Da Kine Hosting Blog

There are certain things that people have been arguing about since their invention – what religion is supreme, which brand of car to drive, and which operating system you should run on. For some reason, that last debate in particular has been quite the subject of many online debates. Linux supporters will argue that Windows is unstable; Windows people will say that Linux isn’t compatible with current computer languages and trends. Unlike most debates, though, this one has a definite winning side – that is, the Linux hosting supporters.

That isn’t to say that Windows hosting is bad – indeed, it does support the popular programming language of ASP, while Linux does not. However, many people agree that that is about where the advantages of Windows ends. While Windows is a more household name than Linux, that doesn’t mean that it’s the better system: only that it has the better marketing campaign. In fact, as far as web hosting goes you’re unlikely to find anything better or more reliable than Linux hosting.

First, let’s examine the side commonly taken by Linux supporters that Windows is unstable. Is it true? Ask any person who ran on a Windows operating system in the late ’90s – they’ll likely all have a story about that dreaded “blue screen” that would randomly pop up indicating a system crash and require the system to be restarted. While in later versions of the Windows operating systems this problem has more or less been eradicated, that instability does carry over to their hosting services. Just like their desktop computer OS counterparts, Linux hosting tends to be able to handle more processes running at the same time than a Windows server can before failing. However, many people will debate that so long as the person in charge of the hosting server is knowledgeable about what they’re doing, the difference is negligible.

The difference that persuades more people to support Linux servers over Windows is the same thing that drives the choice between brands for people in any situation where they’re looking to purchase an item: money. For a dedicated server, a person can get the same amount of space and data storage for a cheaper price on a Linux server.

In the end, that pretty much sums up why Linux is generally agreed upon to be the better web host – they’re more stable, they offer more space and computer power, and all of it comes at a lower price than a windows system.

There are tons of questions that may (and sometimes have to) be asked when you’re choosing a web hosting company to provide a server for your website. While things like how much you want to pay for the server, if they’re reliable, and of course if you’re going to want a shared server or a dedicated server are all equally important questions to ask, there is one more. That is, should you opt for a Windows or a Linux hosting site?

The assumption that many people make, particularly those without a vast knowledge of computers and the world of web hosting, is that a windows machine can only run on a windows server, and vise versa for a Linux machine. However, that is not true. Regardless of what type of machine you’re using, it has nothing to do with what kind of hosting you use – rather, what type of website you are running is what matters when choosing the type of hosting you use.

One of the most basic programming languages is HTML – this produces basic websites. If your website is going to be only in HTML, then which system you use doesn’t really matter. However, if you’re looking to start up a more interactive page – such as a shopping site where a visitor can put items into their virtual shopping cart – then it changes things a bit. The most common programming languages for this type of website are PHP and ASP. While PHP works equally well with both Linux and Windows hosting, ASP only works on Windows. This means that if you insist on working with ASP, Windows is your only choice for a hosting system.

However, there are other factors that would effect your choice of hosting besides the programming language of the site. An obvious one is brand loyalty – which is particularly prevalent in the world of operating systems. For example, if you’ve always been a fan of Linux, then you’re likely to automatically choose a Linux hosting service. While brand loyalty like this isn’t the most efficient or best way of making a choice about your hosting service, it is a way that many people do choose. However, you will find that both systems have their ups and downs, and both are excellent choices depending on what type of website you’re planning on starting. There is no right choice in this case – it’s simply a matter of what works best for you and your website on a more personal level.

It’s no small wonder that more and more people are flocking to the Internet as a source for creating their own businesses recently – again and again you’ll hear of someone starting a website for fun only to become wildly successful. For those wanting to get in on the action, though, there are a few steps you’ll have to take before your online business or website is ready to take flight.

First, consider what type of website you’ll have. This greatly influences a number of things – mainly, what kind of server you will be needing. If you’re planning on your website serving as an online business, then a dedicated server is by far the best option, as you can control most everything about the site to personal the experience for your customers, and support more business. However, if you’re just planning on having a personal blog or online journal, then a shared server will likely suit you fine – though you lose the amount of control you would have with dedicated servers, you gain the perk of getting cheap hosting.

Design is another large component of creating a successful website – if a potential visitor comes to your site only to see a cluttered or otherwise unappealing layout on the main page, they’ll likely navigate away without a second thought. Having a clean, well organized website is key – try to keep flashy graphics and advertisements down to a minimum, and make sure that your links are well-organized and easy to read.

Finally, there is the biggest choice you’ll make: which web hosting company you decide to use. This is not only a matter of what type of server you’ll want to use or how much money you have to spend. Though those things are factors, the biggest thing you should consider is the reputation of the web hosting service. Like most things, not all servers are created equal – if you don’t want to have to deal with constant site crashes, then it’s best that you find yourself a top hosting companies list. This will allow you to look at reviews from users of different hosting companies and decide from there which sound reliable enough for you to use.

After you’ve made sure that you’re choosing only from the best of web hosting services and that you have a clear and concise plan for your website, you’re ready to get started. Who knows – you could be the next Internet-created celebrity.

Let’s ask a simple question. If your servers were down for a week, would your life change? Could you meet payroll? Would you have to cancel that family vacation? Could you pay your server bill? If you are unsure how to answer any of these questions, then you really need to take a hard look at how much you spend to assure your IT infrastructure continues to earn you money.Too often, I see clients who started with a small project that later became a stable source of revenue. Along the way, they’ve never re-evaluated their hosting infrastructure. Not aligning your hosting costs and infrastructure with your business needs can be a serious business mistake. 

IT will Fail 

Just like the stock market, past performance does not indicated future results. Just because your server has operated flawlessly for 2 years does not mean it will continue to do so. The hardware, network or human error can cause an outage at any time. 

Google did a huge study on hard drive failure. Their conclusion? SMART and similar items like temperature are poor indicators of drive failures. In other words, there’s no easy way to predict a drive failure. The point is outages will happen, and you need to be prepared. 

Affording Downtime  

A key component in looking at how much to spend on your hosting solutions is to ask how much downtime can you afford. To figure out how much downtime you can afford, you need to get a grasp on how much an outage would impact your business. 

The more sensitive your business operations are to an outage the less downtime you can afford. Trying to identify exactly how much downtime you can afford is not an exact science, but there are some useful starting points. 

Costs of Downtime  

Most of the information you find on the web for calculating the cost of downtime is geared to large businesses, especially the manufacturing sector. Many small online businesses don’t fit these models and have many indirect costs associated with a downtime event. 

I like to break cost into direct and indirect costs. With direct costs being those immediate expenses and losses related to the outage and indirect costs being less tangible or potential future losses.  

• Server Repair Costs
• Support Staff Costs
• Client Refunds or Lost Sales
• Overtime for Staff
• There are many indirect costs you need to consider as well:
• Search Engine Impact
• Delayed Cancellations
• Loss of New Clients
• Delayed Support Costs

If you server is down for an extended period, then your search engine results may be impacted. Also, consider the client who bears with you through the outage but then 3 months later cancels once they’ve moved their operations elsewhere. 

Crunching the Numbers  

I like to look at downtime from the standpoint of the number of hours your operations are impacted. Set benchmarks for 30 minutes, 60 minutes, and the in reasonable increments for 72 hours. 

If you are a web designer for small businesses with no e-commerce operations, you may be able to “afford” 24 hours of downtime with negligible business impact. However, if you site is generating revenue 24/7, an outage may be more costly. Take into account the impact of an outage and set a hosting budget. 

Infrastructure as Insurance  

Just like your office catching on fire, for which you likely have insurance, investing in the proper infrastructure insures you against downtime events. 

Insuring yourself can be something as simple as spending an extra money for RAID and off site backups. Or you may need fully redundant operations. 

If you need help getting these hosting costs right, then you may need to turn to a managed service provider (MSP) and IT consultant to get a solution in place. A good MSP will walk you through a needs assessment and recommend a solution.

Branding a web host service provider as the best is not the tag they should feel proud to carry; it is the dependability that customers have on them that differentiates them from other providers. The best web host providers promise you that your web site can easily be put up on the net, sans any difficulty or issues in the future. It should indeed be maintained. Your web site should run at anytime you wish, that is the reason they are branded as the best.

Once you are sure about having found a web host service provider that fulfills your needs precisely, you need to check out for some basic requirements before you sign the deal with them. In case the provider falls short in any of the requirements, they cannot be called the best. You can either choose to compromise with the features they support or seek some other provider. Here are some of the criteria that a good host provider should meet.

· If a web host service provider is named the best, they need to keep scrutinizing your web pages all the time. Yes, the web host service provider has to monitor your web pages and intimate you when there is a problem. This can help you figure out the needful to be done as quickly as possible. In case you feel that the provider is not responsible enough to watch out for proper functioning of your server, you definitely need to switch to some other provider.

· You should be made available all the software that is necessary to keep your web site running. As an example, in the event of you needing to create a blog, a good web host provider should provide you with the blog softwares, free applications to install.

· Any good web host service provider should maintain a daily backup feature. It helps to save files in case of an emergency situation, where all files are deleted by mistake.

· Lastly, any good provider must provide you a support system such as a live chat service to address your customers problems and e-mail ticketing system, free 1-800 number to call, fast e-mail response.

You should understand that the lack of support of any of the above requirements is certainly unfavorable for your business. Happy customers means more business and more sales.

I spent over a year trying and wondering how to simply buy a domain, and upload a WordPress blog to that domain. I even asked people over the phone but still didn’t get it. I just learn visually and by reading instructions so for those of you who are like me, here you go!

WordPress is a very incredible and powerful tool for everyone interested in creating a website. Once you learn how to use the dashboard and post your content you are in a great position to write and manage your very own website! The only problem we face is HOW!. I wrote these following steps with the assumption that you know what your cpanel is and how to log in.

Simple steps to install WordPress on your new domain name.

#1. Buy your domain name from go daddy or any reputable place online. Once you have purchased it you will need to set your nameservers. You’ll need to log in to your cpanel and get your name servers, they are located on the left hand side of the page near the bottom and look like AB1234.YOURHOSTING.com and AB1235.YOURHOSTING.com

#2. Open your domain management area from where you purchased your domain name. In the management area you will look for an icon that says SET or CHANGE NAMESERVERS. Click on this and simply copy and paste your HOSTING ACCOUNT name servers on your domain management account.

#3. Now back to your cpanel, click on the icon that says AD ON DOMAIN. Once their follow the prompts to add and install your new domain on your hosting account.

#4. Scroll down the page to SOFTWARE/SERVICES category. You will see an Icon with a blue-ish smiley face named FANTASTICO DE LUXE. Click on the icon.

#5. Your at the next page now and on the left hand side you will see the category “Blogs” and WordPress will be located under that. Click the WordPress option and then click NEW INSTALLATION. Follow the simple instructions, enter domain name, passwords and click install!

I was so excited to finally figure this out. For more information on how-to stuff for your websites and marketing questions please feel free to contact me! Thanks for reading the simple 5 step process to install WordPress on your own domain.

In case you are looking for server backup services, then there is a lot you should know about these services. For starters, any kind of backup services will normally contain two main elements. These include data and configuration.

To this end, the configuration is what undertakes the backup of the installation. This is so that in case you need an upgrade, a replacement or if the configuration fails, then you only have to upload the necessary configuration settings. This will get your new installation back on the internet without wasting any valuable time.

Secondly, the data backup will preserve all the customer data especially as regards set off- sites. This is so that you can restore it quickly. To note, however, is that both the data and the configuration backups are very critical. This is because they ensure business continuity and help in recovering after disasters.

This said and done, there are a number of benefits that you stand to gain from server backup services. With regards to these benefits, it is rather obvious that any man- made system will fail. In fact, it is no longer a matter of ‘if’, rather, ‘when’ should be used with regards to system failure.

This failure may come from any place whatsoever. It may be as a result of hardware failure. At some other times, it may be because of external threats or configuration problems. This means that you can be certain that at one point or another, your server will fail.

However, in case your server system is completely and fully redundant, then there is less likelihood of it failing. However, you can be certain that only an appropriate backup service for your server will preserve your data and configuration off- site.

Everyone in an organization, from the administrative staff, to the CEO down to the employees needs a secure network. This way, they can be certain that they will get data reliably at any time they need it.

The main advantage that you will get from server backups services, in this case, is that they will maintain continuity. This way, in case of any failure or destruction of the serve, vital data can be quickly recovered. Therefore, everyone within your organization will benefit from these services.

The implication being made here is that you cannot afford to overlook the threats that can be posed by server failure. This is especially so in case your company transacts most of its business through the internet and your employees rely heavily on your server.

To conclude, you can be certain that once you hire suitable server backup services you will stand to gain a lot. This is because you will be safe and secure so that in case your server goes down, you will not lose essential data. The implication being made here is that you do need these services especially in case your company is web- based.

Managed hosting entails the provision of a server for organizational use. A client, the organization, leases the server from a hosting provider. The hosting provider provides monitoring and other support of the server while the organization is leasing it. Hosting provides beneficial services to the organization leasing the server and the services provided could go towards increasing an organization’s efficiency.

Hosting typically entails storing an organization’s information and data in a server. The information is meant to be accessed over the internet. The access ranges from organizational access to public access. Managed hosting gives the organization the power to control certain components of the server. Since the organization leases the server for the organization’s specific use, they are able to control the softwares, applications and hardware that accompany the server. This includes choosing the operating system to use with the server and connecting hardwares like printers to the server.

All computers within an organization are usually hooked to the server allowing the employees to share work with each other using softwares, which enhance data sharing. The efficiency of the workers is enhanced since they can all simultaneously work on documents accessible through the server. The hardwares hooked within these server networks are shared among the employees of an organization. This saves up on the cost of buying several computer accompanying hardwares to hook up to individual computers within the organization.

The organization requires the server to function at all times to allow the employees to undertake their different duties. Servers just like any other available technologies are bound to face malfunctions or break downs. The organization is simply a user of the server and may not have the knowledge to handle the break downs or malfunctions when they occur. Managed hosting provides monitoring and evaluation services to ensure that the server and its accompanying hardwares function optimally throughout. Monitoring the server allows the detection of any problems and they can be immediately fixed before they affect the entire system. Intrusions into the system can also be detected and prevented.

The management of the server also extends to ensuring that the server is accorded the highest level of security at all times. The server contains organizational information, which is usually sensitive and should not be accessed for malicious use. The hosting services ensure that the server’s firewall is up and running throughout. Anti virus softwares are also installed to the server and updates are carried out to ensure that the software provides the server the highest level of protection.

Managed hosting services also extend to updating the server and its softwares in line with technological advancements. An organization may not necessarily be aware of the latest technological advancements, which can enhance how the server performs. The hosting service providers take it upon themselves to carry out the updates as part of the services they offer.

Managed hosting is simply internet hosting where the client gets to lease a server to use for organizational purposes. The server leased by the client is not shared by anyone else and is exclusively used by the client only. This type of hosting allows the organization to control the server including choosing the software, operating systems and hardware to accompany the use of the server. These servers are found in data centers, which operate like colocation facilities. They offer environmental comfort, involving providing heating and ventilation systems, with regards to technologies used indoors and provide back up power systems for emergency use.

The managed hosting service extends to offering the client support when it comes to the use of operating systems. Since the client has the control over which operating system is used; the operating system used on the server depends on the client’s choice and the client’s level of familiarity with the operating software. The price and availability of the application software is also factored. Some of the operating softwares used on servers include Windows server and the Linux Red Hat Enterprise.

Open source operating systems are also available at no cost. They include Fedora core, OpenBSD, Debian, FreeBSD among other Linux and BSD systems. The management and support extended to an organization’s operating software depends on the managed hosting plan, which the organization opts for. The support extended to the server’s operating system involves carrying out upgrades on the system. The data’s rate of transfer, or bandwidth as it is popularly known, is usually high through server use.

The client usually gets into an agreement with the hosting service provider with regards to the organization’s monthly bandwidth limit. Different providers have different billing rates, which are usually tied to the bandwidth level used by an organization in a given period of time.

Managed hosting extends to infrastructure administration, which entails ensuring that the server and its components function optimally are required. The server security is also handled by the hosting provider who ensures that firewalls are running and providing protection to the server and all the information passed through it. All the applications and softwares used by the server are also monitored to ensure that they are functioning efficiently. Back up of the server documents is carried out to ensure that data can be recovered in the event that the server malfunctions and data is lost.

The management service also includes carrying out system upgrades when necessary and in line with technological advancement. Different hosting providers provide varied management services and the services could extend to performance tuning, Antivirus updates, detecting intrusions into the server, application monitoring and management, user management, database administration among other services.

Different hosting plans provide varied services that the client receives from the provider. The plans determine the level of management extended to the server and its components from the hosting provider. The managed support is offered is through, fully managed, managed, self managed and unmanaged plans.

Affordable web hosting services are legion on the Web these days. Can you just pick one and run with it?

Not if you value your Web business! As all true Web veterans know – many having learned the hard way – web hosting providers vary tremendously in terms of reliability and value. And many if not most of your worst headaches as an ecommerce pro can come from choosing a loser at the outset of your Web endeavors.

May I mention just a few of the experiences I’ve had with a certain web host (which I won’t name) before switching to a more reliable company? Frequent downtime. Busy signal when calling customer service. Customer service reps who barely speak English. Continual technical issues with the company’s servers that mess up the site, cause order forms to malfunction, or take the whole site down.

Another serious problem you can run into is inadequate functionality (such as inability to support PHP, MySQL, CGI, Perl, etc.). Note: CGI, in particular, is vital. CGI, or Common Gateway Interface, is used in developing order forms on your site. You can’t conduct much ecommerce without order forms!

What about inadequate bandwidth or disc space? You should make sure the hosting company package you choose provides at least 200 GB bandwidth and at least 25 G disc space.

Other useful features you should look for include: statistics reporting (number, kind, and origin of visitors to your site per day, week, month, year, etc.); website development software; both Unix and Windows functionality; and an adequate number of email accounts (at least 25).

Following is a checklist that may be helpful in choosing a virtual hosting service. (Note: virtual simply meaning you’re renting space on a server, as opposed to renting an entire server). This checklist applies to small ecommerce and company websites just starting out. If you’re expecting a huge amount of traffic you’ll need more disc space and bandwidth than indicated in the table. But for nearly all new sites the following amounts are are more than adequate and can be easily adjusted upward later if needed.

Disk Space: at least 25 GB
Bandwidth: at least 200 GB
Reliability: At least 99 percent uptime
Support: 24 hours a day 7 days a week
Cost: No more than $15 a month if you’re looking for affordable web hosting services
CGI functionality
Both Unix and Windows hosting (Some more complex applications require Windows.)
MySQL and Perl functionality
At least 25 email accounts available
Statistics reporting: Number of visitors to your site and to its individual pages, page views, etc.

Of course, your hosting package should should also have a Cpanel (control panel) and FTP access included, but virtually all hosting companies provide those features. However, below are a few less common features you may need. These are not necessary but, for some sites, useful.

Audio streaming: Will this be offered by your site? Then you’ll need a lot more bandwidth.
Encrypted passwords: Provide better security.
Domain Names: Some affordable web hosting services provide free domain names.

To sum up: Don’t jump at the first WEB HOSTING FOR $4.95 ad you see! The reliability and features of affordable web hosting services vary enormously. Research this subject before you make your decision. A bad decision will hinder your Web efforts greatly while a good one will make everything a whole lot easier.