Web Hosting

High Traffic Sites: How to Select a Web Host
Getting a site a great deal of traffic is no simple matter, likewise, neither is finding a hosting company for a site that is well promoted. When you ve spent the time to drive traffic to a website, the last thing you want is for that website to go down. As the old saying goes, time is money, and the right web host can make a big difference when it comes to your site. It is the intention of this article to provide information regarding what sort of options a good web hosting company will provide to a high traffic site.

First, a few definitions:

Availability: The status of your site s network. Is it up and running, or has there been a failure and it is down? Meaning, can your network handle a failed device?

Performance: The speed at which an application will respond to a user request. Meaning, can your network handle a lot of traffic?

There are four main technologies that can be used to improve availability and performance:

• Load Balancers hardware price range ($3,000 - $30,000)
• Web Accelerators hardware price range ($10,000 - $60,000)
• SSL Accelerators hardware price range ($1,000 - $50,000)
• Traffic Compressors hardware price range ($9,000 - $50,000)

As you can see, these technologies can be quite expensive, which can translate into high maintenance costs from your web host. And much like strapping a jet engine onto the back of my Ford Fusion probably isn t a good idea; neither is buying a $60,000 web accelerator for your simple brochure site. So, in order to choose between what is necessary and what is overkill, here is what you ll need to know:

Load Balancers
Load balancing for a web application is a great tool for both availability and performance. A Load Balancer stands in front of the web servers, creating a virtual address to which the client connects. It then distributes traffic evenly over the web servers to reduce the load on any single server. If one of the web servers is not available, the Load Balancer will detect the failure and reroute the traffic to all of the remaining available servers. It also provides a layer of security by hiding the real IP addresses of the application servers.

Who Needs it:

• High bandwidth utilization sites.
• Sites with constant traffic where availability is key
• Example: A high traffic Adwords site (thousands of unique visits daily; ads need to be available at all times)

Load Balancers on a Budget
If you must have a load balancer but can t really afford the separate appliance option, there is software available that will do the trick for a fraction of the price. This solution is not as efficient or robust as the hardware solution, but still affords the benefit of availability and is better than not employing a load balancer at all.
Web Accelerators
Web Accelerators use technologies such as caching and compression to deliver data to a large user community faster. It mitigates pressure on your system by storing data that otherwise will be transmitted repeatedly and delivering it straight from the cache.

Who needs it:

• Heavy-traffic, database driven sites that deliver web applications
• Sites with a global audience
• Example: Epson.com (database driven, over 1 million vistors/day from around the world)

SSL Accelerators
SSL Accelerators, also like Load Balancers, stand in front of application servers. They handle the encryption and decryption of a secured communication and eliminate the need for multiple SSL (Secured Socket Layer) certificates, reducing the load on your web servers as well as the administrative costs of SSL certificates. An SSL Accelerator can be purchased as a module, meaning a smaller piece of equipment that can be plugged into the primary appliance consolidating your equipment.

Who needs it:

• Sites who s pages are predominantly secured (Banks, Insurance, etc)
• Heavily trafficked ecommerce sites
• Inefficient shopping carts.
• Example: Fabric.com (Thousands of daily visitors; Shopping cart exists on multiple servers)

High Availability
For best availability, your web host should offer all of these solutions on High Availability (HA) packages. HA is the ability to have two or more appliances that are failover capable such that if one of the appliances becomes unavailable the other picks up the load.

With HA, you can eliminate the risk of a single point of failure in your network.

Overall
Most of these technologies are more efficient and easier to maintain when implemented at the hardware level. The appliances can be pricy, but you can find good deals on refurbished and second hand equipment. Support is also quite expensive so keep it in mind.

When it comes to availability redundancy is key. It is highly recommended that your host give you the option for all applications to run on at least two servers. If you can t afford two servers, make sure you re constantly backing up your data someplace else!

When it comes to performance, it s all about hardware. Here are the fundamental elements that will make your systems run faster:

• Processors (CPU) with the highest speed (the latest and greatest)
• Lots of memory with the fastest bus (RAM) (2 GB ” 128 GB)
• A reliable Internet Service Provider (ISP) with the latest routing technology and a solid network

Finding a web host that can create a highly available and performance driven network is a daunting task for any webmaster regardless of budget. These recommendations hopefully have given insight into how anyone can achieve excellent results in performance, and what sort of hosting upgrades can be made to super-charge your site. Keep informed of new technologies and try to find a knowledgeable partner that is willing to do the research for your business.

Carlos Aguilera is an employee of Objectware, an <a href= http://www.objectwareinc.com/WebHosting.aspx >Atlanta Web Hosting Company</a> and <a href= http://www.objectwareinc.com >Atlanta Web Development Company </a>with an active branch in Washington DC. Carlos is a Cisco Certified Network Associate, and Cisco Information Security Specialist that manages the Web Hosting and Internal IT needs of Objectware, Inc.

IPower Hosting Review Posted By : david lechner
IPOWER offers 300 GB of storage and 3000 GB of monthly transfer ability; in addition, they also offer web marketing tools and a versatile email package.

Choosing the Right Web Host
Choosing the right web host is a very important process that is all to often hurried through or; simply misunderstood. Choosing a web host is in fact one the most important parts of setting up an online business. You need a service that is fast; easy to use and understand; provides excellent support; and is serious enough about its operations to guarantee that your website will never be down unless the entire datacenter were completely demolished. Below is a list of the most common questions and answers to consider when looking for a web host. Understanding the different areas of web hosting and services available will help you to make a better educated decision when you do subscribe to a web hosting service. What is Web Hosting? Web hosting is the process of putting your web site on a web server or web host, so everyone connected to the Internet can see it. If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you could host your web site on your own computer, but that is in general not a good idea. A good web host is a real server in a datacenter with a fast high bandwidth connection to the Internet. And, to make sure you can move your web site to another web host, if necessary, you need a web hosting provider that supports domain hosting. What is Domain Hosting? Most Internet Service Providers (or ISP) will give you a free web site when they provide you with access to the Internet. They do this because they don’t want to give you a permanent IP address, which is what you need if you’d like to host a web site on your own computer. Unfortunately, most ISPs don’t support domain hosting with their free web sites. Hence, the URL of your web site is an extension of the URL of your ISP. So what happens when you change ISP? You will have to change the URL and nobody can find you anymore. The use of a domain name for your web site is absolutely necessary for a professional web site, and to host your own domain you will need to find a real web hosting provider with domain hosting. Many web hosting plans actually include the price of a domain registration, so don’t register your domain before you have chosen your web hosting company. What is Virtual Hosting? Virtual hosting is often used as a synonym for shared hosting, e.g. you host your web site on a web server with hundreds of other web sites and you share the IP address with these web sites. The term virtual hosting should imply, however, that while you share the web server it looks from the outside world that you are the only web site on that server. That means that with virtual hosting you should not only have your own IP address, but also a dedicated bandwidth to the Internet and a dedicated slice of the computers processing power. So, if a web hosting provider uses the term virtual hosting, have a close look if these features are offered before you decide on paying a premium price above standard shared hosting. What is Bandwidth? Bandwidth is a measure that reflects how much data can be transferred over a data communication channel. In web hosting plans the allowed bandwidth generally indicates how much data can be downloaded from your web site per month, and therefore indicates how many web pages and pictures your visitors are allowed to download. If the average amount of page views per visitor is assumed constant, the allowable bandwidth restricts how many visitors you are allowed to have per month. Just as important, however, is how fast the communication channel between your web host and the Internet is. The amount of data that can be transferred per second is also called the bandwidth of this channel, and this bandwidth is shared by all the web sites hosted by the same provider. If this bandwidth is insufficient, you’ll sometimes notice a slow down in the display of your web pages. In most cases, however, such a slow down is more likely to be caused by an overload on the web server itself. What is a web server? A web server is either a special computer or server for reliable hosting of web sites, or the software application that runs on that server. The two main web server applications used by most web hosting providers are Microsoft’s Internet Information Services (IIS) for windows hosting and Apache for Unix hosting. Both use the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to transfer web pages to your web browser. What is a datacenter? A datacenter is building, or part of a building, which offers a professional environment for running computer servers. A datacenter will generally have high speed connections to the Internet and other networks, as well as good security to protect against natural hazards, such as fire, and other hazards, such as intruders and hackers. Web Hosting Summary. In summary, what are the important things to look for when selecting a web host? 1. Price 2. Datacenter Standards 3. Easy access to a Control Panel 4. Easy to navigate Control Panel 5. 24 / 7 Support 6. Host supports scripting languages / databases required to operate your site 7. Multiple packages available (As your business grows you may need to upgrade. Make sure the web host provider will allow you to do this) This is really just the basics; although all very important things to consider. Most web host will have a FAQ file or Knowledgebase file available which you can read through before signing up. In most case cheap is not better; in most cases. However I must say the web host I am now using combines an impressive price with impressive services. Over the years I have used approximately 8 ” 10 different web hosts and HostGator.com is in my opinion one of the best I have ever used. But you can see for yourself here: http://www.hostgator.com Also, a big name in the industry that most everyone is familiar with is Yahoo. Yahoo also provides World Class Hosting services for all sizes of business. Yahoo services can be reviewed here: http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com Make sure you go through the checklist above while browsing their site and you ll get a better feel for comparing web host services. Registering Your Domain? I have always used GoDaddy.com as do many other internet experts I have spoken with. I can safely recommend their service without hesitation. Good luck and as always feel free to drop me an email if you have any questions concerning this article or most any aspects of starting your own online business. Best regards, Joseph Murray http://www.aitechworld.com/affordablewebhosting.htm

Joseph Murray is a professional online retailer working full time since April 2006. The current project Ai Tech World is his second online venture; the first operating successfully since 2002.

Introduction to Web Hosting: For the Beginner Posted By : tom counts
A site hosting is a service that enables you to upload and store a site’s HTML documents and their relative files on a web server.This allows the files to make it available on the World Wide Web and hence permits the public to view them. This welfare service provided to public is called web hosting.

Web Hosting Jargon Buster
Web Hosting Jargon Buster In this article, I am going to introduce a few web hosting jargons in a concise way.
Disc Space - The term refers to the amount of physical space devoted to holding the client s content (which is basically his website files or stored databasesemails).
Monthly Traffic ” If people visit one s site, data is sent from his server to their computer. That data may also includeemails received and downloaded to one s PC. At the end of each month, this request data is summed up to show the total data transfer or monthly traffic.
POP3 Email ” POP means Post Office Protocol which is a clientserver protocol for collecting email on a server fromindividual mail accounts. A straightforward online control panel lets client to configure the users and passwords.
IMAP ” Instant Message Access Protocol (IMAP in short) differs from POP3 as it allows remote clients to access email stored on a remote server instead of downloading it. A user can always access his mail from his home PC or mobile devices since themail is centrally stored. Microsoft OutlookOutlook Express and Mozilla MailThunderbird are known to have IMAP support.
Email Redirects ” Email redirect is better known as email forwarding. Instead of collecting email from the server, one can arrange for mail addressed to his domain to go to mailboxes hosted elsewhere.
Domain Name ” Domain name is a unique name which identifies a website. It workds as a permanent web address and provides aprofessional web presence. While moving a site can be really messy in case of a domain owned by others, registering one s own domain name lets him keep same address even if his site is moved.
BBS - BBS stands for Bulleting Board System , a computerized meeting system where users can have discourses, makeannouncements and downloadupload files. There are copious BBSs around the world, most of which rely on a direct modem tomodem connection over a phone line using a single computer.
MySQL ” MySQL is the most popular open source relational database management system (RDBMS) in the world with more than fourmillion installations powering websites, business applications etc. It is a very effective language for adding, accessing and processing data in a database. MySQL is specially recognized for its flexibility, reliability and most importantly, speed.
CGI ” CGI means Common Gateway Interface, a protocol that allows a webpage to execute a program on a web server. Common CGI programs include counters, guest books and forums. CGI scripts are programs written in PERL that is stored on the remote web server and run on the web server in response to a request from a particular user.
PHP - Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) is a widely used general-purposed server side scripting language. It is very suitable for web development as user can embed it into HTML pages. Many popular CMS systems are based on MySQL.
Virtual Server ” A virtual server is a UNIX based server environment which allows multiple independent servers to work on the same hardware. It is the significant trait which discerns virtual server from dedicatedshared servers.

-Abdul Vasi is a Marketing Expert specialized in Internet Marketing, His <a href="http://www.hostcats.com">Web hosting India</a> Company <a href="http://www.hostcats.com">Hostcats</a> provides you with reliable but affordable web hosting solution for your online business

Questions to ask your web hosting provider before you order web hosting service.
Now, when you have realized that you need web-hosting service for your web site and while you are evaluating numerous web hosting service providers it is essential to build a list of questions for your future web hosting company. At time you are new to web hosting services and all the terms seem not familiar to you, the list will help you to concentrate on the main parameters and choose the reliable web hosting and domain name registration service provider.
Here we would like to submit for your consideration typical questions and what is more important the answers that will show you that hosting provider is worth to be chosen from a mass.
Question: I have the web site, why do I need web-hosting service?
Answer: Web hosting company provides the service that allows your web site to be available in the World Wide Web. Your web site files are placed on the server connected to Internet with high bandwidth capacity. Normally none web site can exist without a web server. If you have certain technical skills you can host your web site even on your home personal computer that is connected to the Internet but if you would like to rely on a solid web hosting company, we will care about your web site being on-line.
Question: Why should I choose paid web hosting service?
Answer: The web hosting services are divided into free and paid one. If you are concerned about your web site uptime, if you would to get reliable web hosting service and more over if your web site is a business or e-commerce web site you should definitely choose paid web hosting service. This will ensure fast load of your web site, no obligation to place advertisements on your web site pages and will give you the confidence in your web-hosting provider.
Question: Do you provide any money back guarantees?
Answer: Yes! A solid web hosting service provider must provide money back guarantees. The standards of web hosting business demand from a web hosting company to provide: any-time money back guarantee, 30-days 100% money back guarantee and uptime guarantee. If your web hosting company besides above-mentioned guarantees provides also support guarantee and price-freeze guarantee this will be a very good choice.
Question: Do you offer shopping cart software and provide e-commerce hosting services?
Answer: Yes! E-commerce hosting is fully supported. The number of shopping carts is provided for your choice, for example: oscommerce, Zen cart, Interchange, Agora etc.
Question: Do you provide web site statistics software?
Answer: Yes! Web site statistics is very important if you want to track your web site visitors and use the stats for Internet marketing analysis. Besides raw logs and access log files we will provide you with a number of web stats software for your choice: Webalizer, Modlogan, and AWStats.
Question: Am I the owner of the domain name registered with you?
Answer: Yes! We register domain names in your name only and you are the only owner of the domain name. Even if you order domain name registration with Whois privacy service and your details are not displayed in the Whois public database, you still remain the full ownership of the domain name.
Question: Can I transfer domain name registration from you to any other company?
Answer: Certainly yes, since this is your domain name you can do everything you want, including transferring domain name registration to any other web hosting and domain name registration provider; we will provide you with auth code necessary for domain name registration transfer.
Question: Can I earn by promoting your service to the others?
Answer: Yes, there is an affiliate program that you can participate in for free! The affiliate program was designed to allow web masters and web site owners to make a profit from their website along with providing web site visitors recommendations for a reliable web hosting services.

Anna Berk - CRM director of Eskhosting - <a href=http://www.eskhosting.com>reliable web hosting services provider</a> Eskhosting provides shared web hosting services on Linux platform with custom plans available. You get free setup, free ssl certificate, free domain name registration for a year. PHP 5 and 4 support, MySQL 5 support.