26..Guide To Managed Hosting

Many businesses (especially SOHO's and SME's) are unable to meet the resource requirements required to manage their systems 24X7. In order to be successful, a company whose online presence is an integral part of its business must successfully implement and maintain the following:

Hiring an in-house staff to maintain all this is prohibitively expensive, so outsourcing these infrastructure needs to a third-party can be a very cost-effective option. However, as more and more organizations claim to offer "managed services" it becomes difficult to determine between a MSP (Managed Services Provider) and a managed host.

What Is A Managed Host?
Managed hosts monitor and maintain all of the infrastructure issues that are integral in hosting a site or application on the Internet. Unlike MSP's, which offer the applications themselves, a managed host procures, configures, installs, and maintains the necessary servers, firewalls, and other devices that the customer's architecture requires, including the operating system, and any backend database and server support required to make the site functional (such as Oracle and Apache for example).:

Once configured, the managed host connects the server to the Web via its own network, where it is monitored on a 24 hour basis. In essence, a managed host takes on the responsibility for maintaining your infrastructure: if a hard drive fails, the host replaces it; if a server dies, the host swaps it; if there's a spike in traffic, bandwidth is increased.

Do I Need A Managed Host?
That depends on the purpose of your site. Obviously, a simple "brochureware" site will not require all the bells-and-whistles that a managed host provides. If you are running a larger enterprise that supports a high and constant level of traffic, a managed host may be the best option for your web site. In general, consider the following questions when evaluating managed hosting for your business:

Is my web presence my primary source of revenue?
Are my Internet applications critical?
Do I need highly responsive 24x7 support, and guaranteed uptime?
Are my current resources adequate in providing support in a timely way, on all hardware, software, and network functionalities?
Can I focus on business issues and keep my servers up and running?
Can I afford to hire, train, and retain the technical staff required to maintain my web presence?

If you answered "yes" to the first three questions, and "no" to the last three - managed hosting may be the best way to maintain your Internet presence.

Why Is A Managed Host The Best Option For My Site?
Compared to handling infrastructure demands in-house, managed hosts allow the client to take full advantage of the hosts processes and experience to implement solutions in less time, at a lower cost, and with higher reliability than other hosting methods. For example, co-location and dedicated hosting plans provide just the physical space, power, and network connections for customer equipment. Anything else incurs an additional cost - which can quickly become prohibitive if you need to reconfigure your servers frequently, or have to add multiple applications. While many dedicated and co-located hosts claim to offer additional services, these are usually provided by a third-party organization or consultant, and are bolted onto the platform at an additional cost - often costing interruptions to performance. These solutions simply cannot offer the same level of reliability and adaptability that a managed host can provide.

Will I Still Have Control Over My Web Site Or Application?
Absolutely. Managed hosts typically provide the client with full root/administrative access, so changes can be made to your web site at any time. You will also have the ability to place custom code (CGI and Java), on your server at your discretion.

Are Managed Hosts Scalable?
Scalability is the main advantage to using a managed host - customers can increase their bandwidth usage and upgrade their server architecture at any time. Most managed hosts keep a large inventory of equipment on hand so that server scaling can occur seamlessly - the host makes the necessary adjustments and simply modifies the monthly service fee.

What Should A Managed Host Be Monitoring On My Server?
This is an important consideration. While most hosting providers boast "24x7x365" server monitoring, it's important that you find out what aspects of your box are actually being monitored, and how rapid the response time is in the event of failure. If your host is only monitoring your connectivity 24x7x365, and your load balance is only checked on once a day for example, a sudden spike in traffic will quickly cause your server to shut down. In general, a good managed host should monitor the following:

- Server reachability (ping)
- CPU usage/utilization
- Memory usage
- Storage usage
- Load average
- Virtual memory usage

Furthermore, you should be able to access or generate reports from the monitor logs, so you can personally evaluate your server's performance.

How Does A Managed Host Integrate And Deploy My Solution?
While every hosting organization has their own processes in place for getting you online, they follow a similar series of steps:

1. Initiation and production design phase: The managed host reviews your specific, requirements and proposes a solution to meet your needs.
2. Build phase: From this ideal solution, you pick the equipment you can afford to implement, and the managed host's team of engineers build your servers and network settings to your custom configuration.
3. Validation phase: The host's engineers put your solution through extensive validation processes to ensure that your server is functional, and precisely meets your needs.
4. Production phase: Your solution is staged and provided to you for acceptance testing and implementation approval. Once approved, a launch date is set to take your solution "live."
5. Live phase: A final round of quality-assurance tests are run to ensure the highest quality of reliability, security, and performance. Finally, end-users are given access to your Internet solution.

How Much Will A Managed Solution Cost?
Generally, a managed host will incur only 45-50% of the cost of an in-house solution, which gives them an obvious advantage over more traditional hosting packages. Furthermore, these cost advantages will be sustained through years of operations and upgrade cycles.

E-Commerce is the driving force in the global economy, and more now than ever, the strength of your service provider partner is critical in maintaining a competitive edge. Your partner must be able to give you seamless availability, keep up with technology, and maintain a highly skilled technical team.

25..Introduction To Bandwidth

Bandwidth is the amount of data (files located on your domain that are viewed by visitors, email, ftp) that can be send/received by your web server. You can understand how important this factor is when buying a web hosting plan or leasing a web server. Generally speaking, the more bandwidth you have, the more visitors can visit your web site.

Determining how much bandwidth is needed
To determine how much bandwidth you need per month, you will need to have a look at your web site statistics. Visitors per month times avg. data transferred per month per user = Amount of Bandwidth used per month. Bandwidth is usually measured in MB or GB. It is not very important to get the exact number of visitors. An approximate number will be sufficient for calculating the monthly bandwidth usage.

Whereas the accuracy of the numbers in the first part of the calculation was a rather unimportant factor it plays a big role in the second part of the calculation.

Finding the average files transferred can be difficult if your web site is very large, since it has to be done for every single page. To find the size, add up the size of every image on the page and the size of the page of every single page on your web site. To make life a little easier for you it is recommended to use the following loading time test tool. Once you've obtained that number add 25%-33% to that number to give your web site room and allow it to grow.

Here is an example calculation:

Page 1: 15.000 visitors per mo. x 125KB of data = 1875000KB = ~1875 MB = ~1,875GB / mo.
Page 2: 15.000 visitors per mo. x 100KB of data = 1500000KB = ~1500 MB = ~1,500GB / mo.
Page 3: 10.000 visitors per mo. x 85KB of data = 850000KB = ~850 MB = ~0,850GB / mo.

Total data transferred per month: ~1,875GB + ~1,500GB + ~0,850GB = ~4,225GB. Adding 25%-33% to that amount will give us a result of 5,28GB - 5,62GB. So it would be recommended getting a plan with 5.5GB or 6GB bandwidth per month.

Please note that: 1024 Bytes = 1 KB, 1024 KB = 1 MB and 1024 MB = 1 GB

How can bandwidth be saved?
There are a number of ways to save bandwidth. A general advice is to keep all files on your web site as small as possible. (Sounds logic doesn't it?) To reduce the size of your pages you have to remove unnecessary tags from your code. WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) programs like Dreamweaver have a clean HTML function.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is also an effective way to save bandwidth. It is designed to reduce HTML file size by attributing values for any HTML element/command at the beginning of the document.

Once that is done you have to go to the next step, optimizing all graphics and pictures. It is important to know that graphics (vectors) have to be saved as .gif files and pictures as .jpeg files. If you don't own a picture program like Fireworks or PhotoShop then you can optimize your pictures for free at NetMechanic.com.

Your dial-up visitors will thank you for optimizing all your web pages.

Preventing bandwidth theft
Linking to images of another web site in your img src tag without permission is considered as bandwidth theft. As unethical as it may be, it is a reality many webmasters have to deal with on a daily basis.

The most effective and unfortunately also very time-consuming method of preventing bandwidth theft is scanning your web site logs. By analyzing your logs you can find out who is using your images without your permission. Once you have located the offending party, you can either contact them or replace the hotlinked file with a picture that says "Please Do NOT Hotlink Our Images", along with the URL of your web site. This way all their web site visitors will see the webmaster hotlinked your pictures.

24..How To Select A Webhost That Fits Your Needs

Whether you're considering starting a website or you have one and want to possibly move it, this article can help you decide what the best webhost means to you.

To begin, every website is hosted on only 3 platforms:

- Unix
- Windows NT
- Macintosh

Very few sites are hosted on a MAC server, so the majority of webhosts use Unix or NT. For these reasons we will focus on only those 2 platforms.

Unix and NT both offer various options and have different abilities. Your choice of which platform to use depends on what applications you want your site to run and the amount of control you want to have over your site.

Unix
Unix is the oldest and one of the most widely used operating systems. It is the basis of the internet and most webservers originally ran on a version of Unix. Unix is know as a multitasking operating system which means that it can run many applications at the same time without them affecting each other. This is very important when you consider that hundreds of websites, running thousands of CGI scripts, all receiving thousands of hits could be running on one webserver.

Why Use It?
It's reliable Ability to host many websites on the same machine. Almost all CGI scripts run better on Unix. Programming flexibility. Much more administrative control.

With Unix, webmasters can really tweak their websites (assuming they know what they are doing) to run at optimal levels. Developers can run CGI scripts and create applications specific to their needs.

Down Sides
Is case sensitive. It is not an easy operating system to learn. Must use telnet or Ftp to make changes.

Windows NT
NT is a relative newcomer to the webhosting game but it is fast gaining a large share of the business. NT was built to integrate seamlessly with Microsoft's web authoring tool, Frontpage. As such, it is often the perfect solution for newcomers who do not want to learn HTML or CGI programming or deal with the day to day hassles of administering a webserver.

Up Sides
Can use Microsoft Frontpage to publish your website as opposed to using Ftp or telnet. Can use Cold Fusion. Somewhat easier to administer (especially for the average webmaster). Is not case sensitive.

If you do not plan on learning the in's and out's of the web and administering your site, NT is probably your tool of choice.

Down Sides
Provides poorer security than Unix. Because of the security issues, the hosting provider will usually institute tighter security measures. Cannot run all CGI scripts although this is changing.

Your needs as the webmaster and your visitors needs will determine the type of webhost and the platform you need.

Once you have done some more research into what platform you need, stop by an independent website like: http://www.tophosts.com and choose one of the top 25 hosts to fulfill your needs.

Some issues to consider while pondering which host to choose:

1.Uptime
This is probably the most critical piece of information you need to know to make an informed decision. How often a server goes down means lost business and lost sales and no one needs that. Our webhost is up 99.9% of the time as compared to the first one we had which was more like 25% of the time.

2.Bandwidth Usage
Some hosts actually charge you for the amount of traffic you get once you pass a certain percentage. Why on earth would you want to be charged for that? Our webhost offers us unmetered traffic at no extra cost (this is what you should look for).

3.Server Space
Look for hosts that give 50-500 mg of space. As the technology changes sites will take up more space. You should try to get as much as you can right now even if you don't use it all.

4.CGI Access
This is critical. You need the ability to use CGI and especially custom CGI. If a host doesn't offer it, run screaming!

5.MSQL; Real Audio; Real Video; Cold Fusion
This is the future of the web and in particular web marketing. Make sure a host offers support for these applications even if you don't presently have a use for them.

You will be glad that you spent your time doing this research before you jump in and choose a host or switch to a host that provides you with nothing but problems. You deserve the best, go for it.

23..Evaluating Personal Web Site Hosting Solutions

Web hosting for personal sites differs tremendously from hosting for mission-critical e-commerce in that it is not as complex or demanding. For this reason, individuals and hobbyists can opt to select low-cost solutions that allow them to experiment with Internet technology without making a demanding or expensive commitment.

Personal Web sites that focus on publishing an individual's resumes and other personal content can be easily satisfied by free hosting solutions. Typically, if all you require is a small personal Web site, then there are a myriad of free sub-domain hosting solutions that are available.

Free sub-domain hosting allows individuals to host their Web site at a large portal or content aggregator. Usually your Web site is hosted in a Web community, and is sub-categorized by interest. The hosting is provided free-of-charge by way of pop-up or banner advertISMENTS and sponsorship automatically included by the host. The most popular of these sites include Yahoo! Geocities (www.geocities.com) and Tripod (www.tripod.com).

These services are only meant for personal use and because they are offered en massE, your site will be one of many sites shared on a server. Because free hosts don't charge you for their services, their fiduciary responsibility to you and your quality of service is limited. Free hosts have a tendency to offer no quality assurance or technical support because their business model is a loss leader meant to attract a large amount of users in order to generate advertising revenue.

While this business model might not amount to the most dependable service, it does allow individuals to set up free sites. Another solution that many individuals and hobbyists also select is the hosting associated with their ISP account. Many ISPs offer sub-domain hosting space along with their dial-up or broadband access to the Internet.

More complex hosting services provide highly individualized functionality that guarantees a sound level of quality service. Such services are fee-based, ensuring that revenues can be allotted to maintaining and improving service and providing superior technical support.

The most basic entry-level fee-based service is "virtual" or "shared" hosting. Shared servers offer clients the ability to host their Web site on a powerful, professionally managed server, at a low monthly cost.

Shared servers provide individual Web sites with redundant connectivity, guaranteed uptime. These services provide an excellent solution for entry-level hosting needs because they are designed to host small-scale e-commerce sites and static Web pages.

These sites are also popular amongst first-time webmasters because they can provide reliable Web presence without advanced technical skills. These servers are also very popular amongst webmasters because they allow you have your Web site hosted on your domain name such as http://www.yourname.com.

Such services vary widely in price and can cost anywhere between $2 to $50. As with any purchase, users can expect the quality of service to fluctuate based upon the amount paid for the service. "Caveat emptor" is thus the rule and not the exception when it comes to purchasing shared hosting services.

If an individual decides to purchase a relatively inexpensive package, then he or she can expect the quality to reflect the cost of the service. The lower the price one pays for hosting, the more network outages and service problems a consumer can expect.

This however might be acceptable if all an individual desires is non mission-critical hosting for a non-essential personal site.

22..Introduction To FTP

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol and is a standard application protocol that uses the Internet’s TCP/IP protocol to transfer files from one computer to another.

FTP is a very common process today. FTP is commonly used to transfer web pages from the creator’s computer to the server where the web site is situated. Also FTP is used to download programs and files to your computer from a server.

How do I use FTP?
To use FTP you will need to install FTP software on your computer. There are many freely available FTP programs on the Internet such as, FTP explorer (http://www.ftpx.com) and Smart FTP (http://www.smartftp.com).

How do I connect with FTP?
Follow the steps below to connect to a server, to upload files using FTP Explorer:

1. Open FTP Explorer.
2. Click on the connect button on the toolbar or select connect from the Tools menu.
3. In the Profile Name text, enter a name to give your FTP connection.
4. In the Host Address text box enter the address of the server you are connecting to (this can either be the DNS entry or the IP Address).
5. Enter the Port number that the server accepts FTP connections on (the default port for FTP is 21).
6. Tick the Use PASV option, if your computer is behind a firewall, which does not allow external FTP connections.
7. Tick the Use Firewall option if your computer is located behind a firewall.
8. Either enter a user name for the FTP login or tick the Anonymous option (the anonymous option will only work if the server is set up to allow anonymous FTP connections -- if this is selected go to step 10).
9. Enter the user’s password in the Password text box.
10. In the Initial path text box, enter the path on the server, where you want your connection to start at -- this is optional.
11. In the Attempts text box enter the number of times to try the FTP connection if fails, you will need to have at least 1 in this text box.
12. In the Download path you can specify the path on your computer where to save the files downloaded from the server -- this is optional, you can specify this later if you like.
13. To establish the connection with the server click on the Connect button.

How do I upload files using FTP?
Once you have established your connection with the server the next step is to upload your files to the server. The following describes how to do this:

1. Go to the path on the server where you want to upload your files to.
2. In the Tools menu click on the Upload button.
3. Select the file or files that you want to upload (to select more than one file hold down the CTRL key).

NOTE: You can also upload files by dragging and dropping them to the directory/folder on the server.

4. Click on the Open button. Your file will now be uploaded to the server. (You will see this uploading process in the dialog box.)

How do I download files using FTP?
You can also use FTP to download files to your computer from a server. The following describes how to download a file.

1. Make sure you are connected to the server.
2. Go to the file that you want to download.
3. Right click on the file and select Download To..
4. Select the path on your computer where you want the file to be saved to.
5. The file will now be downloaded to your computer. (You will see this downloading process happening in the dialog box.)

How do I end my connection?
You can end the connection by simply clicking on the Disconnect button on the tool bar or by clicking on Disconnect from the Tools menu.

21..How To Choose A Web Hosting Service

1. Support
Is there really anybody there? Send them a question by email and see how long they take to respond. You want to know if they'll be there when you need them. Some offer 24-hour support and a few will respond quickly. Speedy customer service is rare and indicates a superior service. I think that this is the single most important consideration. Also, check out the quality of their online documentation.

2. Server performance
You want a server that is reliable and fast. There is a free tool available that allows you to evaluate this before making a decision! NetMechanic.com will measure the speed of access for all facets of access (network speed, DNS lookup, connect time, download time, and absence of timeouts). The "download time" statistic is the most important single item to compare. Collect your list of candidate hosting services and run side-by-side tests of all the candidates. Sample duri

3. Are they familiar with the application you plan to use?
If you're planning to use a particular application that requires special setup parameters (such as Online Merchant, a popular online store), make sure your potential host is familiar with the application. Otherwise you may find yourself spending a great deal of time trying to figure out how to configure it - perhaps never succeeding!

4. Traffic allowance
Compare your traffic allowances. Some services give you a small limit on the amount of material that can be downloaded from your site each month and charge you large amounts when that limit is exceeded. Some offer huge traffic allowances (several thousand MB/month, where 1,000 MB = 1 GB) for the same price as others that limit you to a few hundred MB/month. Sure you probably need less than a hundred MB/month now, but why put yourself in a position where you have to move when your traffic takes off? Plan ahead and allow for growth.

5. Space
How much space do you expect to eventually want for your web site? Planning ahead can save you lots of money later. If you expect to grow, look for a place that offers sites of 100 MB or more. Some services offer 500 MB sites for less money than others that offer only 30 MB.

6. Features
Consider what features you want to simplify development of your web site.

Do you want access to a cgi-bin so that you can install your own scripts?
Do you want many scripts pre-installed and pre- configured?
Do you want to be able to use Microsoft's FrontPage?
Do you want autoresponders for email processing?
Do you want email aliases (automatic forwarding) so you don't need to check email in more than one place?

7. Guarantee
With so many hosting services to choose from, why not choose one that offers a guarantee? Services that offer a moneyback guarantee are confident that you'll be delighted with their service.

8. Cost
Look for hidden costs when comparing price.

Do they expect you to pay for a long term in advance to get a good price? Choose one that doesn't bait you with a low price that's only available if you make a long-term commitment. Will they handle the registration of your domain for free? If you're transferring an existing domain, will they submit the domain change to InterNIC for free?

Choosing an excellent service to host your web site doesn't have to require luck. Knowing what to look for makes selection simple.

Good luck with your marketing and God Bless

ng peak and non-peak times for optimal comparison.

20..Putting The Focus On Bandwidth

Business websites are no longer single page billboards that list basic company information. Businesses are taking their Web presence seriously, and are launching fully comprehensive sites. But with the increased functionality of sites come new concerns - one of which is a higher demand on bandwidth. For larger sites that incorporate high-resolution graphics, flash animation, multiple pages, and other larger file, bandwidth is something is an essential consideration. But what exactly is bandwidth? Webopedia.com has this to say:

"The amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed period of time. For digital devices, bandwidth is usually expressed in bits per second (bps) or bytes per second. For analog devices, bandwidth is expressed in cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz)"

And what does that really mean? Basically, bandwidth is the measurement of the blips and bleeps - or data - that can coast across the Internet. With respect to Web hosting, bandwidth refers specifically to the amount of data that your site is delivering to the rest of the world, via the Internet. For instance, say you have a site that is 750k in size. Every time someone looks at your main page, 750k worth of data is transferred from the server where your site resides to the browser that is requesting it.

Keep in mind that regular surfers may hit refresh a few times and surf around your site; each time they hit refresh, more data is transferred. The host monitors the amount of data transferred, and this information should be available for you to verify. If your host does not offer any utilities that allow you to monitor the bandwidth yourself, be wary.

Since hosting companies have to pay for their bandwidth, you have to pay too. Most hosts will give you a set amount of bandwidth with your service package, and then charge you if you exceed this amount. Charges can be anywhere from a few pennies to hundreds of dollars ... so be sure to verify this information before choosing a host; ALWAYS read the fine print! Some hosts advertise "unlimited bandwidth," but what does this mean? Is it really unlimited? After consulting with several top companies, I can say that unlimited bandwidth isn't unlimited at all. WebHosting.Com, which offers unlimited bandwidth, will actually only provide 12 gigs. If you need any more than that, the company will suggest that you look into a dedicated server. If you exceed the 12-gig limit on a regular basis, expect your site to be deactivated.

Pagecreators.net, a hosting company based out of Minnesota, has come under fire for allegedly scamming clients with its fine-print stipulations. The large print offers unlimited bandwidth, but the contract tells another story. Hidden in the small print, underneath all the jargon and legalese, is a clause stating that bandwidth over a certain amount is subject to a usage fee of $1 per kilobyte. One former customer discovered a charge of $9,000.00 on his credit card bill, and when he tried to contest the charge, he was told that his contract clearly outlined a rate of $1 per kb.In poetic terms, bandwidth is the lifeblood of the Internet, and it should be accorded the appropriate consideration. Bandwidth is definitely an issue that needs to be addressed, both when embarking upon the development of a web presence, and when selecting an appropriate host.

19..Why A Web Site, And Why Web Hosting?

Imagine having a filing system that could withstand a nuclear war. Hmm, I wouldn't like to prove it, but in theory that is what the Internet could resist with its virtual existence. If you transfer files of information around the Internet, operating in virtual space, it would be difficult to lose that information if you had a mind not to.

Possessing a website has advantages for many varieties of users; serving a range of different purposes.

For example, Net presence is of enormous benefit to businesses of all shapes and sizes. Conventional filing systems, where everything is stored as a hard copy, are cumbersome, and space consuming. With a website, all existing documents can be transferred one way or another, to the Internet and neatly organized using 'hyperlinks' (virtual pathways) for quick, easy reference. You no longer need to waste your time digging through a mile high pile of paper to find what your looking for,

A website wouldn't only save you space and time, but cost too. The Internet is worldwide and a website can be used as a powerful promotional and marketing tool, viewed by prospective clients around the world. One can see what you offer in Hong Kong and Madrid at the same time.

Imagine the money you'd save on promotional printing costs. Your website could reach the four corners of the globe and be available 24 hours a day. There is no longer a need to allocate high budgets to printing promotional material for prospective clients, they are able to access the information instantaneously, and download what they need.

Imagine, neatly organized links that move you, quickly to your destination.

A website is your identity on the Internet, kind of like an interactive 'business card'. It can be the prospective client's first point of contact, presented by a knockout, easily updated, design, your site can sell you, your products and your services.

Once you have organized your web site and patted yourself on the back, that you have made your first flight into 'cyberspace', your next step is to have somewhere to 'dock' it, a place to put your website. A place such as M6.net - http://www.m6.net a 'web host' a place to 'host' your web site.

A web hosting company provides a space for you to put your web page documents (FrontPage, Dreamweaver files), images (gifs, jpgs), and more advanced pages such as ASP's, those pages that have intelligence behind them creating such items as forms, news, bbs, chat; interaction.

If the Host is clever enough, friendly, supportful; it will offer a whole range of facilities, that you or your webmaster can take advantage of, to create an interactive, humanized, mechanized and automated business presence, on the Internet.

For businesses in the new millennium there is no future without an Internet presence. Trade costs will lower; communication will get smarter and faster. Reliability will be greater. Thus there will be a vast gap between businesses with Net presence and those without.

Every one will have a presence on the Internet some day, whether it is a corporate business, Aunty Flo's bric-a-brac stall, or the family's photo library.

18..3 Mistakes To Avoid While Choosing A Web Host

Choosing a web host is the first vital step you'll take toward having your own website. Your web host will provide space on the Internet for your site so that the whole world can view it. But, choosing a web host is not as easy as it may seem.

There are a few mistakes to avoid while choosing your host. I'd like to share these with you below, and explain why it's important to avoid these mistakes at all costs - especially if you wish to start an online business.

3 Mistakes to Avoid

1. Free Web Space
Remember seeing all those ads that mention "free web space"? Please avoid participating in these services. In most cases, the reason it's free is because the company will place advertisements for other websites all over your web page. This defeats the entire purpose of having "your own" web business.

Why should you have to give your potential customers away? Shouldn't you be able to keep the visitors that you have paid to receive through your own ad campaigns?

With "free web space" sites, you'll give away more business than it would cost you to get your own domain and hosting service. It's not worth it.

2. Limited hosting
Avoid hosting packages that will not allow you to add order forms, statistics, or multiple email accounts to your website. These are necessary tools for any webmaster who desires to open an online business.

It's best to choose a hosting service that offers many options such as:

- Multiple POP Email Accounts
- Dedicated Hosting
- Secure Servers
- Web Usage Statistics
- Web Space Allocation (you can get how much web space you'll need)
URL Redirection
- Autoresponders

These are just a few "necessary" services to look for when choosing a web host for your new website.

3. Low Cost Hosting
Watch out for very low cost hosting packages (i.e. $2.50 per month). They usually require something in return, which can take away profits from your online business.

I must admit that it does sound appealing to sign up for free or very low cost hosting, but count the costs before signing up...

Each time an advertisement banner is placed on your website, it's designed to get your visitor to click out of your website and go some place else. Most free or low cost web hosting services place these banners at the very top of your web page - giving the visitor an opportunity to click out of your site before getting to the first words of your presentation.

One complaint that comes to mind about a free hosting service was that the company's server became overcrowded and the customer could not get their website to come up 50% of the time. When this happens, your business is closed - and you have no control over this situation.

One final point about hosting before closing. If you get your own domain name, and your own hosting, your visitors will have more confidence in your site, and will be more willing to buy your products or services.

Search for a web host that offers fabulous service, affordable rates, and everything you'll need for your online business. You'll be glad you did!

17..How To Shop And Save On Website Hosting

From small "mom and pop" home-based businesses to mega- stores, people ask this question in business every single day. Even if you only operate a small, local business, if you don't have a website (or at least email) people honestly look at you funny.

A few years ago, website hosting was one of the largest expenses connected with setting up a website. Now, with dramatic drops in pricing, website hosting can actually present the least costly component of operating a website.

However, before you run out and sign up for $2-a-month website hosting and wake up tomorrow filled with regret, take 5 minutes right now and learn the main points to consider when evaluating any website host.

Total Storage
How much space do you get to store your website files? If you operate a small website with a handful of pages and only a couple of pictures per page, you can get by with 5-10 MB (megabytes) of disk space or less. However, if your site contains dozens of pages and hundreds of pictures, you may need a hosting plan with 10- 25 MB of space.

Data Transfer/Bandwidth
Here's where many people fall down and get run over by the Internet bus! Bandwidth represents the total amount of traffic the website host allows you to receive.

Successful sites that get a lot of traffic eat up more bandwidth than sites without many visitors. Honestly, bargain website hosting companies don't want you to get much traffic because your bandwidth costs them money.

If you plan to do any business online, make sure you get a bare minimum of at least 1 GB (gigabyte) of data transfer per month.

Email "Aliases"
Most web hosts allow you to set up email addresses connected with your domain, such as jim@thenetreporter.com, and have them forward to your email account, like yourname@aol.com. The ability to set up email aliases forms an integral part of any online business. Make sure your hosting company allows you to set up at least 5 email aliases.

Website Tools
If you want to do anything more than let people look at static web pages, you will need to have certain tools available. The two most important tools are CGI and website statistics. These allow you to run scripts and see who came to your site and when.

Tech Support
Make sure you understand any company's technical support policies and hours of operation. Don't wait until Saturday afternoon to discover your only help option is to wait and email them Monday morning.

16..How To Choose A Good Shared Web Host

A good, shared Web host must provide reliable and reasonable quality-of-service. Many times, a consumer will sign-up with the least expensive provider only to experience many technical difficulties and the inevitable and frustrating experience of changing Web hosts. To avoid this experience, it is best if the consumer chooses the right hosting company. Ensuring that a shared Web hosting firm has the following characteristics will increase the probability of consumer satisfaction.

Quality Server Technology
The use of quality server technology is important. Since shared hosting services utilize multiplexed equipment, consumers must ensure that the server and server technology used can accommodate the number of users on your particular server.

System Administrators
The consumer should ensure that knowledgeable system administrators are operating the multiplexed shared hosting technology.

Network Redundancy
Your shared hosting package must have multiple connections to the Internet. Network redundancy ensures that if one Internet connection goes down, then traffic can be re-routed through another connection.

Network Connectivity
It is important to find the fastest Internet connection possible. Since you are competing with other users for resources in a shared hosting environment, you should ensure that you have at least T3 connection that is utilizing less than 50 per cent of available bandwidth.

You should also consider the following factors before selecting any type of shared hosting solution for your Web site. By considering these factors, you will save money in the long run by selecting a solution that grows with your business.

Purchase only what you need
Select a Web hosting solution that corresponds with your business needs. Only purchase services that your site will require to provide your specific content. Don't sign up for an all-inclusive account with a hosting firm if you won't use most of their services. This will unnecessarily increase your costs.

Select a scalable solution
Make sure that your hosting solution can grow as your site grows in complexity. Ensure that you can upgrade your site to accommodate increased bandwidth and other demanding resource requirements such as server-side scripting, database support and multimedia streaming.

Find prompt tech support
Only use a host that provides prompt and knowledgeable customer care. A dependable host should offer 24x7 toll-free technical support rendered by experienced and professionally trained technicians.

Check references
Before you commit to a particular hosting firm, ask for references. Make sure to canvass other webmasters running sites with similar specifications. Browse their Web sites and measure response times at both peak and non-peak periods.

Watch your billing and keep your receipt
Many hosting firms are notorious for their horrid billing practices. Check your credit card statements to ensure that you are not being overcharged or billed at an incorrect frequency. Most purchases occur online, so make sure to print out your receipt. Most companies will require you to remit that receipt by fax in order to cancel.

Back up all your data
Do not depend on your host to recover any data you publish on the Web. Most hosting firms are only equipped to recover files in the event of a system failure. Ensure that you have a copy of any data that you post to the Web on your own hard drive.

Own your own domain
Make sure that the Web host will not hold you hostage to their service by exercising administrative control over your domain name. Your host should only be listed as a technical contact. You should exercise administrative control over the domain name from the point of purchase.

Follow the experts
Consult our recommended webmaster resources to find out which hosting companies get thumbs up from established industry participants. Use the resources to glean from the experiences of successful industry players before you spend a penny.

Do extensive background research
Find out whether a host is real or whether it resells hosting solutions. Also determine what payment processor the host uses to run credit card transactions. Determine who owns the hosting company and whether they possess the technical expertise required to run it effectively. All of these factors impact upon the credibility and reliability of the host and the services you provide your customers.

Establish an exit strategy
Always have a backup plan in case your host goes belly-up or experiences an unrecoverable failure. Redundancy should always be a priority if you are running an Internet-based business. Remember that any service outage can completely compromise your source of income.

15..The Important Role Of Customer Support: Top Things To Consider When Choosing A Web Hosting Provider

When it comes to choosing a Web hosting provider, one of the most important factors to consider is the level of customer service provided. While you should obviously make sure you get the features you need, and of course a great price, you also need to be assured that the company you select will partner with you for the long haul and be there whenever you have questions or concerns -- be it midday or midnight. Below are some recommendations and insights on how to assess a Web host’s level of customer service and choose the right provider for your short- and long-term business needs.

Ask questions, be informed
Every morning during Sesame Street, Big Bird reminds me and my three-year old daughter that "Asking questions is a good way of finding things out!" I couldn’t agree more. Asking questions is definitely the most important part of the "research" stage and a great way to uncover the level of customer service a Web hosting company offers. Some questions to ask:

How do you define customer service?
Will you go the extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction?
How do you anticipate customer needs?
Will you ask me - your customer -- for input into what’s working and what’s not?

Demand anytime, anywhere accessibility
The availability of 24/7/365, live customer support is critical and a service you should demand. Many companies tout "24-hour live support" but be aware that they may only be offering 24/7 support through chat, forum, or email. Imagine working on your Web site after a long day at your day job, expecting to talk to a human being on the phone only to find out that your hosting company is essentially closed! Or, worse yet, you get somebody on the phone, but you find out they’re a "hired hand" who knows nothing about your account. Luckily, there are a number of hosting companies out there who answer their telephone 24 hours a day, so try narrowing your search by this qualification. Once you’ve identified a few companies with whom you’d potentially like to work, try calling their support numbers at random times and see if a professional service person answers the phone. Do the same with their alternative support options such as chat, email, etc.

Look for an easy-to-use Help and FAQ section
Most hosting providers offer a Help and FAQ section on their Web site in an effort to provide quick answers to your questions and to avoid overburdening their customer support staff. But not all companies make these sections comprehensive, intuitive or easy to use. When evaluating a Web hosting providers’ overall customer service, it’s important to check out their Web site and see if they offer a repository of useful information in addition to time- and money-saving tips.

Inquire about money-back guarantees
It’s important to determine upfront if the hosting companies that you are investigating offer at least a 30-day money back guarantee for their service. If not, there is no reason to buy from them. As a hosting customer, you should be allowed to return any item if you are not pleased with the level of service you receive. (Note: typically domain name purchases are not refundable, as the names are pulled from a central registry that is shared across the Internet.)

Investigate who’s answering your support calls
In order to meet the growing demand for cost-effective, 24/7 X 365 customer care, a number of Web hosting companies are outsourcing and shipping services overseas at an accelerated rate. Although there are perceived benefits to this practice, the bad far outweighs the good. We believe that because customer service is critical to the hosting business, it must be held to the highest standards of quality control, meaning it should definitely remain within the corporate domain. Local support helps to build trusted relationships and keep customer care consistent. So when looking for a Web hosting provider, never be afraid to ask the all-important question: who will answer my support call at 11pm on Christmas Eve?

Never settle for less than the best
Once you’ve decided on a Web hosting provider and you’re a full-fledged paying customer, it’s really important to remember that you deserve the highest quality and most consistent customer care. In addition to feeling like a number one priority at all times, you should feel confident that your hosting company will take the time to explain things to you in plain English, not just technical jargon. You also need to know that a real human being will answer the phone when you call, and that they will actually be an employee of the company with whom you have a hosting agreement. What’s the bottom line? Look for a reputable hosting company who will listen to you, support you in a way that you need to be supported and value your business -- if you can find that, you can’t go wrong!

14..Explaining Virtual Private Server (VPS) Solutions

Virtual Private Servers (VPS) are very popular nowadays. The demand for virtual private servers is very high. Almost every web host is offering vps plans. Virtual Private Servers combine the control and security advantages of a dedicated server with the lower cost of a virtual server environment. They are ideal for people who don't have the technical knowledge as no technical knowledge is needed since the server is managed by the web hosting company.

Virtual Private Servers (VPS) utilize a software platform that permits a hosting vendor to multiplex a single dedicated server into multiple "virtual" machines. In essence, a VPS solution is a private and protected Web services infrastructure that operates as an independent server.

A virtual private server allows multiple customers to share the expense of hardware and network connections, without sacrificing privacy, performance or preference. For this reason, VPS is considered one of the most sophisticated modes of automation available for provisioning small to mid-sized enterprise Web hosting.

The use of such technology allows hosting providers to save money, by simulating the features of a dedicated server multiple times upon a single physical hosting environment, while concurrently allowing them to deliver high-quality Web services to their end-users.

VPS solutions allow Web hosting resellers to provide a full range of services usually only afforded by dedicated hosting technology. Resellers can therefore offer their clientele full administrative or "root" access to their Web services.

The virtual private server was first implemented by hosting giant NTT/Verio (verio.com) to bridge the gap between shared hosting environments and customized dedicated servers. By utilizing a virtual private server, Web hosting resellers and Web designers can provide SMEs the performance, security, and control of dedicated hosting services at a fraction of the cost.

A virtual private server eliminates the restrictions of virtual hosting by providing all of the administrative features of a dedicated server. Each VPS user therefore receives their own set of services that they can customise to their specific needs. Virtual hosting is limited in comparison because its users do not have root access and software configurations cannot be customized, despite the fact that physical resources are also multiplexed. A virtual private server on the other hand, contains its own unique file system and CGI-BIN, disk space, system resources, bandwidth and memory allotments, which allow for a high level of customization.

Due to the fact that a VPS solution truly simulates a dedicated server, some technical understanding of server administration is required. Any true VPS solution will provide users with: "root" or full administrative access; guarantee a specific allocation of server resources, including CPU, memory and bandwidth; and allow the user to manage multiple servers and file areas through a sophisticated control panel.

A virtual private server will ensure "performance isolation" so that heavy traffic or CPU loads will not affect other VPS solutions on the same infrastructure. Others major features that characterize VPS solutions include: "fault tolerance," which ensures that errors, which affect one specific private server, do not affect others; and "enhanced security," which ensures that e-business applications can be deployed with greater privacy.

The most popular feature that VPS consumers utilize however is the virtual private server's capacity for "functional isolation." Because a VPS has its own contained services, it is possible for users to install and customise their own open-source and commercial software packages.

Indeed, many virtual private servers on the Unix platform have become so advanced that they even permit users to install Linux RPM packages. This allows users to take source code for new software and package it into source and binary form, such that binaries can be easily installed and tracked, and source can be easily rebuilt. The use of RPM packages also allows VPS users to maintain a database of all packages and their files that can be used for verifying packages and querying for information about files and/or packages.

Small businesses that run their own e-commerce Web sites also appreciate the functional isolation of their private server, because it allows them to obtain their own secure certificates and shopping cart software for their e-business operations. Indeed, many sophisticated VPS solutions will even offer third-party plug-ins or modules, allowing users to take advantage of control panel functionality in order to install everything from the simplest CGI scripts to the most advanced shopping carts.

Due to the above advantages, virtual private servers are very popular and are a relatively inexpensive choice for small to mid-sized enterprises seeking to maintain their own Web presence. VPS solutions are the natural choice for SMEs and individuals wishing to upgrade a shared or virtual hosting package.

13..Don't Make These Hosting Mistakes!

During the course of business, HostVoice serves many customers and sees many situations plaguing webmasters out there. Here are 10 true-life hosting mistakes our customers tell us they learn from and how to avoid them.

1. Falling For The Price Trap
The call of low hosting prices is like a siren. There are reasonable budget-hosting solutions and there are outrageously low budget hosting almost guaranteed to become a nightmare. If the price makes you wonder how they make money then you can look forward to an extremely slow site or even denial of service because they maxed out the bandwidth. Not good. Trust your instincts stay clear

2. Inexperienced Reseller or Not Researching Your Reseller
Hosting with a reseller is not a bad thing. In fact sometimes resellers give you very good support. But you need to do your second layer research. Sometimes a reseller is very good all around but inexperienced especially when it came to scripts and server environments. Some resellers also couldn’t accommodate customer requests because the server administrators wouldn’t work with them under any circumstance. This usually happens when the server administrators are bulk sellers who are disconnected from the end customer.

If the server administrators are not reliable or cannot accommodate you, don’t hope your reseller can. Resellers should also have done their homework and know their servers as if their own.

3. Not Clearly Defining Your Requirements.
As an ongoing process you should keep a list of what resources your site needs and add to that list as you grow. One Webmaster was changing their static HTML pages to dynamic, which meant scripts were going to be used. Since the Webmaster didn’t have a clear idea of what he would like to install and what these scripts required, he only found out after moving, the host servers were not compatible with the scripts. He lost months of work moving the sites in and out again.

So, maintain a list. It also makes it easier when you need to upgrade because you can show the list to your host. If you use a service such as HostVoice the list is even more helpful because it can go out to multiple hosts at one time who’ll quickly evaluate if they have what you’re asking for or not.

4. Purchasing Hosting In An Auction

It might be a good place to pick up a deal but then you’ll need to go back and review the first point. This is not to say all auctioned hosting is completely unreliable but in case you haven’t noticed auctioned items have a good deal of terms and conditions attached, usually more than if purchased through the website. This makes your package very inflexible. Unless you review closely those terms or if you have a small static HTML pages with little ambition for the site, stay away or pay their regular website prices. This way the host will more likely work with your requirements.

5. Forgiving A Host’s Bad Or Limited Website
If the host can’t or won’t take time to craft an informational site of their own, most likely they won’t be too concerned about yours either. Cookie cutter sites are a dead giveaway.

6. Putting All The Eggs In One Basket
If you manage several sites, it seems like a good idea to have everything in one account. You can simplify your billing and get a better deal. Not always. We know of some webmasters who lost hours or work time because they couldn’t work on anything since all their sites were down. If your site generates income and they are interconnected, having all sites down at once is bad business. There is an option to this though. Ask your host if they’ll be willing to split your account across 2 or more physical servers.

7. Taking Testimonials At Face Value
Not all testimonials are created equal. You need to ask other webmasters, talk to their customers. If they don’t list customer names on their site, ask them if you can contact any of their customers or if they’ll contact you. If the host refuses, beware.

8. Not Keeping A Record Of Their Contact Information
Most of us are happy with email, forum and live support. One Webmaster’s host was down for days. This also meant the host’s own site. The Webmaster couldn’t contact them at all because he hadn’t taken the time to record a physical address or telephone number. 24/7 telephone support is still desired. When your site is down indefinitely and you’re losing visitors even sales it’s guaranteed you’ll want to talk to someone.

9. Relying On Host Backups
This happens far too often. When a customer’s site went down indefinitely, they were stuck. They couldn’t put the site with another host because they didn’t have any backups of their own. They would have to start from scratch, which would be just as bad because the site was rather mature. Always keep your own backups.

10. Trusting your host to have the latest software
Internet crime is and viruses are more prevalent than ever. New software or the latest versions are meant to plug security holes. A customer had their site hacked twice in 2 months only to find out the host was not up to date with their software. Check with the host before you order what versions they are running and how often they make updates.

12..Finding That Host That Offers The Most

Whether you already have a website or are thinking of setting up shop online, sooner or later you'll have to deal with the issue of web hosting. Although it may seem like a "no brainer," there are actually many factors you'll need to consider before making this important decision. Your first inclination may be to look only at the cost, thinking "cheaper is better." However, that old saying "you get what you pay for,"is especially true in this situation. Here are some of the more important points you'll want to look at when considering your next host.

UNIX/NT
The two most popular hosting platforms to choose from are UNIX and NT. UNIX is by far the favorite, as it was the only choice way back in the early days of the Internet. It is easy to configure, great for setting your own file permissions and the platform for most of the free scripts available for download. It is flexible, reliable and supports scripting languages like Perl and PHP3.

NT is Microsoft's baby. One problem that I have found with NT servers is a lack of readily available scripts that work on this platform. Also, (unlike UNIX) many NT users need assistance from their Web Host Administrators to set file permissions. NT supports MS applications such as ASP, Access, FP and scripting languages such as Perl, Cold Fusion and ASP.

Tech Support
When you need help you'll want to make sure you can get it. Some web hosts offer phone support or even live chat. Make sure they have good tech support in place as there's nothing more annoying than needing assistance with your site and not being able to get it.

Set Up Fee/Monthly Fee
Some hosts charge an initial set up fee to get your site set up and running on their server. Make sure you check on this when comparing prices. I've seen monthly fees ranging from 9.99 to 39.99, depending on the plan and services offered. My advice to you would be to look past the cheapest and most expensive ends of the scale and go with a mid-range pricing plan to be on the safe side. You should be able to pick up a reliable web host for 20 to 25.00 per month.

Hard Drive/Space
How much space they're willing to give you is important if you're going to compare apples to apples. You need to keep in mind the size of your site when deciding how much space you really need. Generally, 20 to 30 MB is plenty for a small site. You might want to ask if you can pay for more space should your site ever outgrow its present state.

FTP Access/Telnet Access
Even if you plan on using Frontpage to manage your site, you'll still need to have FTP access. It is usually standard, but it never hurts to ask. Make sure you keep your user name and password in a safe place. You'll use FTP to set file permissions and to upload your files to the web server.

Telnet can be very useful for troubleshooting CGI scripts and changing server configurations. There are some servers that will not grant telnet access.

CGI-BIN
A very important component if you're planning on adding any sort of interactivity to your site like forms, shopping carts, etc. Usually comes as standard equipment, but I've seen some of the cheaper hosts leave it out entirely.

Email Boxes & POP 3 Aliases
One thing that's very important to me is the ability to use different aliases with my domain name. For example, if your domain is ezineadauction.com, you may want to set up separate addresses to sort your mail like service@ezineadauction.com or support@ezineadauction.com. They may all funnel into the same mailbox, but you can set up filters at your end, making customer service a whole lot easier.

If you have a "wildcard" account, you can set up as many aliases as you like. If you have other employees who will need their own private box, check with the web host to see how many boxes they will allow.

Stats
Once you start getting traffic, you'll want to know where it's coming from and what pages of your site are being visited. Some web hosts will throw stats tracking in with their standard package or at least give you access to your log files, which you can then use with third party software to run reports on the traffic your site is receiving.

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

1) If you want to use Frontpage: Do they have the FP server extensions installed?
2) Do they offer autoresponders?
3) How about a secured server option for payment transactions?
4) Do they back up all websites in case of disaster?
5) Do they offer assistance in programming or design work if needed at an hourly rate?
6) Do they offer shopping cart software if you're going to be selling products?
7) Do any customized forms come standard with your account, like feedback or order forms?
8) Bandwidth- Be aware that bandwidth is how much data can be transferred in a month's time. This shouldn't be a concern unless you're getting a ton of traffic, but be aware that most hosts do have limitations on what they'll allow.

As you can see, there are many factors to take into account when choosing a web host. Your host is essentially the spine of your site,so you want to make sure that the one you choose is reliable and solid. Nothing can ruin a site faster than an unreliable host. I know; been there, done that.

Remember, choosing a good host is essential to the success and reliability of your online business. Do your homework and choose the one that's right for you.

11..How To Evaluate A Shared Web Host

Finding a decent virtual or shared Web Host can only be achieved by conducting in-depth consumer research and evaluation. Many tools exist online that can assist the individual and small business find an extremely reliable hosting service. With the myriad of choice available, it is necessary for the consumer to discriminate. Since shared Web hosting is conceived as only a low-end, low-margin commodity by the industry itself, it is necessary for the consumer to be very wary. There are literally thousands of Internet presence providers (IPPs) who offer shared and virtual Web hosting services. While many provide extremely good service, others provide service that is less than desirable. In order to find suitable Web hosts, consumers must conduct due diligence.

Prospective shared hosting clients must therefore ensure that they test the technical capacity of any host thoroughly before they procure their services. Advanced testing of a potential host will reveal whether the solutions they provide are reliable enough for your high-traffic site. Remember that your Web host must be trusted to provide solid network infrastructure. If you select a host that cannot provide robust connectivity, then your site's availability to the world will suffer. For this reason, informed consumers will evaluate potential hosting firms before they sign-up.

Testing ensures that consumers will not waste their good money on bad services. Reliable testing results can be obtained through the use of sophisticated network tools that monitor hosting performance. Such tools will determine how often a host's servers experience outages and will generate a list of probable reasons why hosting services are unreachable. It is advantageous for you to use such tools to ensure that the host you select will provide minimum downtime. Most hosting firms boast about their relentless commitment to excellent service and server responsiveness, and usually the crowning jewel of this commitment is 99 per cent uptime.

But while most hosting operations use this promise of incredible uptime as a hard sell, few consumers actually test whether these pledges are true. Smart consumers of hosting services, on the hand, are the first to authenticate these service guarantees. They usually consult the services of an established server monitoring companies such as NetMechanic.

NetMechanic (www.netmechanic.com) provides an integrated suite of tools that detect problems with your Web site. The company's "Server Check" product is an excellent choice for ensuring that your server is up 24 hours a day. The tool will ping, traceroute and attempt to access your site via http on a regular basis to verify that your server is up. For a small fee, the service monitors your servers round-the-clock, and contacts you by your choice of pager, cell phone or e-mail when your server goes down. The tool will also generate specialized performance statistics in real-time, so that you can monitor outage patterns to ensure that you're getting quality uptime from your host.

You should also routinely attempt to check server response from your own computer. If you are using a regular 56k dial-up connection, then you should attempt to pull up sites on your prospective host during peak and non-peak hours. A battery of low-cost tests is available on the network layer level of your operating system. You can test a potential hosts' network and server responsiveness from your MS-DOS or UNIX line prompt. In order to obtain a true representation of the host's services, you should select Web sites on your host's network that are typical of the services they render to their normal clients.

You should thus avoid testing the host's main Web site or premier customers. These sites are mission-critical to a hosting firm and thus are afforded an extremely high level of maintenance, which is not always representative of typical service.

In order to locate a typical client of your prospective host, execute a "whois" search. Whois is an application that looks up critical information about any Internet domain. This information includes ownership, location of the host, and most importantly, its block of network numbers. By executing the "whois -a yourhost.com" command at a UNIX line prompt, you can search your potential host's entire block of network numbers, and seek out a normal customer who is hosted on an individual network address. The customer that you use should have the approximate services that you seek. Use the ping and traceroute commands from either your UNIX or DOS prompt to test server responsiveness. You also can obtain many free or shareware WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) network tools for the Windows platform that can test server responsiveness. An excellent suite of bundled network tools is provided free-of-charge by CyberKit Technologies (www.cyberkit.net).

Using a line-prompt or WYSIWYG application, attempt to "ping" sites from the prospective host on your computer. Ping is the networking equivalent of sonar. The network tool is used to verify that a given server is actually reachable, and measures the delay that occurs when sending a data packet to it and back again.

Executing a "traceroute" from your computer is also an interesting and informative experiment to run on a hosting company. Traceroute applications allow you to map the direction that data travels over the Internet. By conducting a traceroute, you can determine whether the data you have requested from your prospective host will take a direct or indirect path to you. The most successful incident of a traceroute is therefore when data takes the shortest route to your computer.

These tests, conducted manually on a regular 56k connection will give you a rough indication of your client's response time if you were to choose the prospective host that your testing. In essence, these tests determine whether a host provides the lowest level of network latency, ensuring that data is passed to browsers and other Internet applications as quickly as possible. Your aim must be to ensure that the delay between request and response from a prospective hosting service is as short as possible. Making this determination is only possible if you conduct serious tests on prospective hosts before hosting your content there.

10..What Do YOU Need In A Host And What To Look And Ask For

So, you have decided that you need to get online. People want to get a website for many reasons these days, be it to start a business, move a existing business online or simply just put up a personal web page. But, all these reasons have two things in common, you have to know what you need and find a company that will provide it for you. With this broad overview, we will shed some light about discovering what your needs are, then how to locate a web hosting provider that will not only meet those needs, but in the long run grow with you.

Your needs are essential in determining the kind of hosting provider you will choose. Web Hosting comes in many varied sizes, prices, options and flavors. The way to make the best choice is to shop for the features and services that you require, this way you only are paying for what you need.

What kind of features will you have on your website?
Start by thinking about what kinds of functionality you will need. Will you have a database of any kind running? (Some of the applications that require a database are: guest books, shopping carts, forms and forums). If so, who will be programming and installing it? Most web hosting providers have pre-installed scripts and applications that they will let you use as well, but they may be too simple and not meet your needs.

Any application you use is written in a scripting language and often connects to a database. If you are using PHP and a mySQL or PostgreSQL database, then you should look for a UNIX host. Unix type hosts include Unix, FreeBSD, Linux and some others. If you are using ASP and a MSSQL database then you know you will need to locate a Windows hosting provider.

What will you traffic needs be in six to twelve months?
The type of site you have and features impact the answer to this question. Every image, page and access to a database utilize bandwidth. Web hosting providers these days provide anywhere from one Gigabyte of traffic up to thousands of gigs of bandwidth. Bandwidth costs money. If you exceed your bandwidth you will either have to pay for more or face being shut off.

If you are running a personal web page this is not going to be a huge impact on your decision. But, if you are doing business on the web it most definitely will. One way to discover this is by looking at how popular the subject of your site is. Take a look at http://www.wordtracker.com and see how many searches are made on key terms in your industry or look at the Alexa rank of sites that are similar to what you will be building.

With bandwidth more is always better. A hosting company that owns their data center usually has more control over their bandwidth available, but if you do not need it, why pay for it?

OK, so now I know some of what I need, now what?

Even with all the consolidation of hosting companies, there are still thousands of companies to choose from. Each one has different features to choose from and provides different levels of services, some you may have never even of heard of. After you have discovered WHY you need web hosting you will be able to sort through these companies just a little bit easier. So, here is some of the HOW.

Search Engines
Try looking through http://www.google.com , http://www.yahoo.com and http://www.overture.com . These search engines will provide you with search results based upon the feature you are looking for. Say you know you need a UNIX host that provides a Miva shopping cart. Visit the search engines and type in "UNIX Hosting Miva" and make a record sheet of your results. Search engines also have advertisements to the right and top of the results pages, look for consistency in the ads and this will tell you at least who some of the larger web hosting providers are. (even though larger is not always better) Web Hosting Directories Web Hosting directories are sites that focus almost exclusively on information about web hosting companies. You will be able to find reviews, articles, forums and usually a database to search on hosting company plans or look at web hosting showcases. Some of these directories are in it 100% for the money, and some are there to really help you make a decision about hosts. Either way there is a excellent source of data for researching what company will fit your needs. Search the plans, read the forums and visit the showcases. You will start to see a pattern emerge again on who the major players are in the industry. But, in the directories you will also find quite a few who are not huge, but provide exactly what you need with even better customer service. Finding a hosting directory is easy too. Again, visit the search engines and type in "Web Hosting Directory" of "Hosting Directory" and you will get many results. Visit the top 10 or so and you will find a few that really appeal to you. Not only will they help you finding a host but most directories link to other hosting directories as well.

9..Hosts, Website Design And Trust

Business or buying decisions based on the beauty of the website are not unheard of. I've even read statistics indicating that website design is one of the most important reasons for which people choose one host over another.

That may have something to do with the fact that many of those searching for hosting take things for face value. Most consider that complicated, beautiful, expensive web design is a mark of seriousness and success

Unfortunately, web design beauty has very little to do with the quality of the hosting service. A nice design basically signals two things: the hosting company knows how a great website looks like and - maybe - was so concerned about it that it did what had to be done to have a great looking site.

Also, what some may regard as exquisite web design others might perceive as pure ugliness. It all comes down to each person's taste, background and experience, which, needless to say, vary enormously among individuals.

What you see is not necessarily what you get (WYSINNWYG)
Nicely designed websites are not necessarily expensive because they're not necessarily unique. For instance, most web hosting companies start small, often being a one man show with a reseller account or a cheap dedicated server. While some thought is certainly given to the appearance of the website, the budget for web design is minimal because most of money are allocated for things directly related to hosting.

A cheap website template is the solution found by most new hosts. Now, you'd think that a cheap template must be screaming "cheap" and be ugly too, but that's not the case. A cheap template, even under $30, can be quite nice actually.

One odd thing has to be noted: most hosts go for a web design that also has a flash presentation. That supposedly makes the site seem more professional and although this might've been true sometime ago, it has become now somewhat of a kitsch, which is also true about those pictures of servers taken from all kinds of angles.

Anyway, those are things that a trained eye can see, but the average customer has no idea that behind a what looks like a carefully designed website that lavishly makes use of flash and color and speaks of data centers and backbone connections, can be just a single man trying to make a buck.

Many new hosts buy website templates from places like TemplateMonster.com. I'd suggest to pay that site a visit and take a look at those templates. Get a feel of what those templates look like and maybe try use that to your advantage - if you can.

Flexing the financial muscle
Some hosts realized that web design plays a very important role in driving sales, establishing trust, projecting an image of success, branding and other things. That's why many hosts choose to pay for a breathtaking original website design as soon as they can afford it.

One company that hosts seem to prefer for advanced web design is Ceonex, which may very well be because Ceonex can do more than just simple website design; they can optimize websites to produce a maximum number of sales and other things. Or at least that's what Ceonex claims...

Some people noticed that the websites made by Ceonex are rather similar and, personally, for the hosting companies at least, I feel there's some truth to this observation. It's certainly easy to spot that some objects are identical in some of their sites and that can only mean that they "recycle" part of their work.

Nevertheless, a Ceonex made design (which includes marketing studies etc.) costs about $20,000-$30,000, so a hosting company is sure betting that this will set them apart. For you, as a customer, it also shows that hosts can go to great lengths just to project an image of success and gain an edge over the competition.

However, all those money are spend not for the benefit of the client or potential client, but for the benefit of the company. An expensive design basically says: look what we are able to do (just to maximize sales). But there's something else that can be read between the lines: we are here and we plan to be here for a while.

No company will spend tens of thousand of dollars to go out of business the next day. Also, if the company has a history of of a few years and is quite successful, it may very well be that the expensive web design was purchased because the company felt almost compelled to reveal its new status.

If you've got the money you almost have to move to a bigger house. You might think that's something only a snob would do, but it's not really true. Say you know someone who has a lot of money; you expect him/her to have a higher standard of living, otherwise you'd call him/her a cheapskate. It's just human nature.

No financial muscle to flex, but no eyes to see?
At the opposite pole are the hosts with no budget and basically no idea of how things work on the internet. However, they insist on having a web based business and not just any business - a hosting business! They decide to spend $0 on web design and build the website on their own or ask a good friend do it for them.

The resulted website is often not just amateurish, it's down right ugly. A decent person with a bit of Internet knowledge would definitely know better. It's generally easy to spot clear ugliness or outdated web design if you have a bit of 'net surfing experience.

A host is supposed to know how the Internet works intimately and at the surface, so they should have an eye for web design. Rather than having an ugly but original website design, a free template that looks acceptably should be preferred in my opinion.

Blatant unprofessional web design shows a lack of professionalism, thoroughness and thoughtfulness in general. If they care so little about their website do you think they care much about server security and other things? I don't. I'd rather say pass to a good host with an ugly website than give him the benefit of a doubt and get burned later. Why? Because there are lots of other hosts out there. As long as there are plenty of hosts to choose from I see no reason to take risks.

They can't they spell either?
It appears that some don't know how/don't care to do this either. (I'm not a native english speaker so I have a small excuse if this happens on this website from time to time. )

Mistakes can happen to the best of us, but unreasonably repeated grammar and/or spelling mistakes signal lack of professionalism and even more than that. They're a sign of carelessness and lack of respect towards potential customers, both of which I find very dangerous. More often than not, poor web design is complemented (not complimented ) by spelling mistakes, which makes it even easier to spot businesses that you wouldn't want to deal with. We're so lucky, aren't we?

So? What to do then?
My opinion is that generally website design is just a marketing related thing. There's no direct relation between it and the quality of the service. Quality hosting, trustworthiness and quality website design don't always go hand in hand.

Thus, website design is not a reliable measure of service quality. In fact, I think one should try very hard to not take this factor into account at all, with a big exception: when the design is obviously unprofessional. I expect quality web design because I think it's a form of respect towards potential customers and a sign of thoughtfulness, which I like in a host. But that's it!

To make a hosting decision search for facts instead: Do they deliver what they promise? Are their customers happy? Those are the important things!

8..The Uptime Guarantee

The uptime guarantee is the second type of guarantee that is used very often by the web hosting companies (the first is the money back guarantee).

Initially it sounded to me like a very good concept and I thought it was a good criterion to select between hosting companies. That however, was a very long time ago. Today I don't think an uptime guarantee is really worth much and I'll explain you why.

The initial thought when you hear about a 99.9% uptime guarantee is: "My website will be up 99.9% of the time!"

I'm sorry to disappoint you but that's not it! An x% uptime guarantee means that the web hosting company will strive to achieve that level of uptime and, in case it does not succeed, it will compensate you.

Typical problems
There are times when they don't mention the type of compensation. Basically that means there's no real uptime guarantee. It's just a marketing ploy.

That's an extreme case however. Usually a compensation is stipulated, but the compensation is limited to the amount that you paid for the hosting service and you have to ask for the compensation. If the uptime guarantee stated 99.9% uptime and the real uptime was 89.9%, you will not be billed for those 10% that they were not able to achieve.

Another type of compensation is a free month of hosting, which is more generous that the first type, but not really meaningful as you'll see later in this article. Yet another type is X% off the price for every extra hour of downtime, but not more than 100% of the price you paid.

Considering the fact that most uptime guarantees are given on a monthly basis, if your website was down 10% of the time, it means if was down for about 3 days. If you run a decently visited website, a 10% downtime costs you (in lost sales/sign-ups or whatever) way more than the monthly cost of web hosting.

Now lets take the most often practiced uptime guarantees and see what they really mean. A 99.5% uptime guarantee means that your website can be down for as much as 216 minutes in a month; 99.8% uptime guarantee -- 86.4 minutes of downtime; 99.9% uptime guarantee -- 43.2 minutes of downtime; 99.99% uptime guarantee -- 4.32 minutes of downtime; 99.999% uptime guarantee -- 0.432 minutes (26 seconds).

The only ones that are worth something, by that saying they promise something that would be really nice to have, are the ones promising over 99.9% of uptime. In the other cases, the downtime that can accumulate is too big to consider that we're dealing with a special accomplishment from the part of the web hosting company. That's just my opinion however. You may feel differently.

No matter what the numbers are, we can conclude rapidly that the uptime guarantee doesn't really guarantee anything. If you run a successful business, you're largely under compensated anyway, so an uptime guarantee isn't worth much, if anything.

The mistake most of us do is to think that an uptime guarantee actually guarantees anything. All it says is that you'll be somehow compensated for excessive downtime. It's just a monetary guarantee. Just like when you buy a piece of electronic equipment with a 3 years guarantee. You're not being told that the thing will function flawlessly for 3 years in a row; you're told that if it breaks, they'll repair or replace it at no cost to you.

Then why do uptime guarantees exist anyway?
Taking the story to the other side of the fence, we can easily see the benefits that a web hosting company can have if it uses an uptime guarantee. If you ever thought they're doing you a favor I'm sorry to disappoint you, but you were wrong. As with almost anything, a business seeks its own benefit, whether that's financial gain, customer's good will or an edge over the competition.

With a carefully thought uptime guarantee, a web hosting company can gain all those things with little real risk. If a downtime of 1 hour shall occur, out of 100 customers, less than 50 will ever notice. Out of those 50 about 20 will be concerned about it. Out of the 20 only about 10 will ever bother enough to call and complain about it. And out of those 10, 8 will be happy just to hear that the web hosting company is doing something about it. That usually leaves 2 customers out of 100 who will actually ask for a form of compensation. Sure, those are made-up numbers, but roughly that's how things work.

Another thing is that most web hosting companies (in their TOS) exclude downtime caused by exceptional events as earthquakes, hurricanes, DDOS attacks etc. from their uptime guarantee. Sometimes they even exclude the time when they work on the server for upgrades, or the downtime caused by software issues. This opens the gate for abuse because they can claim upgrades or software problems every time a downtime occurs.

There are of course companies going as far as excluding downtime caused by any hardware of software problems. It's like me saying that I guarantee you will not brake your leg as long as NOTHING touches it except air. Would you consider that a guarantee?

Anyway, as long as under 5% of the customers ask for compensation (and are accorded the compensation), the web hosting company usually makes a good deal out of offering an uptime guarantee. They definitely get an edge over the competition (companies not offering an uptime guarantee), they close more sales (financial gain) and they also gain customer good will because most people are impressed by a 99.99% uptime guarantee and take it as a sign of seriousness.

So, from a marketing point of view, an uptime guarantee is definitely worth the risk. This is why we'll keep on seeing it offered (even in bold letters).

There are some web hosting company owners who don't use it because they don't like using what they feel as deceiving marketing techniques. Interestingly, these are often the companies with servers consistently having a 99.9% or better uptime. They just feel it's not fair to guarantee something that's not always achievable because it gives the customer a false sense of security.

There are also some web hosting companies, very few indeed, that offer an uptime guarantee and actually notify all their customers if the established limit wasn't met and, of course, they compensate everyone for it, automatically. That's the best uptime guarantee you can get.

The ultimate uptime level - 100% - is it for real?
Now there's is a certain type of uptime guarantee that is really deceiving. That's the 100% uptime guarantee. Such a claim screams "hype". 100% uptime is simply impossible to achieve. 99.999999% uptime might be achieved, but 100% not. It's just a matter of life. Nothing is really 100%. I'll stop here and not go any further. I see no point in doing that. It's easy to understand why 100% is not achievable. Just use your imagination and remember that things in life often defy even our wildest dreams.

The uptime guarantee in itself is not a bad thing. But the way it is presented by most hosting companies is deceiving. They make it look like you will definitely enjoy consistent 99% or whatever uptime. Instead they should educate the unaware customer what that guarantee really means.

Is it server or network uptime?
This is something that often isn't expressed directly by hosts. You see, if a hosting company claims 99% uptime guarantee, you will most likely assume that it refers to your website being online 99% of the time. However, often hidden in the TOS or SLA of the host, you find that their uptime guarantee refers to the network, not the actual server.

To put this into real life words, the server can be down and thus your site inaccessible, but as long as their network is up they still respect their uptime guarantee and you're not entitled to a refund! So read the terms of service carefully before you sign-up with a host!

My approach
You want to know how I'd go about this uptime guarantee thing? I would completely forget about the uptime guarantee. If the website is not for your business, a 95% actual uptime (which is easily achievable) is not really bad, so the uptime guarantee is not a must anyway.

If we're talking about a business website, then the loss in sales or commissions for the time when the website was down is usually important and often not fully (or not even nearly) compensated by the hosting company (even if you get a free month of hosting). Always keep in mind that a hosting company is not an insurance company.

So, for a business website, I would rely on the company's actual uptime history, which, unfortunately, can be hard to find. You can ask the hosting company for it, but there's a high chance you'll not be told the truth if the truth is embarrassing for them. I would recommend getting in contact with the clients who have posted reviews and ask them what the uptime has been over the months or years they've had their website(s) hosted there. That should be a good measure.

However, keep in mind that a host has as many "uptimes" as servers. Some servers might have an outstanding uptime record while others might've been offline for a long time. That's why it is possible that some clients might recommend them for their great uptime while others will complain about it.

Now sure there are topnotch hosting solutions, the type that big business websites use, which could indeed guarantee a certain level of uptime due to a high degree of redundancy. Those however are ultimate hosting solutions, the kind that only the Yahoos and the Googles of the Internet can afford. For us the little guys, uptime guarantees come in a completely different flavor.

Hoping that you understood my point, I wish you to find such superb hosting with great uptime. So great that you'll never even have to think about that a compensation for downtime! That's what I wish you.

7..Pick A Good One

This topic can be found anywhere on the Internet. If you visit any web hosting provider on line they will tell you how good they really are. Some are correct and some are not. Lets get down to the basics.

Back End/Network Operations Centers
This is where your accounts are actually housed. Sometimes a hosting provider will lease a part of a larger network and sometimes a hosting provider will develop their own. It is important to find out what kinds and how many fiber optic connections the NOC has. Make sure there is plenty of redundancy built in. Make sure the NOC is managed 24/7, even on holidays. Make sure there are fire suppression systems in place. Last but not least, ask about security. Make sure there are plenty of security measure in place.

Customer Service
Are they friendly? Do they answer their telephones? Are you put on hold and if so, for how long? If you have to leave a message, do they respond quickly? Does the rep on the other end know what they are talking about? Look at their network page and see if they have reports of down time or issue statements about problems.

Technical Support
How long does it take to get questions answered and tasks performed. Send a test support message and gauge the response times. See if they offer 800 toll free support.

Ticketing Systems
Do they have a ticketing system that tracks performance times. This is key. If a hosting company has this, they are serious about improving internally.

Domain Names
Do they offer domain name sales? This can help to consolidate your vendor costs. See about getting a discount on domains if you are buying in bulk on a monthly basis.

Branding You
Does the hosting provider offer branded support? As you grow, you will need to expand and see if the hosting provider will set you up with your own technician in your company name. Do they offer branded control panels and name servers? You need these tools to grow. Find out how easy it is to set these features up for your own account.

Scalable Discounts
If you are growing at a rapid rate, ask for better pricing and discounts. It is ok to ask. It's even better when you get it and will reduce your overhead.

Financial Overview
Is that particular company in the red of black? Do they have a good cash flow? How fast is the host growing and can they handle the growth? What are they doing to grow and maintain the customer service level you expect?

6..To Share Or Not To Share?

When looking for a hosting solution for your web site you'll discover you have the choice of shared or dedicated hosting. This article will breifly explain the difference between them.

Shared hosting is what it says it is. Your web site shares a server with other web sites. You don't have access to the other web sites files, they don't have access to yours and you don't share a domain name. What you do share is the machine and the scripts that are pre-installed on it. Why would you do this?

Because it's cheaper.

As you can understand, the cost of setting up a server machine is not inexpensive. Even relatively large web sites are only a few hundred megabytes, so today's computers with multiple hard drives are easily able to handle the space. There can be as many as one or two hundred web sites on a shared server.

You'll find there are different platforms available in shared hosting too. You will find you can have Unix/Linux or Windows NT/2000 as your platform. You don't have to choose the platform your PC is running. This has nothing to do with what the server needs to operate on. Unix platforms are very stable and are perfect if you have a site using mostly HTML pages, PHP or CGI. If you are using scripting such as Active Server Pages, have designed your web site using FrontPage, or need access to a Microsoft Access or SQL Server database, you need a Windows platform.

Shared hosting usually comes with a heap of extras and most are included in the price. You can get email, auto-oresponders, pre-installed scripts including counters and mail scripts, password protected directories, your own cgi-bin, browser based control panels, secure directories and more. Check the options to see that you are getting what you need.

However, if you need complete control of your server, you need a dedicated server. Obviously if you're not going to share the server with anyone, it is going to be more expensive.

Dedicated servers are usually only required by experienced developers. If you're not sure if you need a dedicated server, then you probably only need shared hosting. If you're in doubt, contact the company you are considering hosting with and ask them about their products in detail.

5..What Are Virtual Private Servers?

Virtual Private Servers are a hot topic these days for good reason. They combine the control and security advantages of a dedicated server environment with the lower cost of a shared server environment. Virtual Private Servers should not, however, be confused with Virtual Hosting, which is a completely different type of shared-server environment.

With Virtual Hosting, you are sharing the physical server and you are also sharing a single set of software applications, which is configured and controlled by the server’s administrators -- not you. Unlike Virtual Hosting, a Virtual Private Server is a single physical server that is "partitioned" at the root into multiple virtual "dedicated" servers. This allows you to share the cost of hardware, network connectivity, and system maintenance with other hosting customers while still enjoying the flexibility and freedom of a dedicated server.

The popular analogy you often hear is that of a condominium complex. The entire condo building itself represents the hardware of the physical server while each individual condo represents the "virtual" dedicated servers partitioned within it. Each tenant maintains control over access and what goes on inside their own unit, while everyone in the complex shares the cost of building maintenance and common services.

In the Virtual Private Server environment, only the hardware is controlled by the server administrators while the software is controlled by you. Because you have root access to the server, you pretty much have complete control over the function of your Virtual Private Server. You usually get individual Web, FTP, POP, IMAP servers and SMTP gateway. You also have access to the "virtual" root, Telnet and your web server configuration files. Plus you’ll have full CGI-BIN access, complete log files and access to your password and aliases file and sendmail.cf. In other words, all the comforts of a dedicated server at a fraction of the cost.

For these reasons, a Virtual Private Server can be an excellent solution for small- to medium-sized businesses that have increasingly complex needs for their Web sites but also need to stretch their budget.