Nine Things To Know Before Selecting The Web Host For Your BusinessLearn Web Hosting Help and Information on mps-web-hosting.com. Nine Things To Know Before Selecting The Web Host For Your Business article will help answer your questions on Web Hosting Help and Information.We at mps-web-hosting.com specialize in Web Hosting Help and Information. Web Hosting Help and Information at mps-web-hosting.com provides the most up to date news and articles. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
It may seem simple yet it is often times overlooked. When it comes to choosing the right Internet hosting provider for their websites, the majority of business owners or companies know very little about making the best Internet/web hosting decisions.
Here are some tips to help you make the right decisions: 1. Understand the distinctions between shared, collocated, unmanaged dedicated & managed dedicated hosting so you choose the one that is right for your business. It is crucial to understand the difference between the types of hosting offered. As the hosting industry has matured, hosting offers have split into a couple of distinct categories, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Shared hosting (sometimes called virtual hosting), means that you are sharing one server with a number of other clients of that company. The host manages the server almost completely (though you maintain your site and your account). They can afford to charge you little since many clients are paying for use of the server. However, companies other than yours are using the resources of that server. That means heavy traffic to one of the other sites on the server can really hammer the performance of your site. Also, you are typically not able to install special software programs on these types of machines, because the host will need to keep a stable environment for all of the clients using the server. Collocated hosting means that you purchase a server from a hardware vendor, like Dell or HP for example, and you supply this server to the host. The host will then plug your server into its network and its redundant power systems. The host is responsible for making sure its network is available, and you are responsible for all support and maintenance of your server. Good hosters will offer management contracts to their collocation clients so that you can outsource much of the support to them and come to an arrangement similar to managed dedicated hosting. Most collocation hosts do not offer this service, however. Unmanaged dedicated hosting is very similar to collocation, except that you lease a server from a host and do not actually own it yourself. Some very limited support (typically Web-based only) is included, but the level of support varies widely from unmanaged dedicated host to unmanaged dedicated host. This type of server can be had for around $99/month. Support levels are typically only provided in general terms. Ask the host to go into specifics about what support they will provide -- will they apply security patches to your server? -- before signing up. This service is typically good for gaming servers (like Doom or Counterstrike servers) or hobbyist servers, but not for serious businesses that need responsive, expert-level service. Managed dedicated hosting means leasing a server from a host and having that company provide a robust level of support and maintenance on the server that is backed by quality guarantees. This maintenance typically includes that services such as server uptime monitoring, a hardware warranty, security patch updates and more. Be sure to make sure your managed dedicated host is specific about its managed services included so that you can be sure they are not disguising an unmanaged dedicated offering as a managed dedicated server. This has been known to happen unfortunately, which is why it is important to do your homework and ask the right questions. 2. Ask If Your Potential Host's Network Has Blackholed Ips. Many hosts care little about who is actually hosting on their networks, so long as the clients pay their bill. That means many hosters will allow porn sites, SPAMMERS and servers that create security issues on their network for the sake of the dollar. Even if you are to place ethical issues aside, this does have a negative impact on customers in general, however, when a network gets blackholed for spamming, for example. Getting blackholed means that other networks will refuse e-mail originated from IPs that are blacklisted. Some hosts have a number of entire class C (up to 256 IPs) networks blackholed and redistribute these tainted IPs to new clients. That means if your business relies on legitimate closed loop opt-in e-mail marketing to drive sales, being on such a network can severely cut response to your campaign because your e-mail may never get to its destination. Check with any hosts you are considering to see if their networks are blackholed. Also, here is a link to a third party source that tracks blackholed networks and lists them: http://www.spamhaus.org/sbl/isp.lasso The following URL is a good resource to help you understand what is labeled SPAM and what isn’t: http://www.spamhaus.org/mailinglists.html 3. Don't Confuse Size With Stability. Just because a web hosting company is big, does not mean it is stable and secure. In fact, many of the biggest filed for bankruptcy protection or were saved by being sold to some other company, in some cases causing uncomfortable transitions in service for their clients. How do you protect yourself? Ask some key questions: How long the has the host been in business? Is current ownership the same as always? Are they profitable and cash flow positive from operation-generated revenue? 4. Don't Make Price Your Only Priority. The old saying "you get what you pay for" applies to most things in life, and hosting is certainly one of those things. When you over-prioritize price, you run the risk of ending up with a host that will provide you with a connection to the Internet and little else in terms of support (and even that connection may be running at maximum capacity or have uptime issues). 5. Make Sure Your Host Has Fully Redundant Data Centers. When dealing with smaller vendors, make sure that they have their own data centers and that those data centers are fully redundant in terms of power and connectivity. Here are a few questions to ask: How many lines do they have coming into the facility? What is the average utilization of their connections? (No matter how large the connection, it if is running at maximum capacity it will be slow.) Do they have redundant power to the servers? Do they have a generator on-site? How often do they test their generator? What sort of security measures do they have in place for the network? What physical security do they have? What type of fire suppression systems do they have in place? 6. Find Out If They Have Actual Experienced Systems Administrators On Their Support Staff. When you call in for technical support, it can be a frustrating experience to be stuck talking with a non-technical "customer service" representative when you really need to talk to a systems administrator who can resolve your issues. Find out the structure of their support department, how quickly you can get to an actual systems administrator when you need to, and which systems administrators can help you when you need help. 7. Make Sure The Host Is Flexible. It is important that the hoster understands how important quality servers are to their clients’ businesses. Even most managed dedicated hosts will not go near supporting applications that are not part of their initial server setup. Find a hoster that has a vast amount of experience to support a wide variety of applications, and one that can bring that expertise to you through their services. 8. Find Out What Their Former/Current Clients Say About Them. Can your prospective host provide you with success stories for clients with similar configurations to yours? Are they able to provide references from clients who can tell you about their experience using that company? 9. Make Sure The Host’s Support Doesn’t Include Extra Charges. Make sure any host you consider provides you with a comprehensive list outlining the support they offer so that you can have an understanding of what is supported for free, what is supported at a fee, and what is not supported at all. Many hosts will try to hide a sub-standard level of free support behind non-specific statements of high quality support, so make them get specific to win your business. Starting A Child Daycare. - Complete business package to help you easily and quickly start your own profitable home-based day care business! Data Entry Pro-Pays 75% New Site Design! - Old Payout was $22.60/Current Payout now $33.93 Per Sale! 2x less refunds. Affiliates Profit More than Ever Before! Try it & See. Sunny Oasis is located in Canda, but has offices all over the place. Their hosting plans are ideal for small personal sites, or for a blog site. They are currently waiving their set-up fees and a free domain is included with all of their hosting plans. We’ll be taking a look at their Basic Plan, [...] Article Index: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
More Articles:1. The Top 15 Essential Ingredients of Every WINDOWS HOSTING Plan (Package) First things First. Why would you like to have Windows Based Hosting when there are Linux packages for cheaper rates ? The answer is – it depends on what application you are looking to use for your hosting. Consider the tools and scripting languages you plan to use – if you use PHP, Perl or MySQL, Linux is the way forward. If apps are Microsoft-specific, then Windows is what you need. Clear…? Now let’s proceed with the essential ingredients of any Windows Hosting Plan.1.ASP Support – The clear r… 2. Maintaining Your Business Website QUESTION: Should I build and maintain my business Web site myself or pay someone else to do the work for me? -- Wesley L. ANSWER: When you say, pay someone else to do the work for you, Wesley, I am going to assume that you are talking about hiring a professional Web site designer to do the work and not your next-door neighbor's teenage son. If my assumption is correct, then read on. If not, go ahead and flip over to the comics section. You will get no good out of the advice I'm about to give, so… 3. How You Pay More for Unused Web Space and Traffic '2GB web space with 50GB traffic for $5.95 per month!'A luring ad—definitely. In fact this ad makes many smallbusiness owners feel cheated by their present web hosts.This is how the small business owners, who have taken small amount of space (say, 5, 10 or 25mb) calculate and feel that they are paying more :'If 2000MB (2GB) costs $5.95 per month, then 5MB should cost(5.95 x 5 / 2000) = $0.15 only! But my web host charges me $1! A 700% profit!! Oh...I am losing so much money!!'So, if a small busi… 4. Web Hosting: Which is the host with the most? So you want to publish a web site do you? Welcome to the club. These days it seems that almost everyone has a web site of some kind, and thousands more continue to be launched every day. It's challenging enough to design a site and fill it with interesting content, but when all is said and done another challenge still remains - where to host it?A popular choice for newbie webmasters, and even experienced ones, is to secure a free hosting plan with a company such as Yahoo! Geocities, Tripod or An… |
||||
