as your site grows it remains easy to manage. The only downside to Linux hosting is the lack of support for most Windows based applications and coding languages. This is where Windows hosting comes into play.

Windows hosting is based on the Windows operating system. It is known for support of various programming frameworks, including ASP.net and ColdFusion. Windows hosting can also support SQL server, which can be used to build a site around an online searchable database. Windows based hosting or servers are ideal for those who need easy compatability of Microsoft based technologies. The cost of Windows web hosting is generally higher than Linux based hosting due to licensing of various Windows enviroment technologies. There are few open source solutions for Windows hosting.

By now you know if you need a Linux or Windows based hosting solution. Host Voice has you covered with FREE hosting quote request forms for both Shared Linux Web Hosting and Shared Windows Web Hosting. Get a FREE hosting quote today and start building or transferring your web site!

Control Panels are a very important part of any web hosting package. They allow you to manage your site and account in many different ways. Control panels make operating a website simple and fun, even for the technically challenged.

Most control panels include the following site management tools:

• File manager
• Email configuration and access
• Database management
• Site statistics
• FTP account administration
• Server log access
• Domain and subdomain management

Control panels also let you view the resource usage of your site and usually include summary information of
disk space usage and bandwidth usage. This is great info to have since you want to make sure you stay within
the limits of your hosting account’s resource allotment.

Most web hosting companies include a control panel with every hosting account, so you don’t have to worry about
finding one yourself. Also, some hosts give you a choice when it comes to what type of control panel you want
installed.

There are situations where a host will not provide control panel software. If you happen to be purchasing
an unmanaged dedicated server or unmanaged virtual private server you will have to install the control panel
yourself.

If you feel overwhelmed while staring at your web hosting account’s control panel, it’s ok. Most have
a help option or users manual that will explain everything you need to know and tell you how to use each
feature properly.

Uptime is extremely important in the world of web hosting. It signifies the amount of time a web server is online and available during a certain time frame. When a server is online, your website is up and available for people to visit.

Some web hosting companies claim 100% uptime with their services. While this is technically possible given a small enough time frame, there is no way for a hosting company to be certain they will have 100% uptime for the duration of a server’s life.

The opposite of uptime is downtime. This is the amount of time a server is offline. Downtime can be attributed to server maintenance, technical failures at the datacenter of the hosting company, or to DDoS attacks on the hosting server.

Downtime is calculated by looking a the uptime claims of a web hosting company. For example, over the course of one year, a host that guarantees 99.9% up time will have 8 hours and 46 minutes of downtime. This can be calculated by taking the amount of hours in a year (8760) and multiplying it by the difference of 100% and the claimed amount of uptime (1.00 – .999 = .001).

When searching for web hosting, always be sure your potential host has an acceptable amount of uptime (99% or higher). This will not only keep you happy, but it will keep your visitors happy as well.

Ever wonder why some web hosting companies are able to offer shared hosting services at ridiculously low prices? These companies are more than likely engaging in the act of overselling.

Overselling is when a hosting company sells more disk space and bandwidth on a server than actually exists. For example, say the server is oversold by only 50GB of storage/bandwidth. Overselling is not really an issue here since the amount is small and most sites on the server aren’t using all of their allocated resources. However, say the server is oversold by 1000GB of storage/bandwidth. This situation can cause the server to have performance issues and even go offline if enough sites are using their allocated resources.

So what are the best ways to protect yourself from overselling? First, you can research potential hosting companies at Web Hosting Talk. The user base there is very knowledgeable and has years of experience in the web hosting industry. Second, beware of very low prices when looking for web hosting services. If you come across a deal that says you can have 50GB of storage and 100GB of bandwidth for only $1/month, then the deal is probably too good to be true and the host is engaging in overselling to lure in masses of customers. This is not always the case, but is a good guideline to follow.

Always do your research before signing up for web hosting services. In the end, you’ll be glad you did, even if you end up paying more for better service.

A Virtual Private Server, or VPS for short, is a partition of a Dedicated Server that gives users more power and flexibility than Shared Hosting accounts.

Some advantages of Virtual Private Servers:

- Full root access is provided to users of a VPS.
- Burstable RAM can be provided during times of high traffic or bandwidth usage.
- The physical server is maintained by the hosting provider.
- Cost is far less than a Dedicated Server and only slightly higher than a quality Shared Hosting account.

Some disadvantages of Virtual Private Servers:

- All server hardware is shared between VPS accounts. This includes processing power, RAM, and disk space.
- Users who are not familiar with server administration may have to purchase a managed VPS, as users are partially responsible for some server-side administration tasks.

Does it sound like you could benefit from the power and flexibility of a Virtual Private Server? If so, check out our Virtual Private Server Hosting Quote From and get a FREE VPS quote from up to 4 Virtual Private Server providers!

After starting your website with a Shared Hosting service, you may find yourself in a bind. Bandwidth is constantly being exceeded due to high traffic, making your site load at the pace of a tortoise. This means one thing: It’s time for an upgrade!

Dedicated Servers are a great solution for sites that have outgrown the limits of Shared Hosting. They provide you more control and better security while giving you robust storage and bandwidth for your site. Plus, you still don’t have to worry about physical server maintenance, as it is the host’s responsibility.

There are two types of Dedicated Servers: Managed and Unmanaged.

Managed Dedicated Servers are more expensive. However, the host will do all of the security updates, operating system updates and control panel updates for you. This is a big plus if you don’t know what you are doing when it comes to server administration. It is generally worth the extra cost.

With an Unmanaged Dedicated Server, you are responsible for all of the updates and software installs. This is a great option if you are experienced with server administration, as it is almost always cheaper than a Managed Dedicated Server. You are also able to install whatever software you want with Unmanaged Dedicated Servers. However, be aware that if you do happen to need host assistance with your server it will cost you extra money. Unmanaged Dedicated Servers can take a lot of time to administer as well, which could mean you will spend less time developing content and features for your site.

If you find that your site is constantly down or taken offline for exceeding quotas, then you most likely need a Dedicated Server. Only you can know if you will need a Managed Dedicated Server or Unmanaged Dedicated Server. If you are seriously considering this powerful type of hosting, head over to our Dedicated Server Quote Form and get a FREE quote for a Dedicated Server. It’s fast, easy and there is no obligation!

Want to start a blog, personal website, photo sharing website or discussion forum? If so, you’re going to need some type of Shared Hosting.

Shared Hosting is the most common form of web hosting available. It can also be known as Unix Hosting, Linux Hosting or Windows Hosting, depending on the operating system the server uses.

The cost of Shared Hosting is generally low because all of the server’s resources are shared by multiple sites. There can be hundreds or thousands of sites on a single server, all sharing the same processing power, memory and bandwidth.

Having a site that uses Shared Hosting does not require a lot of knowledge to set up, run and maintain. Server maintenance and upgrades are almost always completed by the host. Most hosts also install a control panel that will allow you to build and maintain your website effortlessly. Some hosts even include script libraries (Fantastico is a great example) that allow you to easily install applications for blogs, wikis, image galleries, content management systems, discussion boards and e-commerce solutions.

Even though Shared Hosting is low cost and feature rich, there are some drawbacks. There are limits to the amount of disk space and bandwidth you can use. Large, sudden increases in traffic can take your site offline for going over the bandwidth limit. If other sites on your server experience this issue, it can hinder the performance of all sites operating on that server, and on rare occasions, take the server offline completely.

Also, be wary of hosts that have been known to oversell server space. This means that more account disk space and bandwidth is sold than actually exists on the server. Hosts do this with the expectation that most people will not use all of the resources allocated to them. Some hosts have been known to oversell servers anywhere between 10-50 times the server’s capacity. This can cause major issues for all sites on the server if a few start using more bandwidth and disk space than the others, so it is best to avoid this situation if possible. Head on over to the Web Hosting Forum at WebHostingTalk.com to research potential hosts before you commit to one.

Shared Hosting has many advantages and few disadvantages. It provides a cheap, reliable way for someone new to web hosting to get up and running with their own web site quickly and easily. If you’re ready to start a website, whether it’s for yourself, your church, your club or your organization, be sure to head on over to our Unix/Linux Hosting Quote Form to get fast, affordable web hosting quotes from multiple Shared Hosting providers.