Web Hosting Pt 02 Web Hosting Features Demystified

What Every Web Site Owner Should Know Web Hosting Features Demystified When you are searching for a Web host and comparing the different features offered, there are some terms used to describe the different features offered. Understanding what these terms mean and what your needs will likely be, can save you a considerable sum of money later on. I realize that a lot of this stuff is about as exciting as watching paint peel, but you will be glad you did later. Most average sites don’t require more than one or two Gigabytes of Web space (This will undoubtedly change in time). Buy the least expensive plan that offers the features you need. If you find that you need more, than it is usually a simple matter to request an upgrade to a better plan. Websites that offer high quality video, audio, photos, graphics, or have excessive traffic will use more resources than an average site. Sites that accept credit cards will need SSL to provide secure payment transactions. Corporate sites may need a dedicated server. Business may want to use co-location etc... In order to launch a successful Website you will need to keep your start up and operating costs to a minimum. Future considerations such as marketing, maintenance, and redesign can be costly. Assuming the hosting services you choose are adequate for your needs, the less money you spend on hosting the better. I mention this because there are many hosts that will charge top dollar for a level of service you do not need. Don’t get cheap, unreliable service, mind you, just be away that you don’t need to overpay. The more money you can save on hosting, the more you will have for other aspects of your site. Some basic web hosting features you need to be concerned about: Web space –This determines how much content you will be able to store on your site. Bandwidth –This is a measure of the data you can send over your site per day/week/month. Server performance –Faster machines mean better performance... Backups –Are the servers (and your Website) backed up daily? Access –Do you have the access you need? In most cases a simple control panel and FTP access should do the trick Support – Is there a toll free number? Is the support 24/7? Streaming videos, podcasts, webinars, or other media –Support for streaming media may be an additional add-on, or included in a premium package. SSL –Security Certificate necessary for ecommerce sites. Physical Security –does the facility have 24/7 security? When you are searching for a Web host and comparing the different features offered, there are some terms used to describe the different features offered. Understanding what these terms mean and what your needs will likely be, can save you a considerable sum of money later on. I realize that a lot of this stuff is about as exciting as watching paint peel, but you will be glad you did later. Most average sites don’t require more than one or two Gigabytes of Web space (This will undoubtedly change in time). Buy the least expensive plan that offers the features you need. If you find that you need more, than it is usually a simple matter to request an upgrade to a better plan. Websites that offer high quality video, audio, photos, graphics, or have excessive traffic will use more resources than an average site. Sites that accept credit cards will need SSL to provide secure payment transactions. Corporate sites may need a dedicated server. Business may want to use co-location etc... In order to launch a successful Website you will need to keep your start up and operating costs to a minimum. Future considerations such as marketing, maintenance, and redesign can be costly. Assuming the hosting services you choose are adequate for your needs, the less money you spend on hosting the better. I mention this because there are many hosts that will charge top dollar for a level of service you do not need. Don’t get cheap, unreliable service, mind you, just be away that you don’t need to overpay. The more money you can save on hosting, the more you will have for other aspects of your site.

Domain Registrars Part One

What Every Web Site Owner Should Know DOMAIN REGISTRARS Domain Names are the first step to launching a Website. Once you have made the decision to launch a Website, the obvious first step is to pick out and secure a good domain name. This is done by visiting a Domain Registrar. Most registrars have a tool on their Website that lets you check to see if a domain name is available or not. If you find one that you like, then it is a relatively easy process to purchase it. A Registrar will provide Name Servers that will enable your Website to be available online. I am not referring to being “found” by a person using a search engine, which is a subject we will get into later. I am referring to having your domain physically available online. Name Servers and what they do seem to cause a lot of confusion amongst many Website Owners, particularly when changing Web hosts, Registrars or Webmasters. Frequently, the owner does not know the password/user combination, or even worse, the name of the actual registrar. This can cause quite a bit of extra work and delay your project. Therefore, make certain to keep this information safe. In most cases your Web host will send you an email containing all the information that you will need. Be sure to print out a copy and keep in your records. If your Webmaster sets up your hosting account, be sure to have him forward you a copy of the login information I mentioned above. *A decent Webmaster should be able to find the name of the registrar easily, but if you have changed email addresses then it can be unpleasant. Even though in most cases you will be able to access it once you prove that you are the actual owner, it is a hassle that is easily avoided. Congratulations! Once you have set up a domain name, you are officially a Website Owner (see, that wasn’t so hard, was it?). However, at this point, that may not mean much; due to the fact that your Website probably just points to a “parking page”. This page is automatically put in place by your domain registrar. It may have a few ads on it, or perhaps nothing at all. Regardless, it is your Website and nobody else can use that domain name while you own it. Each domain name is completely unique. There can only be one. However, keep in mind the fact that there are several different Top Level Domains or TLDs (.com, .org, .biz, etc ...). Each TLD is independent of the other any domain name may be registered by separate companies or individuals, regardless of the desires of the other Website owner’s wishes. This means that if you own widgets.com, someone else can come along and register widgets.org and still another person or company can be the owner of widgets.net and so on. There have been many unfortunate cases where a Website owner has registered a domain name and subsequent registration of the same domain name with a different TLD has been purchased by a competitor or worse. If an “opposing domain name is either fraudulent, or a competitors domain, your marketing efforts may be sending your clients to their Website. How would it reflect on you or your business if the .net, .biz, .org etc... version of your domain name belonged to a competitor that did poor work, or just had a poorly built Website up ... What if it was a rip-off scheme, or porn? For this reason, it may be important for you to register all of the major TLDs for your domain name. This depends on whether you believe that there may be competition for your domain name. If your competition buys the .org and the .net version of your domain name places a competing Website there, it could be problematic for you.

How Browsers Work

What Every Web Site Owner Should Know HOW BROWSERS WORK So, what exactly is a browser anyway? While that may seem like a stupid question, obviously it is what you use to get on the Internet, but, have you ever really thought about it? Of course, you know what it is basically, but what about a little more in-depth? How do they work and why? These are just a few of the major questions people have, but don’t want to ask. So, let’s break this down: When you open your browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari etc ...) and visit a Website, this is what happens: 1. When a user, we’ll call him Joe, opens a browser, he is launching a very powerful program. Even though you might not think of your browser as a program, it is exactly that. 2. Joe types www.EverMoreTech.com into the address bar and presses Enter. 3. The request for that Web page travels out over the DNS system. 4. Eventually (actually, at light speed) it reaches the Web hosting server that actually hosts the web page. 5. The hosting server processes the request and then breaks the file into millions of small data packets and sends them back over the Internet to the Joe’s computer. These packets are then rebuilt and placed in all of the correct order on Joe’s machine and sent to his browser. Now, here’s where the fun begins; the web page that you see is not what was sent over the Internet. Actually, a simple text file containing HTML source code was sent. This source code is the equivalent of an architect’s blueprint. Your browser acts similarly to a house-builder and interprets these “blueprints” and assembles the Web page accordingly. Any images, graphics or other files that may be needed are then downloaded. However, just as builders are not created equally, browsers have differences as well (see the Tech Note). Currently, the most popular browser is Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (there are several versions in parentheses). A rival browser, Firefox, is gaining market share quickly. This is significant because; the browser builds the Website based on the blueprints provided by the web server and there may be significant differences in the results. When you are deciding on a Webmaster, be sure to consider this and make sure that cross browser compliance is included! Nerd Note! If two builders are given the same set of blueprints, the structures that they build could be quite a bit different, this is due to differing interpretations of the blueprints.. Likewise, different browsers will assemble Web pages differently. Some browsers conform to web standards and some do not. Standards Based Browsers all produce the same overall results, while Non-Compliant Browsers do not necessarily conform to the “rules” of Web design. This is known as cross browser compatibility. You should make certain your site looks presentable in any of the major browsers.