Round Tale

Building a website is often a fairly difficult process for novice users, there are a lot of decisions to make before the process can even begin, and perhaps one of the most difficult decisions to make is which control panel is going to be used. Since control panels are included with web hosting packages, the decision will largely be based on which hosting company you choose. However, one of the primary factors when choosing a hosting provider is the control panel provided by the company.

Control panels are by far one of the most important components in the website production and maintenance process, so it is important to know what you’re looking for when selecting your control panel. For this reason we’ve compiled a short list of the most important attributes that absolutely must be compared during the selection process. The following aspects should not be overlooked when deciding which control panel would best suite your needs.

User-Friendliness

The most important attribute a control panel can have us usability. Regardless of how many fancy features the control panel has, if the user cannot use these features then they are worthless, Therefore it is important to consider your skill level in the website management field, and research the simplicity of  all prospective control panels before deciding on your final choice. Many control panels are designed for different purposes, some for business and some for casual websites. It is important to remember that the simplicity of the software should hold precedence over the amount of features it offers, especially for novice users.

Appearance

Another factor that will greatly determine your ability to use the control panel effectively is the look and feel of the user interface. This aspect contributes greatly to the aforementioned attribute of usability, and should not be overlooked. For this reason, considering an open source control panel with modifiable themes may be advisable.

Flexibility

Once you’ve narrowed your list down to a few control panels that are easy to use and visually appealing, then you’ll want to start comparing the various options offered by the software. Having a plethora of options available for website management is crucial in the long term, especially as your site expands and the traffic increases. Therefore it is important to make sure the control panel has key features such as effective database management, email access management, and FTP account management.

Platform

Before selecting a control panel, make sure it is compatible with your operating system and your server environment. Failing to carry out this simple step could result in a lot of unnecessary hassle. If you frequently use various platforms then you may want to choose a control panel that has cross compatibility, like Plesk.

Performance

Last but most definitely not least, is performance. Even with a long list of features, a control panel must be able to carry out those features efficiently without slowing down. If the control panel is slow in the least bit, your productivity will suffer. In regards to performance, it is important to make sure you read plenty of user reviews before deciding upon a particular control panel.

Managed Dedicated Servers Content Provided by Superb Dedicated Servers

(The Hosting News) - Managed servers are a little bit different than your ordinary dedicated server. Managed servers could be anything from a shared hosting solution to a complete server that is simply “managed” by the hosting company. However, in general, most managed servers give you less control than servers that are dedicated and simply located on a rack at a data center. While this might not mean much to most people, it can have a serious effect on what you are able to do in the case of an emergency with your server.

Contingencies are meant to be planned out so that they never ever have to be used. Still, many dedicated/shared hosts find themselves with unique situations that require them to put a plan into action quickly and efficiently. This is why you need to contact your hosting company early on to see what sort of backups that they have in place. Many hosting companies know how to deal with problems, and will help you with certain strategies. This could be anything from weekly backups, to daily backups and more. Some hosting companies may even allow you to request a backup from the past day or two if you have a hacker/virus attack your managed server.

Another great thing about a managed server is that most of the contingency planning is done for you. Your host is going to be well experienced in dealing with massive server failures, including natural disasters and the like. They will have a plan put into place in order to protect you and your server from large amounts of downtime. However, if you are tech savvy that does not prevent you from contacting them in order to find out what their plans are. After all, it is good to be on the same page. Most data centers have redundant utilities as well as generators so that they can continue to power their servers regardless of the time that they are without power. You may still want to maintain an off site backup, just in case the server explodes or something similar.

Thanks to technology you can typically setup an automated backup whenever it is a good time to do so. Many server owners choose to have their server backup during the overnight hours, when server usage is lower and the server will be able to tolerate it better. However, if you are not sure how to do this, you can always contact your hosting company who will be more than happy to help you. Another good contingency plan for your managed server is to be able to reboot it remotely. Most, if not all, managed server hosts offer this feature now. In case your server ends up having problems or is extremely sluggish, you can remotely restart it. This saves you time and anger as well as labor for the host.

RAID hard drives are another great contingency plan to have in your server. The RAID drives are actually one of the best features that you could possibly have. This is because they allow your data to “mingle” or transfer between all of the hard drives in the array. Your data will no longer be on a single hard drive, making certain that even if one drive crashes, you will have a copy of it. Plus, most RAID hard drives are “hot swappable”. This means that if one hard drive does stop working or has a problem, it can be removed and replaced with a different one without having to restart the server. The server then automatically transfers the data from the other hard drives to the new hard drive.

While many data centers are great at what they do, some may not have a clue at how to truly run their environment. Do you know the people who run your data center? Are they experienced not only with dealing with true emergencies, things that can come up in the course of your server. You might be amazed by the number of data centers that say that they “manage” a server and do not know the first thing about actually doing so. Do your research ahead of time to find things out!

Data centers can often have some of the best backup systems in the world. You must simply know what you are doing in order to make sure you have the right catastrophic backups in place. Most data centers that deal with managed servers know how to deal with large scale issues. However, it never hurts to talk with them about the problems that could come up. They may be able to tell you about their plans, and security of your data. The more that you can work together with your host, the better off you are going to be in the case of a real emergency.

Planning ahead for Emergencies with a Managed Server is a post from: Hosting News and Reseller Web Hosting information.

Managed Dedicated Servers Content Provided by Superb Dedicated Servers

In today’s world, every business is on the World Wide Web. You just can’t compete without a website. But in order to be on the Internet, you need a hosting company. Not just a hosting company, as you will soon discover, but a top-notch hosting company which can help you take your business to the next level. This becomes more challenging than one would think. Since new hosting companies are appearing on the scene all the time, it is hard to know exactly which ones to trust or simply which ones are skilled at what they do. How can you choose the best managed hosting company for you needs? Let’s talk about some of the best ways to choose the best possible hosting provider.

Turn to Google.com and the Web. You already know that “everything” is on the Web, so get out there and see what you can find out about the company you are considering. Google.com is obviously the most popular search engine to turn to when you are doing research but there are many others such as Ask.com. Put in their company name, top executives’ names and other pertinent information. See what information appears about them. Ask questions if any questionable links arise and see what type of answers you receive.

It’s not just about the “bottom line” when choosing managed hosting. Many companies or entrepreneurs are tempted by low rates when they choose managed hosting, only to discover low or non-existent customer service or a strange contract that they have “agreed” to by signing up for the service. Be careful if that deal seems a little too sweet – take the time to read the fine print because usually, there is a reason why it’s small.

Take the tour of the site and judge its performance. Have a critical eye on a new hosting company’s website when visiting. Is their website updated and current? Do they have lots of typos or other careless mistakes? Are links broken? Does the graphic design look like a cheap template? These are all signs of someone who isn’t doing their best work – or of someone who is just starting out. Let them make their mistakes on someone else’s hosting. Not yours!

Do they have an About Us page? A proud company – any company – will want to tell you more about it. The new hosting company ideally should have an About Us page and even a Staff page so you can learn exactly by whom and how your hosting will be managed. This can give you a sense of how many programmers, customer service staff, executives and other staff people the new hosting company employs. Even the existence of a Staff page helps you determine their size and professionalism. The company that won’t tell you anything about its history could have very well been started last Thursday by someone fresh out of college (hey, we have nothing against a recent grad). We’re not critical of anything you put on your About Us page – it’s simply important that it gives a potential client a chance to learn who you are before doing business with you.

Consider 6-12 hours appropriate. With most new hosting companies, 6 to 12 hours will be considered an appropriate time for a response from Customer Service or an Executive with the company. If you don’t receive a response within that time, ask yourself if you are somehow sending your message during a holiday, weekend or other off hours without realizing it. The new hosting company that doesn’t get back to you within 24 hours is a cause for concern. They are either too busy or badly organized and neither is a good sign for someone who wants to do business with them.

Look for multiple contact methods. Consider it a “red flag” if you can only contact the company via email or even more so, only through one email address. This is often a sign of a one-person hosting company or a very new company not really ready to handle your business. Or if they are a larger company, it can also be a sign that they don’t want to actually help or communicate with their customers. Before doing business with your new hosting company, be sure they offer you a telephone number and several email addresses. These contact methods will help you connect with someone – should you ever have a need to do so.

New doesn’t mean “bad”. There’s nothing wrong with being new, small, starting out or anything like that. There are hundreds of new hosting companies that are excellent and ideal to do business with. The key is learning which ones are best to do business with and which ones you need to avoid. Someone who is passionate enough to start their own business is often dedicated, enthusiastic and willing to work the hard hours to make it work. Sometimes, choosing the best new hosting company is simply “good horse sense” and trusting what your gut tells you – do you have a good feeling about this? Listen to that feeling.

Can You Trust New Hosting Companies? is a post from: Hosting News and Reseller Web Hosting information.

Managed Dedicated Servers Content Provided by Superb Dedicated Servers

Many companies and individuals are creating Facebook applications nowadays. These fun and popular applications often become “viral”, getting passed from tens of thousands of people across Facebook within days if not hours. It seems like there are Facebook applications for just about every interest, hobby and passion. Companies are easily seeing the appeal of a great Facebook application and the benefits of creating one. This is a great way to reach so many people easily on Facebook, all while they are having fun with something they enjoy! But you can have the hottest, coolest Facebook App and it won’t make a bit of difference if you don’t have effective hosting. How do you know you’ve found the right type of hosting for Facebook applications?

Do they speak “Facebook”? Not every hosting company can do everything. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that your hosting company can provide hosting for Facebook applications. At this point there are quite a few different types of hosting available, you need to be sure they do this exactly the right thing for your needs. Not to try to do it only for you and to make some mistakes on your App because they don’t know what they are doing. You need to find a company that provides specific hosting plans for Facebook applications. So be sure to ask them the “Do you speak ‘Facebook’” question.

Make sure they have programmers on staff. It is critical that your Facebook applications hosting company has programmers on staff. This can help them address any “bugs” that may occur when running your Facebook application. Without skilled programmers, your Facebook application simply doesn’t stand a chance. Before “hiring” that Facebook applications hosting company, ask them if they have programmers on staff and whether or not they have experience working with Facebook apps. Ask them what type of apps they’ve worked on.

One of the most challenging things companies and individuals face when finding a Facebook applications hosting company is that it seems like new hosting companies are popping up all the time. That’s very true – because social media, Web 2.0 and everything is still fairly new! The technology is constantly changing and some of the best people are stepping out into the forefront. Check out a company carefully before doing business with them.

Make sure the company you choose is up to date. Many people who are looking for a Facebook applications hosting company don’t realize that their “app” actually runs through the hosting company they hire and not on Facebook. The hosting company that doesn’t stay up-to-date with technology can damage your chances of having a successful Facebook application. Without the latest innovations in software and frameworks, your Facebook application often won’t run well or sometimes even at all. Be certain your hosting company is dedicated to updating their software in order to stay current with Facebook’s needs – or you’ll be left far, far behind in the dust.

Ask if your Facebook applications host if it can manage the bandwidth, not every host can handle the bandwidth needed for your specific Facebook application. Sometimes, it can be hard to tell what to expect, especially if your Facebook application is brand new. But if you have an established site or blog and know you can expect a lot of traffic, this can give you some estimated numbers to work off of. If you belong to Facebook already, this can also give you some numbers to start thinking about. Be sure to ask your Facebook applications host about its limits on bandwidth because you don’t want your application to be offline because you have used up too much bandwidth. This would be a great disappointment and very counterintuitive to its success.

Have an efficiently programmed Facebook application. The way your Facebook application is programmed can greatly affect how it is hosted. Aren’t sure how this is going to work with your Facebook application? Work with a skilled programmer who has worked on Facebook applications before and he or she will understand how to scale down your Facebook application for success. If you can streamline your Facebook application, it can make a great difference in the way it is hosted. While this takes a bit of time on your end, just imagine how much of a difference it will make overall. It is very much worth it for so many Facebook app creators.

Find out what happens if you hit the “max”. Many hosts have a maximum limit when it comes to system resources and each hosting plan is different. Find out exactly what this limit is and what happens. It is important for you to have this number in mind. You never know what type of Facebook application will go viral – we hope yours does – and part of your success is being prepared to manage everything when it comes to the hosting side of things.

Facebook Applications Hosting – what is important? is a post from: Hosting News and Reseller Web Hosting information.

(The Hosting News) – IT hosting company The Planet officially announced it’s Sand Castle program designed to eliminate technology costs. This program will also have the effect of assisting individuals and entrepreneurs with great ideas and visions. For one year, The Planet will provide one server to individual developers and entrepreneurs looking to develop new applications and products. The Sand Castle program includes up to 500 servers.

According to the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, small businesses have generated 64 percent of net new jobs over the past 15 years, and hire 40 percent of high-tech workers, including scientists, engineers and computer programmers.

“While there are indicators of a turnaround, the economy cannot recover without job creation, and we continue to hear the recovery will not automatically mean new jobs,” said The Planet’s Chairman and CEO Douglas J. Erwin. “With eight data centers, we’re in a position to offer a single server to 500 individuals who want to start their own businesses. These 500 servers could create 500 jobs, and then we’ll have taken one small step to pay it forward and be part of the solution.

“We challenge other companies to think outside the box and create meaningful opportunities and incentives. If more companies follow this path, our collective contributions will help move the needle toward job creation,” Erwin concluded.

The Sand Castle Dell servers are equipped with Dual Xeon processors, a 146GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, 10Mb per second of unmetered bandwidth, and loaded with the CentOS 5 operating system.

Qualifying credentials are straightforward: Individuals simply outline their vision for a software application or Web-based design service. They must produce a new domain within six months of acceptance into the program and may not currently be a customer of The Planet.

The Planet encourages interested individuals and company to evaluate the Sand Castle project criteria and apply online at www.theplanet.com/sand-castle.

The Planet Offsets Unemployment by Offering Free Servers is a post from: Hosting News and Reseller Web Hosting information.

(The Hosting News) – IT hosting company The Planet officially announced it’s Sand Castle program designed to eliminate technology costs. This program will also have the effect of assisting individuals and entrepreneurs with great ideas and visions. For one year, The Planet will provide one server to individual developers and entrepreneurs looking to develop new applications and products. The Sand Castle program includes up to 500 servers.

According to the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, small businesses have generated 64 percent of net new jobs over the past 15 years, and hire 40 percent of high-tech workers, including scientists, engineers and computer programmers.

“While there are indicators of a turnaround, the economy cannot recover without job creation, and we continue to hear the recovery will not automatically mean new jobs,” said The Planet’s Chairman and CEO Douglas J. Erwin. “With eight data centers, we’re in a position to offer a single server to 500 individuals who want to start their own businesses. These 500 servers could create 500 jobs, and then we’ll have taken one small step to pay it forward and be part of the solution.

“We challenge other companies to think outside the box and create meaningful opportunities and incentives. If more companies follow this path, our collective contributions will help move the needle toward job creation,” Erwin concluded.

The Sand Castle Dell servers are equipped with Dual Xeon processors, a 146GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, 10Mb per second of unmetered bandwidth, and loaded with the CentOS 5 operating system.

Qualifying credentials are straightforward: Individuals simply outline their vision for a software application or Web-based design service. They must produce a new domain within six months of acceptance into the program and may not currently be a customer of The Planet.

The Planet encourages interested individuals and company to evaluate the Sand Castle project criteria and apply online at www.theplanet.com/sand-castle.

The Planet Offsets Unemployment by Offering Free Servers is a post from: Hosting News and Reseller Web Hosting information.

The easiest way to enjoy a low cost on your web hosting bill is to choose the right service provider to begin with.  Unfortunately, the web hosting business is growing at a rapid pace, which means choosing a good and reputable host is not only difficult, but often consuming and very frustrating.  The good thing is that once you find the ideal host, you will agree that the journey was worth the time and effort you put into it.  If you want to make sure you are getting a bang for your buck, keep your eyes on the following areas as they directly attribute to the cost of service:

Bandwidth and Storage

Bandwidth and disk space play a major role in determining the price of web hosting.  Determining how much of each you require can be tricky, but coming up with an estimate is important.  Whatever you determine, just make sure you understand how these crucial resources are allotted.  It is imperative that you understand the rules on overages and what will happen if you use more bandwidth or disk space than you have been allocated.  Simply knowing this will spare you the surprise of a huge web hosting bill at the end of the month.  A hosting company that will spill the details on allowances and overages ahead of time allows you to take the measures needed to reduce or properly plan for extra usage.  This type of host can be a real keeper.

Website Quantity

If you require more than one website, then you might want to consider signing up with a hosting company that allows you to run multiple domains on a single account.  This will help you save a lot of money over purchasing separate accounts from different companies.  Because you are essentially putting all of your eggs in one basket, you also need to consider the dangers of multiple domain hosting.  Should disaster strike the server, all of your websites could be compromised and unavailable to visitors.  You need to give this careful thought as crippling downtime might be the greatest cost of all.

Web Applications and Technologies

You can save yourself some money on web hosting just by ensuring that all the software applications and technologies your site requires are included in the package.  This includes programs such as FrontPage and WordPress as well as technologies such as PHP or ASP.NET.

If the host does not offer what you need, paying extra for it could end up costing you dearly.  Make sure you understand what is included and try not pay for features that can be obtained somewhere else for free.

Hosting Contracts

Many web hosting companies offer substantial discounts when paying for a year or two worth of service in advance.  Signing up for something like this may appear to be a smart move, but you need to find out how long you will be locked in first.  It is recommended to avoid any long-term contracts until you can assure that you are absolutely satisfied with a particular host.  For this reason, you may want to keep your options open to month-to-month contracts where the risks are considerably lower.

There are many advantages to purchasing a dedicated hosting plan.  This arrangement is perfect for customers who require a higher degree of flexibility, security, reliability and a website that gives out an enterprise-grade performance.  Although you are actually leasing the hardware from the hosting company, you are still provided with a great deal of flexibility and control that allows you to customize the server based on your specific needs.  So even though you do not really own the server, this can actually turn out to be a good thing, especially if your organization does not have the manpower to handle the various maintenance tasks that must be performed on a day to day basis.

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.

Offering web hosting services for over five years now, Freehostia is slightly different from the rest.  A new customer can start out with a free web hosting account to try out the services and move up to a paid account accordingly.  Sure, there are a few hosting companies out there that offer similar free accounts, but Freehostia does it without forced advertising.

Accounts offered

Freehostia offers five different account levels – Chocolate, Watercircle, Lovebeat, Wildhoney and Supernatural.  These plans range in pricing from free to $9.95 a month.

Chocolate – 250 MB in disk space, 6 GB bandwidth, 3 PHP3/IMAP e-mail accounts, 1 MySQL database, 10 MB database space – free

Watercircle – 500 MB in disk space, 12 GB bandwidth, 100 POP3/IMAP e-mail accounts, 2 MySQL databases, 25 MB database space – $2.95 a month

Lovebeat – 12000 MB in disk space, 150 GB bandwidth, 300 PHP3/IMAP e-mail accounts, 8 MySQL databases, 60 MB database space – $4.95 a month

Wildhoney – 35000 MB in disk space, 400 GB bandwidth, free domain name, 15 MySQL databases, 90 MB database space – $7.95 a month

Supernatural – 90000 MB in disk space, 900 GB bandwidth, free domain name, 50 MySQL databases, 120 MB database space – $9.95 a month

1-Click installer

Elefante is offered with all accounts (even the free account).  The Elefante installer is a software platform that enables web site owners to quickly install a variety of programs with a single click of the mouse button.  Over 40 PHP scripts are offered in categories such as wikis, blogs, CMS, e-commerce and more.

Some of the more popular blog software offerings are Movable Type, WordPress, and b2evolution.  The CMS programs within Elefante are a bit more impressive of a list – Drupal, Mambo, Moodle, Joomla and eight other popular CMS programs are available.  In the category of e-commerce, Elefante offers osCommRes and osCommerce.  All in all, Elefante is a great added feature to all Freehostia accounts.

Support

Freehostia has a customer care department at work 24×7.  All hosting customers (with the exception of those using free hosting) can expect to receive an answer within 1 hour of contacting the support department.  Free hosting customers are not completely disregarded but aren’t given priority – expected support answer waiting time is 6 hours.

The hosting company offers video tutorials, FAQs, a knowledge base and a ticketing system for support as well.  The online contact form is easily found within Freehostia’s support area.  While not the most expansive of support areas, Freehostia offers a good solid range of options when one is in need of assistance.

Conclusion

With most free hosting accounts offered by web hosting businesses requiring that advertising be present on all web pages, it’s nice to find a company that not only offers ad-free accounts for no charge but also gives free hosting clients the standard features one would expect from a paid service.  Add in the ability to upgrade to accounts that are very economical, Freehostia is a web hosting service worth checking out.

(The Hosting News) – DedicatedNOW, a leading dedicated server hosting company has launched a new affiliate program at the world’s most prominent online marketing convention: ad:tech New York. The new program will offer payouts up to 125% of each dedicated server sold on DedicatedNOW’s website. DedicatedNOW affiliate representatives will be available at ad:tech New York to help existing and new affiliates get started with DedicatedDollars.com.
 
“ad:tech NY is a perfect venue to announce the DedicatedDollars affiliate program and we couldn’t be more excited about the announcement,” said Josh Ewin, Director of Sales and Marketing at DedicatedNOW.

DedicatedDollars affiliates have a multitude of special offers available to them, and custom landing pages for sending traffic to for high conversions. Affiliates also have access to a complete resource area with high converting banners, automated linking codes, and full reporting tools that both novice and advanced affiliates alike will appreciate.

“DedicatedNOW has a track record of high conversions on its website, dedicatednow.com, by offering dedicated servers with very competitive features and pricing to help motivate new clients to sign up,” said Ewin. “DedicatedDollars.com is extending our successful track record by allowing smart marketers the opportunity to place our offers in front of their visitors for very competitive commissions.”

“We have implemented the best in affiliate technology to help DedicatedNOW affiliates earn better payouts, have access to the best offers in the business and make account management simple and easy,” said Ewin. “We feel strongly that our affiliates will appreciate the simplicity, yet flexibility of the new DedicatedDollars.com affiliate program.”

DedicatedNOW affiliates can create custom tracking links including custom keyword tracking for the ability to track incoming traffic for various keywords. A custom tracking report provides details for each keyword created by affiliates. Affiliates can also create custom links that point to any page on the DedicatedNOW website, including any of the many special offer landing pages available.

“We welcome the opportunity to meet with online marketers at Ad Tech and will have our hosting affiliate experts at the show to answer any questions about the new program.” DedicatedDollars is now open to new affiliate enrollment. New affiliates who join DedicatedDollars.com receive a $10 signing bonus.

DedicatedNow Launches DedicatedDollars.com at ad:tech New York is a post from: Hosting News and Reseller Web Hosting information.