International Web Hosting Customers – Key Considerations
“The Internet has finally arrived at your office – maybe your company is in Malaysia or maybe it is in England? Needless to say, your company is not located in North America unless your with http://www.weblinkhosting.com. Yet now you’ve got a web site that needs a home on the Internet. Are you hosting needs the same as those of North American businesses. Probably a good deal of the key technical and feature requirements are identical however, there are certain considerations that you should keep in mind when looking for web hosting.
Payment Issues – Most developed countries have been penetrated by a credit card system – which is likely accepted by web hosts worldwide. Can your company use a credit card to pay for hosting – if so, then this probably isn’t a major problem. However, if you must send a business check, remember that sending payment to a web host overseas can be expensive, not accepted by the web host, or lengthy due to mailing delays.
Currency – What about your local currency, is it accepted by the web host? The standard for hosting worldwide is without question the US$. So even if your web host is in Canada, Brazil, or France, expect the company to at least offer services in US$ alongside your local currency. If you do choose an overseas web host, are there possible currency expenses you need to consider? Yes. If you are selecting a high end hosting system costing several thousand dollars per month – an exchange rate fluctuation could raise/lower your hosting costs significantly.
Technical Support – What are the technical support considerations for your company. Web hosting is an important aspect of doing business online, and if you experience technical difficulties with your website you will want to get them fixed quickly. Does the hosting company offer technical support in your local language (if English is not acceptable to you?) What about hours of operation – remember that 9AM in your local time zone may not be 9AM where your web host is. Most major web hosts in North America operate with 24/7 technical support – however, your company should ask the host before signing with them.
Bandwidth Connections – While many countries around the world are rapidly growing out their network infrastructures, some of the most developed Internet-connections are still in the United States. Does your country have the bandwidth capacity to handle the potentially large volume of traffic your web site could receive? If so, is it more expense than if your web host was international? Aside from this, check to see the speed of the equipment your local web host is using vs. an international web host. Which company offers the more powerful servers?
Keeping key issues in mind when analyzing international web hosting companies is important. There are advantages to choosing a local web host (eg. currency and convenience) and a non-domestic host (eg. greater features and Internet connection speeds). Ultimately, if you remember to ask about some of the above factors, your company will find a superior web host. Remember that whether your web site resides in Europe, Asia, or North America, the method with which you administer your site is likely to be the same. ”
About the Author
Hosting Article Creator – Companies like ipowerweb.com, midphase.com, weblinkhosting.com, lunarpages.com.
Considering E-Commerce Web Hosting Plans?
“If you’re looking to sell products online or move paper-based transactions online, e-commerce web hosting is the perfect solution. Outsourcing your web store is a time and money saving decision. Packages typically start at $35 per month but can reach several hundred dollars per month for more advanced e-commerce hosting. Prices of hosting packages differ because of such factors as disk space, number of e-mail accounts, and data transfer, as well as the amount of distinct items you are allowed to sell. You will also find different hosting provider varying in terms of the transaction software that they employ. Consider the following samples of common e-commerce hosting packages:
Budget Packages ($35/month, 10-15 items, 30-40MB of disk space, unlimited data transfer.)
If you’re looking to sell products for the first time this is where to start. These types of budget packages allow you to sell around 10-15 unique items, with about 30 to 40 megabytes of storage space, and an unlimited number of visitors. What’s great about budget packages is that you can usually upgrade easily as your store grows. A cheap and realiable host would sell their product for under $7.00 a month. One example of this is http://www.weblinkhosting.com and http://www.midphase.com. For companies that expect to succeed, the ability to upgrade quickly and efficiently is extremely important..
Moderate Packages ($70-$100/month, 100-115 items, 100MB of disk space, unlimited data transfer.)
This type of package is great for a growing store, with a moderate variety in terms of number of products. It would allow for a range of 100-115 products to be sold, and you receive much more capability for a marginal increase in price. For many companies, middle of the run e-commerce packages are much more efficient starting levels than budget packages. Once again, the ability to upgrade allows you to adjust to the success of your business by expanding into a high-end e-commerce package.
Professional Packages ($150-$200/month, unlimited products, 250MB of disk space, unlimited data transfer) These types of packages are quite affordable considering the ability to sell unlimited products. This factor allows your business to grow it’s online presence to whatever scale required. While 250 MB of disk storage is impressive, most plans will allow your company to upgrade with time if need be. High-end e-commerce packages are occasionally associated with dedicated server solutions. Ideally, serious e-commerce endeavors should start at a high-end e-commerce plan, as even at a monthly rate of several hundred dollars it is more affordable than offline “”retail space.”" Media 3 Media3: Premium Business Web Hosting
It’s apparent that web hosting providers are able to adjust their e-commerce solutions accordingly to your company’s needs. This flexibility and customization is likely to continue, as e-commerce becomes a natural step for business moving online or expanding their current Internet presence. When starting an online storefront, a web host will be able to guide you through the hosting process effectively. Ask the host about upgrade options so you can have an upgrade plan in place for when it is needed.
When looking for e-commerce providers, be certain to pay attention to these factors – bandwidth (data transfer), cost, disk space, and the amount of items you can sell, etc. These are basic parts of a web hosting plan and will be similar to those found in non e-commerce plans. There are a number of software applications that allow you to setup your online store. The dominant software solutions used by hosting companies include Mercantec SoftCart, iCat Commerce Publisher, and Icentral ShopSite. Make sure your web host provides for transactions online to be made securely through SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption. If you also plan to accept credit card transactions online, you’ll need payment processing services, from a reliable company such as CyberCash or CardService. Most hosting companies have the ability to set-up complete payment processing systems, including the actual merchant account (which you will need to bill customer’s credit cards.)
Starting an online store is an exciting opportunity, and your web host will impact the success of your store. For this reason, take the time and effort to compare several e-commerce web hosts. Shown below are some links here at HostIndex.com that can help you get started. ”
About the Author
Hosting Article Creator – Companies like ipowerweb.com, midphase.com, weblinkhosting.com, lunarpages.com.
Use a CPanel Server to Easily Start a Web Hosting Business
What is cPanel?
cPanel is a web hosting control panel system that is installed on a dedicated server. The control panel system comes in two parts: Web Host Manager (WHM) for the web host, and cPanel for the end-user.
Web Host Manager (WHM), which allows the webhost to easily administer individual hosting accounts, reseller accounts and perform basic system and control panel maintenance via a secure interface. A web host does not need to know how to manually set up user accounts, passwords, ftp accounts or mail accounts through the command line as is typical of all dedicated servers. The user interface makes creating an account a breeze with one-click creation of accounts.
cPanel is designed for the end-users (hosting customers) and allows them to control everything in their accounts, including adding / removing email accounts, administering MySQL databases, creating redirects, creating FTP accounts and many more.
Getting a cPanel server
Not all dedicated servers purchased/leased from server providers come with cPanel. There are numerous other types of automated control panels available, so choosing a server that comes with cPanel is important. cPanel has partnerships with leading datacenters and offer a discounted rate on cPanel license when purchased together with the server. Examples of cPanel partner NOCs (Network Operating Centers) are BurstNet and LiquidWeb. These NOCs may offer a server with no control panel, or include a cPanel license at a norminal fee of $19.95. However, as of now, cPanel can only be installed on a linux based dedicated server or virtual private server.
What’s next after getting a server?
Before running out to advertise and to get clients for your new hosting business, you must remember to run some initializations on your cPanel server if your datacenter did not already do it for you. Listed in order are the steps required on a new server:
1. Set up nameservers
2. Secure the server by tweaking security settings
3. Check that all server services are running
4. Install add-on scripts that you would like to offer your clients
5. Install security scripts if you wish to increase server security
Other things you should know
Despite all its features, cPanel does not include any customer billing feature for web hosts to manage customer accounts and payments. As such, you would still have to manually register new clients and bill existing clients through some form of online form or email. This usually includes signing up for a Paypal or merchant account in order to receive payments. A more advanced payment solution such as Modernbill would manage cPanel by creating accounts and also bill your clients at the required times.
Dan Chris writes for AlltheServers.com, a site that focuses on dedicated servers to help consumers understand the dedicated server industry. Find more information on dedicated servers used for cpanel hosting at http://www.AlltheServers.com
Virtual Private Server Web Hosting
What is Virtual Private Server Web Hosting?
Virtual Private Servers offer hosting customers a great balance between the control and power of a dedicated server, but at very affordable prices as compared to shared hosting. Virtual Private Servers, also known as VPS, Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS), or virtual server hosting, offer developers and web hosting resellers an excellent way of maximizing hosting investments.
As an intermediary service between shared web hosting and dedicated server hosting, the actual hardware server is divided into several isolated environments. Each environment, or space of the hardware, has its own server software, mail server, and independent software instances and services. This provides total independence for that particular website, as a crashed or corrupted application in another client’s VPS setup has no effect on your virtual server hosting package. Virtual Private Servers minimize the compromises that shared web hosting has, as one does not have to share resources, applications, nor an environment a large number of other users in the same directory. Overall, VPS offers a distinct advantage in performance and security, as compared to shared web hosting.
Advantages:
The rewards of Virtual server hosting are based around control, security, and scalability.
VPS offers control, as many of the server resources available to end users are very similar to that of dedicated servers without the cost and expenses associated with utilizing a totally dedicated solution. Because of the control, VPS users are able to install their own applications, as well as use the feature of dedicated web servers, mail servers, database servers, and FTP servers.
Security is a major issue, as each VPS has its own dedicated system files. Other virtual server hosting accounts should never be able to ‘see’ your data, detect your presence, or affect the operation of your VPS. As compared to shared hosting, the benefit is protection from usage or behavior of other sites.
Lastly, scalability offers a great benefit in being able to upgrade to a more robust VPS solution or transfer files and applications to a dedicated server solution.
DisAdvantages:
There are a plethora of known advantages. However, one of the major disadvantages is the requirement of advanced technical skills and program knowledge to install, maintain, and tweak specialized applications that need to run on VPS platforms. The answer to this, however, is that better Virtual Server Hosting companies provide detailed manuals that make processes of configuration and control easier, no matter what level of knowledge one has.
Next, mismanagement of too many virtual servers residing on the same computer, or if a few virtual servers start hogging resources, there may be an observable decrease in speed and performance on web page delivery.
Furthermore, depending on the hosting package, a virtual private server may allow endless ways of configuration, but it may not always include with it the essential web hosting tools and multiple-user management functions necessary to run the site of your specifications. One may have to find specific software to run, or may even have to purchase customized software to run on that platform, as compared to software which may be provided by shared hosting plans.
Lastly, although an advanced user would see the return on investment of virtual private hosting, cost may be prohibitive to a user who needs more basic functionality. As compared to shared web hosting, VPS pricing plans and packages cost more per unit time.
Technical Benefits:
Web hosting companies developed the virtual private server to provide features usually reserved for a dedicated server at a more affordable price. An increasing number of web hosting users needed more flexibility, custom configurations, and root access, and the concept of a true virtual server fit their needs perfectly.
What is the best application of a Virtual Private Server web hosting service provider?
Utility of virtual private services for advanced users is multifaceted. VPS users, in management of servers, have a wide variety of applications and uses. Flexibility, speed of data delivery, security, and reliability, as compared to a shared server environment, are markedly improved. Therefore, solutions such as e-commerce, multimedia, and web development testing suites and platforms such as ColdFusion, Active Server Pages, and Java™ are viable options for implementation on a VPS.
From simple websites to complex needs, Virtual private hosting can truly accommodate the present hosting needs, but also is for those who need the scalability of growth and prediction of future resource requirements.
Some more examples of applications that Virtual Private web hosting is duly suited for include:
* Web-based calendaring & scheduling with employee scheduling
* Multimedia applications through graphics, video, audio, and advanced rich advertising needs.
* Tighter Email management (including possible spam protection)
* More robust and powerful e-commerce possibilities (with secure data storage)
* Corporate intranet implementation.
* Multiple custom application development & hosting
* Customer support ticket tracking
* Data management
=| How to decide: |==
Generally being more technically savvy, users of VPS would be able to compare architectures that would offer the necessary speeds, ease of new software deployment, and the ability to install the latest technologies. Furthermore, possible VPS customers should be able to compare features on the hardware and software packages. Therefore, the following list of questions would be appropriate to understand and compare what packages are being offered and how they will affect the web page delivery.
* If something breaks, do you have spare server parts to fix it immediately?
* What kind of maintenance plan do you have with your hardware provider?
* What kind of backup options do you offer to save my data?
* What application options and modules are available to me for installation
* What management methods are available for me to administer my server?
* What kind of connection to the Internet do you have?
* What are the brand and specifications of computers that you use? What are the hardware specs you have available (CPU speed, drive size, memory, etc.)?
* Overall, virtual server hosting gives a high degree of flexibility and operative benefits.
Overall, the ROI for Virtual Private Servers offers web savvy customers needing fast and reliable services a great solution for their web hosting needs.
About the Author
Rodel Garcia is a freelance programmer and web developer. Owner and webmaster of
http://www.web-hosting-service-directory.com/virtual-web-hosting.html
Web Hosting Center CEO
5 Web Hosting Tips for ’05
By Tony Tebano
Are you planning your web hosting needs for 2005? Then it’s a great time for your company to consider the following tips for a successful year of hosting! By following these simple steps, you can not only save money, but also ensure that your website has its most successful year ever.
Tip #1: Upgrade to an Annual Plan – If you are happy with your hosting provider, consider moving to an annual payment basis. By doing this, you can benefit from a lower prorated monthly rate. If you are looking to transfer to a new web host in January, you might also wish to consider an annual plan as they often come with no set-up fee.
Tip #2: The economy is back and online traffic is growing again. Is your company website ready for an increase in traffic during 2005? With monthly fees for dedicated servers coming down rapidly over the past year, your business may wish to consider moving to a dedicated environment which will offer more capacity for servicing your online customers. At least be sure that your current plan has adequate bandwidth allowances.
Tip #3: Check out your Hosting Service Agreements. These agreements contain the “legal terms” of your hosting contract and may be changed from time to time. The ‘New Year’ is a good time to review the latest documents surrounding the relationship between you and your web host.
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Tip #4: Secure a support domain for your company. Many companies are now providing technical support and service follow-up online. With Internet access still growing on a worldwide basis, you may wish to consider reserving the domain name for a potential service/support site. For example, usxmodeltrains.com might wish to reserve usxtrainsupport.com. Also, think about registering some of the new top levels domains including .info and .biz – these can be useful in driving more traffic to your website.
Tip #5: Watch for software upgrades! Each year, many providers of web design and server software launch new versions. Make sure your company is using the latest design software to maximize your site visitor’s experiences. Also, by checking to see if your provider has the latest server versions, you can verify their technical knowledge and ensure maximum website uptime.
By following these simple tips, your business can maximize it’s online efforts in 2005 by ensuring a stable hosting environment while gaining better knowledge about your web host.
About the Author
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