The Cayman Host

Having recently launched the free ebook "An Absolute Beginners Guide To Web Hosting" I decided that it would be useful to include a glossary of hosting terms for those readers unfamiliar with some of the industry terminology. There follows a run down of some of the most commonly used phrases together with a brief translation of each.

1) Web Host

A web host or web server is basically a computer connected to the Internet. The function of this computer is to serve up websites to internet users and is more powerful than a regular PC. These servers contain all the data stored by website owners that is required for their website(s) to be displayed online to the world at large.

There are various types of web hosting services available to serve varying needs.

a) Free Hosts - Generally speaking, free web hosting is a solution usually suited only to those who intend to set up a non commercial web site or perhaps to blog as a hobby. Usually, free hosting services offer only limited storage space and bandwidth. Free hosts often make their money by placing ads of various types on customer’s websites - these may include banners, pop-ups and text advertising, over which the user has no control. There are however some exceptions to this and in recent times more free hosting offers have been introduced with far better features.

Reliability, best performance and customer support can be lacking in the case of free hosting as well. Although customers of free hosts can usually use their own domain name if they have one, others will be given a subdomain name that includes the name of the host (for example yourname.freehostingcompany.com) which, for business or professional use does not carry the weight of your own domain.

b) Shared Hosting -  Probably the most common option, hosting a huge number of sites across the internet. Shared hosting is popular due to cost and is most suited to personal users and small to medium business sites. Prices will vary widely and users can expect to pay from as little as a couple of dollars per month through to $40 per month depending on the features and level of the service.

With shared hosting, each server is shared among an indeterminate number of customers. Each website owner has a share of the storage space and the resources of the server. The higher the number of users allocated to a server, the lower the cost, but also the less resources available to each individual. The more expensive companies are less likely to overcrowd their servers resulting in improved performance and availability of their customer’s websites.

With a shared hosting plan, customers are usually able to host more than one domain name under a single account plus subdomains and parked domains but in all cases the allowances will differ. Whatever features are offered, all will be subject to the limits placed on the account in terms of space and resources per month.

c) Dedicated Hosts - As the name suggests, a server is dedicated to a single customer. Dedicated hosting is the choice of larger and higher traffic sites that need more resources than  a shared host can provide. Customers rent and have total control over the server and can configure it to suit their purposes.

Their are varying service levels with dedicated hosting. A customer can opt to have a managed solution - in other words, the hosting company’s technical team will set up and maintain certain aspects on the customer’s behalf, or you can choose to manage the server yourself. As most webmasters are not hardware experts, a managed dedicated server is usually the best option. Costs for a dedicated server are naturally much higher than a shared service and can run into hundreds of dollars per month. Once again a lot depends on the level of service and support you expect or need.

The term co-located hosting refers to an arrangement whereby the customer purchases the server hardware outright and the hardware is then located at the hosting provider’s data center. Naturally the cost of co-located hosting is higher because the customer has to shoulder the cost of the hardware and it’s upkeep and repair.

d) VPS or Virtual Private Server Hosts - VPS (also called virtual dedicated servers) are an option for those who are looking for more than shared hosting but either cannot afford or justify their own dedicated server. In very basic terms, VPS are servers that do not interface directly with the hardware on which they run and they cannot interface directly with each other. The server is therefore ‘virtual’  and ‘private’ in the sense that it is independent of actual hardware and cannot interact with its file system or processes. VPS pricing varies greatly and is again dependent on the provider and the resources/services on offer, but normally prices should be expected to be higher than a shared host but lower than a dedicated service.

Other Hosting Services

Reseller hosting is a commonly offered service and basically means that a customer of a hosting company buys space on the hosting company’s servers and resell it to their own customers. Resellers will set their own prices and features of the hosting plans they decide to resell. The reseller consequently deals with his customers and their queries and complaints, although sometimes reseller plans are offered by companies who will take care of customer care themselves. A reseller is effectively a ‘middle man’ and his responsibilities will vary according to the company or companies with which he works.

Domain Name

A domain name is the permanent address of a website on the internet. The actual address of a website is a set of numbers and every web server has its own unique address. To remember these numbers would be virtually impossible and the domain name is an easily recognizable translation for human beings. Domain names are available with various suffixes such as .com or .net and each is unique. Buying and registering a domain name is a simple process and there are hundreds of places where customers can obtain the name of their choice. Prices vary from free into thousands of dollars but customers can usually register a domain for less than $20. There is an annual fee for owning a domain, and you can choose to register it for anything from a 12 months and up.

Space / Storage

The amount of storage space available on the server for your website - all it’s files, images and databases. Just like the storage space available on the hard drive of your own computer if you like. How much you will need depends on a whole range of things but nowadays most hosting companies offer more than adequate storage on shared servers for most users.

Bandwidth / Data Transfer

Bandwidth is the term used for the amount of data transferred from a web server to client’s s computer. Whenever a person views a web page, the data is transmitted from the server to that person’ PC. Websites containing audio, video and image files or one offering lots of downloadable content consume more bandwidth than a simple text based site. The bandwidth available to customers will again vary tremendously from host to host and service level to service level.

Just because a shared host claims to offer huge bandwidth allowances does not necessarily make it so as other limits on the account such a CPU (central processor unit) resources will also come into play.

Users who exceed their bandwidth for a given month are sometimes charged for the excess or simply find their website(s) taken offline until the end of the month. Neither is something you really want to happen for obvious reasons.

Server Type

This relates to the operating system than runs the web server. Common OS types include Windows, Linux and UNIX. This has no bearing on the OS of your own PC. The server type will also affect the server side scripting (see below) and database types. The difference between Windows server and Linux/UNIX is that Windows runs ASP and ASP.NET with Access or SQL Server databases where as Linux/UNIX servers usually runs CGI, PHP or JSP with MySQL or Oracle databases. The other difference is that Windows servers are more expensive than Linux/UNIX servers - Linux is an open source OS (in other words it’s free software) whereas Windows is a commercial application that you are doubtless familiar with if you are a PC user. Linux is probably more common because of this, but either will be satisfactory for most webmaster’s needs.

Server Side Scripting

PHP is the preferred server side scripting today because there are hundreds of open source or GPL PHP scripts available for webmasters to use. Many hosts include a collection of such scripts that can be quickly and easily be installed. However PHP does have its limitations and features required by some advanced websites as does the use of MySQL and some professional web developers still prefer to use ASP.NET or JSP while some prefer Cold Fusion, CGI, ASP or PERL.

Databases

There are various different types of databases available. The most commonly used is MySQL as it is open source GPL (free) software and can serve a lot of online applications’ requirements such as forums, blogs, content management, mailing lists, etc. Again however, it has its limitations and whilst normally sufficient for for smaller concerns it might not be powerful enough to cope with complicated large business sites. More powerful requirements are served better by  databases such as Oracle or SQL Server.

Email

Most people are familiar with email of course but in relation to hosting it is worth a quick explanation. Most paid hosting accounts will include email accounts accounts with the customer’s domain. The number and size of email accounts totally depends on the individual hosting plan. Generally this feature is not included in free hosting but there are some exceptions. Small plans provide as little as 10 accounts whereas some will place no limit on the number available to you. Usually these email accounts are web based and also accessible through POP3 clients. Having your own dot com email address is a must for those doing business online - far more professional than using a personal or free email account which can often be detrimental to the perception of your business.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

File Transfer Protocol is the common way of transferring files across the Internet. Most webmasters use FTP to upload and download their website’s contents. The process of uploading or downloading is performed by using FTP client software and there are many free programs available. An FTP username and password will be provided to hosting customers to enable them to access their web server. Some hosts provide more than one FTP account to their customers according to their requirements.

Uptime / Downtime

There is little point in having a website if it is constantly unavailable for visitors. Downtime (periods of unavailability) need to be kept to a minimum as they can be very costly in terms of lost opportunities and business. Most hosts will claim uptime as a percentage such as 99.9% and anything less is not desirable for a small or medium business. Nobody can truly guarantee 100% because hardware can never be relied on 100% but a host who offers guarantees as well as compensation for downtime is important. Mission critical sites cannot tolerate frequent outages and may use web monitoring services to notify hosts immediately a site goes down. Monitoring software is readily available for those who wish to keep a close eye on downtime.

Control Panel

The control panel is the web based interface used to administer all aspects of your websites and is fully explained in our free hosting ebook. It is where  users manage things such as email accounts, statistics, FTP accounts, domains and sub-domains and databases. Some hosting companies use their own control panel and others will use third party applications such as cPanel, the most common Linux control panel in use today.

I hope this glossary, although not exhaustive, will be useful to newcomers and potential new hosting customers and clears up some of the terminology most commonly used.

TCH

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This month only Network Solutions are offering 10% off of all domain purchases until October 11 2007 so if you’re looking for that perfect name, now might be the time to consider making it your own. For full details of this special deal just visit the link below.

10% off any new Domain purchase (Applies to .com, .net, .org, .us, .info, .name, .biz, & .mobi extensions) Valid from 9/13/07 - 10/11/07

[tags]Domain Names, Domains Sale, Cheap Domains, Domain Offers, Buy Domains[/tags]

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UK Domain Name Alternative by Clare Lawrence

If you’ve tried to register a domain name recently, you’ve noticed; all the really good .com names are gone. Try it. Choose any animal, any generic medication, any sport, any mode of transportation, even emotions or silly names. You have very little chance of finding any of them free in the .com listings.

Fortunately, for businesses that do business primarily within the United Kingdom, Central Nic offers the alternative of the uk.com domain extension. You might think that this isn’t an alternative for you, that no one looks at the uk.com names.

But the truth is, the uk.com name is starting to be accepted by the British public as an alternative to .com. Better yet, more people who are looking to do business primarily with British businesses are using the .uk.com name to find British businesses. This is really good news for you.

Some of the advantages of getting just the right domain name are:

Search Engine Placement

Search engine listings today frequently have millions of hits per search. The higher you are in this listing, the better your chances of drawing the right customers to your site. Most people who’ve done anything with search engine optimization know that careful use of your keyword and inbound links to your page affect your placement. But did you know that if you have your primary keyword in your domain name, it can improve your rankings?

Your Business Name as Your Domain Name

With the benefits of instant recognition and a bump in the search engines for anyone searching for your business specifically, using your business name as your domain name has a remarkably positive effect. Your business name should be the first .uk.com domain name you look for.

With both this and the simple keyword, though, you should act quickly; the competition is increasing as businesses and other customers realize the value of these names. If you’re a professional – a doctor, lawyer, writer, or anyone with aspirations to celebrity – you should register your own name as well, both to preserve your rights to the domain name and to protect yourself from what someone else might put on the site with your name. Cyber squatting, or taking someone’s name or business name to resell back to them at a handsome profit, is an increasing problem.

If at all possible, buy both your business name and your keyword for domain names, and talk to your host about having both URLs point to the same business website.

People Remember You

One of the best advantages to using a simple but memorable domain name for your website is that people remember you. What good does it do to advertise on the radio if no one remembers the URL listed on the site? Same for billboards, television, newspaper, and often even direct mail.

If you’re fortunate enough to find your keyword open, register it as quickly as you can. If you wait, someone else is likely to register it before you get a chance.

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Clare Lawrence is CEO of Discount Domains Ltd – A leading UK provider of UK Domains

Article Source: www.articlepeak.com

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by Josh Greenberger from shopndrop.com

New website owners often seem confused about how and when domain names come into play. The questions usually boil down to: “Does a website come with a domain name?” and “If not, how do I get a domain name?”

Web hosting and domain name registration are usually separate services. Although your hosting company may give or sell you a domain name with your website, most hosting companies are not domain registrars, and chances are they’re procuring it from a third party. (Domain registrars often give you a website, but they’re usually not “full featured” websites, and another issue.)

What’s more, despite the fact that hosting companies will generally take care of your initial domain name registration, becoming familiar with the basics of domain name management can save you anywhere from a few bucks to a little bundle. (For the definition of “bundle,” forget Webster’s Dictionary. Look at your monthly statement from your hosting company; if it gives you that sinking feeling, that’s a bundle.)

Registrars like directnic.com and enom.com, for example, charge $15 and $30, respectively, per year, per domain name. In bulk, you can get names at enom.com for as low as $9. And with a little shopping around, you can do even better than this.

Managing your own domain names will usually have its biggest payoff if you should decide to get more than one domain name, a common practice that can sometimes enhance your web presence. How? Let’s say, your business name is “Grumpy’s Hardware and Paint.” Some people know you as Grumpy’s Hardware, some as Grumpy’s Paint, and some as just plain Grumpy. You might want to get three domain names — grumpyshardware.com, grumpyspaint.com, and grumpy.com — so your site can be reached no matter what a surfer enters in his browser.

The way this would work is, you’d open your hosting account using, let’s say, grumpy.com. Then you’d add on, what’s called, “parked” or “mirror” domain names, grumpyshardware.com and grumpyspaint.com. Parked or mirror domains are not separate websites; they simply point to an existing website, grumpy.com, in this case.

The problem is that some hosting companies will charge you setup and/or monthly fees for parked domains. These fees are above and beyond the yearly fees you already pay for registering domain names. And these fees can add up.

By managing domain names yourself, however, you can avoid all “parking” fees, not to mention shop around for a better deal on the names themselves.

The fundamentals of domain management begin with two basic methods of directing domain names to your website. That is, the process that gets a surfer from the browser to your website involves a mechanism that takes the surfer (unbeknownst to him) to your domain name registrar and then to your website. The journey from your registrar to your website can be accomplished by one of two methods — “pointing” or “forwarding.” It’s your choice as to which method to use.

What’s the difference? There’s a huge difference.

Although the menus for setting up these features vary from registrar to registrar, the concepts are the same. “Pointing” involves assigning a DNS (Domain Name Server) address, obtained from your hosting company, to your domain name grumpy.com. This is done at your registrar account.

Then, you must inform your hosting company to “set up” grumpy.com on their end, if they have not yet done so. And this is where domain name setup and monthly fees at your hosting company come in.

“Forwarding” (also referred to as “redirecting”), on the other hand, works a little differently. Let’s say you wanted to set up grumpyspaint.com for your website. Instead of using the DNS method described above, you would simply “forward” it to grumpy.com, which would already be pointing to your website. In addition to being a little simpler, it’s likely you’ve just saved yourself some money.

How?

When a surfer enters grumpyspaint.com, they simply get forwarded to your other name, grumpy.com, which is already pointing to your website. It’s almost as if the surfer entered grumpy.com directly. And you don’t need any additional setups at your hosting company when you use this method, no matter how many additional parked domain names you have. So, no setups, no fees.

To put it all together, if you had let’s say 20 domain names, you’d need to set up only one domain name at your registrar using the DNS method, and you’d need your hosting company to “setup” that same name on their end. The other nineteen names would need no setup whatsoever at your hosting company. All you’d have to do is redirect (at your registrar account) all nineteen names to that one name you already have set up. And, thus, you’ve saved yourself setup and/or monthly fees for nineteen parked domains.

How much can you save? Some hosting companies can charge as much as $20 setup and $5 per month for each parked domain. Figure it out.

Be aware that some registrars charge extra for features such as “forwarding.” But there’s no need to pay extra even for this. Many registrars, like directnic.com and enom.com, include forwarding and other features at no extra charge.

So, even if you do not necessarily take care of these domain matters yourself, but relegate it to a friend or coworker, being aware of the ins and outs can help you avoid getting ripped off by a hosting company whose job is not necessarily to keep you informed of the most budget-conscious way of running your operation. After all, the information super highway should be for surfing, not for being taken for a ride.

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Josh Greenberger: A computer consultant for over two decades, the author has developed software for such organizations as NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies, AT&T, Charles Schwab, Bell Laboratories and Chase Manhattan Bank. Since 1984, the author’s literary works have appeared in such periodicals as The New York Post, The Daily News, The Village Voice, The Jewish Press, and others. His articles have ranged from humor to scientific to topical events. Visit him at http://shopndrop.com
Article Resource: http://articles.sakshay.in

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The Importance of Domain Names by Camber Clenney

You’ve decided to take the plunge and develop a website. Maybe you already know exactly how you want it to look or know someone that can design it for you. While this is extremely important, have you thought about registering a domain name for your site? Domain names are another piece of your websites brand. Without a cohesive branding effort you will have bits and pieces but not a complete package.

What is a domain name? A domain name is the address of the website and email used by customers to find you company. Domain names replace IP addresses (unique numbers) because they are easy to remember. A domain can contain numbers, letters, and hyphens up to 67 characters. Now that you understand what a domain is, why is it important?

There are many reasons a domain name is important. Listed are just a few of the key reasons:

•Uniquely identifies your website. Two companies cannot simultaneously hold the same domain name

•Domains are quickly becoming synonymous with the business itself, like Amazon or eBay.

•Gives your business a professional look

•Can result in better search engine traffic

•Allows you to also have email addresses from you domain name (i.e. you@your domainname.com)

•First thing most customers will come across if they find you online

•Increases businesses name recognition

Now that we have seen some of the benefits, let’s look at some tips on how to choose your domain name:

•Choose a name that is easy to pronounce

•Domain name should be as short as possible

•Always choose a .com name if available

•Make the name MEMORABLE

•Relate the domain to your businesses name and the products your offer

•Choose a name that is easy to remember

Domain names are inexpensive and there is no reason not to have one. You can also register several domains and point them all back to your main site to increase traffic results. Remember these tips when you are looking to register a domain and you are sure to come out ahead of the competition.
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For more information about Website Design and Internet Marketing go to http://www.bestwebsitedevelopment.com
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