Dedicated Server vs Shared Server Hosting
Any website that is located on the internet is viewable by anyone who comes to it. To be able to have your website on the internet, you need a service provider. It is like a location for you to have your website in the internet. The kind of service that allows you to do that is called the web hosting service. There are many kinds of web hosting services available out there and 2 of the most common or mostly used is the shared hosting or the dedicated hosting.
Obviously there is difference in these 2 types of hosting. To put it in simple words, each has a different control given to the user to manage their website. Therefore, we need to know what the differences are before we choose the kind of web hosting we want.
For a shared hosting, its name already gives you a clear idea on what it offers. Shared means multiple websites hosted in the same location. So, in a server, there are multiple websites sharing the space, bandwidth and so on. This type of hosting is ideal for small business as well as new webmasters who are trying out for the first time. Over an all, it is very usable but it has some limitations in its resources.
As you are paying for the service, the provider will provide you with software, security, maintenance and support. As for the users, they will get a certain level of control with the control panel of their choice.
Shared hosting provides control panels like Cpanel PLeask and VDeck. With these control panels, users can really manage their websites. As for the serve, it is maintain or manage by more complex control panel like Helm and DirectAdmin. However, there are also some shared hosting that uses Linux web hosting and they will use either Windows or FreeBSD control panel. A Linux system is know to be compatible with most of the current control panel and therefore making it more acceptable in the market.
Due to the fact that shared hosting is shared, you can guess that the price required owning a website with this kind of web hosting would be more affordable. The fact that it is cheaper is the reason why many people turn to it. They can still get multiple database, management tools and many other service when they choose shared hosting. Even though that they know that it is more likely to face security issue and probability of their website occurring downtime, this is something that the are willing to accept.
On the contrary, a dedicated hosting is a hosting that only hosts one website in the entire server. Therefore, the user has total usage over the server. They do not have to share space, bandwidth or any other feature with any other website. It is most suitable for websites that expect a heavy amount of traffic. With more bandwidth, they have nothing to worry about. Users of dedicated hosting also have the power to choose the type of software that they want to use in the website. They also have the same capability of having multiple domains.
To sum it all up, a user of a dedicated web hosting service will have total control over their website. This provides them with freedom but they themselves have to make sure of the stability of the operation of their website. This is not something complex but very simple. All the skills that the user needs are at an administrative level. Users must also make sure that their website is monitored constantly to maintain security. However, if the user no knowledge about the technical requirements, the hosting provider does provide additional support and service to help users of the dedicated hosting.
Domain Name – How To Pick One
Picking a domain name should be easy, right? Why, I’ll just use my business name. Not so fast, Sparky. A good bit of thought should be given to selecting a domain name.
A Cautionary Note
Picking a domain name is like getting married. You are going to have to stick with it till the bitter end. People that use your site will come to know it by the domain name. Repeat visitors will often simply type in the domain name to get to the site, better known as “type in traffic”. As an example, do you search for “Amazon” when you want to buy a book or do simply type in amazon.com? If Amazon were to change its domain name to Desert, there would be a lot of confusion. The same goes with your domain. Once you pick something, stick with it.
Your Choices
Well, the obvious choice is your business name, but it may not be the best. There are four significant issues to consider.
First, is there something about your business name that makes using it as a domain an unwise choice? This situation typically arises if you have a long business name or have plural words. “Halstatt’s Rip’n Marketing Campaigns, Inc.” is going to be a horrible domain name. Clients are going to find it difficult to type in such a domain name.
Double letter problems are a second issue that is entirely unique to the Internet. What if Sams Salon wants to use its business name as a domain? The “s” at the end of first word and beginning of the second can cause confusion. Is the domain name Samssalon.com or Samsalon.com? Confusing your users is a bad way to run a site.
The third issue concerns the nature of your site and search engine optimization. If you are shooting for a particular keyword phrase, you may be better off using that keyword phrase in your domain name. Google, for instance, looks at the domain name when evaluating a site. If the words in your domain name are spaced with dashes, many believe it will help in the ranking process. This is why you see so many xxx-xxxx-xxx.com domain names on the net. If your business focuses on a very specific area, strong consideration should be given to using relevant keywords in your domain name.
Finally, your domain name should end in “.com” and I don’t want to hear any argument or see any rolling of the eyes. The simple fact is that when people think of sites, they always type in .com. Yes, there are other extensions and .us, .net, .biz, etc., may seem unique, but it kills your traffic. Pavlov and his dog experiments had it right. People have been mentally conditioned to type in .com, so don’t select any other ending. If you do, a smart competitor will register the .com version of your name to get some free traffic. If you are really lucky, a porn site will do it!
Take a breath before you select a domain name. Like a spouse, it can be either a good or bad choice.
Disadvantages of Free Web Hosting
There is a way to build you very own website without spending a dime. To do that, you can opt for free web hosting. However, it has many limitations. Although you can get your website online, it will only be a presence with no depth. Often, these providers requires their name to be named in your domain. On the other hand, there are good free providers out there that has fewer limitations that allow you to exploit more on your website design. We just need to find out which one is the better web hosting provider.
The limitations with a free web hosting are the space, bandwidth each month and no linking for files. They also post all sort of advertisement onto website. Worst off all, there is no guarantee about the uptime of your website. Some free web hosting does provide control panel with FTP for you to transfer files as well as the use of scripting languages. Other may also provide guestbook feature to your website.
For those free web hosting that allows instant activation, it usually provides very little storage space. You will also have limited bandwidth and many other limitations. There is also the possibility of being spammed. So the better choice is to go for a approved activation which need validation to confirm your hosting. With this approved activation, you will get more storage space, bandwidth. The validation process will mean you’re your website will not be spammed.
If you are looking to have a forum- like website, free web hosting companies will usually require you to have a certain amount of posting before they offer you the free web hosting. This is like a point-based hosting. Every post that is posted, you gain one point which can be use for you to get your free web hosting.
Free web hosting does not allow much image on your website because they will use that space to place advertisement. This is somewhat frustrating because there is a limit to what you want to show on your website. However, being the fact that it is a free web hosting, we can’t really expect it to perform for us like a paid hosting. Therefore, it is all in our choice. To go for a free web hosting or to find a proper paid hosting for our website.