A comprehensive guide before hosting

Few things you need to consider before hosting

1.Web Site Purpose

Whether you want to create a web site for professional or personal reasons, starting your own site can be one of the most exciting experiences in your life. Millions of people surf the Internet each day. Your web site could be viewed by hundreds or even thousands of internet surfers each day! But how do you get started? We can help guide you through the few easy steps it takes to put your site on the World Wide Web! There are some common steps for all web sites, but some are different depending on what the purpose of your site is. Select the type of site you have in mind from the list below and we will explain the steps toward a successful site.

Some Different Types of Web Sites

• A Personal Site
• An Interest Group
• Business - Informational Only
• Business - Selling Goods Locally
• Business - Selling Goods Globally

2. Web site name ---Domain Name Registration

A domain name is the name that identifies your website. In reality the name you choose for your site points web surfers to the IP Address of the computer which is storing and serving up your web site.

It's normally easiest to have your web hosting company register your domain when you set up hosting, but we have a list of companies below that specialize in domain registration.

The domain name comes in two parts. The actual name (i.e google) and the identifier at the end (i.e .com) When you register a domain name you are reserving that name for your use. Once you register it then nobody else will be able to use that same name unless you fail to maintain the registration (usually a yearly renewal).

"dot" com is the most common end to a web site name, but others are available like "dot" net and "dot" org - these are just a little harder for people to remember than "dot" com but dependent on the nature of your site that may be perfectly okay. Worth to bear in mind that if you choose a non "dot" com name because "name.com" is taken - many people may accidentally go to the "name.com" site by mistake ! There are also some exotic endings like ".biz" .Use one of the domain registration companies below to check for those names or you can even check with the web hosting company,it even provides the domain name check

This is a list of top ranking domain registrars ranked in order according to the statistics at RegistrarStats as of June 15, 2007.

1. Go Daddy
2. eNom
3. Network Solutions
4. Tucows
5. Melbourne IT
6. Schlund+Partner
7. Register.com
8. Wild West Domains (Part of Go Daddy)
9. Moniker Online Services
10. DomainDoorman

These companies below all specialize in domain registration. They are listed in no particular order. This list is not exhaustive - there are literally thousands of companies that will register a domain name for you.

After you register you domain you must use the domain registration company control panel to point your domain to the name servers of your hosting company. Then your hosting company must add the name of your domain to their domain name server.

3. Creating your Web site

• Using a Web Design company

• Doing it yourself

4. Find a good Web Hosting company

Don't worry this whole blog is about this part only.We will help you find the best web hosting package that suits your interests and needs.

Anyway lets discuss few basic things

There are a few things to watch out for when looking for a web host. Follow these simple guide lines, and things should be fine.

1. Know the lingo.
When you first venture into the murky water that is web hosting, you will be immediately be inundated with terms such as web space, transfer, CGI-BIN, Unix/Windows, Apache, IIS, PHP, MySQL, etc. KNOW what they mean so that you don't fall prey to offerings which really don't exist. Do your research here!

2. Avoid unlimited/unmetered web space/bandwidth/transfer like the PLAGUE
As the old adage goes ... if it seems too god to be true, it often is. Lets look at it logically. Unlimited hosts basically offer all you can eat. Take as much as you want - you only have to pay a set price.
Seems perfect? Hardly. Such hosts count on you using little bandwidth and space - start using too much, and they will cancel your account.
And how do they do this? In their killer terms of service.
Usually hidden and mostly not paid attention to, the terms of service outlines what you can do or not do n their server. In order to keep their very false promises, such unscrupulous hosts usually do not allow any downloads, and CGI programs, allow 'unlimited' only to a certain value (which of course goes against the entire principal), and suspend your account for excessive use (in which they hold the right to claim what is excessive and what is not).

3. Your own Gut
Checking out the website is very important. If you have troubles navigating the website, if it is very slow, if you just don't have a good feeling -- what makes you think you will be happy with their service if you do sing up? Web hosting is a satisfaction thing.

4. Do the Research
The internet is a hug repository of information. If a host is bad, it likely has angry customers that want their voice heard!
There are lot of places to check. First off, check web hosting directories. Do a search on the specific host. If the host isn't listed, it isn't all bad - they could be just new and not built a reputation. Alternatively, if they are listed don't have any reviews, that could not be bad either - the reputation factor comes in. Do understand that angry people are morel likely to voice their displeasure than content ones will voice their pleasure.
Next, check out webhostingtalk.com Do a search on your host, and post asking for opinions. Many small and mid-sized hosting companies frequent that place, and maybe even the owner of the host you are inquiring about can be found there! Be careful though. ... it can become a jungle and solicitations might come flying. The forum and its search function is one if the richest resource on web hosting.
Lastly, hit the newsgroups. Using groups.google.com, do a search on the host you are looking for.
Remember one thing ... due to the intense competition, some hosts do post negative things about other hosts. Remember to carefully read what is written.

5. Contact them!
The final test - there is no better text in service than by actually contacting them. Find their contact info, and shoot them an email with some questions. If you cant find their contact information easily, run FAR AWAY from them. Such hosts can be trouble if you need urgent assistance and you can't even get a hold of them
Judge the host by the timeliness and manner in which they reply. If they are rude to you now, or don't know what they are talking about, what makes you think they will be kind to you if you sing up? Also, taking more than 24 hours to purely can be a bad sign, and more than 48 hours is UNACCEPTABLE.

There you have it. The lowdown on the business. Follow these steps, and you should have no problem finding a good host.

5.Driving Traffic

After you have created your web site, the next step is for people to visit it (to drive traffic to your site)

The methods you might use to increase the number of visitors to your site will depend upon the type of site you have.

A successful plan to drive traffic will encompass many different angles. If you are planning to drive traffic to a business related site, remember that it will take time. Unless you have a very large budget it is impossible to drive traffic over night and even if you did this traffic would not be sustainable.

The aim is to create sustainable and increasing traffic to your web site.

Different methods to drive traffic are :

• Search Engines
• Advertising
• Building Links
• Generating Publicity
• Affliate Programs
• Building Content
• Building A Community
• Overture / Pay-Per-Click

Web Hosting Glossary

Access Microsoft's advanced database creation and maintenance software. It is very popular among developers who maintain online databases with Windows NT.

Active Server Page (ASP) ASPs are HTML documents embedded with scripts (typically Microsoft's VB Script or Jscript). These scripts are processed by the server prior to being transferred to the user.

ActiveX A set of properties that define how applications are to share information with each other. These properties are known as controls.

Aliased Nameservers An aliased nameserver is a nameserver that has been labeled as yours (the reseller's) despite the fact it actually belongs to your Web hosting provider. This ensures that domains located on your server are listed as "ns.yourservername.com" instead of "ns.yourprovidersname.com". Also see NAMESERVER below.

Anonymous FTP An option in FTP that allows users to download files without having to establish and account.

Apache One of the world's most popular Web server programs, Apache was built by a group of open-source programmers and is often used because of its outstanding performance, strong security features and the fact that it is free.

Application Service Provider A third party that manages software applications for servers and networks.

Asp Hosting Web hosting that supports Active Server Pages, a server-side scripting environment from Microsoft.

Autoresponder A program that sends an automatic form response to incoming emails.

Bandwidth The amount of data that can be transmitted at a given moment to a server. The higher your bandwidth, the larger amount of traffic your site can handle at one time.

CGI Short for Common Gateway Interface, a small script that processes data taken from the user (such as from a form application).

Cgi-bin The directory on a Web server where CGI scripts are stored.

Co-located hosting This hosting option gives webmasters complete control over their server. You are responsible for providing the physical hardware and network administration; the hosting company will provide you with the rack space and Internet connection.

Cookie A text file sent to a user's Web browser from a Web server. Cookies are typically exchanged back and forth between the two in order to prepare custom content for users, and to exchange data like registration information.

Dedicated hosting A hosting feature that allows a Web site to have its own server. This is more flexible than shared hosting (see below), as webmasters typically have full control over the back end of the server, including choice of OS. Administration, however, is still handled by the hosting company.

Diesel Generator A diesel-powered generator used by hosting companies as a back-up source to generate electricity in the event of a power outage.

Domain names Domain names are the word sequences users enter in their URL bar to visit your site. They are attached to a DNS, short for Domain Naming System, which is used to translate numeric addresses (known as IP, or Internet Protocol, addresses) into words. Each site you visit on the net has a numeric IP address behind its name.

Firewall A piece of security software designed to protect Web servers. They are typically used to protect sites from hacker attacks/unauthorized access.

Flash A popular piece of animation software developed by Macromedia. Flash is widely used on the Web because it requires little bandwidth, therefore making it friendly to users with low or high-speed connections.

FrontPage A popular site design and management tool developed by Microsoft.

FTP Short for File Transfer Protocol, a method of allowing remote users and Web servers to exchange files.

HTML Short for HyperText Markup Language, the language by which Web servers and client browsers communicate. All server-side functions (such as database processing), although they may be performed in another language, must eventually be output back to the user in HTML.

HTTP Stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol, the protocol by which HTML files move across the Internet. HTTP requires a client browser and an HTTP server (typically a Web server).

IIS Short for Internet Information Server, Microsoft's server software for Windows NT/2000.

Intranet A vast internal network structured in a fashion similar to the Internet. Intranets are usually established by large corporate organizations to improve communication. The main difference between the Internet and an intranet is that access to intranets are restricted to authorized members only.

IP Short for Internet Protocol, which designates the format of "data packets" that are used to exchange information over the Internet.

IRC Short for Internet Relay Chat, a popular text-base multi-user chat network.

ISDN Short for Integrated Services Digital Network, a high-speed solution to moving data over phone lines. It can transfer data at approximately 128,000 bits per second over a standard land line.

Load Balancing Distributing data across a network of servers in order to ensure that a single Web server does not get overloaded with work, thereby affecting performance.

Managed hosting A dedicated server that is accompanied by a full suite of technical support, maintenance and monitoring services. This differs from dedicated Web hosting, where customers are provided with their own servers but are still responsible for virtually all administrative and maintenance duties.

MIME Short for Multipurpose Internet Email Extensions, a protocol that allows users to transfer non-text messages like audio, video and images through e-mail.

Mirror sites A mirror site is an exact copy of another FTP or Web site. These are used to offset/spread traffic load on busy Web sites.

MS Index Server An add-on for Microsoft Internet Information server (see above) that indexes documents on Web or Intranet servers running IIS. The information is then presented to users in a searchable format.

Name server A server responsible for translating domain names and IP addresses.

Newsgroup A USENET discussion group (see below).

NOC Short for Network Operations Center, a hosting company's "home base," so to speak. The NOC is usually where most administration, technical support and physical server storage takes place. For more information, please refer to our article, Inside the NOC, here.

OC Short for Optical Carrier, representing the speed of fiber-optic networks. OC speeds can range anywhere between 1 and 48. Most hosting companies have OC3 connections, which allows for the transfer of data at a rate of up to 155.52 Mbps.

Packet switching The method by which most data is exchanged throughout the Internet. Most data is broken down in to smaller "packets" prior to transfer, and then reassembled at the destination.

Parking All domain names have to be stored on a server in order to be purchased. Most domain registration services will therefore temporarily place a newly purchased name on their servers until a hosting plan is purchased or the owner points the DNS to a different site. This is known as parking.

POP Short for Post Office Protocol. An e-mail protocol that mail software such as Eudora use to communicate with mail servers.

Propagation The process where name servers throughout the Internet add new domains and remove expired ones from their records. This can be a lengthy process, which is why connecting to a new domain name can often take three or four days.

RAID Short for Redundant Array of Independent Disks, a method of data protection/backup. Data is stored over a number of servers so that information will still be accessible if a piece of hardware/software crashes.

Reseller A reseller operates components of a Web hosting operation using services, infrastructure and equipment provided by another Web hosting service. Some resellers operate full-fledged businesses using the hardware, software, network and logistical support of another Web hosting firm, while others simply operate as sales agents for other Web hosting companies, offering discounts and providing low-level technical support.

Scalability The ability of a piece of software or hardware to expand/grow as necessary.

Shared hosting The most basic of Web hosting types. With shared hosting, numerous Web sites are shared on one server. While an economic solution, they typically cannot handle large amounts of storage or traffic.

Shopping cart A program designed to handle the e-commerce section of a Web site. Shopping cart software lets users browse for and purchase products online.

SMTP Short for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, a protocol used by mail servers to exchange messages with each other.

SQL Short for Standard Query Language. A standard protocol used to request information from databases. Servers which can handle SQL are known as SQL servers.

SSL Short for Secure Sockets Layer, a protocol developed by Netscape to handle and protect confidential/sensitive information required for e-commerce transactions (like credit card numbers). SSL address usually begin with 'https'.

Subdomain Typically known as a "domain within a domain", subdomains are individual Web addresses built upon a pre-existing domain name (such as clientname.yourhostingcompany.com). As a reseller, you will have the option of assigning subdomains to clients if they do not choose to have a domain name.

T1 Connection A phone or data connection that can support the transfer of up to 1.544Mbits of data per second. T1 connections are popular among businesses and ISPs. Most T1s are connected to T3, which can handle up to 43Mbits per second and are actual Internet backbone connections.

Tape back-up A popular and inexpensive way to back up Web sites. Contents of a site are periodically stored that looks similar to a cassette. Some cassettes can store several gigabytes.

Telnet A command-line interface that allows remote users and Web servers to communicate.

TCP Short for Transmission Control Protocol, an important network protocol. TCP allows two hosts to connect and exchange data, and ensures that "data packets" are delivered exactly as sent.

TLD Shot for Top Level Domain, the suffix for major domain names like .com, .net and .org.

UNIX A text-based, multitasking Operating System suitable for Web and network administration. Unix has spawned numerous popular spinoffs, including Linux and FreeBSD. Most Unix-based Operating Systems are open source, meaning the source code to the Operating System has been made freely available to the public for modification. Most Web hosting companies and resellers offer Unix-based hosting in some capacity or other.

USENET A network of thousands of discussion groups (known as newsgroups; see above) on the Internet.

UUENCODE Short for Unix to Unix Encoding, a method of converting images to ASCII (see above) text in order to be transferred over the Internet.

Virtual host A shared hosting solution, the most basic of hosting types. Numerous Web sites are shared on one server.

Virtualization A process/software designed to reduce server management costs through automation, while providing more control over service levels.

Virtual Private Server (VPS) A virtual private server provides the features of a dedicated server on a machine that is shared by other Web hosting customers. Customers therefore get hosting services that are similar to that of dedicated Web hosting without sacrificing privacy or performance.

WHOIS A central database which tracks all domain name/IP registrations.

Windows NT/2000 These are graphic-based, multitasking Operating Systems developed over the past few years by Microsoft. Both can act as standalone OS for personal computers/workstations, or can serve as an OS for a Web site/network. Most Web hosting companies and resellers offer Windows-based hosting in some capacity or other.

XML Short for Extensible Markup Language. XML is a language allowing developers to create their own markup tags. All XML tags are defined by the programmer, and can be interpreted differently in different applications. For example, the "" tag in HTML means Italics, but could mean anything in XML, depending on the function the developer assigns to it.

Basic Guide to Web Hosting

-->What Is A Web Host ?

A web host is a service provider that places your web site on a computer which is connected to the internet. This then gives people who surf the internet a way to access your website. The computer that the web hosting company uses is typically just like the computer you have at home, the only difference being that it is set up to serve up web sites and is therefore called a "server".

A web host will typically have a fast connection to the Internet and they may host thousands of web sites on many servers. The web host essentially rents out space to you so that you can get your website up on the world wide web.

Some large web hosts own their own datacenter (collection of servers), some rent a server from a larger web hosting company and then resell the space under their own company name. In this case the web host will manage your account on the server, but they will be renting the actual web space from another much larger company.

This is a picture of a datacenter. Which contains many PC's all connected to the Internet It is very expensive to own and operate a datacenter. Datacenters have reliable and fast connections to the Internet and also have backup power and high security. Most web hosting companies do not own a datacenter, but rent web hosting space in a datacenter.

There are literally thousands of web hosting companies available in the market, all with different types of plans and at different prices. It can be hard to wade through all the options, especially if you are completely new to web hosting and just want to get your website up on the web. All web hosting plans have some basic common features.

Server Type	This is the type of server software that is running on the server. Windows 2000 server, Linux and Unix are common server types. If you have a basic website then the server type does not matter. If you have a more complex website that has database functions and serves up dynamic pages, then the server type will be more important
Disk Space	This is the amount of actual space available to you for storing your website on the web server harddrive
Bandwidth / Month	This is a measure of how much website traffic is available to you. Every time somebody looks at your website, data has to be passed over the Internet from the web server where your site is hosted to the browser of the person looking at your site. Bandwidth is a measure of how much transfer is available. High traffic sites like Yahoo for example have very high bandwidth requirements, but the average site does not
Email Accounts	How many email accounts you can have with the web hosting account.

------>How Does My Website Get a Name ?

All websites typically have a name - just like Google has www.google.com and Yahoo has www.yahoo.com - This is a name that points to the space on the web where your website is physically located. In reality, your website will have an address which is just a set of numbers. This is called an IP address and it looks something like this 205.11.109.64 An IP address is a unique address (just like a street address) for your website location. Domain names like www. are really just a pointer to the real address. This makes it much easier to remember websites.

When you buy web hosting it can be easier to let the web host handle everything associated with this. You just tell them the name that you want (www.yoursite.com for example) and so long as that name is available, they will set up your web hosting space so that when people type in that www address, it will automatically go to your website.

If you already have a domain name and need to transfer it to a web hosting account, then the domain records have to be pointed to your web hosting company. Most web hosts will handle this for you, but if you need to do it yourself then you will need to contact the company where you registered your domain name and provide the Nameserver address of your web hosting provider. Your web host will tell you what their Nameservers address is.

You probably don't want to buy your web hosting plan until your website is ready, but you might want to buy your website name early to prevent somebody else taking the name you want. Almost all companies that sell domain names will park your domain on their servers until you are ready to buy web hosting.

---->Different Kinds Of Web Hosting

There are different kinds of web hosting setups and dependent upon your website and budget, any of these may be the right type. This is not a discussion of the features a web hosting plan may offer - just a description general types of web hosting

1. Free Web Hosting

It is possible to get free web hosting accounts. These are great for small websites, but normally you have to have a banner ad at the top of every page. Some free accounts let you use your domain name (free virtual hosting) and with some your website address is a subdomain of the free hosting company (www.yoursitename.freehosting.com). This second type is called Free Sub-domain hosting.

Hosting for small websites can be very cheap, but If you can answer yes to all of the following questions, then free web hosting may be right for you.

• I don't care about having ads at the top of every page in my website
• I don't care about the performance / reliability of the website
• I don't expect any customer support
• My website is very small and will never grow

2. Shared Hosting

This is the most common type of web hosting account and can be very low cost. With paid shared (virtual) hosting you pay a monthly fee and get a share on a server. For very low cost plans you may only have a small amount of disk space and a low amount of bandwidth (although this will probably not be a problem for the vast majority of websites). With cheap virtual hosting plans you maybe one site amongst hundreds on the same server - in this case reliability may suffer. For slightly more expensive plans you will probably find better reliability.

3. Dedicated Hosting

With dedicated hosting you have a full server dedicated to your website. This gives you a lot more freedom and you can host potentially hundreds of your own websites. Typically you will have access to the server just like you have access to your PC at home. Dedicated servers are normally reserved for large ecommerce type websites, sites that get a lot of visitors (thousands a day), or for people that want to start their own hosting company and sell shared hosting accounts. A dedicated server is more reliable, but also much more expensive being at least $100 a month vs $1 - $20 range of a shared hosting plan.

4. Colocated Hosting

This is very similar to dedicated hosting, except that you own the server rather than rent it. Your server is placed in the datacenter and connected to the Internet through the web hosting providers fast Internet connection. You will then pay a fee for maintenance and bandwidth.

------>So What Web Hosting Plan Is The Right One To Buy?

You have a lot of choices in the web hosting market and it can be very confusing to find the best deal that meets your needs.

The 1st step before you start to look for a web hosting company is to determine what your needs are. It can be very tempting to look for plans that offer everything. There are many such deals available, even at a low price, but you will be storing up trouble for yourself. Take a step back and determine exactly what you need and then use this blog to find a plan that matches at the right price from a web hosting company that you are comfortable with.

Step1 - Determining Your Needs

1. DiskSpace

Web pages (html) are normally very small - on average 40 - 50KB. This means you can store a lot of web pages in a small amount of diskspace. Images take up more space, but unless you have a big database driven site - it is unlikely that you will need very much disk space. Below is terminology used to describe disk space. If you have a computer at home or the office, then you will be already very familiar with this.

Disk Storage Space Terminology
1 Byte	1 character. This sentence is 25 bytes
1 KB	1000 Bytes
1 MB	1000 KB
1 GB	1000 MB

2. Bandwidth

Bandwidth is always stated as a monthly limit in either MB or GB. This is the amount of actual data that can be transferred from the web server that holds your website, to the browser of the person who is looking at your website. If you go over the limit, then either you will have to be an extra fee, or your website will not be available. The amount of bandwidth you use is obviously related to the amount of traffic (visitors) that you receive.

There are web hosting companies that offer Unlimited bandwidth. This sounds like a good deal. The truth is that this is nothing but a lie and you should steer clear of web hosting companies that offer unlimited bandwidth. Bandwidth is a commodity that costs the web hosting company money - unlimited bandwidth is not only impossible, but would cost an unlimited amount of money. When web hosts offer unlimited bandwidth they are trying to trick you. They know that you will probably not use very much bandwidth. The moment you try to use a lot of bandwidth - then you will find your website shutdown.

For most web sites you will not need much bandwidth. Probably 99% of all websites use less than 2 GB of bandwidth a month. If you intend to have a lot of downloads of software, audio or video, then you may end up using a lot more bandwidth, maybe 50 GB. Adult sites typically use a lot of bandwidth. Sites like mp3.com require an enormous amount of bandwidth, but for the average site - a low level will be enough in almost all cases.

3. Email Accounts

How many email accounts will you need? Normally 10 is enough, but if you think you might want more then you can use

4. Support

You need to ask yourself questions like do you want phone support, or will email support be ok? Do you want support 24 hours a day? If you have a small website that is not critical (i.e you don't pay your mortgage with website earnings) then you probably don't need phone support or 24/7 support. It costs web hosting companies to provide this type of support, don't pay more for a plan that offers this if you don't need it.

5. Server Type

If you have a small website, then it is unlikely that you will need to select a particular type of server for your website. Windows 2000 server web hosting tends to be a little bit more expensive than Linux. If you need to run a Microsoft SQL server database, or use Microsoft Active Server pages then you should choose Windows2000. If you have no clue what these things even are - then you don't need Windows2000 - you will almost certainly be fine with any type of server.

6. Other Features like Databases, Server Side Scripting

Web hosting plans can offer a myriad of confusing features. For the small website it is unlikely that you will ever need to know about any of them. If you are a web designer creating complex database driven sites then you will already know what you need. If after creating your site you have never heard of ASP, ColdFusion, SQL Server, mySQL - then chances are that you don't need to worry about any of these things. If you plan to add a message board to your website then you will need a mySQL database. This is the most common database used with discussion boards.

Step2 - Finding The Right Web Hosting Plan To Buy

Finding the right web hosting plan is the purpose of this site - so you are at the right place. You can enter your needs into the easy or advanced search tools, or you can use one of the preset searches then refine your search.

There are many web hosting directories on the web. They all claim to be great resources. For the most part they are great resources...for the web hosting companies, but not for you, the web hosting consumer. Almost all of these web hosting directories are a place where web hosting companies advertise and they are in business only to generate advertising income from hosting companies. For the consumer they are worthless because you can not find any unbiased information. These advertising based web hosting directories have list of recommendations, top 25 lists, platinum lists etc...they are all just advertising lists similar to the ads in junk mail that might arrive through your mail slot. Avoid these sites, they have no value because you cannot trust any information you will find in them.