Charan Hosting

2009-12-13T08:01:00.000-08:00

Comparison of Windows and UNIX Web Hosting

When browsing through the offerings of various web hosting companies you are sure to notice that some offer UNIX hosting and others offer Windows. Some hosts even offer a choice of the two operating systems. What are the differences and which one is better?
First of all, when choosing a host, it doesn't matter what kind of operating system you develop your web site on or what you use on your own computer. Web sites hosted on both UNIX and Windows servers are universally accessible because the data they serve is identical. The difference lies solely in the software used to serve that data.
In terms of reliability UNIX systems have a slight advantage. They are known to extremely stable and able to run for years without rebooting. Windows is also very reliable, though slightly less so than UNIX but still able to handle the demands of modern web sites.
The majority of web hosts use various flavours of UNIX like Linux and FreeBSD. These operating systems are free and reduce the costs of a hosting operation. Windows costs thousands of dollars so some hosts charge extra for Windows accounts if they offer both types.
As well as being free, Linux and the other UNIX varieties are open-source software. Anyone can alter the source code and make improvements, updates, and additions. There is a large pool of dedicated enthusiasts who use their free time to work on this software. Windows, on the other hand, is Microsoft proprietary software so users are dependent on Microsoft to release updates. There is no way for an individual user to modify the code.
The main difference between the two types of operating systems is the type of software each can run. Windows is suitable for Microsoft products such as MS Access databases, ASP for delivering dynamic content, and VBScript for site enhancements. UNIX cannot accommodate these technologies so if you absolutely need ASP or VBScript you should pick a Windows host. UNIX hosts deliver dynamic content by using software such as PHP, CGI, and MySQL – technologies which are also available on Windows hosts.
Windows is necessary for hosting Windows media files such as videos and audio. Other types of media such as MP3, Flash, Shockwave and Real can be handled by either UNIX or Windows. Websites created in Microsoft FrontPage (a graphical HTML development package) can also be hosted on either type as long as MS databases or dynamic content are not included for use on a UNIX host.

Which is Best?

Before deciding which type of hosting to use for your website, consider carefully what kind of technologies you will need. Do you need a dynamic site? Will you have multimedia content such as streaming video or audio?
Both UNIX and Windows can provide dynamic content with PHP, MySQL, as well as CGI, and there are thousands of dynamic scripts readily available. Multimedia can also be hosted by either type of server, although Windows media (WMA and WMV) need to be hosted on a Windows server.

If you absolutely need Microsoft databases, ASP, and Windows media you have to go with a Windows host. Otherwise most websites are probably better off with a UNIX host. The advantages of UNIX over Windows include greater choices in web hosts, slightly better reliability, and (sometimes) cheaper hosting costs.

2009-12-13T07:58:00.000-08:00

Every hosting account has a certain allotment of disk space. The disk space is used to hold all the files which make up your web site – HTML files, graphics, scripts, and multi-media content. Usually the more expensive the hosting package the more disk space and the more bandwidth you receive.
A basic web site with just a few pages requires less than 1 MB of disk space. As you add more content and include things like downloadable files, pictures, music, and video you will require more disk space. Email also takes up disk space. If you have an account with a small disk allotment you may find that unsolicited SPAM may be eating away at your disk allotment. It's always a good idea to go through your inbox from time to time to delete unnecessary emails.
What will happen if you use too much disk space? Each web host has their own policy about this but it's safe to say that you will be charged for the extra space. Often this penalty is much higher than regular rates for disk space so it's important to keep an eye on how much space you are using and if you are approaching the limit, either purchase more space or delete some files.
How can you tell how much space you are using? Most hosting packages have a control panel for making adjustments to almost every aspect of your account. These control panels usually tell you how much disk space is being used and may also rate it against your allotment so you can see at a glance if you are approaching your limit. If your hosting account does not have this feature you can judge the amount of space by downloading your entire site to a folder on your personal computer in order to check how much space it takes.
As a rough guide, consider that an average web page (3 graphics and 2 screen lengths of text) takes about 20 kb (to be generous). At this rate, a hosting package with 10 MB can have about 500 pages. Since most small sites are less than 50 pages 10 MB should be plenty to get started. But what about databases? They are usually calculated separately from your disk allotment but check with your web host to see what their policy is.
If you place music or video files on your website your need for disk space (and bandwidth) starts to take off. A typical 3 minute MP3 file takes about 2.5 to 3 MB of disk space. A short video (very poor quality) can take 1 MB. A good rule of thumb for those wishing to host multimedia is to estimate the total size of the files and get an account with double that space. This will allow for future expansion. Always check with your web host, though, before placing sound or video files on your website. Some have policies against this type of content because it places a strain on the bandwidth allotment which makes this a serious consideration with a shared hosting package.

What is Bandwidth?

2009-12-13T07:56:00.000-08:00

Definition of Bandwidth for Website Hosting

Bandwidth is a term that has several different meanings depending on the context. When talking about bandwidth in terms of Web Hosting it refers to the amount of data that transfers into and out of your web hosting account. Incoming data can include requests for web pages, email, FTP requests, and FTP uploads, while outgoing data includes file transfers, web pages, and email. Each hosting account is allocated a certain amount of bandwidth per month. Common figures for bandwidth range from 3 GB for small personal sites up to 200 GB for large business systems.
How much bandwidth do you need? This depends on the amount of traffic your website receives as well as the content. Web pages made up of text and a few pictures are very small in size but if you get thousands of visitors each day you may need a lot of bandwidth. On the other hand website content consisting of downloadable files such as software, music or video is much larger in size, so even if your traffic is fairly low you may need extra bandwidth.
The best way to calculate the amount of bandwidth you need is to calculate the size of your downloadable content and multiply by the number of visitors you receive each month. Add to that the number of emails sent and received and other content such as FTP uploads. The figure you come up with should be pretty accurate because it is unlikely that every visitor to your site is going to download every file or view every page. This will give you a bit of margin to play with.
As your web site grows and as you receive more traffic you may have to increase your bandwidth allotment accordingly. It is better to plan ahead and arrange with your web host for a larger hosting package rather than wait until you go over your limit. Check with your host to see what their policy is in regards to exceeding your bandwidth. Some will allow you to go over by a certain amount while others will shut down your site and demand that you upgrade your account before resuming service. It is always best to keep track of how much bandwidth you are using and anticipate when you need to upgrade.
If you feel that you have sufficient bandwidth for your website and would prefer not to upgrade you may be able to 'throttle' traffic if you are approaching your monthly limit. Some hosts offer this service as a way to limit incoming requests or to exclude requests once a certain number has been reached.
There are several throttling options. You can limit the number of incoming requests by specifying an idle time between requests. This causes incoming requests to be delayed by a specified amount of time if too many are arriving at once. Other options are to impose a limit on data transfer within a certain time period or to limit the number of requests for a certain file. The speed of transfers can also be capped at a certain level. Throttling may not be a good idea if you depend on web traffic for your business. If your pages are slow to load or if users can't access files they are looking for they may give up and move on to another site. If you have a lot of free content, though, throttling can be useful for keeping your hosting budget within a certain amount.

The Hosting Website

2009-12-13T07:50:00.000-08:00

Information About Web Hosting:

Just about anybody can create a presence on the Internet. Building a web site can be as simple as using a word processor, but once you have the site you need a way to publish it on the World Wide Web. This is where website hosting companies come into their own.
The Hosting Website aims to provide you with an overview of hosting, web hosts and what to look for when choosing one for your business or site.
A web host rents you disk space and provides all the services necessary to allow others to see your site online. Barring technical problems, a web host operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so that anybody in the world can access your web site at any time.
There are literally thousands of web hosts to choose from so choosing an appropriate host can be a difficult task. The prices range from free to hundreds of dollars a year. Hosting companies can offer a multitude of services that can be confusing to a newcomer. This series of articles will help you to sort out all the information available and give you the confidence to make the proper decision about choosing a web host.

Free or Paid Hosting?

There are plenty of hosting companies that provide free hosting, so why bother paying for it? The old adage 'You get what you pay for' is just as valid in the electronic age as it was 100 years ago. In web hosting, when you pay nothing you sometimes end up with nothing.
Most free web hosts offer limited services. Even though they are not charging you to host your website, they still need to make money. They often do this by placing advertising on your site. You probably won't have any control over what kind of ads show up – it's a matter of take it or leave it.
In addition, free hosts may restrict the content you place on your site. You may not be allowed to sell things or have certain content such as videos or music. Finally, your web site could simply disappear overnight. New companies that offer free hosting pop up almost everyday, but they also vanish with astonishing regularity. When your hosting company vanishes, your web site goes with it.
If you are serious about having a web site you need to use a reliable web host. Prices range considerably with some companies offering rates as low as $2 a month while others charge $60 or more. High rates don't always translate as high service. Some of the lower priced hosts offer reliable, stable environments that allow your website to be accessed day in day out for years.
Generally speaking the more you pay the more you get. Higher rates should bring you more storage space, more bandwidth to handle Internet traffic, and more services such as databases, email accounts, mass mailers, and the ability to add custom scripts. Higher rates can also mean better technical service if you have problems with your website.

What is a Web Server?

Whichever hosting company you choose, it helps to understand some of the technical details about their service. Every host has dedicated computers called servers which connect to the Internet and 'serve' pages when they are requested. That is, whenever anyone wants to see a certain web page by clicking on a link the request is sent to the particular server where that web page is stored. The server responds by sending HTML data across the Internet. A web server must have fast connections to be able to serve pages quickly. For the greatest speed and reliability try to find a host that has multiple high-speed connections as well as reliable back up power supplies in case of power outages.

Managed Dedicated Servers

2009-12-13T04:43:00.000-08:00

Server and hosting management made easy.

With a customized dedicated solution, you can rest assured the technology supporting your business is reliable, scalable, and expertly maintained by a team of server engineers.
Our managed dedicated server hosting is about more than just servers, it's about service.

Dedicated Server Hosting Helps Your Business Grow

IT management doesn’t have to be such a large headache for you and your business. The underlying technologies that make your business run can be time-consuming and tedious to manage in house. Imagine having the time to concentrate on your core business and not on managing technology. Our dedicated solutions can do just that – free up you and your technology staff so you can handle the main aspects of growing your business.

Managed Dedicated Servers by Managed Hosting Professionals.

While it’s a business necessity to grow your technology infrastructure along with your business, you’ll need a partner who understands just how critical that can be to your business. Our managed hosting solutions are designed, built, and maintained by teams of managed hosting experts. Whether you need a simple one to two server solution or a multiple load balanced server configuration with custom firewalls, it will still be closely monitored by our Server Engineer staff.

Virtualization

Hosting.com’s Cloud Dedicated platform is a dynamic and scalable virtualization platform with a single set of integrated management tools for those interested in server consolidation, testing and development, business continuity and disaster recovery.

The Hosting.com Difference: Service

What’s the difference between our dedicated server solutions and those from other hosts? Easy – it’s the personal service you get from everyone here, at any hour of any day. Really. From the moment you contact us, our service mantra is evident. It’s obvious in our many guarantees, it’s obvious in the many services we offer, but it’s unmistakable in the lengths we go to exceed your expectations.

The Technology Behind Your Dedicated Solution

Everything we have powering your dedicated server solution, from the layout of our datacenter to the configuration of our network, has been meticulously researched, designed, and tested to exceed even the toughest industry standards. Stable, reliable, and flexible aren’t just buzz words to us – each is a critical component of how we operate the system that in turn powers your business.

Personal file storage

2009-12-02T07:10:00.000-08:00

Personal file storage services are aimed at private individuals, offering a sort of "network storage" for personal backup, file access, or file distribution. Users can upload their files and share them publicly or keep them password-protected.

Prior to the advent of personal file storage services, off-site backup services were not typically affordable for individual and small office computer users.

Sometimes people prefer hosting their files on a publicly accessible HTTP server. In this case, they generally choose paid hosting, and use their hosting for this purpose. Many free hosting providers do not allow the storage of files for non-website-related use.

One-click Hosting

2009-12-02T07:09:00.001-08:00

One-click hosting generally describes web services that allow internet users to easily upload one or more files from their hard drives (or from a remote location) onto the one-click host's server free of charge.

Most such services simply return a URL which can be given to other people, who can then fetch the file later on. As of 2005 these sites have drastically increased in popularity, and subsequently, many of the smaller, less efficient sites have failed. Many internet forums exist in order to share such links; this type of file sharing has, to a degree, taken over from P2P filesharing services.

The sites make money through advertising or charging for premium services such as increased downloading capacity, removing any wait restrictions the site may have or prolonging how long uploaded files remain on the site. Some sites implement a CAPTCHA to prevent automated downloading.

IP-based Hosting

2009-12-02T07:07:00.000-08:00

In IP-based virtual hosting, also called dedicated IP hosting, each virtual host has a different IP address. The web server is configured with multiple physical network interfaces, or virtual network interfaces on the same physical interface. The web server software uses the IP address the client connects to in order to determine which web site to show the user. The primary reason for a site to use a dedicated IP is to be able to use its own SSL certificate rather than a shared certificate.

Disadvantages

Name-based virtual hosts have some disadvantages:

* They do not properly support secure websites (HTTPS). All name-based virtual hosts using the same IP address must share the same digital certificate. This is because the SSL/TLS handshake takes place before the hostname is sent to the server. Thus the server doesn't know which encryption key to use when the connection is made. An extension to the TLS protocol, part of RFC 3546 - Transport Layer Security (TLS) Extensions, specifies a way for the client to provide the requested host name as part of the handshake, but it is not yet widely implemented. Some of the shared hosting providers require their customers to get Unique IP in order to properly set up HTTPS.
* If the Domain Name System is malfunctioning, it is harder to use a name-based virtually-hosted website. Ordinarily, in this case, the user could fall back to using the IP address to contact the system, as in http://192.0.2.0/ (invalid IP for example only). However, the web browser doesn't know what hostname to send to the server, but a name-based virtual host requires it. In this case, the default web host is sent back to the browser for that IP address. Therefore most hosters offer an alternative access method like http://192.0.2.0/~virtualhostname to provide access in such cases.
* They will not work with browsers that do not send the hostname as part of requests. This is true for older HTTP/1.0 browsers that have not retrofitted the host field feature from the HTTP/1.1 protocol. (The "Host" header that distinguishes between various DNS names sharing a single IP address was optional in HTTP/1.0; it is mandatory in HTTP/1.1, issued in 1999 as RFC 2616.) Since nearly every webbrowser that is currently used supports the HTTP/1.1 protocol and thus also virtual hosting, this is not a real issue.
* Improperly configured file permissions with shared file systems might give other (compromised) users or processes system-wide access to these files, such as credential files for database access or modification of existing files.

Web Hosting

2009-12-02T06:58:00.002-08:00

What is Web Hosting?

Web hosting is a common service designed to serve websites to internet users. Operated by companies known as web hosting providers, or simply web hosts, these services are managed out of data center facilities and made available to personal and business customers in various regions throughout the world. Web hosting is composed of numerous elements, and four of the most essential of all are the server hardware, web server, operating system and the hosting provider itself.

The Essentials of Web Hosting

The internet has become a common way of life for many of us, and every day, more users are starting to realize the benefits. This global network has opened the doors for users around the world to communicate, seek entertainment, shop and conduct business online. Many are leveraging the internet as their medium for connecting with the world – and the same opportunities exist for you. If your plans require a website, then you will need web hosting to accomplish those goal.

Reseller hosting

2009-12-02T06:58:00.001-08:00

Reseller hosting is another admired amenity. If you are a webmaster and are looking to make some extra cash, reseller web hosting is a great opportunity. In simple terms, you purchase a web hosting package from a company and divide the space into several sections. These sections can easily be purchased by fellow webmasters, who are in need of space. With this business in place, you will effortless make a few dollars.

Regardless of what you are looking to make, web hosting is necessary. From affordable shared unix hosting or shared windows hosting to dedicated servers with only one website, there are endless opportunities. Although most beginner webmasters assume that there is only one type of web hosting service, this article clearly shows how wrong the myth can be.
Web Hosting Ratings

Server Hosting

2009-12-02T06:55:00.002-08:00

While these are great alternatives, many professional companies enjoy dedicated server hosting. Fortunately, the website is the only one on the server, which results in a lot less complications. With freedom comes a plethora of features, which include extra bandwidth, visitor trackers, and your own I.P. As a result, you do not have to worry about illegal situations occurring within your server. Everything is based around your need

Server Operating System

2009-12-02T06:55:00.001-08:00

The operating system is the most important piece of software for a server or any computer. Often referred to as a platform in the web hosting environment, this software is responsible starting and shutting down the server, communicating with computer hardware and allowing the installation of various other software packages. If you are like most users, the operating system you are familiar with is Windows, the popular software developed and distributed by Microsoft. In the hosting arena however, several platforms exist, with Unix and the open-source Linux operating system being among the most widely used. Although the web server application is extremely important, the operating system is the heart of the server hardware. Because the platform acts as the core of the computer, it must be installed and configured before implementing any other applications.

Web Server

2009-12-02T06:54:00.000-08:00

Often confused with its hardware counterpart, a web server is a software application that plays a critical role in the web hosting process. As the name indicates, it helps the server hardware serve your web pages when they are requested by a visitor’s web browser.

Web servers run a method known as HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), a standard communications procedure that utilizes the client-server model to facilitate communication between remote computers. For example, when a visitor opens your website in their browser, which is a client program, a request is sent to the server hosting your site. The server application then processes that request and responds accordingly, displaying your web page to the visitor. There are many types of web servers, but the most prominent on the web hosting market are Apache and Microsoft IIS (Internet Information Services).

The Hosting Provider

2009-12-02T06:53:00.000-08:00

As a customer, the most essential element of web hosting is the company providing the service. The web host must be able to ensure quality and reliability in order to make sure that your website will be available to internet users. This is made possible by running their network operations out of data centers, complete with state of the art electrical and backup power systems, environmental controls and advanced security measures. They must also deliver a superb level of customer service and technical support to make sure you have a way to present your questions or concerns 24/7/365. Collectively, these features better assure that your website is secure and running smoothly with minimal downtime.

There are many aspects that go into a web hosting operation, and these are just a few of the key ingredients. You don’t need to be a technical wizard just to run a website, but knowing what makes this business ticks can result in a less frustrating experience.

Options for web hosting

2009-12-02T06:36:00.000-08:00

If you are just starting out and want no string attached, there are plenty of alternatives. Free hosting allows you to not only create a website, but it helps beginners, no matter how much experience they have. Although there are popup downsides and other annoyances, free web hosting will give you everything that you need. If you are not sure if you even want to extensively design one, Geocities or AngelFire is great to experiment with.