The Experience Factor

While some customers have the experience needed to maintain a dedicated server, others do not. If you have a capable in-house team, you should be able to thrive just fine in this more complex environment. For the more technically inclined user, managing an entire web server is usually no problem at all. For those that have no experience or knowledgeable administrator, a managed solution may be the best option for their dedicated server. With a managed service, the hosting provider handles the bulk of the maintenance and is often responsible for making sure the server stays up and running. This generally includes taking care of the operating system, web server, applications and the hardware itself. While an unmanaged server is usually the cheaper route, managed hosting is often the best way to go if you lack the knowledge and experience needed to maintain the system.

Is it the Right Move for You?

Whether or not you have the resources needed to manage a dedicated server is a critical factor to determining if this type of hosting is right for you. If you are have the budget to take on the cost associated with leasing the hardware and feel that the hosting firm can provide you with an acceptable level of support, this could be the best move. Regardless of where you stand in terms of experience, it is critical to first determine whether your website or business demands the power of a dedicated server. If not, you could taking on an unnecessary expense and complexity that makes it more difficult for you to succeed. As long as you warrant the need, a dedicated server can be a viable option whether you possess the technical abilities or not. With the market for managed hosting services growing rapidly, you do not have to let the lack of experience deter your plans because solutions are widely available.

In today’s internet driven world, the website often reflects on the credibility of the company behind it. A dedicated server can help you a establish and maintain a credible online presence while providing your business with the best possible chance to succeed. If you are not sure of how to proceed, reach out to a few service providers for a little guidance. This way, you can gather the information you need and perhaps find yourself a good partner in the process.

Source: http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/11/17/can-you-handle-a-dedicated-server/

Ads

While a company may offer hosting at no cost, they are by no means not making money off of your site.  Nearly all free hosting offers will involve advertising placed on your pages.  These will be completely out of your control.  Some companies try to gear ads toward being relevant to the site topic but this isn’t always guaranteed.  Add in the very real fact that your competition may be placed on your web site and this can equal a loss of revenue for you.

No control

Another downside to hosting for free is a severe lack of control.  Most free hosting companies do not offer a control panel or an ftp access account to allow administration of a web site.  This means you cannot make page changes on the fly or add in programs that may be needed by your business.  If you are a retail business, this means no ability to add in a shopping cart or software that helps you control your inventory.  Putting a bit of tracking coding is not an option unless you can have access to the page coding.  Even attempting to change the look of your web site can be an issue.  Some free hosting sites will give you access to templates and a few will even allow some minor changes made to backgrounds.  But, all said, you are very limited to what you can do within your own site.

Support

Support is another problem with free web hosting.  You’ll be limited to perhaps some online forum areas to ask your questions but you won’t have numbers to call, ticket support systems or one of many options offered by paid hosting.  If your business site isn’t working, this can end up costing you a lot of money.

Affordable solutions

Paid hosting these days really doesn’t put a huge dent in your pocketbook.  Some hosting companies run specials on a regular basis and you’re sure to find one that will fit your budget.  You can find hosting from as low as $3-$5 a month, depending on what your business web site requires.  Many of these companies also give a lot of great features for your money – including unlimited web space, unlimited bandwidth and a huge assortment of easy to install programs to get your site up and running quickly.

What it boils down to

When all is said and done, you need to ensure your business is hosted with a company that you can rely on for support and also one that gives you the needed tools to ensure your online site is a success.  This is one time when you do not want to “tighten your belt” or “pinch pennies.”  Do a bit of research and find a good, solid hosting company with a price you can afford.

Source: http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/10/12/free-hosting-is-not-always-the-best-choice/

A CMS (content management system) is a specialize piece of software that allows you to efficiently maintain and update all the contents of your website.  Drupal is one of the very best at this, offering tremendous out of the box functionality along with support for a number of additional modules that can be used to extend its default capabilities.  Being an open-source software application, a community of users have contributed many components and modules for the overall betterment of the project.

Easy to Install and Set Up

Installing Drupal on your web hosting account is simple, especially when using an easy to use application installer such as Fantastico.  After installing the program, you can go through the process of designing your site and select from the array of content types that it will be compromised of.  A comprehensive wizard is available to walk you through the entire process and when setting things up, you are able to see a preview of what your site will look like when it is done.  This gives you the luxury to go back and make edits at any point during the design process.  Learning how to master the basic functions and options of Drupal is something that can literally be done in a matter of minutes.

The Benefits of Drupal Hosting

Due to its soaring popularity, Drupal has become a mainstay on the hosting market as several hosts now offer the software in their service plans at no additional cost.  Even though it has a reputation for being more complex than similar packages such as Joomla, all it takes is a basic level of technical skills to create a powerful and professional Drupal site.  In fact, if you can work with a simple word processing application and web browser, you can excel from the default functionality this dynamic CMS has to offer.  Drupal requires no programming knowledge of PHP or HTML to either create, maintain or update your website.

Conclusion

Drupal is a robust software package that offers the ability to create, manage and update various types of content.  It is primed for Web 2.0 applications so you can easily implement desirable features such blogs, forums and much more.  There are many CMS hosting solutions on the market and honestly, Drupal may not be suited for your needs.  For this reason, you should evaluate this product in and out to determine if it can meet your content management requirements.

You can embark upon a mission to look for a quality free web hosting service with no advertisements and useful features, but you will likely return disappointed once your search has concluded.  While you can never really expect any guarantees when it comes to free hosting, knowing what to expect will better assure that you do not end up with a terrible service.

Understand How Free Hosting Works

There are more than enough free web hosting providers to go around.  Unfortunately, most of them force you to place advertisements on your site or only provide you with the free service for a limited time.  Some do set you up with a quality service in exchange for carrying banners while others leave you to run your site on slow and insufficient servers.  In some cases, these servers fail to respond at all, leaving you with a website that is essentially useless.  So, if the service is impractical, how do free hosting companies make enough money to survive?

More and more, we are seeing free web hosts keeping themselves afloat by persuading their customers to sign up for paid hosting plans.  If they can provide a good service, this actually turns out to be a fair deal.  Premium hosting services are very affordable these days so purchasing service with a company you trust could prove to be worth your while.   The major downside is that even when upgrading to a paid service, your package could still end up lacking features that are commonly found on the professional hosting market.  For example, you just might have to pay extra for items such as FrontPage extensions and FTP support.  So even when you purchase service from a free web host, you still have to make sure you are getting your money’s worth.

Secure Your Web Presence

Should you find yourself in a situation where you must rely on a free web hosting service because of financial restrictions, there are a few things you can do to protect your website and identity.  First, you can register yourself a domain name with a reputable company such as GoDaddy or Yahoo.  Domain names are pretty cheap these days and only cost about $10 to $12 per year.  Before registering the name, look out for domain features such as a control panel and URL forwarding.  This will provide you with the ability to redirect your domain and change the destination to where ever you prefer.  So if your free web host folds and goes out of business or things simply are not working out, you can point the name somewhere else and move your website right along with it.

The WordPress Phenomenon

WordPress has become an immensely popular blogging platform due to its ease of use and cost efficiency.  The software is open-source with no licensing fees required, making it absolutely free to anyone who wants to use it.  Being open-source also allows the WordPress software to be customized to meet the specific needs of the user.  Over the years, developers have created a number of themes and plugins that are now widely available to its large community of users.  All this activity gives you the opportunity to start out with a simple blog and later incorporate all the features and functionality needed to enhance your site.

Meeting the Requirements for WordPress Hosting

Perhaps the most unique quality of WordPress is that is can be self hosted through WordPress.com or WordPress.org, with the latter requiring you to install the software on your own web hosting account or server.  Finding the right solution isn’t necessarily difficult, but it does call for you to evaluate all of the available options before choosing a hosting provider.  Because it is such a popular software program, WordPress is widely supported by many companies on the web hosting market.  However, one must still conduct thorough research in order to make sure their requirements and expectations are met.  When shopping for a service, some important factors you want to keep in mind are bandwidth and disk storage so your blog will have enough resources to support traffic and store your files.  There are also some basic requirements that must be fulfilled to complete a WordPress hosting package.  The two most essential features you will need are a MySQL database, and a web server such as Apache with PHP installed, which is the programming language the software is written in.

There are many web hosting providers offering a wide variety of features and options that make it much easier to work with the WordPress software.  For example, some offer auto-install utilities and upgrades that allow you to remain current with the latest functionality and security features.  Others permit the hosting of multiple domains, which gives you the opportunity to host more than one blog under a single account.  WordPress can work wonders for your web presence, but the journey all begins with finding a company that can provide you with a reliable hosting solution.

Shop the Market

One of the best ways to minimize how much you pay for web hosting service is to shop around.  Regardless of what you plan to buy, comparison shopping is always a sound approach that will help you save money.  You can find a lot of great deals online but do not be tempted by the first low priced package you run across.  Instead, take the time out to compare and evaluate services, looking at not only the cost, but reputation of the company providing it.  Keep in mind that the host that can give you the best price, may not be the one that can help you save the most money.

Look for Free Setups

Another simple way to lower the cost of a web hosting package is to sign up with a firm that offers a free setup and activation of your account.  This is actually a common perk on the market, but not all hosts will provide you with this luxury.  In fact, the setup charges for a dedicated server can cost upwards of $100 if you are not careful.  Should you find a provider that advertises an attractive bottom line price, but forces you to pay exuberant fees upfront to even get started, it could possibly take you quite a while for that money to reflect in your monthly savings.

Identify Hidden Charges

Even when they exist, set up fees are pretty straightforward.  What you need to keep your eyes peeled for are other fees the hosts charges that may or may not be obvious.  For example, there may be services and features that you expected to be included in the package but are instead tacked onto your monthly bill.  When it comes to shopping for something as important as a website hosting provider, you simply cannot be too careful.  If you require additional services and features, look for a host that combines everything you need in a single package.  This will definitely help you keep some money in your pocket.

Know Who You’re Dealing With

Last but not least, the best way to save on your hosting plan is to simply know more about the company you intend on signing up with.  There is nothing wrong with going after a low price, but you must also take critical factors such as support and reliability into account as well.  A bargain deal will only end up costing you more money when your site is unavailable and customers cannot conduct business.  Therefore, you should know that saving a couple of dollars is probably not worth risking your credibility.

Source: http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/09/28/how-to-reduce-the-cost-of-web-hosting/

Control panel software is designed to automate various aspects of server administration, taking the pain out of intensive manual labor.  Some of the most notable include creating email accounts, SQL databases, access control and facilitating software installations among other administrative functions.  Most of these programs work by providing each domain and website owner with a unique access ID, which gives them access to the user interface of the control panel.  When the user logs in to their hosting account via the software, they are then able to perform a number of different server administration tasks based on the available features, resources and access permissions.  A good control panel will not only allow you to accomplish server administration with relative ease, but also monitor your resource usage, view server logs and manage your files right on the software.

Commercial vs. Custom Control Panels

When it comes to control panel applications, web hosting firms generally have two options.  They can choose to purchase an out of the box commercial solution, or build their own custom software in-house.  A large number of companies have elected to build their own software programs due to their proprietary hardware infrastructure, assured compatibility and to elude the often expensive licenses that come along with commercial products.  On the other hand, developing custom automation software in-house can prove to be both time consuming and expensive.   Most importantly, it could result in a much steeper learning curve for the hosting provider’s customers.  Therefore, most companies utilizing generic software and hardware components are better suited for out of the box commercial solutions as they typically offer the utmost in convenience for the end customer.  These type of control panels eliminate the cost and complexities of designing the application and also cut down on technical support as customers will be less likely to rely on assistance from the host.

Summary

Control panel software enables web hosting companies to drastically reduce overhead expenses through the simplistic power of automation.   This in turn, allows them to be more competitive in terms of pricing and even extend that power and control onto their customers who can perform a number of server administration tasks regardless of their technical knowledge.  From cPanel and Plesk to DirectAdmin and Helm, control panel software plays a key role in making sure web hosting is simple and affordable.

Critical Security Features

There are a number of components associated with your hosting platform that can affect how customers perceive your business.  One of the important of all is security.  This is one aspect that cannot be overlooked because it will help you establish trusting relationships and the confidence customers need to feel safe when sharing their sensitive information with you.  Proven and visible security mechanisms such as SSL certificates will help to create the trust and confidence you need to be successful with an online business.  By neglecting to use them, you stand the risk of losing many customers because the consumer is growing increasingly aware of the potential dangers that come along with shopping online.

Speed and High Availability

The performance of your e-commerce site is critical, especially in today’s fast paced on-demand world.  If your hosting provider is utilizing slow servers, potential customers will more than likely click their way to the competition.  A degraded performance will undoubtedly impact your bottom line and possibly cause your company to go out of business.  This can all be avoided by choosing a host that uses the best server hardware and redundant connections to the internet.  It is the overall reliability of their infrastructure that will determine the success of your business.

Adequate Server and Network Capacity

Selecting an e-commerce hosting package with limited storage and bandwidth capacity is like intentionally placing restrictions on the potential of your business.  It is highly recommended to choose a plan that provides enough of both resources to compensate for expansion.  Although many hosts offer solutions with unlimited resources, this marketing ploy can actually work to your disadvantage once your files and traffic start bursting through the seams of the server.  When you are no longer able to update your site due to the lack of disk space and visitors cannot access your site because the bandwidth has been exceeded, your audience will view you in a negative light and this will definitely serve as a crucial blow to your credibility.

Having a secure and reliable hosting solution is critical to any online business.  While some of your more loyal customers may give you a second shot in the midst of slow loading pages and unavailability, most new prospects will never return and seek out someone who is more capable of meeting their needs.  When starting your journey with an online business, always remember that excessive downtime results in lost customers and lost sales.  It is simple as that.  A host that can assure you a reliable and secure environment gives you the best opportunity to keep your customers happy and your bottom line on the profitable side of the spectrum.

Reasons to Opt for Shared Hosting

Shared hosting offers numerous benefits and several of them extend into the e-commerce sector.  For one, it is very affordable as you can easily find a feature-loaded plan for under $10 per month.  In addition to that, you typically receive all the tools and services you need to get your online storefront up and running.  This includes shopping cart programs, web analytic tools and support for SSL certificates to secure your business transactions.  However, while shared hosting can provide you with a relatively secure platform, it can never assure the level of protection and reliability that can be obtained from a dedicated server.

The Dedicated Advantage

Though an advanced and often more complex hosting solution, a dedicated server is not exclusively geared towards larger companies.  In fact, it can deliver the same benefits to small businesses and entrepreneurs looking to establish and grow their presence on the web.  Leasing a dedicated server will cost you more than a shared hosting plan, but it can also guarantee you better overall security and reliability, both of which are vital for anyone who wants to be make sure there business is always available.  For many companies, their website serves as the revenue generator that keeps the business going.  If these are your plans, you need to make it a priority to invest in a solution that ensures your site can be accessed at all times and provides the secure environment your customers need to feel safe.

Capacity and Complexity

When leasing a dedicated server for your small business, you are assured a guaranteed allotment of essential resources such as disk space, RAM and bandwidth.  These features alone can give you a website that performs exceptionally better than it would in the shared hosting environment.  However, you should keep in mind that dedicated hosting is one of the most complex types of web hosting you can sign on for.  Unless you opt for a managed service, you will be responsible ensuring and monitoring security, performing configurations and backups, installing software and general maintenance of the server.

There are quite a few small businesses that can thrive with a shared hosting platform and several others that cannot.  Making a choice is difficult and the final decision will depend on various factors, including your budget, level of expertise and the requirements of your business.  Most importantly, it will boil down to the overall quality of the host providing you with service.

Source: http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/09/22/server-options-for-e-commerce-hosting/

In-House Method

Hosting your e-commerce site in-house involves setting up a server room, purchasing the necessary hardware and software components, leasing a reliable high-speed connection and employing an IT team.  Experienced IT personnel are required to handle day to day technical aspects such as performing backups, monitoring security and basically doing whatever it takes to keep the server up and running.  The costs and complexities that come along with an in-house operation are considerable and often too much for startups and small businesses to handle.

Colocation

Colocation refers to an alternative solution that allows businesses to store their server hardware and network equipment in a facility maintained by a hosting company.  The firm provides you with physical storage space, internet bandwidth and electricity to power the hardware.  There are many advantages to this type of arrangement, including a lower cost for bandwidth and the enhanced reliability you get from the data center.  The disadvantages are that you must purchase your own hardware and actually find a provider that offers a colocation service in your area.

Shared Hosting

One of the most common ways to run an e-commerce website is through a service arrangement known as shared hosting.  In this environment, the websites of multiple companies are stored on a single server, which share an internet connection and various other resources between them.  While suitable for the needs of many, this type of service is best for companies that anticipate a small to moderate amount of traffic and have a limited budget.  This is mainly because there are strict limitations in regard to disk space, bandwidth and control.  With that said, a reputable firm should be able to provide you with a stable platform that can support the needs of both startups and small companies.

Dedicated and Managed Hosting

Dedicated hosting is a method that calls for you to a lease an entire server from a hosting company.  The provider is responsible for maintaining the hardware and network connectivity while the bulk of server administration falls on your shoulders.  This could be a downside because of all the technical challenges that go into maintaining a server, but there are number of benefits as well.  For example, you have extensive control and flexibility that permits you to run your own operating system, database servers, web applications and services.  For those who lack the experience or time needed to handle these tasks, managed hosting exists, a solution that eases the burden of server administration.  Though notably more expensive, managed hosting will allow you to focus more on promoting your e-commerce site and servicing customers rather than dealing with the all the complexities as these processes are handled by the provider.

The fact that there are so many options for hosting an e-commerce site works to your advantage.  What you need to do is a carefully assess your situation and determine which service is best for your business.  After settling on a reliable solution, the fate of your online business is in your hands.