The topic of web hosting often brings up misconceptions and confusing misinformation that can complicate the process of not only selecting the most appropriate web hosting company, but utilizing these services to the utmost of their benefit. When you are trying to decide upon not only the company with whom you wish to do business, but the type of hosting services that will work the best for your situation, it is important that you evaluate the realities of web hosting, and debunk many of the myths that exist regarding web hosting services. Understanding these myths, where they came from, and the truth that can dispel them, can help you to decide what kind of web hosting is right for your site.

Myth #1: Managed hosting is overall more expensive than dedicated hosting.

For this myth it is important to consider not just the upfront cost of the hosting services themselves, but the financial implications of a website for the long run. Managed hosting is a type of hosting service that allows the owner of a website to have a private server, but also the technical support needed to run and maintain such a site. Those that choose not to utilize the services of a managed hosting plan will need to find alternate sources of such technical support. Paying for a team of skilled webmasters that will oversee the monitoring, administration, and upkeep of a website can be exceptionally expensive. This means that if you do not already have these skills, or have someone on staff that can complete these tasks efficiently, choosing managed hosting can greatly benefit you. Though you will spend more on the hosting services themselves, not having to pay another person to take care of these tasks, or dealing with the complications that can arise from poorly executing webmaster responsibilities, can quickly offset these costs.

Myth #2: Only people who are new to having a website need managed hosting.

Some may believe that managed hosting is only for those that are completely technologically ignorant, or that are new to having a website, and that once a person gets familiar with having a site he no longer needs such services. This is not true. Managed web hosting can be a convenient, cost-effective, and simple way of ensuring that sites are well-administered, and that any troubles that may arise will be taken care of quickly and effectively. A company that utilizes managed hosting can focus on the other responsibilities of the business knowing that their website is going to be fully functional and technologically sound.

Myth #3: Shared hosting puts your site into a “bad neighborhood” on the Internet.

The thought once was that using a shared server put your site at risk of negative effects from the others that used the server. One such negative effect was that the processing speeds would be greatly diminished if another user consumed more of the resources than was their share. Though this may have been an issue in the earlier days of web hosting, companies have since developed tactics for minimizing this effect. While shared servers will run more slowly than dedicated servers, reputable companies monitor the usage of each owner and work to resolve over-use issues quickly so they do not negatively impact the others using the shared server.

Myth #4: Shared hosting means you cannot use many new forms of software.

It is the assumption of some people that choosing shared hosting means sacrificing the ability to use the newest software, or having to adhere to strict limitations. The reality is that a good shared hosting provider will allow you to install any software that adheres to the Acceptable Use Policy and will not consume too much of the resources available on the server. Such a host will even offer you the tools needed to install and use such software.

Myth #5: Shared hosting is complicated and confusing.

Shared hosting sometimes conjures images of constant problems and hassle. Fortunately, such hassles are truly a thing of the past. Shared hosting is now an affordable and user-friendly option for many people that wish to maintain simple sites.

5 Myths About Web Hosting is a post from: Brain Host Web Hosting

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There are hundreds of web hosting companies to choose from, but not all web hosts are created equal. Failing to choose a reliable web hosting company cause a lot of hassle down the road, whether it’s terrible customer service or even the loss of potential site visitors when the host’s server is down. In this article, we consider what you should be looking for in a web host to separate the good from the bad.

1. Bandwidth Allowance

When it comes to bandwidth, you want a host that will either offer you an unlimited package or the next best thing–an allowance of at least 500 GB of bandwidth transfer a month. Even low cost web hosting services should be able to provide 500 GB of bandwidth transfer, and you should not accept anything less if you expect moderate traffic on your site.

2. Cost

A shared hosting package in which you would share a host’s server with other users should run no more than 20 dollars a month. Cost is an important variable, especially if you are designing and up-keeping a website on a tight budget. But try to compare the products of different companies before making a final decision, rather than walking blindly into the cheapest package you can find.

3. Customer Support

Cynical as it sounds, you will probably have an issue with your website at some point that will require the help of customer support. This problem could strike day or night, but when that time finally comes, you want support staff there to help you that same hour.

For this reason, be on the lookout for hosts that provide 24/7 customer support, whether by email or phone. The way customer service reaches you is less important than the commitment to quick responses, so if host can brag about lower average response times, you should take that as a good sign of their reliably.

Also consider the quality of the response that the customer service staff provide you. If the staff is poorly trained and ill-equipped to handle your problem, then no amount of response time will save you. There is no surefire way to know the quality of support staff, but a good place to start is consumer rating websites that either allow users to write comments or do thorough analysis of CS for many hosts.

If you have any doubt as to validity of criticism on such websites, seek out friends or family who have worked with a web hosts and ask them about the consistency of CS staff with the host they use.

4. Storage Space

Most shared hosting packages will offer unlimited storage space. After a certain amount of storage is used, even ‘unlimited’ hosts will begin to experience difficulties and slow down. Therefore, whether you choose an unlimited package or one with a GB of space, keep in mind the amount of space you are using for your page. If you max out your space usage, any shared host package will experience problems, unlimited or not!

5. Uptime guarantee

When deciding on a host, you want to make sure the web host has a good track record for reliability on their servers. If a host has terrible uptime, your website will be down more often. Users will not wait for your website to get up and running and may turn to a competitor during the time your site is experiencing difficulties. Look out for a web host’s uptime percentage on their homepage and accept nothing less than a uptime guarantee of at least 99%.

There is no such thing as perfect uptime or a perfect web creation experience. At some point, you will encounter problems and when that comes, having a reliable host with these characteristics will make all the difference.

What Makes a Web Host Reliable? is a post from: Brain Host Web Hosting

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HTML, CSS, Java… huh? With all these computer languages and methods out there, it’s easy to think setting up a website is something you could never do yourself. But before you go out and spend a truckload of money having someone create a website for you, read this article from start to finish.

Putting up a web site does not have to be complicated or expensive. It is something you can do in an afternoon without any training or experience. Here’s how…

1. Register Your Domain Name

Before you can begin creating your site, you need to register a domain name. The domain name is the address of your site on the World Wide Web (example: www.google.com).

The domain name will convey to the viewer your identity on the Internet and so it’s important to choose your domain name wisely so that users will know the purpose behind the site and find it quickly using a search engine such as Google. If an Internet user types you topic on a search engine, you want your website to appear first or second in the search results. If not, they may never discover your website at all.

How do you encourage people to find your site? By using keywords in your domain name. Keywords are any words commonly associated with the topic of your site. For example, if your website is selling old Kung Fu movies, some keywords might be “karate movies,” or “martial arts films.”

When deciding on a domain name, it helps to brainstorm any keywords you can think of that related to your website. Once you’ve done this, go to http://www.google.com/adwords and click on the “Find Keywords” box to discover any other keywords you might have missed. This may require setting up a Google account, but this process is free and worth the effort.

After making a list of keywords, pick one of your keywords that best describes your website–this will be your top phrase. Take this top phrase and go to the online domain registration of a web hosting company.

You can find various web hosting companies, like Brain Host, by conducting a simple search on a search engine like Google. A web hosting company will be able to tell you if your top phrase is already taken and is being used as someone else’s domain. Simply type your possible website using you top phrase (example: www.kungfuflics.com) and see if it is available.

If the site is already registered, then try variations, either by using hyphens between words, ending your site in .org or .net, or adding the words “global” “online” or “market” to the end of your domain (example: www.kung-fu-flics-market.com). Once you have a domain registered, you’re ready for phase two of the process!

2. Sign Up for Web Hosting

In order to create your website, you need to purchase an account with a web hosting company. A web hosting company houses your site and provides you with email addresses, space for your web pages, free scripts for blogging and more.

The host that you used to register your domain is the most convenient choice. If you use a different host than your domain registry host you will have to switch servers between hosts. This is a process that a webhost’s customer support staff can help you through, but may take several days to complete this transfer.

Whomever you choose as your web host, it is important that the company is reliable. If your site goes offline and the host cannot get the site back online quickly, you could lose visitors who may then go to competitor sites instead. For peak performance and reliability, choose a web host that has a positive reputation on consumer sites, an uptime guarantee of at least 99%, and 24/7 technical support.

3. Create Your Site

How you create your site depends in part on your comfort level with coding and the type of site you are looking to create. If you are new to the world of web design and do not have a working knowledge of coding and computer languages, then Basekit and WordPress are the solutions for you.

WordPress and Basekit are website building platforms. These platforms allow you to create a website without any knowledge of coding and are available through most webhosts. Here are some of the reasons we prefer beginners use these two platforms:

• WordPress and Basekit are easy to use. Simply follow the step-by-step instructions on the BaseKit website at http://www.basekit.com/website-builder or the instructions on the WordPress site http://codex.wordpress.org/New_To_WordPress_-_Where_to_Start and your website can be up and running in an afternoon. No technical knowledge is needed to follow these instructions, and no software downloads are necessary to get either platform up and working.
• Thousands of options. Both BaseKit and WordPress include thousands of designs, widgets and features to allow you to customize a website that is unique to you and can stand out against competitors. These options are all arranged in a user-friendly format so you won’t spend hours trying to find the right features for your page.
• Easy to modify. Once your website is up and running, BaseKit and WordPress allow you to modify colors and fonts or add texts, pictures and music with a few clicks of the mouse. Whether your site is in need of a quick update or a major revision, the same features that allowed the website to be created quickly will allow it to be modified quickly.

You don’t have to be a computer genius to get a website up and running. Just follow these steps and you can make your dream website a reality.

Where to Start When You Decide You Want a Website is a post from: Brain Host Web Hosting

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Just because your PC runs on windows does not mean you need to buy a hosting package that uses Windows servers. There are other options out there—the primary one being Linux-based hosting. In this article, we’ll take you through the differences between Linux and Windows hosting so you can decide which system works best for you.

Access to the Server: The methods you will most likely use to access your account are FTP and control panel, and both Linux and Windows hosting support these methods. Between the two servers, there are some FTP commands that are slightly different and are designed for that particular system in mind. These differences are few and far between, but be aware that typing an FTP command into the wrong system will cause an error message will appear. In sum, whether access is through control panel or FTP, both systems are comparable.

Security: Linux and Windows both have developers that are working to improve security, so the differences between them in terms of security will be slight. If security is a huge issue for you, worry less about whether your server is Linux or Windows and more about what hosting company you are using. Search for a hosting company that has a skilled staff and is reputable for consistent security and go with whatever server they recommend for your needs.

Writing your pages: Both Windows and Linux servers will serve HTML pages and JavaScript. In most cases, Linux servers use files named *.html while Windows servers use files named *.htm, but there is no essential difference between these names. If you have a preference, go with the Linux or Windows server that best suits your needs.

Scripting: The real difference between the two systems lies in the scripting languages that Windows and Linux use in webpage production. PHP scripting is more often found on Linux systems, while ASP scripting is more often found on Windows. While CGI and Perl access are often found on both Windows and Linux servers, it is more typically found on Linux. Bottom line; you should choose a Linux Hosting account if you’re going to use PHP, Ruby, Perl, Python, or CGI scripting. Or, choose a Windows Hosting account if you’re going to use ASP, ASP.NET, or ASP.NET 2.0.

Databases: The two most popular databases are mySQL and Access. MySQL runs on both Linux and Windows, but is more associated with Linux servers because Linux servers more commonly use them. Meanwhile, Access is a Windows product that is only available for Windows. Look into the various databases available, and if you feel Access is the right database for you then choose Windows. Other than that, however, both Linux and Windows hosting tend to offer comparable database products.

In sum, the differences between Linux and Windows hosting is much less than you might think. Whether a hosting package works for you really boils down to the features and services of the web host you choose, rather than the operating system on the host’s servers.

Linux vs. Windows Hosting — What’s the Difference? is a post from: Brain Host Web Hosting

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Popular open source content management system Joomla announced yesterday that it will participate in the Google Summer of Code program, in which eight students will work on individual projects that may be used by Joomla.

Google Summer of Code is a worldwide program that pays post-secondary student developers stipends of $5000 to write code for various open source software projects.

Joomla hosting is offered by countless web hosting providers, in addition to one-click Joomla installs through app stores. If the code the students create at the Google Summer of Code is accepted, the Joomla CMS may see some new features soon.

According to Joomla, the projects students will work on for the Google Summer of Code include creating Facebook, Google services, and MediaWiki APIs, as well as multi-language options for installation.

There are 1,212 students participating in the program this year, from 69 different countries. The students who will be working on Joomla projects are from Brazil, France, Romania, Sri Lanka, and the U.S.

“We’re excited to see what kind of code these students come up with, but we’re equally as excited to have these students join the Joomla community,” said Elin Waring of the Joomla Production Working Group who is co-administering the Google Summer of Code projects. “The end goal with Joomla developers is all about creating code that millions of people use, but it is the interaction and sharing of ideas in our community that makes Joomla tick.”

The coding period begins on May 21 and will run through Aug. 24. Students will present their projects to the Joomla community in mid-August and find out if their code is accepted on Aug. 24.

Students Contribute to Joomla through Google Summer of Code is a post from: Brain Host Web Hosting

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Cloud service provider FiberCloud announced this week that it has added virtual firewall options to its cloud server solutions. These new firewall features will allow Windows and Linux Cloud customers to manage secure and custom connections across multiple cloud servers.

Web hosting providers that are part of FiberCloud’s reseller program will be able to offer customers additional security through this offering.

According to FiberCloud, customers will have full control over network traffic with the virtual firewall feature. The virtual firewall allows customers to form secure connections when managing traffic and give people the ability to move data between their private network of cloud servers.

“We think that security and flexibility are crucial to our cloud server products,” Susan DeFlorio, COO at FiberCloud, said in a statement. “By adding this new Virtual Firewall option to our cloud servers, we’re empowering customers with greater choices and greater freedom to access and move information across multiple cloud servers.”

Virtual firewalls can be added to any FiberCloud cloud server without installing software on the server itself.

Cloud Provider FiberCloud Offers Virtual Firewall Protection is a post from: Brain Host Web Hosting

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If there’s one thing Internet junkies hate more than the dreaded 404 Not Found error message, it’s the even more dreaded server error message. When a business’s server crashes, their entire system becomes inoperable; sales can’t be made, services can’t be accessed, and products stop working. Below are our picks for the three worst server crashes in recent history and the impact they made on us, the unfortunate consumers.

#1: PokerStars.com

PokerStars.com is a wildly popular online poker site where users play for real money. On February 21, 2012, PokerStars’ server crashed, causing more than 70,000 poker enthusiasts worldwide to be cut off instantly from their live poker games. The server crash made it impossible to retrieve vital information such as hand histories and bet amounts.

PokerStars immediately contacted affected players through an email titled “Server Issues” which stated, “….currently experiencing some problems with players logging in, creating accounts, and accessing the cashier, among others.” The email also stated that PokerStars was reviewing the issue and would have the problem resolved quickly. The server issue resulted in refunds to every player who had been participating in poker games when the server crashed.

Server issues are not uncommon on online gaming sites, and can become a very big issue when real money is in play. We suggest you review online terms and conditions before joining for any real money games online!

#2: Blackberry

What would you do if your cell phone was inoperable for hours? If you’re attached at the hip to your phone like me, you’d probably start hyperventilating. On October 11, 2011 a server crash affected tens of millions of Blackberry users across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. These users were unable to get on the Internet or send and receive email or instant messages for more than four hours.

After further investigation Blackberry confirmed that the server issues originated following an outage at the server systems of parent company Research In Motion (RIM) in Slough, Berkshire, which handles Blackberry services for the affected regions. “The messaging and browsing delays… in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Brazil, Chile and Argentina were caused by a core switch failure within RIM’s infrastructure,” a company statement said.

According to one former RIM employee, RIM had been ignoring server problems for years. “They didn’t start looking at scalability until about 2007, when they had around 8m active devices,” the former employee said. “The attitude was, ‘We’re going to grow and grow but making sure our infrastructure can support it isn’t a priority.’ They have their own clunky infrastructure to do something that you don’t really need a clunky infrastructure to do anymore.”

Blackberry customers immediately went online when their phones crashed and started to post comments about Blackberry’s inability to deliver good service. Blackberry analysts apologized to customers for the inconvenience and assured them that their smart phones would be working very soon.

#3: WordPress.com

WordPress suffered a server crash on February 22, 2010 that cause 10.5 million blogs to go offline for almost two hours! It was estimated that 5.5 million page views were wiped. However, no data was lost in the outage, and all blogs resumed normal service after the two hours. WordPress also confirmed that blogs based on its software, but not using its hosting, were not affected.

In an official statement by WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg, the server crash was caused by “an unscheduled change to a core router by one of their datacenter providers [which] messed up our network in a way we haven’t experienced before.” Mullenweg added, “I hope it will be much longer than four years before we face a problem like this again.”

3 Worst Server Crashes In Recent History is a post from: Brain Host Web Hosting

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Google officially launched BigQuery this week. The tool allows businesses and developers to gain real-time business insight from large amounts of data. This public launch comes five months after Google offered the tool to a limited number of developers for beta testing.

BigQuery is accessible via a UI or REST interface, and allows users to store as much data as needed. Users pay only for what they need, and developers and businesses can query up to 100 GB of data per month at no charge.

The tool has only two pricing components: query processing at $0.035 per GB processed (up to 1000 queries per day), and storage at $0.12/GB per month up to 2TB.

Web hosts will benefit from big data from the amount of storage it requires for companies and developers to analyze the terabytes of user data.

For example, Ju-Kay Kwek, product manager, BigQuery, says social and mobile analytics company Claritics built a web application for game developers to gain insight into user behavior. According to a case study, Claritics was able to reduce time to run complex queries on large data sets from 30 minutes to 20 seconds, and shorten the amount of time spent to maintain their data analysis infrastructure by up to 40 percent.

Google Launches Data Analytics Tool is a post from: Brain Host Web Hosting

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According to a report issued yesterday, the new gTLDs may not be revealed until as late as June 29. ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom said in an interview with Domain Incite that he hopes to be able to host the reveal before he steps down from his position on July 1.

Applicants initially expected to hear if their applications were successful this week, but then last week ICANN pushed the reveal back to sometime in May. Now applicants may have to wait until the ICANN 44 meeting in Prague on June 29^th before learning if their applications were successful.

According to Beckstrom, scheduling the reveal for June 29^th is a personal goal, not a commitment from ICANN to meet that deadline. While he is pushing for a quick resolution of the issue, he stated the quality of the program is more important than a specific reveal date.

It was a technical glitch in April that forced ICANN to take its application system offline. ICANN is continuing to investigate what happened to the TAS that caused applicants to see file names and usernames of other applicants. ICANN plans to notify users of whether or not they were affected by the TAS bug by May 8.

According to ICANN, the bug was not a security issue, but rather a standard software bug.

“Obviously any time you have a software problem or technical problem with any program you come under enhanced security and criticism, and I think that’s understandable, that’s fair,” Beckstrom told Domain Incite. “What we’re focused on is resolving this successfully and I think ICANN has dealt with many challenges in its past successfully and we’re committed to resolve this issue professionally.”

ICANN Application Bug Pushes New gTLD Reveal to June is a post from: Brain Host Web Hosting

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Specializing in reviewing premium WordPress themes, plugins, and hosting providers, (as well as producing engaging WordPress tutorials), WPHub is your one-stop resource for all things WordPress. WPHub was created to serve the WordPress community by providing access to premium WordPress resources in one convenient place (there’s no area on the official WordPress.org website for premium themes and plugins). WPHub offers resources for themes, plugins, tutorials, and hosting. Be sure to check back often, as new content and resources are constantly being added!

Themes

You’ll find 577 premium WordPress themes in WPHub’s Themes section, all from top developers like WooThemes, ElegantThemes, ThemeForest, and StudioPress. Finding the perfect theme for your WordPress site is easy with WPHub’s search filters, which allow you to search by color palate, category, company, features, layout, price, and width.

Plugins

WPHub works with some of the best WordPress plugin developers on the web, constantly testing plugins for usefulness and compatibility. Whether you’re looking for e-commerce solutions, dynamic website forms, or anything else, WPHub has the perfect premium plugin for you!

Tutorials

Besides offering plugins and themes, WPHub also provides comprehensive WordPress training on a number of different topics, including how to use query_posts correctly, how to create a WordPress admin page plugin, and more. The folks behind WPHub have worked in the WordPress industry for years, and their expertise really shines through in their easy-to-follow, yet thorough, tutorial videos.

Hosting

WPHub works with some of the best WordPress hosting companies around to make sure users can get up and running quickly. Hosting companies that receive the WPHub seal of approval all work right out of the box, meaning they’ll set you up instantly with no configuration needed so you can start building your WordPress site right away. Finding the right WordPress hosting provider is easy thanks to WPHub’s handy comparison chart and pricing guide.

WPHub.com Provides Premium WordPress Resources In One Convenient Place is a post from: Brain Host Web Hosting

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