web hosting: hosting packages, dedicated
servers |
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| Published:
22 Dec 2009 |
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| You've got your domain & built a website,
now you've got to host it on servers connected to the internet
which will make it accessible for display worldwide. There
are numerous hosting companies available, we've worked with
many of them over the years & would recommend any of the
ones we've listed in our web
services directory. For a simple non-transactional website
the basic hosting packages will be enough, but some small
business websites will need to go to the next level up in
order to get access to databases, scripting languages such
as PHP & Perl, ecommerce & other related features.
Splashweb have a strong preference towards working with open
source LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) technologies, we use
Linux/Unix based servers for our web publishing. |
hosting packages: shared hosting, virtual hosting
In general you get what you pay for with web hosting, but all hosting
packages are offered on shared servers. This means you are sharing
a server with maybe a hundred or more other website's, which has
implications in terms of security, reliability & performance.
That said, you will get the access that you need to publish &
maintain your website & it's unlikely that you'll see your site
go down more than a once or twice a year, but it will & you
should be prepared for this. The same applies to your email services.
Your hosting account once setup will be left on the same server.
Over time hosting companies upgrade their servers & package
features, you could therefore find your website is hosted on an
increasingly ageing server & you're paying for options now included.
Check the current hosts packages before your annual renewal, it
may be worth closing an account & opening a fresh one even with
the same host.
dedicated servers: Linux dedicated servers, dedicated web hosting
The next level of hosting is to get a dedicated server, which
for most small & medium sized businesses is overkill, however
a basic server package can be affordable, particularly if you want
better access to your server settings & features, if you anticipate
a heavy load on your processors or if you want a higher level of
security or overall performance. The cheapest dedicated servers
are not managed, you are required to do this, including some software
upgrades. Support is generally better than with shared hosting,
technical assistance is usually available too, but you'll be charged
for work carried out. Managed dedicated servers are also available
with some hosting companies, they are the high end web hosting solution,
but offer peace of mind & performance if your business model
supports it.
web hosting providers
WebFusion
Competitive deals on Linux web hosting packages, reseller
hosting, dedicated servers, virtual servers, email &
domain name registration. |
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faq: hosting questions
Q : what is web space & bandwidth?
Web space is the amount of storage space you have available through
your hosting package to store files on the server. If your website
files amount to 100MB then you'll need at least this amount of web
space. Most accounts offer more than is ever required. When someone
visits your site they are sent the relevant files for that page
& the transfer of this data use some of your available bandwidth.
Many hosting account offer unlimited bandwidth, subject to reasonable
usage restrictions. Large page or file downloads on your site, accessed
by large numbers of visitors may create bandwidth problems.
Q : can I use the free web space offered by my internet service
provider?
Generally you're safer avoiding this route as the quality of this
web space may be poor & you could be penalised by the search
engines for slow pages. You could even find that your ISP has blocked
robot access to this web space & you'll never get listed. It's
usually better to go for a low cost basic shared web hosting package,
certainly if you want to use SEO to help you find some visitor traffic.
Q : how long will it take for my hosting account to be set up?
Most hosting companies will have things up and running for you
within 24 hours, sometimes less. You also need to be sure that you
make any necessary changes to your domain name settings to suit
you new hosts requirements. This will include ensuring your domain
name servers are pointing at your new hosting companies servers.
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