Bluehost

Bluehost is one of my top recommended web hosts for shared hosting. Not just because I have a personal experience with them, or because their CEO personally replied back to my email.

I love Bluehost because of their superior performance and uptime, their commitment to customer support (I usually get replies to my emails withing minutes!), their rich feature set, and competitive pricing.

• Read the full Bluehost review.
• Visit the Bluehost website.

Jumpline Web Hosting

I like Jumpline because of their superb infrastructure that enables them to have a 100% uptime Service Level Agreement (SLA) and reliable connectivity. They have a great offer going at the time of this writing, letting you get two years of free shared hosting with them.

• Read the full Jumpline review
• Visit the Jumpline Web Hosting website

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Jumpline web hosting has two great offers apart from their regular offers – a two year FREE shared web hosting account (click here) and a six months FREE VPS hosting account (click here). (These offers are not available on their regular pages.)

The company was founded in 1997 and has been providing reliable web hosting services to several thousands of customers since then.

Quick Facts About Jumpline:

• Number of domains hosted: Over 100,000
• Services: Domain name registration, shared hosting, VPS hosting, bare metal hosting, dedicated server hosting, managed server hosting, and even custom hosting solutions for you
• Location: Columbus, Ohio (USA)
• Guarantees: 30-day money back guarantee, 100% uptime, under 4-hour support ticket resolution, daily backups
• Contact information: Call 1-800-651-2028 (toll free), or 00+1+614-859-1170 (international), or visit their contact page

Products and Services By Jumpline Web Hosting:

Domain registration (at $9.95), Shared hosting (starting at $7.95/month), Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting (starting at $27.95/month), Bare Metal Hosting (starting at $59.95/month), Dedicated Server hosting (starting at $99.95/month), and even custom hosting solutions.

They also have a two year FREE shared web hosting account (click here) and a six months FREE VPS hosting account available (click here). These offers are not available through their regular website and you need to click the above links to see them.

Hostorian’s Jumpline Review:

Jumpline’s Performance

Jumpline has a really impressive infrastructure to boast of. They have multiple Tier 1 providers for bandwidth and IP services, providing reliable connectivity and round the clock monitoring. They take all these providers and blend them into a single handoff thereby providing a superior performance.

They have a 100% uptime service level agreement (SLA), which is possible due to their advanced physical and logical network architecture, six-carrier blend and fault tolerant cores. Factor in redundant cores, redundant power, and daily backups, and what you get is a state of the art high performance data center, virtually guaranteeing that your site is never down.

They get an excellent rating for performance and uptime.

Features of Jumpline web hosting

Jumpline web hosting doesn’t really offer a rich feature set. Most of their products and services are a bit expensive compared to other web hosts, and the feature set they offer is really lackluster in comparison. They don’t even offer a free domain with their shared hosting account, which most hosting providers do these days.

They do let you choose your control panel though (cPanel or Parallels Plesk Panel), and you can switch from one control panel to another and vice versa as you wish.

Jumpline’s Support and Customer Care

Their customer  support is simply fantastic, according to most people who have reported about it on the Internet. They have a US based call center, which means no more struggling with foreign accents and timely resolution of issues. An in-house customer support facility also means problems can get sorted out quicker than if it was outsourced to a third world country in a different time zone than the rest of their staff. They claim a 1-hour average time for support ticket resolutions and 24/7/365 customer support.

All in all, great customer support! They do lack online chat support though, which is a must if you want to ask quick questions before you decide upon a particular web host.

Pros

• In-house customer support staff (US based), so you don’t have to deal with call centers in third world countries with accents you don’t understand.
• Great customer support with awesome resolution times. They respond to your emails within a couple hours at the most.
• Extremely good performance and reliable hosting
• Great prices for dedicated and VPS hosting.
• If you want to experience their level and quality of service, you can give them a try before committing. Click here to get a shared hosting account for free (two years!), and click here to get a VPS account for free (six months).

Cons

• Their shared hosting plans are a little expensive compared to other shared web hosting providers, but when you consider the high speed connectivity and almost 100% uptime, it may be worth it for your business. Besides, they do offer a free two year shared hosting plan for you to check them out.
• You need to install the applications yourself. But this is easily taken care of by their robust and extensive documentation for everything. And if you need more help, you can always reach their customer support staff 24×7.
• They don’t offer a lot of features and limited amount of bandwidth and disk space compared to other web hosts.
  

Actual Customer Feedback About Jumpline Web Hosting:

Terrible customer service. Always playing the blame game and never taking responsibility for their service issues. I’d recommend staying far, far away from this company. – sp ( sibyl2(at)yahoo(dot)com )

I have been a customer of Jumpline.com for about 9 years. I have seen other companies come and offer better deals but one thing has kept me a loyal customer to them, a 800 number that I can call and get someone. I am a reseller through them and have over 30 websites. I am extremely satisfied with Jumpline.com service, support and applications. The only thing that i wish they offered is the ability to host my own server. I HIGHLY recommend them. – Alexander ( ah5890 at aol dot com )

They are the best free hosting server you can get (like a dedicated server at no cost). They do not charge you, but you need to add the credit card number. – Anonymous

These guys have incredible up time and great customer support – Chad Brosious

Verdict Of This Jumpline Web Hosting Review:

Although Jumpline web hosting does seem a little expensive and lacking in features, they more than make up for it by offering two free years of shared web hosting and six free months of VPS hosting. A great customer service, 100% uptime SLA, and redundant power supply, redundant cores, high speed connectivity and their attention to a lot of small details make this a web host that can be trusted to host your website.

Verdict: It’s OK to host your website with Jumpline web hosting.

• Click here to get a shared hosting account for free with Jumpline (two years!)
• Click here to get a VPS account for free with Jumpline (six months).

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Don’t start with a comparison of features of the shopping carts

The first thing that most people look for are the features that they want.  However, if you take the time and do a thorough search, you will always be able to find the features that you want.

Since features are easy to find, or integrate, they should also be the last factor when determining which shopping cart fits your needs.  This is not to say that features aren’t critical, but rather that they should be the last criteria used to narrow down your list.

There is nothing worse than finding the perfectly-featured shopping cart, only to find out that it isn’t compatible with your servers operating system.  It is even worse to find out that it is self-hosted, and you want a 3rd party web hosting shopping cart.

The first thing that you must decide is whether or not you want a self hosted option or 3rd party web hosting shopping cart.  Here are some important facts to consider when deciding where you want to host your shopping cart.

1.    Security

When you choose a 3rd party web hosting shopping cart, they will handle all of the security issues.  This is because your customers will actually be checking out through their website.

With a self hosted shopping cart, you will need to ensure your customers security yourself.  While this isn’t inherently difficult, it is an additional factor that needs to be taken into consideration because it will cost time, money, and ongoing maintenance.

2.    Maintenance Level

With 3rd party web hosting shopping carts, there is very little maintenance on your end.  Once your products are set up, your website is good to go.

With a self-hosted shopping cart, you will continually be working to maintain it.  Your maintenance could be security one day and software upgrades the next.

3.    Control

3rd party web hosting shopping carts only allow for a comparatively small amount of personalization and control, whereas self hosted carts give you infinite control.  You have the ability to modify and control the entire check out process as well as what everything looks like.

There are a number of factors that must be weighed in order to choose the perfect shopping cart to fit your needs.

However, the most important decision that you need to make is whether or not you want to host it yourself, or use a 3rd party web hosting shopping cart.  This decision will have a huge impact on what is available to you and what you will be able to modify to fit your needs.

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Here is a quick overview of FTP web hosting so that you have a solid foundation to build upon as you learn.

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol and allows files to be transferred to and from one computer system to another.

It was originally designed to compliment HTTP, which can format and deliver web pages but cannot transfer files.  This symbiotic connection makes web hosting FTP invaluable.

FTP also makes it easy for multiple people to work together and share projects easier.

The Fundamentals of Web Hosting FTP

The server of a web hosting service stores all of the files and information in a centralized location.  Anyone who knows how to access the server can upload and download the files using FTP.

FTP web hosting also makes it easy to arrange and manage the files into directories and sub-directories, as well as change their accessibility.  Unique usernames and passwords are almost always required to ensure the security of the server.

Web hosting FTP can be easily broken down into two basic components: The Server and The Client

The server is where all of the files are actively stored.  How much data the server can hold is based upon the web hosting package that is chosen by the client. It could be shared with hundreds of other people, or dedicated to only one person.

The FTP client is the interface that is used to upload and download in a fashion that is considered to be user-friendly.  The FTP client also creates an extra layer of security through usernames and passwords, as well as simplifies the whole process.

Because using FTP is critical as well as a way to simplify file transfers, it is important to find a web hosting service that offer web hosting FTP.

It is also important to make sure that the FTP client is easy to use.  Using a web hosting service without FTP will quickly become frustrating, and will likely send you scrambling to a different web hosting service that offers FTP.

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At the same time, it is important to keep in mind that these arena of affiliate programs is considered to be one of the most competitive, especially if you want web hosting affiliate programs to be the backbone of your affiliate empire.

Some people use web hosting affiliate programs as a form of residual passive income.  They will have web hosting banners on their website and may passively promote them, but they are more of a bonus conversion rather than the focal point.

Regardless of what you want to use your web hosting affiliate program for, it is important to choose which programs that you want to promote wisely.  Here are some quick tips to help you decide which web hosting affiliate program is right for you.

1.    What Will You Get Paid For?

The terms of every web hosting affiliate program is a little different, and it is important for you to understand what you will get paid for.

Some will only pay you if your referral signs up for website hosting, while others will also pay out affiliate commissions if the customer orders other products such as SSL certificates or buys a domain name.

Referral length is another factor that will directly relate to how much money you can make with the affiliate program.  The referral length is the amount of time that your customer remains your customer.

The first is how long your referral ID will be attached to their account.  Some last 30 or 60 days, while others last forever.

This is important because if your program has a 30 day referral length, then you will not get paid if the customer signs up 31 days after visiting your website.  The longer the referral length, the better.

2.    Do They Work With an Affiliate Network?

It is important to leverage the power of an affiliate network whenever possible.  Affiliate networks not only ensure that you get paid what you have earned, but also offer valuable tools and information that you may not be able to get elsewhere.

Affiliate networks often have additional or unique banners, prewritten scripts for blogs, articles, etc  They also give you more accurate statistics regarding conversion rates as well as a better idea of how well the program is working out for others.

There are a lot variables that can go into choosing the best web hosting affiliate program for you, but these two simple tips can help you refine your search and get the information that you need to make the best decision.

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While being able to host unlimited domains is critical, there are other features that must not be overlooked based upon what you are doing.

There are two main reasons that unlimited domain hosting was sought after.

The first is because domain/website sellers/resellers need to be able to display their domains and websites in order to make sales.

The other reason why many people need unlimited domain hosting is because they will be working on building multiple websites at once.  They are improving promising websites, and selling the others.

Regardless of why you need to host a large number of domains, let’s take a look at some other important features that are critical to keep in mind.

1.    Disk Space

It won’t matter that you can host 100 domains if there is not enough disk space to support your websites.  If you lack disk space, you can upgrade your package to get more space, but it is even more ideal to have enough disk space regardless of how many domains you are hosting.

Many unlimited domain hosting services also offer unlimited space, but be sure to read the fine print.

While you may have “unlimited space” in the perfect world, there is often a limit on how quickly you can use up your disk space.

In actuality, it is up to the hosting company to give you the additional space as it is needed.  This will rarely be a problem if you grow your portfolio slowly. It can be an issue if you plan on transferring 100 full-fledged websites at once.

2.    Bandwidth

Just because your unlimited domain hosting company will let you host as many domains as you want, that doesn’t mean that you will be given the bandwidth all of your websites need.

Additionally, many hosting companies will charge you extra if you use up more than your allotted bandwidth on a monthly basis.  Even worse, if you do not have enough bandwidth, your websites will load extremely slowly and even dedicated users may start to fall off the bandwagon.

Unlimited domain hosting has become a critical feature, but it is important to keep the disk space that you are allotted, and the bandwidth that you can use.  If either of these two features fall short, not just one of your domains will be affected, but potentially all of them.

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However, as this phenomenon continues to grow, many webmasters are left wondering about where they should house their videos.  Some people prefer to host the videos on their own server, while others prefer using a streaming video hosting service.

Regardless of which option you choose, there are some important facets that need to be kept in mind.

There are potential drawbacks wherever your decide to house your videos. The key is choosing which drawbacks may apply to your situation and avoid them.

Free Streaming Video Hosting

Free streaming video hosting through websites like YouTube have grown extremely popular; however, there are some potential drawbacks that may affect your website.

The first is that YouTube will provide links to related videos near your video.  If your competition has a related video, then it is possible to lose your customer to them.

However, if you are adding the video to your website as well, this could be minimized, especially if the video is product-specific.

YouTube also has a tendency to make videos look a little grainy.  This is because they reformat your video so that it takes up less space.  If it is reformatted poorly, there is very little that you will be able to do.

Commercial Streaming Video Hosting

The primary drawback to commercial hosting is that it can be outside the range of many new businesses budgets, and even beyond their needs.

It is important to decide if paying a commercial streaming video hosting provider is actually worth the cost.

Additionally, if you choose an unreliable commercial provider, there is a chance that your videos will not be available when someone visits your website.

Hosting Streaming Videos Yourself

It can be argued that hosting streaming videos on your own server will eat up your bandwidth as well as your disk space.

However, if you need less than 1000 total minutes of play-time a day, then hosting it yourself may not be a bad option.  Unfortunately, once your website grows, you may need to get more server space as well as more bandwidth.

Streaming video hosting has become essential to many websites.  While the importance of video isn’t doubted, the problem lies in where to host the videos.  All three options have their potential drawbacks, but at least one option will fit your needs.

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Steaming audio hosting has become utilized by everyone from unknown garage bands to big businesses.

Streaming audio hosting is now a common business tool that is used by individuals, businesses, and organizations for a variety of purposes.

This hosting is a great tool that is used for sharing recording of almost everything from a Sunday sermon to political speeches.  It is utilized to hold more than just big audio files.  It is also used to hold small recordings like the background music that you find on many sites.

When you choose your next streaming audio hosting service, it is important to keep a couple things in mind.

Since your streaming audio needs to be played as soon as it is called upon, you need to make sure that your host is reliable.  If your streaming audio host is unreliable, then you will never know if your audio is going to be accessible or not.

This is especially true when choosing a free streaming audio host.  If your free host flops, then you will lose your audio files.

If you have a lot incoming audio files and lose them because your host stops providing their service, it could take days or even weeks to get all of your links changed and audio files reloaded onto a new server.

You also need to consider how much space and bandwidth you have.

If your audios are accessed extremely often, then there is a chance that you could max out the bandwidth or storage space that your streaming audio host provided for you.  When this happens, you will either be charged additional overage fees or if you are using a free service, they may just cancel your account.

Streaming audio hosting will be around for as long as audio files need to be stored.  Some people choose to use their own website, free hosting service, or commercial streaming audio hosting.

Regardless of which method you choose, it is important to make sure that it is reliable and has enough storage and bandwidth to fit your needs.

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Many people feel that SQL is the better choice, although there is a large amount of debate. While they both are utilized to manage and store data through a user interface, they have some stark differences that has made SQL  the preferred option.

Both SQL  and MySQL hosting gives you access to data through standard based protocols and they both support all of the major protocols.

The programming language that is used to communicate with the database is known as tSQL or Transact SQL.  This allows users to modify data by deleting, inserting, and updating.

tSQL follows ANSI (American National Standards Institute) guidelines, which is where some concerns about MySQL are raised.  MySQL does not completely follow the ANSI guidelines and standards.

The tools that accompany both SQL  and MySQL are different as well.  MySQL focuses more on selecting, displaying, updating, and saving data; however, falls short when it comes to deleting and inserting data.

If you are designing a medium to large database or are involved in commerce than SQL hosting stands far above MySQL.

A SQL server also has a number of additional standard features as well.  It supports User Defined Functions, Triggers, full Import/Export, Cursor Support, Store Procedures, Transaction Support, and Full Join capabilities.

SQL servers also give you full control over your database.  Administrators can abstract database designs by utilizing SQL VIEWS.

Another great tool that puts you in control are UDF’s or User Defined Functions.  User Defined Functions allow you to create complex code and store it into a simple interface.

All of these SQL tools are in addition to the features that are also on MySQL.

While there are good arguments on both sides of the table, SQL seems to have the edge. It has all of the features that MySQL as well as many others.  It is also fully standardized based on the ANSI guidelines and offers a more simplified yet complete way to create and manage your databases.

If you are still trying to decide for yourself if SQL hosting is right for you, then there are a number of intense and informative forums discussions about this very issue.

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Many people shy away from shared hosting because it is unreliable, but in all reality, it is as safe as any other type of hosting.  Remember, making sure that your information is secure will be just as much your responsibility as your hosts.

Let’s take a look at some of the tools that a secure web hosting company should provide for you.

1.    SSL, SSH, Secure FTP, and POP3

These four features are critical to create a secure web hosting environment.  They will allow you to manage your website without exposing your confidential data.

All of them help to encrypt data that is being sent between your computer and your website when doing thing like transferring files, entering usernames and passwords, and using your email.

Keep an eye out for SSL certificates.  It is important to double check and make sure that you get an SSL certificate.  Many hosts advertise that SSL is included, however, they really mean that they are SSL ready and you have to purchase it yourself.

Most hosts will not provide SSL to every client, but if they do, you will immediately know that they are a secure web hosting company.

2.    Denial of Service

Denial of service is a tactic that hackers use to attack your website.  It makes your website unavailable to your visitors.  When this happens, you will not only lose business, but they will often redirect your traffic to something that they can profit from such as pornography or a website that will load them up with malware.

An Anti-Dos solution is important to have.

3.    cPanel

cPanel is often considered to the most secure hosting control panel available.  Not everyone uses cPanel, but it is definitely a great addition that any secure web hosting company will provide.

4.    2X Anti (Anti-Virus and Anti-Spam)

2X Anti (Anti-Virus and Anti-Spam) solutions are absolutely critical for every webmaster.  Spam is everywhere and can do more than just waste your time, it can be potentially very dangerous.

Viruses and other malware can find its way onto your webspace, so make sure that you have an anti-virus tool at your disposal.

Secure web hosting is a critical issue, but remember it is both your responsibility and the responsibility of your hosting provider to create a secure environment.

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Message board, also known as forums, are becoming an increasingly popular method of expanding conversations that are started elsewhere or just a great place to get questions answered.

The first decision that has to be made once you have decided to start a forum is where to host it.  There are benefits and drawbacks to both self hosting and 3rd party message board hosting.

Here is a quick comparison of common trade-offs that need to be considered.

Flexibility vs. Effort

One of the primary reasons that people choose to self host their message board is that they have complete and total control over their forum.  This allows for maximum flexibility to do anything that the owner wants.

While 3rd party message board hosting offers much less flexibility, it does allow someone to start a message board within minutes and the overall level of effort needed to maintain the message board is drastically less.

The fundamental question is, “Would you prefer complete flexibility and control over your website (which means more time and effort) or a standardized message board that can still be modified but has limitations on control and flexibility (but will be much easier to maintain)”.

Cost vs Profit

The second trade-off is cost vs. profit.

Self hosted message boards will cost some money to maintain (hosting fees) and often necessitate initially purchasing your preferred message board software (but free message board software exists as well).

3rd party message board hosting companies are almost all free.  This means that you will never pay a cent for your message board.

Self hosted message boards can be monetized however you want, which can lead to larger, long term profits.

3rd party message board hosting often means that whoever is hosting the message board will place their own ads on your message board (which how they cover their own costs).

Fundamentally, this conflict boils down to: self hosting has more costs, but more potential profits vs. 3rd party hosting is free, but rarely profitable.

Both self hosted message boards and 3rd party message board hosting offer excellent solutions, however only one of them will be right for your needs.

If you are trying to start a profitable message board, then self hosting is probably right for you.  However, if you are creating a message board solely for entertainment and enjoyment, then 3rd party message board hosting may be what you want.

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Fortunately, there is an option that gives you all of the benefits of dedicated hosting without the burden of taking care of it yourself.

Managed dedicated hosting has proven to be the best solution for a growing number of webmasters that need the resources of an entire server, but little technical knowledge.

Benefits of Managed Dedicated Hosting

Here are a few reasons why you might consider getting managed dedicated hosting for your business.

1.    Excellent Management

Managed dedicated hosting gives you the support that you need to ensure that your server is always ready to go.

Instead of having to take care of everything yourself, the hosting company will manage the upkeep and maintenance of your server for you.  They will often take care of issues like security monitoring, server backups, server configuration, firewall configuration, as well as regular software updates.

2.    Cost-Effective

Many people would argue that dedicated hosting is always the most expensive option.  While dedicated hosting always will have the highest annual fees, utilizing managed dedicated hosting can save you money over the long term.

By having the service provide manage your server means that you will not have to hire someone to do it for you or spend countless days, weeks, or months trying to master the fine art of maintaining a server.

If you need the enough resources to warrant a dedicated server, then you might as well let professionals manage it for you.

3.    Full Time Monitoring

Since your server will be under the watchful eye of your hosting provider, you can rest assured that your website is always online and your server is always running smoothly.  It is all of the benefits of shared hosting only with a lot more resources and flexibility.

4.    Reliable

Most people that are not technically savvy will still try their hand at managing their own server.  This will almost always lead to a large amount of down-time due to technical issues.

With managed hosting, you get full support from your hosting providers support staff whenever you need it.

If dedicated hosting is a must, then managed dedicated hosting solutions will prove to be the best option for a majority of webmasters.  It is a more efficient choice because it is cost-effective, monitored around the clock, and extremely reliable.

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In order to help get you started, let’s quickly talk about what Linux reseller hosting is, and a few tips to get you headed in the right direction.

What is Linux Reseller Hosting

Reseller hosting is similar to renting out a room in your house or apartment.  You get a your own Linux server space and then divide it up into smaller sections and rent out those sections.

Your customers treat you like you are the hosting company; however, all of the technical aspects are still taken care of by the parent company (the company you are renting your server from).  Essentially, you are the middle man.

Quick Tips to a Successful Linux Reseller Hosting Business

Here are a few quick tips that will help you succeed:

1.    Start Small

The number one mistake is that most new resellers start off aiming for the stars and when they don’t get there in the first month, they get frustrated and quit.  All you need to do is concentrate on adding one client at a time.

Plus, if you got 100 new clients the first day, do you really think that you could effectively handle each one right away?

2.    Get The Tools

When running a Linux reseller hosting business, it is important to understand that you will be dealing with all aspects of running a business from advertising to client management and billing.

There are certain tools that will make managing your clients and billing a much easier process.  In fact, many hosting companies that offer reseller accounts have a great package of tools to help you get started.

3.    Don’t Forget About Marketing

So many resellers get caught up dealing with the technical aspects of hosting, even if they don’t need to, and never get around to actually marketing.

If your potential customers don’t know who you are or what you are offering, then they will never use your service.  It is important to not get so caught up in planning for the future that you forget about today.

4.    Get Your Own Server… Eventually

In the long run, getting your own Linux server will drastically improve your bottom line.  However, this may not be something that you want to do right away.

First, you need to consider what would happen if you buy a server, or servers, right away and your business never gets off the ground. How will you recoup the investment that you put into the server?

The second thing to consider is that running and maintaining your own server takes a lot of work, especially when making sure that they are always up and running and well-maintained (especially when it comes to security and updated software).  This does take a bit of technical skill.

So while you should definitely invest in a server, it shouldn’t be done right away.

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Many web developers rely on JSP to create dynamic websites, as well as provide additional enhancements to their sites.  With a quality JSP web hosting service, webmasters can easily manage and operate java server pages.

However, it is important to consider that JSP is very similar to ASP.  This means that many ASP web hosting providers could also potentially fulfill the needs of a webmaster that relies on JSP.

The reason that JSP has become more popular as a sever-based language is because it utilizes simply tag-side codes that are used in conjunctions with XML and HTML to create web pages and websites that do not require any additional platform.

This also means that the website will look nearly identical on every screen, regardless of what platform is being used.

A JSP web hosting provider is important to utilize to ensure that your JSP website is correctly compiled into Java servlets.  The web container then recognizes the Java servlet, and will integrate it into the server.  Java server pages will always work the best on a JSP web hosting server because it is specifically designed to handle JSP’s.

These specified web hosts will help to ensure that the creation of servlets is done effectively, and that the server has additional helpful applications like Enterprise JavaBeans.

It is important to understand that not every host is JSP supported because there can be a high learning curve involved, as well as a number of important server software upgrades.  If a web hosting services support staff isn’t familiar with JSP or how to operate Java servlets, they will often shy away from hosting clients that work primarily with JSP.

When searching for the right JSP web hosting service for you, there are few things to keep in mind.

First, with the continual advancement in data transfer speeds and design applications, it is important to find a host that has up to date technology.  The best companies will always stay on top of these important technologies.

While an ASP web hosting service can fill your needs, a JSP web hosting service will ensure that you have all of the technologies that you need.  It also ensures that if you need assistance from the support staff, they will be able to offer help with JSP specific problems.

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While there are no “special” hosting needs in order to create a Joomla website, there are some important characteristics that a quality Joomla web hosting service has.

Here is a quick look at what you should expect from this hosting service.

Most importantly, you need to make sure that your hosting provider has at least the minimum requirements to effectively use Joomla.

This includes MYSQL databases, Perl 4.X, Apache 2.X, and ideally Fantastico.  Fantastico is not necessary, but will allow you to install Joomla wherever and whenever you want with only a few clicks.

Additionally, some Joomla web hosting services offer free Joomla installation and configuration.  This will ensure that Joomla is set up to run as efficiently and as effectively as possible.

Some Joomla web hosting services will also provide unique Joomla templates that you get access to for free.  Many of these hosting services that provide a number of Joomla-specific benefits also ensure that their servers and databases are specifically designed to handle the resources that Joomla needs to run at an optimum level.

Additionally, Joomla web hosting companies also have a technical support staff that will be able to help you when you need assistance that is specifically related to Joomla.  This can save a lot of time that would otherwise be spent searching through forums.

Granted, Joomla has a very active community that is always more than willing to lend a hand, but if you need a fast answer, then you may not want to rely on the various forums that are available.  Many also offer free Joomla tutorials.

Since Joomla websites often create a large amount of user-interactivity and has web 2.0 features that can cause huge spikes in visitors, you need to make sure that your hosting plan is designed so that your website will be able to handle these spurts in traffic.

Additionally, if your Joomla website continues to rise in popularity, you need to make sure that your Joomla web hosting service provider can quickly and easily upgrade your hosting package if you need a larger amount of resources on a consistent basis.

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If you are searching for IRC hosting only because you want to start your own channel, there is a good chance that you don’t need a full IRC host.  Rather you can just start your own IRC channel through somewhere like efnet or freenode.

This is perfect if you only need one channel and will not have a large amount of people on it at one time.

However, if you do need this hosting, then here are some tips to finding a quality IRC host.

1.    Ignore Most Hosting Services

It is important to know that most hosting services do not allow IRC hosting.  In fact, many explicitly state it that they do not support it.

This is even true if you are renting a dedicated server.  Just because it is your dedicated server, that doesn’t mean that you can do whatever you want with it.

2.    Look Specifically for IRC Hosting Services

The easiest way to find a good IRC host is to search for hosting companies that specifically advertise or promote this type of hosting.

Not only will you know what services allow this hosting, but these hosting services also have the specific knowledge that it takes to support your server.

3.    Get Shell Access

If you are looking for complete control over your IRC experience, it is critical to get a shell account.  Fortunately, most of these companies offer shell access to your dedicated server.

4.    Find Out What You Can and Cannot Do

Even with shell access, there are certain things that your IRC hosting service still may not let you do.

Some common things that are often prohibited include: Ddos Bots, Agobots, SDBots, XDCC Bots, iroffer, scanning, flooding, exploiting bots, and xh (also known as process hiding).

However, you will normally be allowed to utilize processes like: eggdrop, psotnic, non-contagious botpacks, wraith, bnc applications and others.

Finding quality IRC hosting doesn’t have to be difficult.  First, you need to make sure that you really need this hosting service and not just a channel.  If you do, make sure that you have shell access and can run all of the processes that you would like to run.

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PHP hosting is more than readily available since Linux has been dominating the market for some time.  While both languages can create dynamic content websites, they are inherently different.

Price

Hosting PHP is always going to be a cheaper option.  To use ASP you need to have IIS installed and it gets very pricey fast.

PHP runs on Linux which is open source and completely free of charge.

Dealing with your database is another area where price becomes an issue.  With ASP, you will work through MS-SQL which must be purchased separately.  PHP uses MySQL which is also a no cost solution.

In the price battle, PHP hosting will always win.

Database Connectivity

PHP is very flexible in regards to database connectivity.  It is open-sourced and allows you to connect with a variety of database types even though MySQL is the most popular.  ASP has limited flexibility and is always used with MS.

Compatibility

PHP hosting is compatible with a number of platforms including Linux, Unix, Windows, and Solaris.  ASP is “almost” solely used on a Windows platform.

Base Language

PHP is based upon C++.  C++ is still considered to be one of the best programming languages of all time, which is one reason that PHP caught on so quickly.

ASP is much more similar to Visual Basic which is true for most Microsoft tools.  The preference of either in this area is solely opinion.  Neither are really “better” than the other, just preferable.

Additional Miscellaneous Factors

There are some additional factors that developers may also want to keep in mind.

The first is that since PHP is open source, which means that all future upgrades to software will be free to get, the same is true of additional features.  On the other hand, as with most Windows products, extra features are going to cost you.

ASP seems to consistently get the nod when it comes to speed.  ASP is normally considered to crush PHP when it comes to speed, which is becoming more important as Google and other such engines factor in website loading speed in their SEO formula.

Hosting PHP will always be one of the most popular options.  It is free, largely compatible, and based on C++.  All of these characteristics are excellent for developers.

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Google sites offers everyone a chance to start their own website for free.  Google web hosting, with Google Sites, has a number of great features, especially for a free service, but has some limitations as well.

Google Sites has some of the most important Web 2.0 and monetization tools that every website needs to succeed. This includes:

• Native RSS feeds
• Custom templates for both pages and entire sites
• Excellent default template
• Revision history that allows you to look at previous versions of your website
• Multiple layout options
• Access to a library of custom widgets and gadgets to increase the functionality of Google Sites

Your Google web hosting websites are also fully integratable with some of Google’s most prized applications including Google Adsense, Webmaster Tools, YouTube, Google Video, Google Docs, Google Maps and more.  All of this allows for a more interactive website as well as a way to monetize your site.

For a free website, Google web hosting offers a lot more than most.

There are some limitations to keep in mind as well.

The first is the size of your website.  Google Sites only gives you 100 MB of storage, however if you are a paid Google Apps client, you get 10 GB of storage.

There is also not a lot of customization outside of the provided website themes.  This means that you do not get to customize the CSS, template, and does not allow you to add any Javascript.

It is also important to consider how important a domain name is.

A web address with Google Sites will look like similar to this: http://sites.google.com/site/sitename/ instead of a traditional domain that you would otherwise purchase.  Your site-name must also be at least 6 characters and can only be alphanumeric.

It is also important to consider that, as with other free hosting companies, you do not actually “own” the website.  You cannot move it and Google can shut it down at any time.

As long as you follow the terms of service, you will be fine, but it would be devastating to work hard on your website and create a solid level of traffic only to have your website shut down.

Plus, since you don’t have complete control over the website, you cannot create page re-directs to help funnel your traffic to a new website.

Choosing whether or not Google web hosting is right for you is a decision that only you can make.  There are both beneficial features and potential drawbacks that you need to consider.

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Online gaming has become one of the most popular forms of gaming, and the need for a quality, reliable game server host is more important than ever.

The key to choosing the right gamer server hosting for you is to find the right server type that has the right amount of server space to keep your gaming website popular among your users.

Here are a few tips to choosing the best game server hosting to fit your needs.

What Type of Game Server Do You Need?

If you are just looking to find a server for you and friends to use, then there are a number of game server hosting services that offer packages based upon how many people will be using the server.

This is often the perfect solution for a clan that wants to all be playing in the same place.  These servers will almost always have the game software pre-installed so that your clan can start playing right away.

A dedicated server is often used by gaming enthusiasts and small businesses.  Dedicated servers will allocate a node to each game that is being played on the server.  If you are using a dedicated server for your gaming site, you will want to make sure that you can get at least 10 or 15 nodes in order to create a well functioning site.

Regardless of what you choose, always make sure that you choose a game server hosting plan that can be upgraded or downgraded if needed.

A Little Extra

Gamers are always looking for the little extras that take their gaming experience for good to great.  Additional applications are often utilized to attract more gamers.

For example, gamers want to be able to socialize and be able to come back to the same gaming site.

This means that you need to keep in mind that your server may also want to be used for additional applications like real-time chatting or to host an online forum.

Most gaming servers provide you will “specialty controls” such as choosing the map(s) that will be hosted on the server as well as other common options.

Striking a Balance

Once you have decided what kind of game server hosting environment that you need, such as a dedicated server, it is time to create a balance between price and extras.

Some extras are worth the additional expense, however some may not be.  It is up to you to make the final decision.

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With the increase in videos online, many webmasters still haven’t been able to decide whether or not to host their flash content on their own server, or with a 3rd party flash hosting service.

There are several potential drawbacks to hosting a flash video on your own site.  One of the biggest is that videos are big and can quickly eat up your resources.

For this reason, many people are looking for outside flash hosting websites and Youtube and similar free sites are often considered.

When considering a free flash hosting service, there are some drawbacks to keep in mind.

1.    Lower quality video conversion

With free 3rd party flash hosting websites, you lose a large amount of control over how your video is displayed.

This means that they convert your video to another format which will reduce the quality of the video.  This is especially important if your video has small details that are important for that viewer to see.

2.    Related Content

While this does not directly affect you, it can slowly cause you to lose potential customers/viewers.

Free 3rd party flash sites will often feature related content near your video.  Videos from your competitors could get the attention of your viewers and drag them away.

However, at the same time, it could also create more customers as well.  So this is a potential disadvantage but could also be an advantage.

3.    Aspect Ratio

Since you have no control over the conversion process, there is a chance that the aspect ratio will be thrown off.

While 3rd party sites try to keep your video looking good, if your video ends up looking squished or some of the video gets cut off, then there is not much that you will be able to do in order to remedy the situation.

3rd party flash hosting services are gaining in popularity as video becomes more a focused presence online.  While there are definite advantages to using a 3rd party flash hosting service, there are some drawbacks that need to be kept in mind as well.

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It seems like every other day, someone poses the question, “who are the fastest hosts?”  However, they all get different answers, and for good reason.  Lets take a look at what “fast” can mean.

1.    Transfer Time

When people look for fast web hosting, they often focus on the transfer time.

However, many people don’t realize that the transfer time is often not the problem, but rather request connections are what really slow things down.

Additionally, the transfer time can be largely affected by how far you are away from the data center or server.  You cannot know how far away your website visitors are, so transfer time is based upon a variable that you cannot entirely control.

2.    Request Connections

Some people argue that focusing on the request connections is the best way to determine whether or not you have a fast web hosting provider or not.

For example, when you are downloading a 5 KB file, transferring the 5 KB is not what slows the process down, but rather the amount of time that it takes to “get ready” to transfer it.

Most websites require users to download many different elements to display the webpage correctly.  The connection time for each element can add up quickly and really slow down your website.

This makes request connections time much more important than most people think.

3.    Additional Factors

There are a slew of other factors that can determine whether or not you have a fast web hosting provider or not.  This includes: total bandwidth of the network, data transmission speed, the server configuration, the servers hardware, and even the overall data center infrastructure.

With all of these variables to choose from, many companies claim to be “fast web hosting” services, but many aren’t.

While it can be difficult trying to find out which hosts are the fastest there are several different ways to do research.  The most common is to either post a question in forums, and search forums to see if the question has already been answered.

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Most of the time, your web host may have all of the features that you need in an email hosting service, but it is still important to make sure.

It seems like every year brings another new email application that could make your business run smoother.

Let’s take a look at some of the important features that email hosting services need to provide to fit most webmasters needs.

1.    The Correct Address

Think about what you want your email address to be as well as how many you need.  Some email hosting providers may offer a limited number of email addresses, while others offer you as many as you want.

Do you want your domain name to be part of your email address?  Many email hosting providers cannot offer this, while your hosting provider can.

It is important to have a fairly good idea of how many email addresses you will need as well as what you want it to look like.

2.    Spam Protection

Spam is an unfortunate side-effect of having an email address and addressing this issue early can save you a lot of headaches later.

Spammers work hard to stay ahead of the technological curve, so you need to make sure that your email hosting provider is doing the same.  There is nothing worse than having a virus sneak in and destroy your network or server unnoticed.

3.    An Autoresponder

Are you going to need an email service that provides an autoresponder?

Many people waste countless hours replying to the same types of emails over and over.  An autoresponder could save a lot of time.

For example, if you are running a service based business, you can use an autoresponder to automatically respond to price inquiries with a standardized list of prices.  This way, your sales staff can spend their time with customers who are taking a more active interest.

4.    Email Redirection

Email redirection is primarily used by small business with only a small number of employees.

For example, if you have 5 different email addresses for different departments and are responsible for checking all of them, then all five can be directed to one address.  This way, to check all five, you only have to check the one.

Email hosting is a popular option and can streamline your businesses communication, however you need to make sure that you get all of the features that you will need.

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Important Factors to Choosing the Right Dedicated Hosting Service for You

Just a few factors to keep in mind while choosing a dedicated hosting service:

1.    The Operating System

Choosing the right operating system is very important because it will determine what kinds of applications that you will be able to run on your server.  There are many different platforms that you can choose from and they have all their particular advantages such as price, compatibility, usability, and more.

2.    Data Transfer and Backup Ability

If you choose a dedicated server, it is important to make sure that your server has the right rate of data transfer to meet your needs; otherwise, there is a greater chance that your server will crash or your website will load slowly.

Keep in mind that if you have a data transfer rate that is far beyond your needs, you may want to consider downgrading because you are paying for it whether you need it or not.

It is also important that your dedicated server has the ability to backup and store information.  Your backups are a lifesaver if your website crashes, and it is the only way to get it up and running again in a quick and efficient manner.

3.    Server Automation

It takes a bit of technical knowledge to manage your own dedicated server, which is why many people choose to use a managed dedicated server.

A managed dedicate hosting service allows you to get the benefits of a dedicated server without having to maintain it yourself  This includes not having to worry about security updates, operating system updates, and other critical software updates.

4.    Monitoring Services

When choosing a dedicated hosting service, it is important to make sure that your server is reliable and that your website will always be accessible.

This is why most dedicated hosting services have a monitoring service which means that you will always know if your server crashes or website goes down.  A monitoring service also helps you keep an eye on potential problems and errors that destroy your site.

Once you start your search for the right dedicated hosting service, keeping these four factors in mind will help you choose the right dedicated hosting service for you.

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The Cpanel market share has continued to grow, and looks to be a dominant force for years to come.

Advantages of cPanel Reseller Hosting

Here are some of the advantages of cPanel reseller web hosting:

1.    Popularity

If you are just starting your reseller business, it is often useful to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, while remaining versatile.  cPanel is a well known platform that most people not only recognize, but are comfortable with.  By leveraging the popularity of cPanel, you can more easily attract additional clients.

2.    Lower Overhead

When you choose to be a cPanel reseller hosting provider, you have the advantage of needing less overhead than with many of the alternatives.  Your customers, using cPanel, will be able to update their contact information, backup their website, change passwords, view their own error logs, and much more.

This makes it easier for your system administrators and support staff to focus on other aspects of the hosting experience.

3.    Allows Customers to Track Themselves

Another advantage of being a cPanel hosting reseller is that your customers get important real-time data.

Your customers will be able to instantly see a number of statistics about their website including: disk space used/available, bandwidth used/available, sql resources used/available, email resources, and domain information.

This lets them know when they will need more resources and makes it easier for them to know when they need to upgrade their package.

Using WHIM News, you can also send messages to any domain owner on the server.  This makes communication much easier, especially with time sensitive information such as scheduled downtime or security issues.

4.    Increased Security

Since all of your users will be utilizing cPanel, they will only be able to control their own domain space and access functions that will only affect their own account.

Since this can limit their software installation options and eliminate shell access, you will stay in full control over your server at all times.  This makes security across the server much easier to maintain, as well as ensuring that each webmaster is not affected by another webmaster’s changes.

With cPanel reseller hosting, you not only get to promote a well-known and trusted name, but also get all of the advantages that cPanel has to offer.  This list is only 4 of the many advantages that cPanel reseller hosting has to offer.

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• Jumpline offers six months FREE VPS hosting. Check them out!

Cheap VPS web hosting is the perfect solution for anyone who needs more than what a shared hosting package has to offer, but still does not need the additional resources of an entire dedicated server.

VPS or virtual private server is when a single server is divided into several virtual servers which allows multiple websites to run simultaneously.

Cheap VPS web hosting is considered to have the advantages of a dedicated server, because each user has the sense of working with a dedicated server, while also getting the advantage of shared hosting, which is that several webmasters share resources to reduce the overall cost.

There are several other advantages that makes cheap VPS web hosting a great option.

1.    Control

VPS hosting gives every user the ability to have complete autonomy over the administrative tools which includes the graphical interface, command line, and support services.  This makes working on a VPS very similar to using a dedicated server.

2.    Resource Flexibility

A VPS gives users the chance to completely control the flexibility and availability of a range of resources.  This means that every user can have their requirements met at all times.

3.    Increased Security

VPS allows you to avoid the increased security risks that are associated with shared hosting.  This means that users can feel more comfortable with a high level of security for every individual website.  The two biggest threats that VPS can help avoid are denial of service attacks as well as unauthorized access.

4.    Migration and Updates

Cheap VPS web hosting allows webmasters to easily migrate from one physical server to another.  This is because of the control over server configuration.  The same is true when looking at the ease of upgrading applications and platforms at any time.

5.    Installation Freedom

Since every person on a virtual private server has their own separate chunk of hosting space, they can use whatever operating system they want.

They can also add any additional applications and software tools that they may need.  This allows for much more freedom than a shared server because the webmasters are not reliant what the server administrator adds to the server.

Cheap VPS hosting has proven to be the perfect compromise of shared hosting and dedicated hosting.  Users still leverage the power of numbers to take down the price, but also get the added benefits of having a dedicated server such as flexibility, control, and security.

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However, the biggest mistake that most people make is that they look for a cheap reseller hosting package and start reselling.  Then after a few months, they realize one of two things.

First, they simply cannot create a competitive advantage based on price (which should be obvious because they are the middle man).

The second thing that they realize is that while they might come close to competing based on price (with sliver thin profit margins), their parent company simply isn’t a good hosting company.  They offer poor customer service or have a lot of down time or just slow load times.

When you choose a cheap reseller hosting plan, you are likely to get what you paid for.  Unfortunately, you didn’t pay much, and you aren’t getting much in return.

While a cheap reseller hosting package may seem like a great idea, it is important to look beyond the price.  Here are some common problems that you may encounter when searching for your next cheap reseller hosting package.

1.    Overloaded Servers

Servers have a limited number of resources that are available at any given time.  One way that some hosting companies profit from creating reseller accounts is by overloading servers.

When this happens, websites load slowly (if at all) or the server could just crash.  Either way, this is not a recipe that will make your customers happy.

2.    Get Your Customers Stolen

While this shouldn’t happen, it is an inevitability.  When one of your customers contacts the parent hosting companies support staff, they may ask about a different hosting option.

Before you know what happened, your parent company just stole your client.  Is this a common problem? Not really, but it happens, and it is much more likely to happen if you choose your reseller hosting package based solely on price.

3.    No Stability

Just because a company offers a cheap reseller hosting package, it doesn’t mean that they will be around forever.

It is always a better idea to go with a proven parent hosting company that has been around for at least a few years and has a track record of successful resellers.  This shows that they are a stable company and also hints that they take care of their resellers and help them grow.

If you choose a new hosting company and they flounder, for one reason or another, then you have just lost all of your customers.

While choosing a low-cost reseller hosting package is ideal, you shouldn’t necessarily jump at the cheapest reseller hosting package on the market.

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Reasons that Cheap Linux Hosting is More Popular Than Windows

Linux offers a variety of advantages to webmasters that Windows has not been able to duplicate. Here are some of them:

1.    Price

For many people, the price alone is enough of a difference, especially if they have little experience with either platform.  Since Linux was created with the GNU General Public License, anyone can access it.  This has led to a variety of different Linux based platforms to suit a particular area of focus including: Red Hat, Ubuntu, and SUSE Linux.

2.    Compatibility

Compatibility is a big reason that cheap Linux hosting is the preferred option.

If you are working on a Linux server and for some reason have to move to a Windows based server, the transition is comparatively simple.  However, if you start out on Windows based server, the transition to Linux almost isn’t even worth the trouble.

Linux makes moving to another platform very simple, whereas Windows makes it a hassle.

3.    Support

Linux has a very large and supportive community that continues to refine Linux and continually make improvements.  Even large companies like HP, IBM, Nokia, and Motorola use Linux and are dedicated to helping it grow and expand as the premier option.

4.    Security

Over the years, Windows has gotten a bad reputation regarding security.  Linux on the other hand has always been considered very secure.  One of the benefits of such a large supportive community is that when a threat is noticed, it is quickly fixed.  Linux has the benefit of being both simple yet powerful, making it a much more secure option.

5.    Stability

Linux is well known for being one of the most stable platforms available.  Its stability comes from a variety of factors including the supportive community.  However, one of the biggest reasons that Linux always seems to be stable is because it needs very few resources to operate.  Windows, on the other hand, consumes much more resources, even when it is inactive.

Cheap Linux hosting will always be in high demand as it continues to boast a number of advantages over its closest competitors.

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The concept of wiki is to have content created by users.  They are responsible for adding, editing, and even originally creating content.

With the increasing popularity of wiki, wiki hosting has become much more popular as well.  People can either use free wiki hosting services or host the wiki on their own domain.

There are several important decisions that need to be made in order to ensure that you are happy with all phases of your wiki project.

1.    What software do you want to use?

There are a variety of different open source and commercial wiki software available to people looking to start their own wiki website.

If you plan on hosting wiki on your own site, you need to make sure that your hosting provider allows you to use the software that you want to use.  Many hosting providers have a list of wiki software that you can quickly and easily load onto your website.  For example, BlueHost offers free Tikiwiki installation.

If you are looking for a free wiki hosting site that allows you to create a website without purchasing a domain name, they will often not tell you what wiki software they use.  However, you can often get a good idea of what they are using by simply exploring the site.

2.    Do you want to use the most popular wiki software?

Some webmasters prefer to use popular open source software because there is a large community of developers and supports.  This often means that new versions can be created and released quickly and can include changes that the community wants to see made.

Three of the most popular wiki software include MediaWiki, TikiWiki, and DokuWiki.

MediaWiki is considered to be the most popular wiki software, and is used by Wikipedia.  Tikiwiki has also proven to be a very powerful wiki resource and it is extremely versatile.  Dokuwiki is not included in Fantastico which has prevented it from becoming as popular as some of the other options.

Some webmasters prefer to get their own wiki software designed and tailored to their own needs, or simply use a commercial wiki software.

If you want to use this type of wiki software, it will not be possible to use a free wiki hosting website. Rather you would need to host it with your own domain name.

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When it comes to hosting these sites, there are two basic options.  You can host them on your own domain, or use one of these ever growing hosting websites.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both, and each web master needs to make a choice based on their individual needs.  Here is a quick look at both hosting a mobi website on your own domain and using a WAP hosting site.

WAP Hosting Using Your Current Domain and Hosting Company – Biggest Advantage – Can Have Only One Website

If you already have a regular website that you simply want to be made more mobile friendly, then there is no need to recreate it and use a separate company.

All you need to do is set up a sub domain such as mobile.yourdomain.com.  Next you need to create a PHP file or files that will automatically prepend and append all of your website pages.

Then using .htaccess, you can enable the prepends and appends.  When done correctly, your website will quickly become a functioning mobile website without much work.  Many examples of these PHP scripts and how to use them can be found online.

WAP Hosting Using Your Current Domain and Hosting Company – Biggest Disadvantage – Your Hosting Provider

Your hosting provider may not provide this type of hosting.  WAP (wireless information protocol) is the method that is used to deliver information to users that are utilizing the internet from their phone.

While most hosting companies are not a problem, some still do not have wap hosting abilities.

Using a Separate WAP Hosting Service – Biggest Advantage – Website Builders

Almost every one of these hosting services provides a website builder that is geared toward creating a website that is meant for only mobile access.

This can be important because many phones have problems correctly reading the CSS, PHP, and HTML within the website design.  This means that your website will come out looking jumbled and disorganized.

The website builders are specifically designed to help you create a mobile website that will look great on every phone.

Using a Separate WAP Hosting Service – Biggest Disadvantage – Less Control

There are a lot more free WAP hosting sites than commercial ones.

If your mobile website is designed solely for profit purposes, you should always hesitate a moment when your website is placed in someone else’s hands.

What if your free hosting website shuts down?  Will you be able to access your website so that you can copy it and move it somewhere else?

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The short answer is a very simple one.

Rails are expensive for hosting providers, and can be a giant pain to deal with.

Large hosting companies tend to have problems staying up to date on the latest ruby and rails software and getting it installed in a timely manner.

It also means that they need to have a support team that actually understands ruby and rails and can answer your questions intelligently.

It also means that they need to continually create and update help documents as well as continue to provide reliable uptime for all computers.

In fact, many hosting companies have only added the option to use ruby and rails because so many people were trying to custom install it for themselves and would end up crashing the server.

Rails is really made to be used only on a dedicated server. This allows the server to spit out data whenever it is needed.

Rails sucks up a large amount of RAM in order to keep speeds up, but that is incredibly difficult to do in a shared hosting environment.

Shared hosting companies will normally do an Apache/FastCGI stack by dumping the dispactch.fcgi processes every 60 seconds and hoping that no one really needs the bandwidth that they sign up for.  The only way to cram hundreds of sites into a shared hosting environment is to use PHP.

With all this in mind, there are a few indicators that you can keep an eye out for, which will let you know that you have found a solid rails hosting provider.

1.    Shell Access

Shell/SSH access is 100% critical.  If you cannot get to the actual command line, then why waste your time.

2.    Updated Speed

To be a good rails hosting provider, they must have both speed and updates.  If they do not update their servers quickly, they will be left open to unnecessary security threats.

Additionally, if the sever is on CGI alone, it will be painfully slow.  Make sure that the host has FastCGI or SCGI, and if you are really lucky – Mongrel.

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Some people prefer to host their podcast on their main website. Other people use an additional domain for only podcasts.   Some people use free hosting services, and others pay for dedicated podcasting services.

Here is a quick look at all four to help you decide which avenue is right for you.

1.    Podcast hosting on your own website

People who choose to upload their podcasts directly to their website do so to keep everything in one place.

As a general rule, this not an option that most people should use.  This is especially true once their podcasts gather a large following of fans.

You will quickly burn up a lot more resources than you would expect and soon be paying overage fees to your hosting company.  There is nothing worse than having a popularity surge, only to find out later that you can’t pay the hosting bill.

The average half hour, basic talk show is going to have a file size of around 15MB if it is encoded at 64 kbps.  If you have a daily show with only 10 subscribers, you will be using 5 GB of bandwidth and use a ½ GB of space every month.

2.    Separate Domains

Using a separate domain for hosting isn’t a bad idea.  It gives you a centralized location of all of your podcasts, and makes them easy to control.

Unfortunately, you can run into some of the same problems as you do with podcast hosting on your own website.

Chances are that you won’t go over your bandwidth limits using separate domains, but there is still a chance that could happen.

If you are going to stream your podcasts to your main site, why take the additional risk.  If you do hit overage fees, you have accomplished nothing except that you have been paying to host two domains when you could have only been paying for one.

3.    Free Podcast Hosting Services

Free podcasting services offer the big advantage of being able to host your podcasts for free.

They will normally add an advertisement to the beginning and end of every podcast.

Additionally, they tend to have strict limits on the bandwidth you can use per month and how much you can upload on a monthly basis.

Another drawback is that over the last 3 years, it seems like many free podcasting hosting services have been shutting down.

The best idea to choose a free podcast service that also has paid opportunities.  This increases the likelihood that they will stay in business.

4.    Paid Podcast Hosting Services

The biggest benefit of these paid hosting services is that they often grant unlimited bandwidth, which means that you will never be charged for overages.  The only limits they put in place are on the amount of podcasts that you can load every month.

Personally, paid podcast hosting services are the best solution.  They minimize your risk of paying fees while still affording you the advantages of streaming your podcasts to your website.

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Plesk hosting has several advantages over its more popular counterparts. Unfortunately, most of the benefits only help the administrator.

If you are hosting your website on your own server, then Plesk should be considered a legitimate option.

It has proven to be one of the most cost-effective options available with a variety of different pricing plans based upon how many domains will be using it.  It also has the advantage of being compatible with UNIX, Linux, and Windows.

Unfortunately there are some usability issues that seem to have been plaguing plesk for some time.

1.    Poor Data Storage

With plesk hosting, you will be saving files only to the server disk.  This increases the likelihood that you will have problems storing larger files.

It also means that the administrator will need to backup their files often which can further perpetuate the storage inefficiencies.

2.    Lacks Popular Features

Even with the release of its latest version, Plesk does not feature a Fantastico-like resource.  As long as Fantastico is considered to be a “must-have” tool, plesk will always seem to lack ease and features.

Additionally, plesk does not have a simple FTP upload option like cPanel does.

3.    Wasting Time on Set Up

The way that plesk is designed, several popular applications have access restrictions automatically applied to them.  While this does not stop the administrator from changing these restrictions, it is simply a waste of time.

Unfortunately, if you are a first time administrator, it may take more time than it is worth.  A primary reason for this is that plesk has been plagued with security issues in recent versions, and these restrictions are meant to make it a more secure platform.

Plesk is sure to continue drawing in new fans because of its low price point and ability to seem very user friendly for the most part.  Once you are comfortable with Plesk, it is very easy to work with and has a very intuitive layout.

Many people will not be able to overcome not having Fantastico with plesk hosting.  For those that can live without Fantastico, you won’t have to worry about data storage issues if you try this hosting.

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However, once you take a step back and decide what features and functions are truly important, you will be able to make a much more informed and targeted decision.

What to Expect From Ecommerce Hosting Solutions

A quality ecommerce hosting solution will provide you with everything that you need to effectively run a successful online storefront.

This includes protecting sensitive customer information, managing products and product searches, and creating a user-friendly shopping experience.  In order to do this, a number of features are commonly included.

This includes a variety of shopping cart applications, an SSL (Secure Socket Layer), the necessary digital certificates, security support, and PayPal integration.

Additional features that are becoming more common include live customer service chat, polling, guestbooks, email marketing support, and customer review/feedback.

While all of the these features are an important aspect of creating a successful ecommerce website, there is one over-arching factor that determines which ecommerce hosting solution is right for you.

Ecommerce Integration

Ecommerce integration is critical for a successful online store.  You need more than just a shopping cart in order to create a successful store.

The ecommerce aspect of your website must be seamlessly integrated into the rest of your website.  This creates the best experience for potential customers and allows them to order items with ease.

Products need to be “browsable”, and sorted into logical groups.  Every product must also have accompanying information that will help the consumer make their decision.

Many successful ecommerce websites added the storefront after the website was already created, but did an excellent job of ecommerce integration.

When you choose an ecommerce hosting solution, you need to ensure that they provide you with all of the tools that you will need in order to present your products in the best light possible.

A great way to see ecommerce integration in action is to look at the shopping cart itself.  Some studies have indicated that at least 60% of all shopping carts are abandoned by the customer before they complete the checkout.

This means that they had chosen their products and started to check out, but never completed the process.  This could be because the shopping cart was confusing, and it could be because they were not committed to the product, or an array of other reasons.

By creating good ecommerce integration, website owners can remove these barriers, and make it easier and more comfortable for potential buyers to finish the purchasing process.

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Drupal can be used with any hosting provider, but only a solid Drupal hosting provider will give you the tools that you need to in order to keep your Drupal website up and running at all times.

Here are a couple of quick facts that could help guide you to the right Drupal hosting provider that will fit your needs.

1.    Everyone can host Drupal

Unlike some content management systems, Drupal doesn’t have any special hosting requirements that make it unique or difficult to host.

You can create a Drupal website with any hosting provider that supports PHP and MySQL.  However, it is also important to keep in mind that just because everyone can host Drupal, it doesn’t mean that they will all be able to provide you with the resources that you need.

2.    PHP MySQL

While Drupal can be supported on a Windows or PostgreSQL server, Linux is still the best platform for Drupal.

It is better to use a hosting provider that supports at least PHP 5.X+ and MySQL5.  Any previous versions of PHP and MySQL could lead to some incompatibilities and stability problems with newer modules.

3.    Database Response Time and Stability

The way that Drupal is designed, it will make a lot of database queries.  This means that you will want to check the database response time of a few hosting providers, and choose among the top 3.

If you opt for a Drupal hosting provider that has slower database response times, it will slow the load time of your website considerably.

Many hosting companies will want to talk about bandwidth and web space, but with Drupal, stability is critical.  An average Drupal site will need about 225-275 MB of space and a 10-15 GB data transfer on a monthly basis.

To be safe, it always recommended to have as large of a buffer as possible to ensure long-term Drupal stability.

4.    Extras

Drupal hosting users can make their Drupal website much more efficient if they have shell access.  While PHP can often achieve the same ends, shell access can make life a lot easier.

Not all hosts will provide shell access, so it is something to look into before making your final decision.  Drupal hosting is becoming very popular today, so I encourage you to look into it today.

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With so many options, it is surprising to see so many DotNetNuke hosting providers not giving webmasters what they need for a well-run DotNetNuke website.

Let’s take a quick look at exactly what you need for a quality DNN website.

1.    What Must DotNetNuke Hosting Have – The Specs

The first thing that needs to be pointed out is that DotNetNuke is more heavily reliant on RAM (RAM is used for internal DNN performance caching) than many other CMS alternatives.

Every hosting provider tries to flaunt bandwidth and storage, but neglect to talk about RAM.

A benefit of using a quality DotNetNuke hosting provider is they know exactly what you need.  In fact, some hosting services will tweak the application pool to set DotNetNuke to cache to memory rather than to a disk.

Since DNN can quickly become resource heavy, it is important to plan out your websites future in order to determine the right DotNetNuke hosting options that are right for you.

Keep in mind that many shared hosting plans do not scale well, which means your site could go down if your website suddenly becomes popular and traffic surges become common.

DotNetNuke 5.0+ are based upon ASP.NET 3.5 support and will access at least 1 SQL server database.  Remember, these are minimum requirements, so plan accordingly.

2.    Full Trust Mode and a Dedicate Application Pool

It is important to find a DNN host that provides dedication application pools and supports full trust mode.

A dedicated application pool will ensure that your website is isolated from the other websites on the server and prevents other websites from affecting your website.

Without full trust mode, some DNN modules may not work, especially news feed type modules that require communication with other websites.

3.    The Community

The DotNetNuke community is a close one and very helpful if you are willing to listen.

When researching specific DotNetNuke hosting providers, there will be a large amount of honest feedback about almost all of them.

For example, GoDaddy often creates problems for DNN users because they do not allow for DNN to be uploaded to the root folder.  On the other hand, PowerDNN seems to get glowing comments everywhere you turn.

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With more free hosting websites popping up every day, they can seem like the perfect no-cost solution.

Unfortunately, there are a number of advantages to going through with the process of domain registration and hosting that most people do not consider.  Here is a quick look at what some of those advantages are.

1.    Stability

Once you have completed your domain registration and hosting is acquired, you have complete control over your website.

Since the domain name is yours, you can do anything that you want with it.  You could keep the same domain name forever if you want to.

This level of stability simply doesn’t exist with free website hosting companies.  Many of them will not provide you with a domain name of your name.  This means that if they decide to take down your website, there is nothing that you can do about it.

With your own hosting and domain, this will never be a problem.

2.    No Wasted Efforts

If you have spent even a few months building up traffic for your website, you wouldn’t want those efforts wasted.

As long as you own your domain, the traffic that you build will always be able to find your website.

On the other hand, if you do not have your own domain name, you could have your website shut down for nearly any reason.  If this happens, you will have wasted all of the time and effort that you spent building up traffic because your website no longer exists.

3.    Total Control

As long as you have completed your domain registration, hosting setup and everything is ready to go, you are in total control of your website.

You decide what it looks like, how or if you want to monetize it, where your advertisements will be located, and the colors of your site.  You have complete control over everything.

If you using a free hosting service, and do not have your own domain name, your options will be severely limited.

Moreover, most of these services will place profitable ads of their own on your website.  This pulls your readers attention away from what you are providing, and points them towards what the free hosting service wants them to focus on.

You will also normally be limited to a certain number of templates that will decide how your website looks.

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However, with the large amount of infrastructure that must be combined, there are often aspects of design that are overlooked or simply ignored.

Egenera reported that there are five “blind spots” that create barriers to reliability, flexibility, and manageability.  Their research was predicated on discussions with customers, IT vendors, analysts, and industry experts.

Data Center Hosting – 5 Most Overlooked Things About Data Center Infrastructure Management

Here is a quick overview of their findings.

1.    Virtualization does not create agility

Data center hosting is often coupled with server virtualization.  While it does lend to increased mobility, it exists at the software level only.  There are still a large number of administrative tasks that must be done in order to manage the physical infrastructure.

2.    Virtualization does not lead to simplification

Virtualization may decrease the number of physical servers as well as allow for the creation of new virtual servers related to data center hosting; however, this is not necessarily simplification.

Virtualization actually creates more virtual objects which require life-cycle management, additional layers of security, and more total moving parts.  Simplification is only achieved when a coordinated and organized balance is struck between physical and virtual resources.

3.    Virtual Machines Don’t Solve Everything

Many people assume that using virtual machine technologies in relation to their data center hosting will solve their high availability (HA) and disaster recovery (DR) issues.

While the benefit of virtualizations are there HA and DR options, this benefit is marginal if 100% of HA and DR environments are not virtualized.

For this benefit to be full, all applications must become virtualized, including identical VM standby recovery resources.  The recovery equipment is already pre-provisioned with VM software and identical to the primary servers.

A better approach is to create a unified HA and DR at the hardware and network level.

4.    Provisioning is only assumed for software

While there has been a big advancement in configuration control and the provisioning of images to servers, in a virtual environment, every change creates an equal and associated change to the physical infrastructure.  In order to be efficient, automated provisioning must compliment software provisioning.

5.    It will never be completely virtual

With data center hosting space, it is important to understand that there will always be a mix of physical and virtual resources.  In order to effectively manage a data center, a technology-agnostic approach must be adapted to simplify and unify the physical and virtual environments.

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In order to better define your needs, there are several questions that need to be answered.

1.    What CMS do I want to use?

It is important to identify what CMS you plan on using before you choose your CMS hosting provider.

What happens if you choose a provider that only focuses on one specific CMS, and it is not the one you want?

While most CMS hosting services will give you access to a wide variety of content management systems to choose from, not all of them will.  Some of these providers have specifically tailored their servers to be the optimal solution for only one or two content management systems.

Additionally, there are a growing number of commercial CMS designers that will only host websites that use their specific CMS.  If you want to use a commercial CMS instead of an open source CMS, than looking for a specific CMS hosting provider could allow you to pay for hosting and get the CMS provided to you at no additional cost.

2.    Does The CMS Hosting Provider Meet The Technical Requirements?

Every CMS is a little different.  They all use a different amount of resources, and it is important that the hosting provider that you choose gives you enough resources to not only create your website, but gives your website room to grow.  Otherwise you will be either searching for a new CMS hosting provider very soon, or be forced to upgrade your account in order to get the resources that your website needs.

3.    Not Sure?

If you are not sure what CMS you want to use, the best option is to choose a CMS hosting provider that gives you access to Fantastico.  Fantastico can automatically install a number of popular open source content management systems with the push of a button.

Choosing your CMS hosting provider can be a difficult task.  However, if you enter into the process with a clear idea of what you need, weeding out providers that do not fit your needs will be easy.  By knowing what you do and do not need, you will be able to make an informed decision, and hopefully lead you into a lasting relationship with the perfect CMS hosting provider for you.

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Let’s take a quick look at what cloud hosting is, who needs it the most, and what benefits it could offer you.

What is cloud hosting?

Cloud hosting is also know as clustered hosting and is a hosting solution that utilizes virtualization technologies to create load balancing, security, and to manage system resources across multiple servers.

What makes cloud hosting unique is that instead of relying on only one server, websites and applications can use the resources from several servers at once.

Traditionally, websites are limited by the amount of bandwidth they can use, disk space, amount of RAM available, and the processing power of an individual server.  With this type of hosting, these limitations are lifted because the infrastructure can expand to meet the needs of the website.

The simplicity of the scalability means that you can add or remove servers whenever it is needed.

Who needs it?

In the past, many websites have fallen victim to their own popularity and suffer because of a burst in traffic or unexpected boom in popularity.

As soon as the website needs more resources than a server can provide, the website can crash.  This type of hosting ensures that this does not happen because a website has access to a group of servers that can provide additional resources when they are needed.

Once the website does not need these resources, they can be used by other websites that are hosted on the cloud.

Any additional benefits?

Here are a few more benefits of cloud hosting:

1.    Scalability

Since cloud hosting allows for both forward and backward scalability, websites can use as many resources that they may need during bursts of traffic and share resources with others when they are not needed.  This eliminates the chance that websites that are hosted on a cloud network will slowly respond or crash because of surges in traffic.

2.    Cost

If you have a website that gets a surge in traffic that you are not expecting then your website could crash.  On the other hand, you could use enough dedicated servers to make sure that you always have enough resources.

This means that you would either potentially have your site crash, or pay for all of the resources that you MAY need.  This means that 95% of the time, you are paying for resources that your website is not using, because they are only needed with traffic spikes.

Think of cloud hosting like you do your electric bill.  You only pay for the electricity you use, and the same is true for cloud hosting.  You have all of the resources you need to handle a surge in traffic, but only pay for what you use.

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Zimbra hosting has emerged as a popular option.  Zimbra has proven to hold a number of advantages over some of the more “traditional” business email solutions such as Microsoft Outlook.

Zimbra can be hosted on-site or off-site with unique advantages to both choices.  Once a business owner has decided to use Zimbra, the only question left is where to host it.

A Comparison of Hosting Zimbra On-Site vs. Off-Site

Here are a few factors that may help you decide whether you want to host Zimbra on-site or off-site.

1.    Features

When hosted on-site, every Zimbra feature is available to both users and administrators.

However, when hosting is moved off-site, there is a real possibility that the administration features can become limited.  Fortunately, the features that are limited are primarily limited to the actual domain configuration.

Additionally, many Zimbra hosting companies have a variety of additional features that are made available, which can easily make up the difference.

2.    Support

While Zimbra offers support all day and every day, it is up to the business’ own IT team to take care of the server and hardware themselves when it is hosted on-site.

When it is hosted off-site, the support is completely reliant on which hosting provider a business chooses.  As long as a good hosting service provider is chosen, support is not needed as often and can result in long term savings.

3.    Customization

Obviously, if Zimbra is hosted on-site, the business will have maximum flexibility.  The IT team can fine tune the configuration, customize branding and skins, manage policies, and deploy any Zimlet or custom web service.

When trying to customize Zimbra when it is hosted off-site, the customization allowed is completely reliant on the hosting service provider.  With that said, they will often allow a high level of customization too.

4.    Overall Deployment and Pricing

When hosting Zimbra on-site, you get the maximum level of deployment flexibility.  However, this also means that you are responsible for all of the hardware and configuration for the server, as well as integrating Zimbra with other internal systems.

On-site Zimbra hosting costs include all of the server costs, related IT team costs, as well as the cost of Zimbra.  The cost of Zimbra is on a per user, per year basis.

Off-site Zimbra hosting still allows for a high level of deployment flexibility.  Unfortunately, your involvement with hardware and software maintenance is limited, as well as with feature configuration and other customizations.  With off-site Zimbra hosting, the price is reliant on the monthly or annual price that you choose.

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• Jumpline offers two years of FREE shared hosting. Check them out!

Shared hosting has a number of potential advantages and disadvantages.  It seems like everyone prefers to have a dedicated server, but that doesn’t mean that a dedicated server is always the best option.

In order to decide whether or not a shared server is right for you, it is important for you to weigh the advantages and disadvantages for yourself.

Advantages of Shared Hosting

Let’s first take a look at some of the advantages of shared hosting.

1.    Cost

This type of hosting is the logical first step when starting a website because it is relatively inexpensive.  You can find a solid plan, with unlimited domains, for as little as $10 a month or less.

The reason that the cost is significantly less for a shared hosting plan is because on shared server, there could be 100′s or 1000′s of websites.  This allows hosting providers to leverage the large amount of people sharing the server to lessen the price.

2.    Ease of Use

With shared hosting, you have no responsibility to maintain the servers, it is the responsibility of the shared hosting company.  This means that you will never have to deal with time consuming issues like hardware and software updates, connectivity, and other server administration tasks.

Additionally, these plans also include software that makes managing your website easier such as cPanel and website builders.  This also means that you don’t need to worry about the rapid evolution of technology.

Disadvantages of Shared Hosting

And now, to complete the picture, here are some disadvantages of shared hosting.

1.    Security

If some other web master on your server makes a mistake or gets their website hacked, the hacker can get access to the server and make a big mess of other websites including yours!

While providers go to extreme lengths in order to maintain the security of their servers, it only takes one stupid mistake from another person on the server to leave the entire server wide open to attack.  The worst part is that you often will not even know what happened until it is too late.

2.    Slow Performance or Crashes

While this server doesn’t inherently mean that your website will fall victim to slower performances, there is always a chance.

The worst part is that you have no control over it.  If another web master gets a sudden burst of traffic, everyone else’s website could grind to a halt because there are no more resources available for the other websites.

Even worse, the server could get overloaded and crash.  While there are a number proactive actions taken by a shared hosting provider, crashes are part of the business.

• Jumpline offers two years of FREE shared hosting. Check them out!

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While many people that just starting out gravitate to services that provide the lowest price, or are free, they are missing the big picture.

Let’s take a quick look at some factors, outside of the pricing, that should weigh heavily on who your next server hosting provider will be.

1.    Advertising

This is exclusively found on free server hosting sites.  They will place a few advertisements on every page of your website in order to cover the costs of their servers.

While some people are fine with this, it is an important issue.  If you are selling something on your website, whether your own or an affiliate, or you are trying to make money from placing adsense or some other PPC type program, then why would you want to complete with the hosts ads?

They are already using the best ad placement to ensure the highest possible CTR for their ads.

2.    Reliability

There is nothing worse than going online to find out that your website is nowhere to be found.  Any server hosting provider with an uptime of less than 99.5% should simply be ignored.

While server crashes are an unfortunate inevitability, you should always ensure that your server hosting provider has a high uptime as well as a quick response to a server that has crashed.

3.    Bandwidth

Bandwidth, traffic, and data transfer are all the same thing.  Knowing how much bandwidth you have is an important piece of information to have.

First, it is important to realize that no one can offer “unlimited bandwidth”, although it is a common advertising strategy.

Most websites that are newer will easily use less than 3 GB per month; however, it is important to keep your allowed bandwidth in check. If you go over your allotted bandwidth, you will receive a shockingly large bill.

It is also not a good idea to choose a host that allows you to prepay for overage costs, because you never know if you will hit an overage.

4.    Support

No one will appreciate the support provided by their server hosting providers until they need it.

Is support 24-7?  More importantly, what is their response time?  Are they actually competent, or just a bunch of sales people?

All of these questions tend not to get answered until your website crashes or something bad happens.  Make sure that your server hosting provider provides excellent support, and you can get your website back up in minutes instead of hours or days.

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Why choose a Mac web hosting provider?

One of the reasons that most people choose a mac web hosting server over Linux and windows is due to the lack of malware (viruses, trojans, and worms).  While these types of malware exist, there are less security bugs to exploit it.  This makes mac a great hosting solution regarding reliability and consistently.

In the grand scheme of things, most web servers are Linux.  After Linux, windows is the next most popular, and that is followed by UNIX and then mac.  Since there are comparatively few mac servers, macs are much less likely to be hacked.

While finding a quality, yet affordable, mac web hosting service can seem like a daunting task, there are some excellent choices that are readily available.

MacHighway

In the middle of 2009, MacHighway was making headlines because they were designed by mac users, for mac users.

Even more impressively, the entire company is 100% wind-powered.  They have found a way to build an elaborate support structure while remaining “carbon-neutral”.

Their support team has also stood out as one of the best in business.  Everyone on the support staff is a mac fanatic, and has no problem solving one problem at a time over the phone instead of support tickets.

While Mac Highway was grabbing headlines, a number of other excellent mac web hosting services were continuing to build upon their already solid reputation.

Arogo

Arogo serves up a Mac Mini Xserve Dedicated Server for less than $100 a month.  The processor is a 1.5 Ghz Intel Core Solo with 1 GB Ram.  The server utilizes the Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or 10.5 Leopard.  The total bandwidth maximum is 800 GB.

iWeb

iWeb offers mac web hosting with a Mac Dedicate Server with a core 2 duo 1.83 Ghz processor and 1 GB RAM.  The operating system is the Mac OSX Leopard and the bandwidth is restricted to 1500 GB per month.  All of this comes in at a ticket of $119.

Solid Space

Solid Space, another mac web hosting service, offers a Mac Mini Dedicated Server at $129 a month.  The server has a 1.66 Ghz Intel Core Duo processor and 512 MB of RAM.  The operating system is the Mac OSX 10.4 (Tiger) and the monthly transfer (bandwidth) is 100 GB.

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However, they are becoming more and more popular for even the most discerning of webmasters.  Images can quickly suck up valuable system resources and can also make your website load time much longer.

Another problem, especially for bloggers with limited bandwidth, is that images can consume so much bandwidth that the sites will cause server downtime and deliver an “internal server error” message on a regular basis.

Since so many free image hosting websites are now available, why would anyone upload images to servers and potentially reduce the websites performance?

The only problem, with so many free image hosting websites, is which one or ones to choose.

Image Hosting Websites

Here is a quick look at some of the most popular free image hosting websites.

1.    Flickr

Flickr is considered by many to be one of the top photo-sharing and image hosting websites around.

It allows you to upload both images and videos.  Then you can securely share your images with friends and family or add them to your website.

Many people prefer to only upload images because the storage capacity is limited as well as the available monthly bandwidth.  Free accounts are limited to 100MB and two 90 second videos a month.

2.    PhotoBucket

PhotoBucket is another great free image hosting website.  Currently, it hosts more than 25 million unique hits a month in the United States, and almost twice that worldwide.

PhotoBucket is another premier image hosting website and allows uploading, sharing, linking, and even searching for photos, videos, and graphics.  A free account holds thousands of photos and videos.

3.    ImageShack

ImageShack has proven to be a contender in the arena of free image hosting websites.  They allow for a little more variety than some of its competitors.

You can upload images and videos like every other site, but you can also upload flash files.  Every image needs to 1.5 megabytes or less.

While this may sound limiting, any image larger than 1.5 megabytes will really drag down your websites load time.  The same is true for flash files.

4.    Pict

Another great image hosting website is Pict.  Pict allows you to upload images that are up to 3.5 MB and support a variety of formats including JPG, PNG, and GIF.  It can automatically resize your images as well as providing a number of other useful tools.

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The fundamental purpose of this type of hosting service is to allow guild members to be able to easily communicate with each other outside of the game itself.

Why Choose Guild Hosting Over Conventional Hosting?

This hosting, as a niche, arose because it was becoming increasingly complex and labor intensive.

One of the biggest reasons that this hosting has become so popular is because they focus on allowing the guild to be worry-free regarding dealing with design, overhead, and maintenance of a website and gives the guild more time to actually enjoy playing their game.

Guild hosting companies also have a unique understanding of what their clients need.  Guilds want to be able to share information between guilds, build alliances, and have open forums.

However, they also want to limit what content is being shared with.  It provides the ultimate flexibility, and eliminates the need for an extra website that is just for the alliance, while maintaining the guilds own identity.

Two Must Have Guild Hosting Features

People choose this hosting because it serves their specific needs.  This means that there are certain features, beyond traditional hosting features, that are critical to creating a great guild website.

1.    Alliance Features

Many of the best guild hosting companies have a variety of alliance features that make forming and maintaining an alliance with other guilds.

Alliance features often include shared forums, events, and “shouts”.  This allows the guild to still keep its own identity while sharing as much or as little information as they need to in order to have an effective alliance.

2.    Raid Scheduling

Many guilds are forced to use a normal “events calendar” type application. However, there are now much better ways to schedule events such as raids.

Site administrators have demanded more, and many guild hosting companies have happily complied.  There are now a number of convenient tools like  event sign-up, event/raid points, and participation requirement levels.

Event sign-ups allows the leader to know how many people will be attending the raid, but also gives them a chance to strategize how to best use their resources before the raid begins.

By assigning raid point or event points, you can award members of your guild that are the most active.  By setting participation requirement levels, you easily let members know if the raid is considered mandatory or not.

The best part is that all of this information can be shared with alliances if you decide to.

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What is Grid Hosting?

This hosting is designed so that your website can handle short surges in traffic that are often the result of social bookmarking or an effective e-newsletter campaign.

Grid hosting is when a hosting company leverages a multitude of servers by combining their resources into a larger computer grid.  This has become much more popular as interactivity and social networks become legitimate tools to driving traffic.

What are the Benefits of Using Grid Hosting?

Here are the main benefits of using grid hosting:

1.    Reliability

While no one can guarantee 100% up-time, this hosting can get you as close to it as possible.

Since there are so many different available resources that can be called upon, if one server fails, your website can still stay up by relying on the rest of the servers that are part of the grid.

2.    No More Migration

Eventually, a dedicated server will be needed if you are running a high traffic website, however there is a good chance that you will even need more resources that a single dedicated server can offer.  This means that you will need to migrate your website to an even larger machine.

With this type of hosting, you simply keep integrating more servers into the grid.  If a server crashes, you can simply remove it and replace it with another one.

3.    Flexibility

Grid hosting offers a large amount of flexibility to anyone hosting a website.  If there is a spike in the need for resources, you can leverage available resources throughout the rest of the grid to make up the difference.

You can have multiple servers completing multiple tasks or dedicate each server to only a few tasks.

4.    Adaptability

Grid hosting offers vast adaptability to any web master.  Most people start out with a shared hosting plan and as they grow will move to a dedicated server and will eventually continue to add servers.

This means that they will need to be able to estimate their future needs in order to prepare for upcoming months.  With grid hosting, there is no reason to waste money by over-provisioning or fall short and have your server crash.  Grid hosting allows you to only use the resources that you need.

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These services help people keep their hard drives free of clutter that is still important, but not used on a regular basis.  File hosting services are also great when you need to send or share a file with someone, but it is too large to send via email.

Whatever the reason may be, these services will continue to gain popularity.

Keep in mind some of these services will bombard you with pop ups or force you into a membership before you can download a file.  Fortunately, there are still a number of great file hosting services that make everything as easy and simple as possible.

Best Free File Hosting Services

1.    FileDropper

FileDropper is a great tool that makes uploading files as simple as possible.  It is set up very similar to adding an attachment to an email.

FileDropper also stands out because it allows users to upload 5 GB, which is much more than most other file hosting services.

Once you have completed your upload, you will be given the link and source code so that it can be added to a website or given to someone else so that you can easily share it.

If the file is an image, it will show up on the page which makes sharing or finding the image you want a simple task.

2.    FileDen

FileDen is another great free file hosting service.  They also offer a direct link to the files which make direct download from a website as simple as possible.

Without an account, you can upload files up to 100 MB.  However, many people choose to open a free account because they receive unlimited disk space, unlimited bandwidth, the option to create projects, replace files, and even tracks file and project stats.

3.    EasyShare

EasyShare is unique among free file hosting services.  You can register and upload your files very quickly and can download the files multiple times.

However, EasyShare actually pays users for their uploads. If your upload gets downloaded 10,000 times you are eligible to receive $20.

You can even add a personalized toolbar to your website and receive cash from their uploads that take place through your toolbar.

Additionally, you receive 10% of others earnings if you are the person that referred them to EasyShare.

The reason that they can do this is because they do have some pop ups and ads that visitors will be forced to deal with.  They also offer paid accounts which is another source of profit.

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Unfortunately, if you are using either a virtual private server or dedicated server, you will need to find a DNS host, unless your domain name registrar will host your DNS for you.

Once you have set up your DNS hosting for your dedicated server, it is important to keep in mind that most registrars will require that you have at least two DNS servers.  This means that you need your initial DNS server, but also use a secondary NS which serves primarily as a backup.

4 Important Criteria For Choosing The Best DNS Hosting Service

1.    Physical Location

Most quality DNS hosting services have their DNS servers on networks that are geographically diverse.  This helps to make sure that your domain name remains resolvable when the services are off-line.  While it is great to have them close, having them on the same network ruins the concept of redundancy.

2.    Cost

A large number of these services are “free”.  While it is true that a rare few are actually free in every sense of the word, 99% are not.  Instead they make their money off of extra services, pounding you with banner ads, or charge you to transfer your domain names to their servers.  It is important to understand how much their free service will actually cost you.

3.    Records/Domains

Free DNS services often limit the number of domains and DNS records that they will allow you to host, while a small fee will often increase the number.  As long as you are not planning on hosting more than a few sites, choosing your service probably isn’t an issue.  However, if you plan on having a large number of domains, this information could prove essential in the future.

4.    Extras

There are number of extra features that are often provided, however they are not considered to be part of the free hosting.  They can include: secondary DNS, Dynamic DNS, Web Forwarding, Email Forwarding, and much more.  If any of these additional features are something that you will need, make sure to price them out and compare them before choosing your DNS hosting service.

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Django operates using a high-level Python framework.  Since Django was developed within a fast paced newsroom environment, it focuses on making web development tasks easy and speedy.  The primary goal is to make creating a website that is both complex and data-base driven.

However, since it is based almost entirely on Python, finding the right host is critical, otherwise you could have problems.

Common problems include:

1. The Python interpreter is outdated
2. Python is not installed at all
3. Persistent process cannot be used
4. Some modules that you will need for the programming are not installed and the host will not install if for you.

This means that there are some important pieces of information that you need before you choose a web host.

First, you need to make sure that the host has a recent version of Python.  Second, you need to find out if you have access to modules like R.ed, Cheetah, ElementTree, and sqlite.  Third, you may need the ability to run a persistent process and a shell account; however this isn’t always possible.

Fortunately, there are several hosts that are geared towards Python programmers specifically.  Here is a quick look at excellent web hosts, several of which have been specifically tailored to meet the needs of Django users.

Django Hosting – Specific to Django

1.    Django Domain – DjangoDomain was first created because the founders thought that other hosting sites made installation of Django more difficult than it needed to be.  This web hosting site was set up to make installing and working Django as simple as possible.

2.    Kutoken – Kutoken is a “first class platform for hosting Django applications”.  Their virtual servers are optimized specifically for Django, have a 99.95% uptime, and full root access.

Django Hosting – The Top 2

If you are looking for a web host that is more than just the perfect place for Django, then here are two of the most popular options.

1.    Web Faction – It seems like you can’t talk about Django hosting without mentioning Web Faction. Web Faction has 50 one-click installations including “Django, Rails, WordPress, Drupal…”  Thus far, it is considered to be the most popular Django hosting company and one of the first to “officially support Django.”

2.    Linode – If your website is busy enough, you may need to consider using a virtual private server.  Linode gives you complete control, but because of the low cost, you will need to manage everything yourself.

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It is full of powerful tools that make completing daily tasks quick and easy.  The best part about cPanel is that it is simple enough for a newbie, but it has enough power and flexibility to keep professionals more than satisfied.

While there are a number of standout features of cPanel, Fantastico is consistently the most highly rated feature.

Why is Fantastico (included in cPanel hosting) Such a Big Deal?

Fantastico is a 3rd party add on that can quickly become part of the cPanel interface.  Fantastico is known for helping you to install a variety of open source scripts within minutes.  The best part is that fantastico always ensures that you are installing the newest version of each script available.

Top Rated Fantastico Scripts

Blogging

WordPress – WordPress has quickly become on of the most popular blogging platforms on the web and fantastico can have it installed within seconds.

B2Evolution – b2Evolution is the perfect blogging platform if you are using multiple blogs on the same domain

Nucleus – Nucleus continues to have a strong following and allows you to create multiple blogs, bookmarklets, multiple authors, and much more.

CMS or Content Management Systems

Drupal – Drupal has one of the largest CMS followings on the internet.  It is considered to be one of the most advanced portals that has a large community that offers online help.

Mambo – Mambo is known for its WYSIWYG content editor as well as other features like syndicated news, news feeds, banners, link managers, and more.

PHP Nuke – PHP Nuke is still growing in popularity and offers a wide selection of modules and languages.

SiteFrame – SiteFrame is perfect for the webmaster that is focused on document sharing.  It has a wide community to help you with your support needs and allows for the rapid creation of community-based websites.

Customer Support

Help Center Live – This all in one help center features Live Help, FAQ, and Support Tickets and much more.

OsTicket – OsTicket is an email based support center with pop3 login and unlimited email addresses.

Ecommerce

There are a number of ecommerce open source options available with Fantastico including: CubeCart, OS Commerce, ZenCart, and many more.

Discussion Boards For Cpanel Hosting

The two most powerful and most popular discussion boards that are offered are Invision Board and SMF.

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Colocation is generally only a good option for businesses that lack either the financial resources, physical space, or both, to house and maintain their servers.

Colocation originally became popular because businesses didn’t want to spend the money to created their own data center.  Aside from the cost and convenience, there are several big advantages that can be gained from colocation hosting.

Power Supply

A quality colocation service will have multiple or redundant power supplies, which are extremely expensive to recreate in-house by small businesses.

A quality hosting company should have a state of the art data center.  This will include complete surge and lightning protection, multiple battery backups, and generators that can compensate for an extended power outage.

Hardware Protection

Colocation hosting facilities have the ability to protect your servers, thus your sensitive data, throughout a wide range of conditions.  The best colocation facilities are built to withstand all sorts of hazards such as fire, flooding, high humidity, air pollution, earthquakes, and hurricanes.

This protection comes with a high price tag, but that is the benefit of this type of hosting.  The costs are shared by multiple businesses all using the same facilities and it is much cheaper than building this type of facility in-house.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth can become very expensive, very quickly.  Most of the time, businesses only use a small amount of their total available bandwidth because they must pay for enough bandwidth to handle traffic spikes.  When you lease bandwidth from a colocation hosting provider instead of paying for bandwidth for your in-house data center, you will only be paying for the amount you use.

Physical Security

Regardless of the physical security that your business has, there is always a chance that it will get broken into.  It could be someone attacking your business, or just a disgruntled employee.  All they need to do is get to your data center and copy the information they want to a disk.

Hosting facilities ensure the physical security of your servers, because security is part of their business.

While the potential drawbacks prevent large companies from using colocation hosting services, many small and medium businesses can benefit from using a colocation hosting service.

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However, with Adobe’s release of Coldfusion 9, all worries have been placated for the moment.  While Coldfusion 9 once again proved that it is one of the best alternatives available, it hasn’t make Coldfusion hosting any easier to find.

Coldfusion Hosting now features some applications that were newly released in Coldfusion 9.

Server Manager

From a center console, you can now complete administrative tasks simultaneously across multiple servers.  This includes creating data centers, applying hot fixes, scheduling tasks, comparing settings across Coldfusion servers, and clearing caches.

Tighter Integration with the Coldfusion Builder

Developers can now create Coldfusion application faster than ever before.  They can leverage the Adobe Coldfusion Builder which is an Eclipse-based IDE.

Object Relational Mapping

When you have Coldfusion hosting, you will be able to build database-independent applications while using object relational mapping.  This is based primarily on the open source Hibernate library.  This allows you to save time by managing database connectivity and logic without any SQL.  With the ORM Application Wizard, you can do this without writing a single line of code.

Enhanced Caching

Coldfusion hosting allows you to improve your application performance by caching sections of pages with data that is rarely updated.

CFML and CFC Upgrades

There were several CFML and CFC improvements that will increase performance and error handling.  These updates include the onServerStart() method, local variable scope, implicit getters and setters, and nested CFTRANSACTIONS.

Virtual File System Support

With Coldfusion hosting, you will be able to build applications that require less I/O calls by using the new Virtual File System.  They can be dynamically generated and executed from memory.

More PDF Functionality

You can reduce the necessary code by adding imaged directly to the PDF within the CFPDF tag.  This makes it easier to add watermarks, headers, and footers to all of your PDF files.

Instance Based Licensing

Coldfusion hosting has been made easier because in addition to the physical deployment, you can install Coldfusion 9 on 10 virtual instances within the cloud environment of the hosts choosing.

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Right.

And most web hosts do meet your expectations. But then that’s it.

Your website needs more than just hosting space, bandwidth and uptime. It needs traffic.

Most websites (yes, most) are like a party thrown at the north pole. No one’s there.

Without traffic, a website may as well be non-existent. If no one sees it, does it exist?

Hosting space, bandwidth, uptime, and all the addon features and scripts are a matter of course for all web hosts. But what next?

Traffic from search engines

SiteSell is a web host that helps your site succeed (link opens in a new window) by attracting free, organic search engine traffic. They go beyond just hosting your site and provide tools and guidance that ensure its success.

They do this through their flagship product, called “Site Build It!” or “SBI!” (link opens in a new window) for short.

What is SBI?

That’s a bit hard to define to someone who has not yet been introduced to SBI!. Simply because there is nothing like it, in my experience and knowledge.

In short though, SBI! is a whole set of tools and packages that help you build your website, host it, and make it a success. This success part is important; do pay attention to it. Almost anyone can build a website, or get one built by someone else. It takes more to be successful.

In addition to the tools and packages, Site Build It! is a guide. A guide that will take you by the hand and help you make your website successful. You need to follow the instructions, though. It takes hard work to be successful. No shortcuts here.

But the most amazing thing about Site Build It! is that it empowers common people, with absolutely no technical skills whatsoever, to build successful websites that beat those built by professionals. You don’t need to know the technology or tricks behind building a website, having your own Search Engine Marketing campaign, creating your own Web 2.0 engine to let your site’s visitors add content to your site, or anything else. If you know all this stuff, very good. Now try to forget all that you know, and learn to focus on success. But if you don’t, and especially if you don’t, you still have a level playing field. Why?

Because SBI! does it all for you. The technology part, I mean. Lots of things will happen without you even having to lift a finger. No, scratch that. You will have to lift your finger once in a while. To click, write your content, etc.

And because you haven’t been “corrupted” yet. So you can focus on your success right from the beginning, instead of getting lost in the myriad of technological details.

But you still need to bring your own brain and motivation to the table. You are the one who knows your business, hobby or passion. SBI! doesn’t. You deliver on that count, and SBI! will deliver too.

How will SBI! benefit me?

That’s easy to answer. It will make you successful. The best part is, you define what success is for you. The rest is just details…

Site Build It! will help you if you:

• Want to get your website in the top positions in the Search Engine listings
• Need more traffic to your site
• Want to let your site’s visitors add content to your site
• Want to build a site quickly and efficiently, focusing on building your content, forgetting the technological details
• Need to help people or simply reach out to them
• Need to make money
• Extend or bring your offline business online
• Start an online business venture from your home or small office
• Want to quit your day job

There are many more ways SBI! can help you. The above are just a few examples. The power of Site Build It! lies in its ability to make your website successful too. Provided you follow the system, of course.

How is SBI different?

Be glad we are not in a commercial for a certain ketchup that shall go unnamed. Otherwise I would have answered that with, “It’s different!” After a few times, you would have gone nuts.

Anyway, Site Build It! is the only package that guarantees success. And not just tall claims, but solid proof. See below.

Site Build It! is the only package that includes everything you need to succeed — tools to build your website, market your website, build new as well as ongoing traffic, etc. etc. etc. And they go on adding more and more at no extra charge.

Site Build It! is the only package that removes all the technological barriers and reduces the work and time required by 90%. But mind you, you still have to work hard. This is not one of those get-rich-quick-by-magic type schemes. You are going to build a real business, and building a real business always takes work.

Bottom line? Success.

How do you know?

I know because I am a happy customer too. I have an SBI! site of my own.

I know because they give proof of success (link opens in a new window).

They deliver verifiable results (link opens in a new window). Those are a few hundreds of their clients who have websites in the top 1%. Of course, that page doesn’t include all their successful clients, only a small cross-section of them.

• 35% of SBI! sites ranked in the top 1% of all sites on the web
• 53% were in the top 2%
• 62% scored in the top 3%

I know some of these people with these websites. These people are real, like you and me. I get a chance to interact with some of these people.

If you want to know more, maybe you would like to go to the Site Build It! summary site (link opens in a new window). Or you can even ask a real SBI! owner (link opens in a new window) yourself.

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Bluehost is one of our recommended web hosts. They have been around since 1996, and currently host over 750,000 web sites. They provide professional web hosting plans that include all the features one can possibly want, and at the best possible price. From top-notch support (I personally have seen answers to my support requests within minutes) to great service and features, there is everything to like about Bluehost, and nothing to dislike, from my personal experience.

Why I’m so impressed with them: Among other things (read below for more), I once sent an email to their CEO Matt Heaten, just to see what happens. I got back a personal reply from him! Now look. It’s not like Bluehost is a company running out of someone’s basement or anything. They host 750,000+ websites with them! So the CEO replying back to an unknown person is a BIG DEAL, as far as I am concerned. It shows how much he cares about his customers. This is reflected in everything that the company does. They keep improving their technology, their packages, their support system, and everything else.

Website: Click here to go to the official Bluehost website

Quick Facts

• Number of domains hosted: Over 750,000
• Services: Shared hosting (at $6.95/month) with free set-up, no hidden fees, domain included, unlimited disk space, unlimited domains and sub-domains, unlimited data transfer, and support for almost every script you can imagine
• Location: Provo, UT (USA)
• Guarantees: 30-day money back guarantee, highest uptime, no hidden fees, free domain for life
• Contact information: Call (888) 401-HOST, (888) 401-4678, or visit their contact page.

Click here to go to the official Bluehost website

Products & Services

Shared Linux hosting (at $6.95/month) with free set-up, no hidden fees, domain included, unlimited disk space, unlimited domains and sub-domains, unlimited data transfer, and support for almost every script you can imagine.

Hostorian’s Review

Performance

While Bluehost does tend to oversell like every other web hosting company out there, they have tried really hard to not let that affect the overall performance of the servers. Judging from the feedback by other people who host their sites with Bluehost, and other reviews (and my own personal experience), they’ve just got to be one of the better performing hosts in the shared web hosting space.

With the rapid growth that Bluehost has been experiencing in the recent past, they have constantly been upgrading their bandwidth as well as servers and data centers to keep up with the increasing demand.

Overall, they seem very reliable for hosting serious websites.

Features

The number of features offered by Bluehost just boggles the mind – unlimited storage, unlimited domains and sub-domains, unlimited data transfer, drag and drop site-builder, support for 100 databases, e-commerce support, several plug-in scripts and shopping carts, blogs, forums, wiki, multi-media support, and so many other things, it just boggles the mind.

They offer almost everything you would want from a Linux web hosting service – cPanel (the best hosting control panel), fantastico support, .htaccess customization, custom php.ini files, and more. They even allow shell access (SSH), and have DDOS protection and power backup and complimentary site backup services.

Support and Customer Care

Here again I can speak from personal experience. Their support is unlike ANYTHING I have ever seen. They are the best!

I have received answers to my questions within minutes of sending emails to their support no matter what the time was. And the biggest surprise (!) was that the support person used to actually read my email and give me exactly the answer I needed!

They even helped me with a problem I had with a PHP script I had installed on one of my websites.

Not surprisingly, they have won several awards for customer support. And why not, when they take such good care of their customers.

Click here to go to the official Bluehost website

Actual Customer Feedback

Used bluehost for 2 years now. Always up, good customer service, and good value. - g torregrassa

They are definitely WELL worth the $6.95 per month and even more! I’ve been very impressed with their service, speed and features. The uptime could be a bit better, but I’m guessing it’s about 98%. Just a few unannounced outages over the year. Overall, I couldn’t be more stoked about a Web host. I run 30k unique users and about 20gb of monthly bandwidth no problems! - Jason Mitchell

I’ve been with Blue Host for one year now. They are the BEST! Best overall and best value. Outstanding customer service. The company is always making improvements AND they are HONEST. A novice might find it a little challenging to figure everything at first, but once you do the number of features is unbeatable. - Brad

Bluehost is amazing. Their service is really amazingly outstanding. They go well beyond what is required and are always eager to help. - Amit

I have been with Bluehost for over 5 years and as a web designer, appreciate a good host. I recommend Bluehost to all my website clients. I have worked with many different hosts and have not found one yet that I liked more than Bluehost. - Chantal

I have been with bluehost for over a year, and have not had a single hick up, i am running 3 domains. Whenever i have needed help their support has been able to promptly help me. - Isaac Witton, Australia

Click here to go to the official Bluehost website

Verdict Of This Review

Bluehost beats almost every other web host in the Linux shared hosting space. Unbeatable pricing, unmatched features, what more could one want?

Highly recommended!

Rating: 5 out of 5

Click here to go to the official Bluehost website

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Apollo Hosting hosts over 165,000 domains since 1999. They provide reliable and affordable website hosting services for business, ecommerce, reseller and personal use with all the tools you need for a successful website.

Website: Click here to go to the official Apollo Hosting website

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1&1 claim to be the world’s number 1 web host and the fastest growing web hosting company. According to their “About 1&1″ page, 1&1′s global community is 7.46 million people strong with 2,500 new customers signing up every day.

Website: Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet UK website

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1&1 claim to be the world’s number 1 web host and the fastest growing web hosting company. According to their “About 1&1″ page, 1&1′s global community is 7.46 million people strong with 2,500 new customers signing up every day.

Website: Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet Inc. website

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Unless you know where you are going, you won’t get there.

Or something like that. I am really bad at paraphrasing stuff, you know, being just a crazy old Hostorian.

So where were we? Oh yeah.

Unless you know what you want, you ain’t gonna get it.

Got it?

So let’s get down to determining what you want, and how to do so.

First things first.

When you go to a web host’s site, you will invariably find them all boasting of feature X, feature Y, providing X amount of thing Y, and so on.

Don’t let any of that confuse you or distract you from your main goal.

For example, 20,000 email accounts mean squat to you unless you are going to have 20,000 employees or other people with email accounts under your domain name.

Ditto for 1,000 FTP accounts.

Think you are going to need 50 databases? Think again. OK, wait, you may end up needing several more databases than you think, so the more databases they offer you, the better.

And do you want a host that gives you 15,000 MB of disk space or one that gives you just 10,000 MB?

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Those who didn’t, are way too dumb anyway and they deserve what they get. But you and I are not like that, so it’s OK. Let the other fools rot in webhost hell.

Anyway.

You see, web hosting has become a commodity service these days. Everyone and his dog seem to be offering web hosting. Competition is fierce, and to stay alive, a web host today must offer all the features offered by their competitors.

And so everyone seems to be offering the same features, the same amounts of X, Y, and Z, the same of same, and some more same of same. And for dirt cheap prices too. In fact, dirt is cheaper than hosting, but only just.

Phthoo!

(That was the sound of me spitting in disgust! Sorry about the visual image I just created for you.)

What differentiates one web host from all the other billion web hosts is their level of service to you as a customer, their level of commitment to customer satisfaction. As unlikely as it sounds, there are a few web hosts that fit the bill, and I will mention them in passing a little later. There is another special web host (if you could call it that) that I can talk about without spitting in disgust, that I will talk about later. Don’t you make me get ahead of myself though!

One thing at a time.

Now that you know not to allow the web hosts to confuse you, what should you be looking for?

• These days, every web host offers plenty of disk space and bandwidth/data transfer, so that’s not an issue any more. Whatever you are going to do with your website, it’s very likely that you will have enough web space and data transfer limits in your hosting account.
• As far as the number of FTP accounts, email accounts, number of email auto responders, number of XYZ, forget them. No matter what you want to do with your site, and no matter which web host you choose, it’s very likely that you are going to get plenty of them for your needs.
• As of this writing, not every web host offers unlimited add-on domains and unlimited sub domains, so do make sure the host you are going to choose does so, if you plan to expand later and start more sites.
• If it’s going to be a techie site, you will want to know whether the scripts you need for your site will run or not. By a techie site, I mean a site that will require scripts. A site that serves dynamic content, or an e-commerce site, or a blog, or forum, or a content management system, or whatever else that needs scripts. So the first thing you need to know is what kind of scripts you require.  Is it PHP, ASP (classic), ASP.NET, Ruby on Rails, Perl, Python, CGI, or something else?
• Once you know what scripts you require, you will want to know the operating system the web server needs to run on, for the scripts to function properly. Most scripts (except ASP and ASP.NET) run better on a Linux based server, so make sure you choose that, if you are running one of those scripts. Most web hosts offer both Windows based and Linux based hosting, and Linux hosting typically costs less, so make sure you know what you are getting, and the operating system you choose supports the scripts you need to run.
• Depending on how big you think your site is going to be, and how involved you want to be with the system administration side of things, you will need to choose between shared hosting, dedicated hosting, managed hosting, and a few other types of hosting. For most people, shared hosting is the answer, but if you need help deciding, I will tell you the difference between these different types of hosting a little later.
• Unless you have a very special reason for choosing a web host in your area, state, or country, forget it. It doesn’t matter. Choose someone that is good, not someone that is in the same geographical area as you. And why would you want your web host to be in your area anyway? Do you want to invite them to a party where you are the host (ha-ha!) and hope they get the joke? Ain’t gonna happen. Forget it!

There are several other things we could go on talking about, but take it from me that almost every web host offers the feature you want in one form or the other. They have to. Otherwise they just won’t survive in this competitive market.

So, to summarize, these are the things that you should actually be looking for:

1. Do they offer unlimited domains and sub domains. This one is just a just-in-case thing, but it’s always good to have it. Just in case. And I’m sure pretty soon almost all web hosts will start offering it, just like all the other features.
2. Ditto for the number of databases they allow you to run.
3. What scripts you need to run your website, and does your webhost support them.
4. What operating system you need to run your scripts smoothly, and does your webhost offer it.
5. Do you need shared hosting, dedicated hosting, managed hosting, or other type of hosting and does your webhost offer it.

The rest either don’t matter, or are offered by almost every webhost anyway.

The first and second ones in the list is something you can see on the spot in the features list, but you may need some help with the other three items. I will deal with them in later posts.

For now, I’d be interested in your thoughts. What do you look for when trying to choose a web host?

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