Getting into the world called internet might be a little cumbersome sometime with the increase in the number of hackers,crackers and spammers it would be very helpful as a beginner to understand some terms before you start your journey of creating a website and As the number of Web pages grows to trillions of pages on the Internet, Webmasters have too many hosting plans to choose from - affordable web hosting, Cheap Web hosting, ASP Web Hosting, Budget Hosting, Dedicated Servers, eCommerce Hosting, FrontPage Web Hosting, Hosting With Templates, Managed Web Hosting, PHP Web Hosting, Reseller Hosting, Shared Hosting, Unix / Linux Hosting, Virtual Private Servers, Windows Hosting and Co-location Hosting.
Those commonly used web hosting terms represent the many faces of web hosting. All web hosting plans and terminologies can be classified in terms of cost, programming languages, operation systems, Web servers and functionality.
Cost - Web hosting plans are referred as affordable web hosting, budget hosting and cheap web hosting. Cost of web hosting is the first thing that many small site owners are looking for. Affordable web hosting, budget hosting or cheap web hosting plan often cost less than $5 per month.
Programming Languages - If you want to add dynamics and interactivity to your websites and you happen to know something about programming, you want to hosting plans that support the programming languages that you know well or want to master. The commonly used wen development languages include PHP, ASP, JSP and PERL. The hosting plans that support those programming languages are referred as PHP Web hosting, ASP Web hosting, JSP Web hosting or PERL Web hosting.
Operating Systems - Once you've picked up the programming language(s) for your Web development, you still have freedom to choose the operating system that hosts your Websites. Besides ASP which works only on Microsoft Windows, other programming languages, PHP, JSP and PERL, work on Windows, Unix and Linux. Hosting plans that support particular operating systems are referred as Window Hosting, Unix Hosting or Linux hosting.
Servers - Apache is the most widely supported Web server in Web hosting industry. ASP works only on Mirosoft Internet Information Server or IIS server. Weblogic or Websphere is needed for JSP hosting. When webmasters are talking about Web servers, they're most interested in the server performance - Managed Web Hosting, Shared Hosting, Dedicated Servers, or Virtual Private Servers (VPS). Shared hosting is the cheapest plan, and you can host as many sites as you like with a Reseller Hosting option. VPS costs around $50 a month, and Dedicated Server plan will cost from $50 - $100 or more a month dependent on storage space and bandwidth of the hosting plan.
Functionality - There're hosting plans out there that either make the site creation easier or offer support for secure online transactions. A simple website can be easily created in hours if you choose hosting plans that support various templates. Ecommerce hosting plan is the choice for sites that provide shopping carts and accept payment online.
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Thursday, 19 December 2013
Once you have your website set up and running couple of months later,you have been having lots of hits,traffic and visitors and the goodies have been pouring in but before you know your web hosting company knocks on your door,that you've been eating a lot of resources now you have to look for a better option which is VPS ,Cloud Server or Dedicated server but actually this article is about VPS and Cloud Server. VPS has been one of the widely used and highly acclaimed technologies in the industry of web hosting. Its only due to the providers who offer affordable solutions and hence enable enterprises to cut down their expenditures. What the hosting provider does is, using a virtualization technique, a single physical server is divided into limited number of logical partitions which is termed as the Virtual Servers. This type of server is considered to have the qualities of both shared server hosting as well as the dedicated hosting.
One of the unique features of VPS Hosting is its capability to offer a dedicated like environment to users. Root access enables users to have complete access of the server hence allowing them to install applications and software's of their choice. Before the evolution of this technology, this feature was only available with a dedicated server. But, since the cost of a single dedicated server is divided into number of VPS accounts, users can avail the packages at fairly affordable price.
Unlike the cloud hosting, the responsibility of a VPS needs to be borne by you. Initially you would need to get all your basics right, learn how you would secure your server, get the updates added and learn all sorts of maintenance techniques. There may be fluctuations in the performance of your VPS, in that case you should be able to identify the programs that are causing the spikes. But if you wish to get rid of all this, you can opt for a Managed Web Hosting service offered by a reliable web hosting provider.
On the contrary, Cloud hosting is one new solution that is comparatively pretty new to the hosting industry. It is known to offer scalability and reliability. A Cloud is basically a cluster of multiple servers, and the computing resources of these servers are shared between each other. Almost any number of servers can be added to a single cluster, hence, one can consider Cloud to offering limitless hosting.
These cluster of servers are connected with a fully redundant network hence decreasing the chances of downtime.
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As i have said before once your websites gets big with a lot of traffic then you'll have to move from you little web hosting plans due to much resources you've been using then the only option for you is to look for a better option which is a VPS, Dedicated Server or Cloud Computing but this article is about Dedicated Server or Cloud Computing so read on.
To have a strong and viable online presence people build websites. And every one of us know that a website can never remain up and running without a proper hosting in support! However, now a fantastic point has come up in choosing hosting services - dedicated Vs cloud computing. People are getting little confused! Which one is better for them? Should they go for dedicated service or it is best to use cloud on 'pay for the usage only'.
Let us try to have a comparative look at the matter - dedicated Vs cloud server. Below I have tried to point out a few interesting facts that come in consideration when choosing cloud or the dedicated server for hosting a site:
The first point that comes in consideration in the discussion of dedicated Vs cloud computing is the time consumption in deploying the servers at service. Cloud servers are ready-made with so many options to choose according to needs. But dedicated ones need to be configured and that process surely takes time with high level of expertise.
One of the most fuming points that people have to consider when trying to tally dedicated Vs cloud server is scalability between the two. Whether it is vertical (adding hardware) or the horizontal (adding network to balance the load) scaling cloud server is very much useful and can be scaled fast. But in dedicated servers the hosting service has to be down or new backup server creation takes time.
The point on which people keep thinking is the reliability of dedicated Vs cloud. Sometimes it is found that the cloud servers are can not establish as the reliable one against the dedicated servers or the vice-versa. Actually it depends on reputation of the hosting service providers selected by the client.
In the tussle of dedicated Vs cloud computing the service does matter. Sometimes dedicated servers are best as pressure on servers is less. But in clouds management tries best in providing highest level of service yet influx of huge visitors may create problem. Whereas in dedicated servers maximum root control remains on the client but in problem conditions service providers are found relaxing or unavailable too.
In the matter of affordability cloud servers are far ahead of the dedicated servers. It is the reason for which cloud servers are winners in the fight dedicated Vs cloud. In cloud servers clients only pay for the usage of the hosting space and services. But in dedicated servers a certain amount of space and level of service are always bought, whether in use or not. It comes as loss of money and resource too.
So from the above point hopefully you have understand how the topic dedicated Vs cloud computing has become a real matter of debate and consideration when people think of hiring or buying the space for website hosting purposes. Both dedicated and the cloud hosting has their unique features for providing best hosting service. Actually it depends on the requirements of services. If the client wants to go for pay per usage, cloud is the best. On the other hand if you know the limit or the amount of space you require in future, go for dedicated hosting. Finally it is found that people are going for hybrid of the two to avoid confusion of dedicated Vs cloud computing and get top-level service.
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Well as the saying goes the bigger you get the bigger your demands get but sometimes your demand might remain the same which is the case of when you are on a regular web hosting but thinking to move well this article is meant for you.To have a strong and viable online presence people build websites. And every one of us know that a website can never remain up and running without a proper hosting in support! However, now a fantastic point has come up in choosing hosting services - dedicated Vs cloud computing. People are getting little confused! Which one is better for them? Should they go for dedicated service or it is best to use cloud on 'pay for the usage only'.
In an era of budgeting, most organizations out there are looking for efficient ways to save their precious dollars. Because investment on web hosting package is a long term deal, small as well as large businesses don't like to spend too much on web hosting packages. The fact that web business is evolving constantly, most web owners are looking beyond the conventional means to host their website, and in the process seek better service and also save some money. Talking about new age technology, cloud hosting seems to be an emerging trend that has garnered great interest from the masses. Needless to say, a quick comparison between cloud hosting and other traditional hosting packages out there will give out a clear picture about the pros and cons of each hosting package.
Shared hosting is often the first choice among web owners who are on a tight budget. Basically, it's a low entry hosting solution. The reason why shared hosting is more affordable than other hosting packages is because the server resources such as CPU, bandwidth, Memory etc are shared by multiple users. Needless to say, it can make way for unwanted troubles such as downtime and slow speed due to server overload. Although cloud server may not be accessible at a price at which you can avail shared hosting, cloud servers set up are reasonably priced as well. Websites that are hosted on cloud servers run on numerous connected servers, which imply that one doesn't have to rely on a single server to keep the website running. Therefore, one doesn't have to worry about website shutdown or server downtime.
More than often, the next logical choice after shared hosting is VPS. With increase in traffic, most web owners choose to upgrade to VPS hosting. Just like cloud hosting, VPS makes use of virtualization technology. This enables VPS users to host their websites on multiple servers. However, VPS servers are found to be less efficient because VPS users are allocated certain amount of resources that cannot be rerouted to others, which implies that one user might be enjoying numerous resources for free, while another user might be overloaded. This is not the case with cloud hosting, which is why cloud hosting finds an upper edge over VPS.
Dedicated server is often considered as a better pick over shared hosting and VPS. However, dedicated hosting involves an initial set-up fee and one year contract. In some cases, users may have to commit for a higher contract period. On the other hand, one doesn't have to bear a high cost with cloud hosting. Also, most providers don't stress too much on minimal contractual terms. Switching server is also a daunting task with dedicated hosting, whereas cloud hosting enables server switch with great ease, thereby ensuring maximum uptime at low cost. Not to forget the fact that cloud hosting users are also blessed with easy to use control panel and other features, and there are not set-up charges for cloud hosting.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6108275
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After a while if you website as gone boom i.e lot of hits and traffic then you'll have to change your hosting plans if you were on a small plan before because of the high resource usage.
Yes am talking about dedicated servers. Figuring out all of the options and services can be very confusing.
But No Worry!
I will try and give you some tips and hopefully guide to your perfect server.
So let's not waste any time and start with first segment.
What is a Dedicated Server?
Dedicated Server is a single computer connected to a network (internet). This computer and all of it's processing power is dedicated to a single person or organization. Meaning that the computer resources are not shared by anyone else. You have the full control of the machine and you are free to run any software you want on that computer.
Generally dedicated servers are used to serve web page requests ( html, images, videos...etc) but they can be used for many other purposes as well.
Do I need one or more servers?
To simplify things we will divide the use of dedicated servers into these two groups:
Full Web site Hosting
Specific Service Hosting (Database, email, httpd...etc)
Single Web site Hosting
Hosting of a single or several web sites. In this kind of setup, all of the services/programs (http software, DB software, email software...etc) are installed and running on one dedicated server. Sometimes these services/programs can also be referred as "servers" them self.
This is the common setup for small to medium trafficked web sites since all of the necessary software needed to run the web site are located on one physical machine.
Advantage to of this setup is that it lowers the cost, but disadvantage is that all of the machine resources are shared by all of the software and processes.
Specific Service Hosting
Hosting of a single software or service on it's own dedicated machine. All of the resources on the machine are dedicated mainly for one type of service or functionality. For example, one might host only Database Software on the server so that all of the resources on that machine are only dedicated for processing of Database Queries. You are able to handle more queries, or deliver more pages.
Usually medium to high trafficked web sites will run this kind of setup.
Traditional setup will consist of one or more server that will only handle web (http) request, then one or more servers only handling database requests and maybe one or more servers only handling processing of the emails. Theoretically there is no limitation on the amount of servers. As a group working together these servers are used to process in millions of requests a day.
Which setup do you choose?
This of course depends on the amount of requests and traffic that your web site will be receiving. So to be able to answer this question we need to first understand little bit about what services are needed in order for web site to be accessed by the user.
Generally today's dynamic web sites require two main service types to deliver a full working web site to the user's browser.
WEB SERVERS / WEB SCRIPTS ( apache, IIS, php, perl, java )
DATABASE SERVER (MYSQL, MSSQL, ORACLE)
Use of the word "servers" in the above text is referring to the application / software and not to the physical machine. This is a common term used to describe the type of application.
Web server handles all of the initial requests from the browser and decides on how and where data from the Database is returned.
Database server handles requests from the web server in a form of queries. These queries retrieve data from the storage (hard disk) and return it to the web server.
As you can see both web and database server work together to deliver the final product (web page) to the user.
Usually web server handles more of the logic part so FASTER CPU and bigger MEMORY are always in need more then Hard Drive speed.
While database server handles more of data retrieval so FASTER HD and bigger MEMORY are always in need more then cpu speed.
In any case more memory is always needed:)
It's important to note that all of the server software always uses some of the CPU, MEMORY and HARD DISK resources. Eventually they start fighting over the available resources.
One way to stop this fight over the resources is to separate them onto each own dedicated server.
Another reason to separate service types is that is easier to optimize the machine to run well for one specific task then it is for all of the tasks.
For example:
Since we now know that Database needs faster Hard Drives, maybe we use more expensive faster Hard Drives in DB machine, and leave the cheaper hard drives on WEB machines where HD speed is not as important.
But maybe instead we use faster processors on WEB machines since they perform most of the logic.
Doing it like this we have optimal performance without wasting resources and $$$!
These are just general suggestions, and depending on the web site and it's functionality these configurations will vary.
Server Features and Components.
OK now that you understand what each (web, db) server is hungry for, how do you know what components to get?
Because of the sheer amount of different types and models of each component I would need to write several books just to cover that subject.
So I am just going to give you some general guides for each type of component, which whould help you on your next server purchase.
CPU Speed:
This is a no brainer. More speed (Ghz) that processor has the faster it can do the calculations and faster the pages are going to get returned to the user.
Some CPU architectures are known to perform better then others in server setups so I suggest you do some research on that subject.
Number of CPU Cores / Processors:
Another no brainer. More cores or processors your server has, more taks it can do simultaneously. Since most of the actions on the server are based on requests and each request usually spawns a separate process, you can see how more CPU Cores enables the server to handle multiple requests at the same time.
Amount of RAM:
I think you see the pattern here "MORE". Needless to say that more RAM your server has, more requests it can handle at the same time. Reason for that is that each request requires certain amount of RAM so that it can be processed. This amount is dependent of various factors like: Software type, Operating System, Installed Modules...etc
For example popular web server software APACHE can take about 7mb to 15mb of RAM per request or process and that's not accounting for any other processes already running or being spawned to compliment that each request.
Memory is probably best investment you can make in your dedicated server.
Hard Drive RPM speed
Again the faster the disk spins, quicker it can get to the data on disk. Some popular Har Disk speeds are: 7200RPM, 10000RPM and 15000RPM.
Biggest performance increase by faster Hard Drives will be seen by applications which access the Disk often. Some of those applications are: Database servers, File Servers and Video Streaming servers.
SATA vs SCSI vs SAS
If you were wondering what all of these acronyms are related to, they are the 3 most common Hard Drive interfaces used in dedicated servers.
Starting from left with SATA being the most affordable but usually not being the best performer. While with SCSI generally you get better performance then SATA but at much higher cost and with a lot less disk space. With SAS you get better performance then SCSI and you also get more disk space.
Of course there is a lot more differences between these interfaces. Luckily there is tons of articles on the internet explaining it all. I suggest you spend some time researching.
Generally unless you are running very High Transaction DB server you are fine with SATA. And if you are looking for best performance and you don't care about the cost then go with SAS.
To RAID or not to RAID
So yes we are still stuck with the hard drives. When you see a word "RAID" being used in a server setup, that means that server has 2 or more HD's joined in an array forming one logical unit. Raid usually provides increased storage reliability through redundancy. There are different RAID setups and you've probably seen some: RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10...etc
Two most common ones you will see in server setups are RAID 1 and RAID 5
What you need to know about RAID 0 is that provides you with some performance and increased total disk space but has no redundancy. If one drive fails, you loose your data.
RAID 1 provides redundancy through mirroring and in certain cases performance increase, but you do not get increased disk space. If one drive fails you can still continue operating and be able to replace the broken drive without loss of data. This setup requires two Hard Drives.
RAID 5 provides redundancy and increased disk space. It requires minimum on 3 Hard drives. Maximum of disk space you can have is:(Size of Smallest Drive) * (Number of Drives - 1). If one HD fails you can still continue your operations.
RAID can be implemented via two common methods, via software or via hardware.
Software RAID uses Computer resources while Hardware RAID uses it's own dedicated resource on the card.
If you have a powerful machine then performance difference between Hardware and Software RAID could be negligible
Generally it is thought that if available Hardware RAID is a better choice.
If you have an option to "RAID" your server, I say go for it, at least RAID 1. Servers are 24hr nonstop workhorses and any interruption due to single Hard Drive point of failure could cause serious downtime for your web site.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the term used to describe the amount of data that server will deliver over period of time. Hosting companies can choose to offer various pricing structures for cost of bandwidth.
But some of the most popular ones are:
Metered Bandwidth
Unmetered Bandwidth
Metered bandwidth packages usually come with certain amount of included bandwidth a month and if going over the included limit you are charged certain fee per transferred GB ( GigaByte ) of data.
Unmetered bandwidth packages allow you to to transfer as much as you can at the maximum included transfer rate. This maximum transferred rate is measured in Mbps ( megabits per second ).
Each pricing structure type offers its own advantages and disadvantages.
With metered bandwidth you usually have access to much faster connection so your speed can burst up to the hosting provider's maximum bandwidth capabilities. This enables the user to download the file quicker if capable. Since you are charged per amount of data transfer, you are only limited to the speed of your uplink port.
With unmetered bandwidth you are limited (capped) to certain speed of your connection (10Mbps, 50Mbps, 100Mbps...etc). Amount of data you transfer is not measured. In nutshell hosting company says here is your max speed so you use it up to the max speed or not, you are charged one flat fee for that speed.
With metered bandwidth you have to make sure that amount of data transfer included a month can actually be delivered over a included uplink port.
For example: Lets say with your server you get 6,000 GB of outbound transfer a month but your uplink port speed is 10 Mbps.
With this type of uplink speed if you were to continuously transfer for one month at the maximum speed of 10 Mbps you would only be able to transfer 3,240 GB of data. So to fully be able to utilize all of the allowed transfer usage you will have to upgrade to higher port speed.
Operating System
Usually hosting companies offer several different types of Operating Systems, but most of them are grouped into Linux/Unix based and Windows Servers.
OS X Server is a very rear breed to find on dedicated servers.
Choosing an operating system is mostly dependent on the requirements of software, libraries and applications you will be running on your server.
Certain software is available on both Linux, Unix and Windows, while others are only available for specific OS.
Linux based Operating Systems are very popular choice since most of them are free and usually require less resources to run then windows.
Control Panel
Control panels allow for easy management of dedicated servers. They allow you setup new virtual hosts, domains, emails accounts and various other tasks that can without a control panel be vary tedious and hard to setup.
Some are free and open source but for most of them you have to pay. Usually paid ones come with more features and support.
Most popular paid ones are: Cpanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin.
Most popular free ones are: Virtualmin GPL, W
If you are a novice with dedicated servers and your web server is unmanaged by the hosting company then I would strongly suggest having some kind of control panel installed. It will make your server management easy and you will be able to spend the nights actually sleeping instead of trying to figure out why your apache server is returning "500 Internal Server Error":)
One thing to note is that some Control Panels take over your OS and embed them self so deep with the OS that it can make doing setups and installs not supported by the control panel difficult.
Web Hosting Support and Management
Managed or Unmanaged?
Most of the Dedicated Server packages come as "Managed" or "Unmanaged".
With unmanaged servers it's your responsibility to manage the server. Meaning that installing and configuring any software on the server falls on you. Unmanaged servers are usually much cheaper and if you do not have any "System Administration" experience it can be difficult to manage the server.
One option is to get some type of control panel which can make the management of the server much easier.
With managed servers responsibility of managing of the server falls on the hosting company. If you are very new to all this or you do not have time to manage it your self then this is your best bet. Usually managed servers are much more expensive. Managed services come with different levels of management. Make sure that you find out exactly what is included in the management of your server, some tasks or software might not be covered and you might get charged hourly support rates.
Remote Reboot
Is referred to an option that enables you to instantly Hard Reboot your machine. This is usually done via web interface and it is useful since gives you the control to restart the server at your command. Once in a while something will happen with the OS or software on the server so that it crashes or freezes.
This requires the hard restart of the machine (cutting the power off to the machine, and starting again).
If remote reboot is not available, you can usually issue an email ticket or call the hosting company them self and they will perform this for you. Problem is that sometimes support team might not get to your ticket in a while, which is why remote reboot comes in handy.
Technical Support
Things do go wrong and they usually happen when you least expect. Servers crash, Hard drives fail, Processors can burn out and what do you do then? You are possibly thousands of miles away from the server and there is nothing you can personally do. You are in the hands of technical support.
There is all types of hosting companies out there, from those run by one person to those run by hundreds of skilled technicians. Some offer 24/7 manned phone, chat and email support, while some have only limited email support. Be careful when choosing your hosting company, pay good attention to the level of support they provide and see what is covered. For support that is not covered in your plan some hosting companies charge as high as $150 per hour. Make sure you read their SLA (Service Level Agreement) to see if they offer any guarantees for any down time as well
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Have you had the idea of hosting your own web Are you disgusted or disappointed with your current web host? Have you switched web hosting companies too many times? Do you have the ambition to control and manage your own web server?
If you answered 'yes' to the questions above, then you may be ready to host your own sites. This article will give you things to consider while making the switch.
When being your own web host you should be technically inclined and have basic knowledge of operating systems, understand technical terms, understand how to setup a server environment (such as: DNS, IIS, Apache, etc.) have basic knowledge of scripting languages and databases (PHP, Perl, MySQL, etc.), be familiar with current technologies, and have a basic understanding of hardware and server components.
You should realize the pros & cons. It is one thing to say, you want to host your own web server and it is another thing to actually do it.
Pros:
Own sense of responsibility
Awareness level raised (you are at the frontline of all server happenings)
No monthly hosting fees/accounts
Incompetence no longer exist
Non-shared environment (dedicated server)
Unlimited websites, databases, content, storage, etc.
More bandwidth
No more waiting on someone else time
Complete control
Cons:
Exhausting at times
Faced with server/hardware problems
ISP business account (monthly business/broadband expense)
If server goes down then the website is offline
No technical support team
Software, hardware, and network expenses
There could be many more pros & cons but I've pointed out some of the major ones. Managing a web server starts as a full time job, you must constantly monitor its performance and security. This can sometimes be an exhausting task, especially if you currently have other responsibilities. Though, the control you will have over your website and its performance is rewarding enough. You no longer have to wait for technical support or approval to install a script onto the server. You can have as many websites and databases you want, as long as your hardware can handle it. You no longer have to go into the discussion forums and search for the best web host or rant about how much you hate your current host. You can even begin hosting family & friends personal websites.
Ask yourself, how technically advanced are you? Many times you do not have to be a tech guru or anything of the sort, but you must be very resourceful. You must know how to find resolutions and answers to problems, quickly and efficiently. This means you must be internet savvy. Not just the average surfer, who surfs aimlessly, but you must be the surfer who can always find what they are looking for. This is key, because with any server environment you are going to run into problems and finding the answers are most accomplished online, using multiple resources, search techniques, and engines. Sure you can hire someone to fix your problems, but as we should have learned from the "web hosting", having someone do it for you isn't always the best option. Here is a test to see if you are ready to find solutions. I need a solution to a Microsoft Windows 2003 Server Event Error - "Event ID: 1056" it's a DHCP Server Error. How would you search? Go ahead find the solution.
Did you first go to Google? If you did, that was a nice effort and common for most, plus a good place to start, but usually it is best to start at the developers' website. In this case "microsoft.com" would have been the first option. Why? Google would more than likely provide you with the answer from Microsoft and other sources, but you don't want to get inaccurate information from other sources. It is common to get information from Microsoft that would not specifically resolve your problem, but the developer should always be your first place to search for the answers. Now search the error again and go to the Microsoft site and find the solution.
You should had found this (Event ID 1056 is Logged after installing DHCP)
What search phrase did you use? It should have been Event ID: 1056, because the Event ID is the exact error, it pinpoints your exact problem without broadening your search. Sometimes the error description is also appropriate to search, just the error description by itself or in combination with the Event ID. It depends on your error, your search feedback, your ability, and technique. For this example I did not include the error description.
Google or Yahoo! should have been your second option (the two largest search engines). Then search other smaller and niche search engines. A good search site which makes use of Google's operator tags is http://www.soople.com Next you should search within forums and discussion groups. If you are pretty internet savvy and have a plentiful or few forums and discussion groups which you frequent then you might actually visit those places before visiting Google or Yahoo!. You can even visit those before visiting the developer site since it is a trusted source, but I wouldn't recommend it, I still would go to the developers' site first. Okay, so now we have planted our feet and have familiarized ourselves with being internet (search) savvy. We are ready to purchase a server!
When making a server purchase you need to consider a few things before doing so. What to buy? A top of the line, quadruple processor, and super fast turbo server is always ideal, but many times it is not logical or affordable. Therefore, you need to weigh your options (sensibly).
What to buy?
First determine your budget. Be realistic and expect to spend at least $2,500 for a low-end server. For a low-end, quality server with other needed equipment and services I spent a little over $4,500 easily.
Determine your ISP (broadband) provider. Research and speak with several different vendors before deciding which broadband solution best suit your needs. Each provider plan is different and has different benefits, determine the best one which fits your needs. Bandwidth should be put into consideration when choosing your ISP.
A backup device should be purchased before implementing a server install. The backup device should be double the server storage space. This could be a standalone unit like an external hard drive or network storage device or the backup device could be multiple devices such as: backup tapes, disc, etc. The reason the backup device should be larger is because you want to be able to have months worth of backups and not just weekly or monthly backups. You should have at least 24 weeks of backups without the concern of storage space. The backup device or safe deposits should also be external, removable, and portable. This is so the backups can be stored in a remote location. Usually for safe-keeping, in event of a theft or disaster.
Determine your daily traffic goal (the daily traffic which you hope to see within 1 year - be realistic), divide that number by the daily traffic you currently receive, and then multiply that number by 5. That is the total number of GB space you need.
Example:
Daily Traffic Goal: 10,000 (Divided by) Current Daily Traffic: 500 (Times X) 5 = 100GB
In the example you should purchase a 100GB Hard Drive, it is best to buy 2 or more drives oppose to 1. In this case, since 50GB drives do not exist or harder to find, you would buy two 60GB drives giving you a total of 120GB. 2 or more drives are usually needed in a server to configure the proper RAID option, in some cases 3 or more are needed. Your backup storage space should be a minimum capacity of 200GB (or 240GB, optional).
Determine your memory. If your web server daily traffic goal is 500,000 then I would recommend at least 2GB worth of memory. If it is a shared server, meaning it also has other server services running on the machine, especially a mail server or database server (which is not recommended) then your memory should at least be 3GB or more. Otherwise you can think small and upgrade as needed, a 1GB memory stick should be fine for starters.
Determine your network components, which NIC card best performs under high traffic levels and which router best performs for your LAN / web server. It is best to get a router which has a built-in firewall (commonly known as a "hardware firewall"). Your ISP may provide you with a router or hardware firewall, this is how they are able to authorize your traffic on their network. Like a cable box does for cable television. The router also shares your IP address with other clients on your network. This enables you to share your internet connection without having to get a different IP from your ISP. The hardware firewall is simply a router with a built-in firewall, which means it shares your IP address as well as provides added protection to your network. It blocks bad addresses and ports at the forefront, before it can even make it to your computer. It is not recommended to rely only on a hardware firewall for security, this is just the first step. It is recommended to also include a software firewall (firewall software which installs on your computer) and it is recommended to continue timely security practices, such as updating and patching your system on a scheduled routine.
Determine your processor speed and power. Regardless of the amount of traffic you are expecting I would recommend a dual processor or greater. A dual processor or greater is best because if your website unexpectedly take off then you will be well prepared and if you host other server options or websites on the same server then you will have better performance. At the time of this writing the 64-bit platform is the processor direction. 3.8GHz is the most available speed. If your pockets can afford the latest technologies then that is ideal, but keep in mind at this particular time a 64-bit compatible processor is not necessary, without having many applications that require or deliver on that platform. That is a lot of speed going no where fast. Also, remember the power of the 64-bit platform and the greater the processor speed the more heat it produces, therefore it must be cooled much more rapidly and efficiently. At this time a dual 32-bit, 2.8GHz - 3.2GHz processor will suffice (even that is way more than enough). Though, if your pockets can afford it then the latest and greatest would be fine, you will be well prepared. Otherwise, do like most people and upgrade when the time comes.
Make sure you have a CD/RW drive. A floppy disk drive is not needed, but I do recommend it for making system restore disk. The CD/RW drive is needed because you need some type of removable storage device. You never know when you need to install a driver from a different location...like a ethernet driver. An external CD/RW drive is the best option, especially if you have multiple machines.
Choose your operating system carefully. Choose the vendor which you are most comfortable with. Do not choose a MAC if you never used a MAC before. Just because your friend suggests it and says it is a piece of cake does not mean it will be for you. You are trying to get a web server online not re-learn a whole new system. Stay focused and grounded. If you are comfortable with Microsoft then go with Microsoft, regardless if the IT person at your job says Microsoft products are unsecure, Linux or Unix is more secure and much better for a web server. If you have never used Linux or (especially) Unix then you will be in for a ride of your life. Your web server experience will soon become a nightmare and you will have wasted thousands of dollars on equipment. Go with what you know, not what you are told. Each platform has its pros and cons: Microsoft is the user-friendly of them all; Mac is the web/graphic developer of them all; Linux is the open-source/developers paradise of them all; Unix is the most secure of them all. Each of them can be tweaked in ways to provide a solid, quality platform, it is best to stick with what you already know.
You should install on your system all the web services (such as: Apache, IIS, etc.), applications (such as: backup device software, RAID (Array) Manager), scripting languages (such as: PHP, Perl, etc.), CGI, Database (such as: MySQL, Microsoft SQL, etc.), and a web log analyzer (such as: weblog expert, nihuo, etc.). It is also recommended to perform system updates, security patches, and firewall installs and configurations. It is sometimes best to leave the security installs and configurations for after you have the system functioning properly to avoid any uncalculated problems. This way when you install the firewall and something stops working properly like connecting to your website from outside your network, you can troubleshoot assuming that it is the firewall, therefore you would begin by opening port 80 on the firewall. This method can save you a lot of hassle, but can sometimes be considered the unsecure method, especially if you don't have a hardware firewall already in place.
Next, there are a few things to consider before installing and configuring a server. Where to put it? A secluded, cool location is ideal, but if this cannot be accomplished then adjustments can be made.
Where to put it?
Locate a location within your home that is static-free, we do not want to put the server on the carpet, near curtains, or anything else that can produce a static reaction. The reason for this is that you do not want the server internal components to receive a static charge and short circuit.
The location should be a cool environment, preferably below room temperature. The reason for a cool area is because servers (as well as desktop computers) produce large amounts of heat, the more heat it produces the more it needs to cool off. If the server is not kept cool, then this can lead to the server hanging and then eventually crashing. It's the same result of when a car overheats, it stops running. You can keep a server internal components cool by keeping the room cool, additionally you can add more fans to the server which cools the server internal components, you can also position a standalone fan directly at the server back panel and constantly have the fan cool the server internal components. Depending on how cool your room is and how much heat your server produces, getting more fans for your server may be a must and not an option.
It is suggested that the server is at a higher level within your house (mid-floor), because if it is in the basement and a flood occurs it could ruin it. If it is in the attic and the sun beams on the attic for hours the server could overheat. Mid-floor level is usually the cooler place within the home, but these recommendations is optional and you should put the server in the most comfortable and convenient space following the rest of the guidelines.
Be sure the area you choose is not damp or wet (no leaks, moisture, near any liquids, or near a window "especially open"). We all know what can happen when electrical components get wet.
The server should sit at least 4" inches from the ground
Be sure a working electrical outlet is near. It is an important to have a power supply, a good brand is APC. Having a power supply can save you from electrical outages, blackouts, and brownouts. Having a power supply helps the server keep its power, remain stable, and unaffected when there is an outage, as well it protects your server against electrical shock. If your outage remains more than 5 minutes it is recommended to begin backing up anything deemed important and shut the computer down voluntarily as well as any other electrical attached devices.
Have a LAN line near and also a phone jack (if you plan on using the server for any dial-up services). It is not recommended to use your web service with a dial-up connection. A broadband connection or greater is recommend for optimal performance. The LAN line should never come from your wall and plug directly into your server, it should plug into a hardware firewall (usually a router with a built-in firewall).
Depending on the size of the server and the internal components the server may be extremely noisy and loud, especially with the fans going. It is suggested to have the server in a secluded location which is not near any peaceful area of the house, such as: bedroom.
Those are all some basic things to consider before hosting your own server. Hosting your own server is not an easy task, but once you have had some time and experience with it, it becomes a breeze. You will have a better web hosting experience, you will be more in tune and reliant to your customers, and you will gain greater technical aptitude. Hosting your own web server is rewarding, useful, and gives you the opportunity to host unlimited websites, databases, services, etc.
If your web traffic becomes too great for your server then it is recommended to choose an offsite web host. It is recommend to purchase a dedicated server with a quality web host. If you choose a server with the above recommendations then your server traffic should be fine for at least up to 25,000,000 page views per month. It could be greater or less depending on your operating system, your server configuration, performance, applications, and services. The point is you should be well in a position to purchase dedicated server space by the time your traffic gets too high, because if you are getting anything close to 1,000,000 page views a month you should have some competitive advertising or ecommerce income. And plus, with the knowledge you will gain from the experience you will be able to support your own server at a dedicated server (remote) location, thus cutting more overhead.
The biggest disadvantage of hosting your own web server is the uptime reliability. If your web server powers down for any reason then your website is offline. Usually web hosting companies have methods and networks to prevent this failure from affecting your website. Usually if the system goes down they have a mirror location where your site is rejuvenated and doesn't experience much downtime. Some web hosts do not practice this method or any other fault tolerance. Imagine if a blackout or power outage occurs, then your web server could be down for hours or even days, this can affect your business greatly. There are some hosting companies who provide mirror web hosting for a small fee, I haven't found one that is reliable yet. Or you could cross your fingers and hope for the best, until you are able to host your server outside your home on a larger network.
Hosting your own server usually is not a money-saving experience. It sometimes cost more to host your own server, when you total the up keep and maintenance. The benefit of hosting your own server is usually a better platform for your customers, because it is no longer a shared server and it gives you the ability to make global changes almost instantaneously. When your customers request more performance or specific applications, then you will be able to implement this immediately. Customers like to know that you are in control. If you tell your customers that the server will be down for maintenance from 6 a.m. - 7 a.m. then it would be best if that is when your server is down, not from 5 a.m. - 10 a.m. You know how your web host will tell you one thing and then you have to try explaining it to your customer. In the end it will benefit you to host your own web server as a web business, this helps you and your customers.
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Wednesday, 18 December 2013
If you're planning to start an on-line enterprise, or if you've already got one, you'll know that there are many different web hosting plans out there - each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages.
The least expensive is very popular shared hosting with hundreds of web sites all sharing a single, very large hard drive. However this type of Hosting is not always well suited for all sites, especially for high traffic sites, because it is not always possible to isolate each website from other sites that share the server. The really big sites employ dedicated servers. One company. One server.
In between these two options is virtual private server, or VPS. VPS is less expensive (much less) than a dedicated or private server, and offers more freedom and many more options to a growing on-line business than shared hosting. With a Virtual Private Server, each web hosting account receives their own operating system. Users can configure these components without affecting other users on the same physical machine because they are working within their own virtual server. Moreover a VPS hosting environment can be smoothly scaled to even more powerful physical hosts as demand increases. In the long run, hosting on a VPS can significantly reduce the total cost of ownership.
VPS isn't suitable for every site owner. Some people wish to host a low-to-moderate traffic website and are happy with the level of control offered by a web hosting control panel like cPanel or Plesk. These individuals will prefer Shared Hosting for its perceived simplicity and ease of use: they generally do not have linux system administration experience and they are not interested in picking up any. Other have outgrown their shared hosting account or aren't happy with site performance (30-second download times) then it's definitely time to move up to a VPS account. A good web hosting company will help you migrate from your shared account to a VPS account without any breakdowns or hassles.
Do I Need VPS? If you plan to expand, offering more products and services, then consider a VPS plan even as a start-up. The difference in price between a good shared hosting plan and a good VPS plan is negligible in the whole bang-buck equation.
These are the main advantages:
PERFORMANCE
Shared server accounts are always dependent on the performance and good behavior of neighboring accounts. If one account violates their terms of service and sends out a mass-mailing of spam, this will load the server and negatively impact the performance of all accounts on that server.
VPS have guaranteed resources. One customer can not run away with a large share of the resources. You service will run reliably and predictably. If you have a bad VPS neighbor, they will tend to impact only their own account, as each account appears like a separate server to the Internet.
They will not be able to grab your memory when you need it, get your server blacklisted, etc.
HIGH CUSTOMIZABILITY
Virtual Private Servers are very feature rich. They are functionally equivalent to a dedicated server.
Some applications require that certain ports and/or protocols be opened or closed in the firewall. With Shared hosting, custom firewall configurations are not advisable for security reasons. Under the VPS, custom firewall configurations are feasible because of the partitioning between customers.
With a VPS, you can close ports using the IPTables feature.
You have your own IP Address.
You have Root Access.
Freedom to reboot your VPS at any time.
You can customize services such as web, mail, database, panels, domains
and much more...
The only limitation is you are not able to install your own kernel. This is due to the nature of how a VPS work.
SECURITY
Shared hosting is inherently difficult to secure completely. If an account on a shared server is broken into, the criminal may cause damage to the entire server, causing extended outages. If a spammer causes the server to get blacklisted with Spam organizations, this may impact other accounts that produce legitimate mailings until the server is whitelisted again.
VPS accounts are insulated from each other, minimizing the risk of unauthorized access from hackers as well as other customers. The isolation of your account also minimizes the risk of being impacted by a DoS attack that was intended for someone else.
SCALABILITY
Virtual private servers are inherently scalable - whether you need a minimal allocation to run a simple e-mail server or virtual private network end-point or a webserver with enough resources to support extensive database applications and heavy traffic, there is always a VPS hosting plan to meet your needs. Moreover you can anytime easily downgrade or upgrade your service with very little or no downtime!
UNLIMITED WEBSITES
Another advantage to VPS is the ability to manage numerous web sites. You won't run into problems with hardware sharing even if you run a dozen different sites. Your access to server assets is assured through the use of server-side software such as Apache Virtual Hosts and similar VPS packages. VPS hosting plans are a bit pricier than shared hosting. But with more and more sites coming on-line (approximately 6,000 a day!) VPS offers better value for your server dollars when you can host as many sites as you want. When considering VPS plans, amortize the monthly costs over the number of sites you anticipate creating. You'll quickly see that VPS monthly costs are consistently lower than shared hosting on a per site basis.
There may be a little downside to VPS for some people. VPS = more responsibility. That means you are responsible for many of the software installations, site maintenance, site security and many of the other responsibilities that come with on-line business ownership. If you don't know much about server side administration, VPS may be a bit more than you want to take on yourself. This is something to farm out to an expert if you're not familiar with maintaining a VPS, but you still need the power and control of VPS.
The solution - get a managed vps, the hosting provider will take care of those things for you and you can pay full attention to your websites content.
Compare best VPS hosting plans at [http://www.vpscomparison.com]
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_George_Nelson
Q SUPPORT ARTICLE
Speaking in simple terms, there is not much of a difference between dedicated web-hosting and VPS hosting except that with VPS hosting, you as a web-site owner, you will be able to save a lot of money in the process of keeping your websites working. To understand the concept better, take for example, that a dedicated server is like owning your own separate bungalow. In this case, you would have to spend a lot of money in maintaining the entire house while still enjoying all the resources that the home will have to offer you, sometimes this kind of expenditure can more or less become an overkill because of all the expenditure that you will incur because of the home. And more often than not, these resources might not even be needed by you. In the same way, dedicated web-hosting will require you to be spending a lot of money, granted you will have a lot of resources and features to use but you might actually not need all of it.
In the same way, imagine that VPS hosting is like owning one apartment or one condo in an entire apartment building. This way, you will have access to a lot of features and services yet, since the money will be divided, you will also be saving a lot. Therefore, with VPS hosting, expenditure will be a lot less although you will have your own disk-space and RAM and many other features and resources.
So the point is, that VPS hosting is somewhere in-between a dedicated server and a shared one because you will have much more independence and space than a shared server yet you will not have to waste money and all the resources being offered by a dedicated server. Saving money, therefore is the biggest advantage.
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