5 Important Tips to Choose a Good Web Hosting Provider

Here is your first bit of web host buying news, and it is not good: unless you happen to have some very sophisticated web tools at your disposal, you cannot be sure of your web host’s hosting services. However, just like buying any service, there are ways to avoid getting ripped off.Here are a few things you need to consider when buying web hosting:

A free web host comes at a cost
This is a burningly accurate statement which you ignore at your peril. Your first thought may be that if you use a free website service, then you have nothing to lose. But, what you in-fact have to lose is any and all the time and money you invest into building, developing and maintaining your website.

Most free services install adverts onto your website, which is going to cost you some credibility. Others will make it so that you cannot leave the host once you are on there, so you will have to leave your website where it sits and start a new one if you want to leave the host. Some free services have a very poorly maintained server, which is going to be hacked frequently, which means that anything you upload is not safe.

Be careful when reading reviews
If you are not at the stage where you are cynical about everything you read online, then please send five dollars to this site. If you are already cynical about everything you read, then be careful when it comes to hosting reviews.

Ideally, if you want to find a good hosting service, the you need to start looking at hosting reviews. But, do not look at the positive reviews because they are written by the hosting company. You need to look at the negative reviews. Think about it, when you pay for a service and they do their job, do you go online and write a good review about them? No, you do not. So, why would you believe all of the good reviews online?

You need to look at the bad reviews. You need to look for consistency within the negative reviews. For example, if you were buying a microwave and several negative reviews mentioned that its paint flakes off, then you may draw that conclusion that its paint probably flakes off. You need to do the same thing with the hosting service and look for consistencies throughout the negative reviews.

The distance selling laws apply
The people selling you hosting services should not be able to lie to you. If they say that they install the latest and most advanced virus checkers on their servers, then they have to by law, otherwise you can sue them. If they say that they give you a massive bandwidth amount, then they have to give you the amount they quoted.

This is because the distance selling laws allow you to sue the people who lie and mis-advertise to you. However, the laws do not apply across the world. If you are dealing with a company in the European Union, or with Canada, or in America itself, then the distance selling laws apply. If not, then people can lie to you about their hosting services and there is nothing you can do about it.

Concentrate on disk space and bandwidth
These are the things that are going to affect your website the most directly and in the most positive or negative manner. It is up to you to find the amount of disk space and bandwidth that you are going to need for your particular website. You really need to check to see if your host offers an upgrade service where you can buy more bandwidth or disk space.

If they do not then you need to look upon them with great suspicion, as it may mean that they are selling-on their own bandwidth and disk space, which is not going to be ideal for you. Plus, if you cannot upgrade then you risk having a popular website that you cannot expand, or that only a limited number of people can visit at one time.

Call their technical support staff
The bad hosts have great sales staff that answer right away, and terrible support or complaints staff that leave you on hold for a long time. Call the support or complaints staff to see how long it takes before you talk to a person. Also, do not go for a host that charges you more than the standard phone call rate for any sort of technical support.

Read More

8 Important Factors To Consider Before Choosing A Web Host

 

Choosing a good web hosting provider is the first and perhaps the most important decision one needs to make to build a successful online presence. With a plethora of web hosts put there, choosing the best one can be confusing task for the beginners. So here are 8 most important factors you need to keep in kind while choosing a web host to derive maximum benefits:

1) Pricing: Pricing is the first and one of the most important factors that you need to consider while  choosing a web host. Avoid going for cheap plans as they  have limited features and hence aren’t best suited for the long run.  That said, an expensive doesn’t guarantee value for money either.  Choose the one that offers you with the diversity of selection within affordable expenses.

2) Technical Support: When choosing a host for your company it is very important to consider the quality of technical support and customer services provided. Look at the services they offer. How is the support for these services offered- live chat, mails, phone calls, or ticket system. Is it available 24×7 or just specific times in a day? Do they’ve  toll free numbers? All these are important criteria that need to be paid due attention to.

3) Software: Software is yet another important factor. Always check if their software is compatible with yours or not. Do they support your web design software? Are they willing to provide you with the online storage space and bandwidth? Does the hosting provider support Email, POP3, SMTP, IMAP, Auto responders, Email forwarders etc? This is very vital if you have a big website which is growing rapidly. It will not be wise to buy a plan that offers only limited space.

4) Data Transfer: Go with the company that offers you with the higher data transfer allowance. There are some companies that claim to offer a

n unlimited data allowance which is not entirely true. So be sure that you read the terms and the conditions of the companies carefully. For a small to medium sized business website, 5-10 gigabytes bandwidth is enough.

5) Reputation: The reputation of the company is important to consider while choosing a web host. Watch the online space, there are a lot of forums  where you can find active discussions and critique of most hosting companies. Are there too many negative feedbacks for the web host you’re considering to opt for? If yes, you can give it a skip.

6) Server Space: Again, like the server space and data allowance, there are companies that will offer you with loads of email accounts that you will hardly ever use. ‘Unlimited accounts’ is the only selling point of these companies.  If you have a large organization with  thousands of employees working under you, such offers might be beneficial for you. But if you’re an SMB, ten to fifteen email accounts should do the job.

7) Mailing Script: Regardless of the type of online business you have,

  you will require installation of CGI script. Whether it is a contract through processor, management mailing script or any other fancy credit card script, your hosting account needs to have them installed to run properly. These  scripts make sure that the performance of the server is never affected.

8) Features: Features are something that can break or make your website. Always have a look at the different add-ons a company is offering. Do they offer an option of adding cart to the site, integration of social media, website builder tools, SSL certificate, mobile website builder etc?

Wrapping things up:
After taking into consideration all the factors listed above, take your time searching for a web host. It is a one time thing as transferring a site from one host to another is a very cumbersome process. You’ll be with the company you choose for at least a year, so make sure that you make a wise decision.

Read More

What Is DHCP?

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

In simple terms, DHCP determines if your IP is static or dynamic.

DHCP is controlled by a DHCP server. Your router can be a DHCP server...and if you're on a home network, it most likely is your DHCP server.

I know this might be confusing because the word dynamic is in the term, but just because you have DHCP enabled on your computer doesn't mean you can't be assigned a static IP. DHCP enabled on your computer simply means you're letting a DHCP server assign its IP. Having it enabled DOES NOT mean it's a DHCP server.

A true DHCP server (not your Linksys router) gives the LAN Admin a ton of control with IP assigning.

Ever print to a network printer? Ever wonder how that printer keeps its network assignment? Probably through DHCP. Each network device has a MAC address. You can assign a static IP at the DHCP server to a specific MAC address. This allows the network printer to always get the same IP even after it reboots and without assigning the IP at the printer. If you print the network configuration at the printer, it will probably tell you that DHCP is enabled and no static IP is assigned. That's because the IP assignment is handled at the DHCP server.

Your ISP has a DHCP server. They can assign IPs by modem MAC addresses. When your modem comes online, it communicates to the network indicating it is looking for an IP address. The DHCP server listens to this communication and starts talking to the modem. The modem then transmits its MAC address to the DHCP server. At that point, either an IP has been reserved for the modem or one is assigned at that time. Hence cloning your MAC address to get a new IP from your ISP.

Routers and DHCP - Under the General Setup or LAN Setup tab in your router, you'll see a settings option for DHCP. You can control how many IPs are assigned or to enable/disable the DHCP server portion of the router. If you disable it, you'll have to statically assign IPs to each computer, or have a DHCP server or your network. This goes for wired and wireless. Any connection on your network has an IP address.

There's a lot more to DHCP than this, but this is a basic explanation.

- JMD Computer India

Source:- http://www.whatismyip.com/faq/what-is-dhcp.asp

Read More

IP Address Management

What is IP Address Management or IPAM?

By breaking down and assigning your internal IP block into segments allows faster troubleshooting when monitoring the network and seeing an erratic IP. Because you’ve segmented the IPs out, you’ll know exactly which segment it’s coming from and can narrow down finding it faster.

Why manage IPs?

Easily track when network monitor software shows errors. If you’re logged on locally to a User’s computer and you’re mapping batch file didn’t run and you need to get a file from one of your servers you don’t have to know the server name, you can simply type \\192.168.1.x to get access to the server you’re needing the file from.

In the scenario I explain below, we’ll have 1 External IP, 5 servers ((Static) 1 handles DHCP (2k3)), 10 printers (Static), 200 wired PCs/users (DHCP).


There are several different ways to set up exact scenarios. This scenario will explain IP Address Management (IPAM) for a small network using my experience and knowledge.


For ease of use, we’re going to say that this is in a brand new facility where no IPs have been assigned and you, as the LAN Admin, have just been told your internet connection is in place and ready to use (this is where the single external IP comes from).


You already know how many devices will be connected to your network in the beginning so it’s now time to lay out a plan. Since most everyone is familiar with the 192.168.1.x IPs, I’ll stick with those. Technically, your first IP is 192.168.1.0 and your last is 192.168.1.255 which gives you 256 IPs. I don’t know of anyone that uses 192.168.1.0. Since we’re human, the first number to us is 1. To a computer, the first number is 0. I don’t think .255 is useable so really, you have 254 IPs available. Your 5 servers should get your first 5 IP addresses and assign them statically even though you can control static assignment in DHCP. You don’t want there to be any chance of these servers losing their IP addresses so you don’t want them to depend on DHCP for IP assignment.


Server 1 also happens to be your DHCP server: 192.168.1.1
Server 2: 192.168.1.2
Server 3: 192.168.1.3
Server 4: 192.168.1.4
Server 5: 192.168.1.5


You have to account for growth so leave .6 through .9 open for future servers whether they’re physical or virtual, they’ll need an IP.


You have 10 printers that will be used by multiple users. IPs in the next segment of the block can be statically assigned at the printer or via the DHCP server…your choice. Every office has a “main” printer/copier/fax. Give it 192.168.1.10. If you think far enough in advance and know that Group 1 will use printer 1 then assign printer 1 192.168.10.11, printer 2 for Group 2 would get 192.168.10.12, etc. all the way through .19. In my experience, if there’s any one piece of equipment you’ll add to your network more than any other, it’ll be a printer. Somebody in one of those groups will get tired of walking 15 feet to the printer and suck up to the boss to get their own printer. Then, people within 5 feet of that person will want to share with them so they don’t have to walk 15 feet to get their stuff either. So that printer will need to be on the network vs. just connected directly to the complainers PC and shared. Lucky you. By the way, remember at the beginning I said this was a brand new facility….hopefully, the people that ran the network drops put in 2 cables at each requested location. Otherwise, you’ll either need to run a cable or take the easy way out and install a 5 port switch. Trust me when I say leave plenty of IPs open for future printers. I would assign .10 through .29 for printers. This gives you 20 IPs for printers so you’ll have 10 IPs free after installing the initial 10 printers.


Finally, we have 200 PCs that will all be hardwired to the LAN and will each need an IP. Starting at .30 going through and including .254 gives you 225 IPs. I’d start my scope in DHCP at .40 through .254. That gives you 215 IPs for users (15 extra) and that also leaves 10 IPs open at the lower range (.30 through .39) for device growth. One thing I didn’t mention yet was managed switches. They’ll need IPs. You can do those at the high end of the spectrum so they’re “out of the way”. Maybe assign them .254, .253, .252, etc. depending on how many you have.


IPAM can get pretty deep especially if you’re dealing with 100’s of PCs and devices. This is where subnetting comes in. I’ll go into further detail in another article, but just for gee whiz this is the tip of the iceberg on subnetting:


For example, 192.168.1.1 with a subnet of 255.255.255.0 is not on the same network as 192.168.2.1 with a subnet of 255.255.255.0 even though they both might be in the same building. However, if you change the third octet in the subnet to 0 like this 255.255.0.0 now 192.168.1.1 with a subnet of 255.255.0.0 and 192.168.2.1 with a subnet of 255.255.0.0 are on the same network. The 255 is sort of a true/false in simple terms, but can get pretty complex if you’re trying to keep networks separate. I’m not a subnet guru by any means, but if you Google subnet calculator you can get a pretty good appreciation for its complexity.

Source: http://www.whatismyip.com/faq/ip-address-management.asp

Read More

What Is An IP Address?

IP Address (Internet Protocol Address):

This number is an exclusive number all information technology devices (printers, routers, modems, et al) use which identifies and allows them the ability to communicate with each other on a computer network. There is a standard of communication which is called an Internet Protocol standard (IP). In laymans terms it is the same as your home address. In order for you to receive snail mail at home the sending party must have your correct mailing address (IP address) in your town (network) or you do not receive bills, pizza coupons or your tax refund. The same is true for all equipment on the internet. Without this specific address, information cannot be received. IP addresses may either be assigned permanently for an Email server/Business server or a permanent home resident or temporarily, from a pool of available addresses (first come first serve) from your Internet Service Provider. A permanent number may not be available in all areas and may cost extra so be sure to ask your ISP.

Domain Name System (DNS): This allows the IP address to be translated to words. It is much easier for us to remember a word than a series of numbers. The same is true for email addresses.

For example, it is much easier for you to remember a web address name such as whatismyip.com than it is to remember 192.168.1.1 or in the case of email it is much easier to remember email@somedomain.com than email@192.168.1.1

Dynamic IP Address: An IP address that is not static and could change at any time. This IP address is issued to you from a pool of IP addresses allocated by your ISP or DHCP Server. This is for a large number of customers that do not require the same IP Address all the time for a variety of reasons. Your computer will automatically get this number as it logs on to the network and saves you the trouble of having to know details regarding the specific network configurations. This number can be assigned to anyone using a dial-up connection, Wireless and High Speed Internet connections. If you need to run your own email server or web server, it would be best to have a static IP.

Static IP Address: An IP address that is fixed and never changes. This is in contrast to a dynamic IP address which may change at any time. Most ISP's a single static IP or a block of static IP's for a few extra bucks a month.

IP version 4: Currently used by most network devices. However, with more and more computers accessing the internet, IPv4 addresses are running out quickly. Just like in a city, addresses have to be created for new neighborhoods but, if your neighborhood gets too large, you will have to come up with an entire new pool of addresses. IPv4 is limited to 4,294,967,296 addresses.

IP version 5: This is an experimental protocol for UNIX based systems. In keeping with standard UNIX (a computer Operating System) release conventions, all odd-numbered versions are considered experimental. It was never intended to be used by the general public.

IP version 6: The replacement for the aging IPv4. The estimated number of unique addresses for IPv6 is 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 or 2^128.

The old and current standard of addresses was this: 192.168.100.100 the new way can be written different ways but means the same and are all valid:

* 1080:0000:0000:0000:0000:0034:0000:417A

* 1080:0:0:0:0:34:0:417A

* 1080::34:0:417A

Source: http://www.whatismyip.com/faq/what-is-an-ip-address.asp

Read More

What is Web Promotion? Web Promotion tutorial

Consider you have created a personal website with some useful information for others to see. This website will be useful only if other people visit your website. How to make other people visit your site. This article discusses about how to promote your site.

How can you make your website address known to everybody. To your friends and relatives it is possible to tell your website address directly to them. You may even distribute notices in your town. But how to tell your website address to the whole world. This is where the Search Engines come in handy.

Almost everyone uses Search engines to search for information or products in the Internet. Then the search engine will display a list of website results based on the searched keyword. If your website is in this result returned by search engines then people will visit your website from around the world.

There are at present billions of websites today. In each website there will be atleast ten pages. Some websites will have many pages. So the website you create is just one of these so many websites.

Therefore when the search engine returns results, if your website is not listed in the first four pages of the results then chances of people visiting your site is less. So you have to create your site such that it appears in the first four pages of the search engine results. For this you need to optimize your website for search Engines. This is called SEO (Search Engine Optimization). To learn SEO techniques, first you need to understand how search engines operator.

How does Search Engines identify and index your website.

Search engines use programs such as Spider, Web Crawlerm Robo, Bot etc for finding and indexing websites. These programs will keep searching for new websites and read the content of the pages in the websites and understand what these pages are about and index those pages accordingly.

It may take some time for the search engines to find your website. If you cannot wait for the search engines to find you then you can tell the search engines about your website and the search engines will send its spider program to crawl your site and index your pages based on their content.

Use of Meta tags in your web pages is one of the most easiest and effective method to tell search engines about your webpage and its content. Those who know HTML language will know about HTML Tags. If you are not familiar with thest tags then below are some tips on using meta tags in your web pages

How to use Meta tags?

The meta tags contain attributes such as 'Name', and 'Description'. The Name attribute can take values such as 'Description' or 'Keywords'. While the 'Description' attribute will have details about keywords and description.
Assume that you do Real estate business and you have created a webpage regarding this. The tips given below will explain how you can effectively use the Meta tags in your webpage.

<META NAME=Description Content="Singapore Flat Sales, Flat at Singapore in reasonable price, the best flat seller in Singapore, Most reliable Flat seller in Singapore, CDMA approved flats in Singapore, Individual Luxury Duplex Bungalows in Singapore, Luxury Type Independent House in Singapore, Uniquely Designed House in Singapore, Independent House designed by experienced Architect">

As you can see the description tag uses the most relevant keywords of your webpage and describes the content of the page for search engines to describe your webpage in search results and also for indexing.

<META NAME=Keywords Content='' Flats, Houses, Bungalows, Chennai''>

The keywords meta tag is to list the keywords in your webpage.
You can add your website for search engines to crawl your site. For this you need to submit your site details to search engines. Some of the most popular search engines are Google, Yahoo and MSN. You can use the links given below to submit your website.

Yahoo: http://submit.search.yahoo.com/free/request

Google: www.google.com/addurl.html

MSN: http://submit.bcentral.com/msnsubmit.htm

Other than search engines, you can also submit your site to directories such as DMOZ and Yahoo directory. You can visit www.dmoz.org to list your site under appropriate directory.

You can also generate money from your website. Now the easiest and hottest internet marketing method is by using google adsense.

 

Source: http://www.allpctips.com/internet/webpromotion-tutorial.htm

Read More