|
|
Web Hosting FAQ :
-
Are there any advantages to getting a domain name with Network Solutions instead of a cheaper company?
- No. There are no particular advantages of getting a domain name with Network solutions. Several years ago .com, .net and .org domain name were being registered only by Netsol.
However, these days there are a lot of registrars that offer the same service and the pricing varies. You can get a list of all accredit registrars companies at:
http://www.icann.org/registrars/accredited-list.html
-
Are there any extra costs involved in hosting a secure site?
- Yes, most web hosting companies provide shared SSL certificates, this means that your site will not have its own certificate and if you try to access it over HTTPS you will receive a warning about the certificate validity. To avoid such warnings you need to purchase SSL certificate from a CA(certificated) authority like VeriSign, Thawte, InstantSSL, etc. The prices vary, but you will most probably get an SSL for about $100/year. Also there might be some installation fees at your hosting company so you will need to ask them about that.
-
Can't I just get a DSL line or a cable modem and host the site or my own computer?
- Well, actually you can do that. However you need to consult your local ISP about it first. In general most of the local Internet Providers will not let you use your DSL to host a web server, they have firewalls that block such kind of traffic. The same goes for the mail serverl. Also, to make your site accessible at a decent speed you will need to get more expensive line so it can handle the traffic your website may generate, otherwise it will be quite sluggish as usually upstream bandwidth is restricted on DSL lines. And last but not least you should have enough knowledge of system administration, computer networks, security - all skills that a web hosting sysadmin should have.
-
Can I keep my domain name when I change a host?
- Yes. You should be able to do that. In first place, make sure that you are listed as Administrative contact for your domain name in the WHOIS. You can also ask your web hosting company if the domain names you purchase with them are registered on your name and if you are the domain name owner when you buy a domain name along with their hosting services. If you are the owner of the domain name you can transfer it anywhere you'd like to. You can point it to another hosting server by simply changing its Nameservers. You may wish to check our article "How to change hosts" under the Articles section.
-
Can I reduce the amount of data transfer my site needs?
- In general yes. However it depends which files on your site consume most of your traffic. First check all the images you have out there. Most images can be optimized with a proper image editing software(Photoshop, ACDSee, Fireworks, etc) You can play with the image export settings and get a smaller file in file size, but with almost the same image quality. You can try different file formats - GIF, PNG and see which one will produces smaller image file. Then check your HTML files. There are a lot of HTML optimizing programs that will reduce the file size by removing extra spaces and new lines. Check if you have audio/video files and try to optimize their size with a proper media editor.
-
Can I run my own scrtips and programs on my site?
- You need to ask your host explicitly about that. Most web hosting plans allow that. You can have your own scripts and programs written in PHP, Perl, Ruby, Python, C/C++, etc running on the server. Some hosting plans will also give you the option to execute "cron" jobs. You can use this option to execute a program at a specific time and date. In this way some routines as back ups, sending out email messages, etc can be fully automated.
-
Can I use Java applets, JavaScript, and Flash pages on my site?
- Yes. All of these do not depend on the web server software at all. These are client-side technologies and they depend on the browser that your visitor is using. Some web hosting companies list these as plan features. But it is just a marketing trick. There is nothing on the server side that should be configured or enabled to allow you to have Java Script, Flash Movies, etc on your website.
-
Do I need a static IP address for my site?
- Well, it depends on what your site will be. If you are planning to start an ecommerce site, you will most probably need SSL certificate, which requires dedicated IP. Please note that some hosting companies do not offer dedicated IP, but you will have one if you purchase and install SSL certificate there. It is just because the SSL technology requires that. So in our opinion dedicated IP is not the most important thing that you should be looking for when picking up a web hosting provider.
-
Do I need web site statistics?
- Why not? Web site statistics can give you information about your site visitors - who, when where, for how long. If it is business site this information is more than vital. You can see where your visitors came from, which sections of your site are the most visited and which are not. It is always good to know what is happening out there. In addition to site statistics it would be nice if you have access to your site access logs. In this way you can download them to your local computer and use a program of your choice to analyze them. However, if these files are too big a program running on the server is always better to have.
-
Is it OK to use the webhost search engine submission service?
- No, it is recommended not to use any automated software for search engine submissions. Most of the search engines do not like these at all. So manual submission is preferred.
-
Does it make a difference what operating system I have on my computer?
- No. The operating system that you have on your personal computer should not be of any concerns. The most popular way for uploading files to your site is FTP and all operating systems support it.
Even Microsoft technologies like MS FrontPage Extensions and ASP can also be done on Unix (or Linux) servers.
-
How can web hosting companies offer such high transfer limits for low prices?
- It is called overselling. Most of the hosting companies do that. They count on that the majority of hosted sites will not use the full resources available. There is nothing wrong with that as it is done in many other business (ex.airlines).
-
How do I pay for web hosting?
- Well, these days there are plenty of ways you can pay for web hosting services. The most commonly used is Online Credit card payments, however other are available as well - PayPal, WesternUnion, eGold, wired bank transfer, money order. You need to check that with the web hosting company you are planning to sign up with.
-
How do I upload my site?
- There are several ways to upload your site files to your web hosting account. The most popular one is FTP. Your should receive the FTP login information for your site when you sign up for a hosting account. There are many FTP programs like WS_FTP, CuteFTP, SmartFTP. Uploading with them is fairly easy and fast. The second option you have is to use the web based file manager that usually comes along with your web hosting account Control Panel. And the third option is to use the built-in publishing features of the HTML program that you have used to build your site - MS Front Page, Dream Weaver, Coffeecup HTML, Adobe GoLive, etc.
Some web hosting companies also do offer secure file transfers such as FTP over SSL or secure copy, using SSH connection to the server.
-
How much data transfer will I need?
- It is hard to say as everything depends on how many visitors you will have on your site per month. Anyway you can make some calculations. Take your average page size along with all images, media, etc that are included on the page. Then multiply that number by the number of visits that you expect on your site per month. For instance if you have a page that averages 50KB and it is being viewed 2000 times a day you will need a plan with at least 4-5GB of data transfer. Please have in mind that sites get more and more popular in time and you may need to check the web hosting company upgrade options.
-
What if I don't have any experience in creating a site. Who can help me create and host my site?
- There are may companies that offer web design services out there. So if you need professionally looking site you'd better go and find one to create the site for you. As the web hosting stuff gets more and more easy you can just pickup an WYSIWYG HTML program like Dream Weaver, MS Front Page, Adobe Golive and start creating your site.
-
I want 100% uptime. Is it possible at all?
- 100% uptime is merely a fiction. We have monitored uptime for many hosts and you can use the data we have collected. Even the biggest companies have downtime. So uptime of 99% is more than enough in our opinion. Always check if the web hosting company offers uptime guarantee. Even some of them offer refunds if they fail to provide the uptime claimed.
-
Do Cobalt RaQ servers give any advantages to a web hosting company compared to one that uses normal Linux boxes?
- No. There are no particular advantages. They just a brand for servers. Although they are made specifically for hosting and they have pre-installed software, more web hosting companies prefer to build and install the systems on their own as it may be less expensive.
-
I have a popular site with huge database and over 50GB transfer per month. Can I simply go with a host that offers unlimited transfer plan for $10-15 per month?
- In our opinion - NO. You get what you pay for. These unlimited host usually have fineprint or somewhere mentioned in their FAQ or Terms Of use what exactly unlimited means. So alway make sure to read these hidden rules. It is possible if you are using too much resources your site to get suspended and you will be asked to move elsewhere.
-
Should I go with a big or small hosting company?
- It is up to you. Usually larger companies are more stable (as in any business) but most of them are lacking the level of support and custom deals that the small companies may offer. Also small companies usually have more features included in their plans for less money than the big companies do.
-
Should I simply choose a cheapest plan?
- Yes, if you do not care about uptime, customer support or whatever.
-
Should I look for Linux or Windows web hosting server?
- Please, check our Windows vs Unix article about that. Each has its own set of unique features, advantages and disadvantages. While it is difficult to say which one is the better choice, it is not as difficult to answer which is the better choice given your needs. The language which your site is programmed in is what primarily defines the type of hosting you need. Please, note that the operating system that you have on your desktop computer (Windows,MAC) has absolutely nothing to do with the one that the webhosting company uses to serve your web site. Most personal sites are created with MS FrontPage and even although that is a Microsoft product, it can be hosted perfectly on a UNIX web server with FrontPage Extensions installed.
-
My web hosting company is a reseller. Are there any troubles with that?
- No, usually resellers are new startup web hosting companies. Most probably you will get better support there. However, please have in mind that they do not have access to their hosting servers and some times they rely on the parent company to perform certain task as hardware replacements, etc which might take more time.
-
What are PHP, MySQL, Java, IP, etc.?
- These are abbreviations for Internet and computer technologies.
You may wish to check our Glossary about their exact meaning.
Most web hosting plans have these listed in their list of available features. You can also search for a web hosting plan that offers any particular features using our Advanced search.
-
What are "space" and "transfer"?
- Space is the amount of space you can use on the web hosting server. All your files, images, video, HTML are taking up of your web hosting account space. Email messages, databases are also calculated to wards the space your site is using on the server. The space is usually listed in megabytes(for example 500MB).
Transfer is the amount of traffic your site may consume per month. For example if you have a page that averages 40KB and it is being loaded 1000 times a day you will need a plan with at least 4-5GB of data transfer. 1000 views * 40KB = 40,000KB (40MB), 40MB * 30 days = 1200 MB(1.2 GB)
-
What is a domain name?
- A Domain name is the name of your site. It is what a visitor will type in his/her browser to get to your site. For example our site domain name is "BestHostRatings.com". You will need to register a domain name for your site. Most web hosting companies will do that along with their hosting package. However, we do recommend registering your domain name with a separate domain name registrar company.
-
What is domain parking?
- Domain parking allows you to use more than one domain name for your site. Let's say you have company.com as a domain name. Your company is a producers of widgets so you may wish to register widgets.com and point it to your site. Well you can do this with domain name parking. In other words domain name parking is pointing multiple domain names to one and the same site.
-
What is full-service web hosting?
- Well, it is hard to say until you know what exactly is included in the "full service" package. Ask the web host what is included there as sometimes a service that you may need may be missing in the full service features list. An example for a full service can be: web design, web promotion, site maintenance, technical support.
-
What is shared or virtual web hosting?
- Shared web hosting is when several web site are being hosted on the same server. This is the most common way (99% of the sites across the Internet are using shared web hosting servers) to host multiple sites on one and the same physical server. Unless your site is resource heavy and consumes a lot of bandwidth, space and CPU usage a shared hosting plan will be just fine for you. Although on a shared hosting server you will still be able to have your own IP if needed. Other options to host your site is going for a dedicated, manager or co-location hosting services.
-
What is uptime?
- Uptime is usually measured in percents. The number shows how long the web hosting server has been working for a given period of time. For example if the server has been working for 100 hours and has been down for one hour, its uptime is 99%
-
What is web hosting?
- Web hosting empowers you and anyone with a computer and internet connection to own a piece of cyberspace. In your space, you can have news, bulletins, documents, data, files (your web site) and your own post office (mail server) to accept mail, all in the context of you or your business. This is your space and to get this space you either have to own a piece of the physical internet with a network connection to the internet backbone and computer(s) operating as server(s) offering access to your files and post office, for people on the internet to view your web site or send and receive email with you.
-
Will I have forced advertising on my site like I do on Geocities, etc.?
- No. Paid web hosting companies make their money out of your hosting fees, not by placing banners or whatever on your site.
-
MS Publisher is the program that I used to build my site. Is it necessary to acquire MS Front Page, Dream Weaver, Coffeecup HTML, Adobe GoLive or the like to submit changes or provide regular maintenance to the site?
- No, it is not necessary.
You can create and maintain your website using MS Publisher. When using MS Publisher you have two options for publishing your web site to hosting server. The first one would be to use the MS Publisher built-in publish features and the second one would be to upload your site files to the server over FTP or using the File Manager provided by your webhost.
To publish your web site files to the server using the built-in publish features, you need to:
1. From the menu choose File -> Save As Web Page
2. Choose "My Network places" from the left pane and then in the file name box, give your site URL (http://www.example.com).
To use this feature your web hosting server must support MS FrontPage extensions and they must be enabled for your account.
With the second option you need to export your site files to a folder on your local computer and then use some FTP program (SmartFTP, FileZilla, etc) to upload them to the server.
So in case you need to make changes to your site, you need to:
1. Make the changes to your website locally on your computer.
2. Publish the changes to the hosting server
(you can publish them using one of the options described above).
-
What is multiple domain hosting?
- With Multiple Domain hosting you can host several websites under a single hosting account/plan.
However, in the web hosting industry, there are several variations of this service:
Add-On domains
With this option you can have several sites hosted under one account. However you will have only one on-line Control Panel to manage all the additional domain names. (create mailboxes, etc)
Reseller Accounts
With this type of plans you can have several domain names hosted. (with most plans even unlimited number of additional domains). Each domain name will be a separate hosting account in terms of Control Panel and administrator access.
VPS plans
Similar to the Reseller Accounts in terms of multiple domain hosting, however you are on a VPS (Virtual Private Server) and in most cases have root SSH access to the server.
-
What is Nameservers Information?
- The terms refers to the Nameservers used by a domain name.
Usually when you change a hosting provider you need to update your domain name Nameservers Info so that your domain name can start resolving (pointing) at the new web hosting company servers.
The Nameservers information can be updated at the company where your domain name is registered. Usually most registrar companies provide a domain name management interface where you can manage your domain name as you wish.
The Nameservers information is usuallly provided to you by your new hosting company upon the account activation. They look something like:
ns1.example.com
ns2.example.com
|
|
|
