Capehart Blog » web hosting companies

Web Hosting For Managing Multiple Websites

admin — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:13:36 +0000

If you own multiple websites, chances are that you are making a living on the Internet and these websites then equate to your virtual offices. It therefore becomes highly desirable that these websites remain functional, up and running 24/7/365. Running and managing multiple websites can however become a daunting task but by employing the right strategies you would be able to make the most of it.

It is advisable to host your major websites with 3 to 4 different web hosting companies. If you wish to open a reseller account, ensure that you open that with another hosting company. The only downside with this strategy would be that hosting with different hosts would increase the time and make site management a little difficult.

Cost: First thing to consider here is the cost. If you are planning to host 10 to 50 websites, it is best to open a reseller account and then host any new or small websites on these reseller accounts for as less as $15 per month as opposed to $25 per month for multiple websites. You host one or 2 major websites with one hosting company. Shared hosting account costs under $10 a month, and dedicated server will cost $50 or more a month.

Downtime Risk: If your websites generate consistent revenue (like a travel website or other shopping websites), then you cannot afford your website to experience any downtime. Even though most hosting providers offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee, in the unlikely event of a technical failure, you would end up losing online revenue. So if your website is hosted with a single host, the case would be even worse.

Backup: It becomes imperative to backup all data. If you are not satisfied with your current hosting provider and want to switch hosting companies, then a backup makes the entire process very convenient. If you have a backup or secondary copy running on another server, all you need for the switch is the transfer of the domain, which will take no more than a minute.

The user must take into consideration various aspects that come into play when selecting a web-hosting provider. There is a wide array of hosting packages to choose from ranging from Reseller Hosting, Shared Hosting, Unix / Linux Hosting, Virtual Private Servers, Windows Hosting or Co-location Hosting, ASP Web Hosting, Budget Hosting, Dedicated Servers, eCommerce Hosting, FrontPage Web Hosting, Hosting With Templates, Managed Web Hosting, PHP Web Hosting and more. When dealing with multiple websites it is advisable to compare and carefully analyze the cost, hosting features, tracking records of hosting companies and the services offered by the host. It is important to read reviews, do your research well and ascertain your website needs and budget before you make a commitment. These preliminary decisions would decide the success or failure of your online ventures. Managing websites therefore need not be a daunting task as long as you are well equipped with all relevant information and facts.

Be an Earth-Conscious Technology Consumer – Use Green Dedicated Servers

admin — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:37:49 +0000

Computer hardware uses a lot of energy. Repetitive use of electronics wastes a lot of energy and becomes expensive for the consumer. In large companies, energy waste is an expense that is leaving a big hole in company budgets. As a result, technology consumers are making more earth-conscious choices when it comes to their computers.

Green dedicated servers are an earth-friendly alternative to traditional servers. Green dedicated servers use alternative forms of energy called renewable energy. Renewable energy comes from natural elements such as the wind, sun or water. These renewable energy sources save both the host company and consumers a lot of money.

A big concern amongst environmentalists is that technology (especially electronics) is contributing to the carbon footprint. The carbon footprint is the measure of the impact that our activities have on the environment. It relates to the amounts of fossil fuels that are produced as a result of using heat or electricity. When traditional servers are used, they burn an overabundance of these fuels which contributes to this carbon footprint.

Host Companies Promote Carbon-Neutral Dedicated Servers
Many host companies are promoting themselves as “carbon-neutral” and are government-certified as green dedicated servers (and use green trademark logos on their hardware equipment).

By using green servers, web hosting companies are not only doing their part to reduce our carbon footprint but they are also saving consumers energy and money. Consumers save more than 40% in energy costs each year. It makes sense for hosting companies.

High Performing, Earth-Friendly Designated Servers
Technology consumers won’t have any compatibility issues with green servers. However, they can be modified to fit each client’s web domain needs.

These features set green designated servers apart from traditional designated servers:
o Large storage space
o Ample bandwidth and memory (can be upgraded)
o High redundancy
o State-of-the art processors (such as Quad XEON processors)
o Improved power supply units
o Efficient cooling system
o Smaller size (fewer raw materials used which results in less waste)

When technology consumers make the conscious choice to use green designated servers, they are helping reduce harmful pollutants and gas emissions. By making one simple choice to use a more energy-efficient designated server, technology consumers protect the environment from future global warming.

How to Choose Dedicated Server Hosting

admin — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 00:09:27 +0000

Dedicated server hosting is not exactly cheap. They are an important asset to companies that have a lot riding on their online presence. So, it is only natural that companies pay more to ensure that their employees and clients get immediate access to the resources of the company. What are some of the issues you must consider before choosing a dedicated server hosting service?

* Flexibility: This comes first on the list because it is important. Realistically speaking, you must realize that your company could have changing needs in the future. Your web host must be able to accommodate your changing needs. It is not possible for your business to migrate to another service provider at a later date. Your hosting service provider must be your partner in the business, and they must strive to help you keep your clients and customers happy.

* Upgrades: These days, technology becomes redundant rather quickly. Therefore, the CPUs, RAMs and hard drives may require to be upgraded. Many programs installed on the server may need frequent upgrades too. Will your dedicated server hosting perform these mandatory upgrades at a time that is most convenient to you? Generally, the process of upgrading may lead to downtime and certain changes in performance. So, the company should discuss the same with you before they start the process of upgrading.

* Resellers: If you are purchasing your dedicated hosting solution from a reseller, you need to be careful. Ideally, web hosting companies should be able to allot the bandwidth and the amount of data transfer to clients adequately. Even if the client threatens to exceed the bandwidth at times, they must be able to work with the client for appropriate bandwidth allocation.

* Quality of service: This is really very important. How do you evaluate their quality of service? Look for a host whose network can re-route traffic if and when the connection goes down. Multiple server connections are a must. Always select a hosting service that guarantees superior quality bandwidth. Remember, speed is everything and if your website compromises on speed, you are done for! Timely support is important for superior service. So, choose a hosting service provider who can provide you with knowledgeable support in case you need it. Ideally, you must enjoy 24/7 customer support from your service provider. After all, you never know when things can go wrong.

* Reputation: Above all, the hosting service provider you choose must be known for the high quality of service they provide. Look at the performance records of service provider. Read testimonials left by customers and go through case studies. You may even talk with their client support cell before you choose the dedicated sever hosting company.

Dedicated servers are expensive and you must take every precaution to choose the best company, so you can enjoy high returns from the money you invest.

Virtual Servers Explained

admin — Mon, 02 May 2011 16:47:02 +0000

Most website owners that are searching for hosting to use with their website they have three basic options they can choose from. There is the dedicated hosting service, shared server, and virtual server (VS) based hosting. A virtual server is basically a web server, and its purpose is to share resources of a computer between other various virtual servers. The reason it is called a virtual server is because of the fact that it is not a dedicated server. That is the simple definition for what the virtual part means. A VS does not use the entire computer, or all of the resources on a single computer are not specifically dedicated for running special server software. Many web hosting companies use VS for their clients because it is viable as an extremely low-cost service for web hosting. The main benefit to operating like this is because the company does not have to use a whole computer for one single server for a client.

It allows a company to host a whole multitude of small virtual servers on a single computer, and this is what allows them to offer hosting at a much lower cost. Generally, the majority of websites are not going to be affected in any negative way from so many different VS being hosted on one computer. In almost all cases, the multiple virtual servers will have the same effect as if the websites were being hosted on dedicated servers. This means there is no degradation in service from having so many websites on so many different virtual servers all on one computer. It is possible though that service can be disrupted if a single computer has too many virtual servers on the same computer. This can happen if a single virtual server starts to hog a lot of resources on the computer. If this happens it will cause web pages being hosted on that computer to be delivered to people much more slowly.

Most people do not have any clue how virtual server hosting actually works. In a general shared server type of situation, there often times can be around one hundred or more users that use the same server. Each of the users is allotted a designated amount of disk space they can use on that server. There users all share the same CPU, and RAM usage and it is basically free game for any of them. This type of situation can be excellent for beginners just starting web design, that use websites not getting much traffic. If users that own websites that start getting significant amounts of traffic use these types of servers, the resources of the single computer system can get eaten up at an astounding rate. This will cause all of the other users that utilize that same server to have really slow loading websites. Dedicated servers are used for website owners that are going to be getting a lot of traffic to their websites. This is the most expensive way to host a website and is the preferred method for most large companies that are getting, or expect large amounts of traffic to their website.

Virtual servers are basically a combination of the two different types of servers. It is basically one server that is broken down into many different virtual machines and it pretty much the same as a dedicated server. Technically users will share the server with many other users, but the server is broken down into dedicated portions. This makes it so that even if there are one hundred users on the same server, if a few of them are trying to suck up the resources because they have a huge amount of traffic, it will not affect the other users because the server is broken into dedicated portions for each user. From the outside it would appear as if each user on a virtual server has their own unique server they are using. A virtual server basically acts and looks just like a dedicated server, but it really is sharing the same physical machine with many other users. This will get rid of all the problems that come along with a shared server, and is a very cost effective way for companies to provide web hosting, and is the main reason why many web hosting companies are using this exact strategy that uses a virtual server.

How to Benefit From a Dedicated Server

admin — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 05:02:31 +0000

Dedicated servers are something that many website owners here discussed often in chat rooms and on website support forums. While many new website owners will sign up for a shared hosting plan business owners that are affordable and maintained by a web hosting company other owners have invested in dedicated servers. A dedicated server is a server that is used by only one company for their website or websites. In the past owning a dedicated server was extremely expensive and required a lot of maintenance and technology knowledge.

These days having a dedicated server is much easier and a bit more affordable than it was a few years ago. Web hosting companies that previously offered only shared servers have now made dedicated servers available to their customers. This allows users to sign up for a hosting account the same way that they always have only now they will not be sharing a server with other account holders. The price for this service is more expensive than a shared hosting plan but still much more affordable than purchasing and managing private equipment. In addition to being more affordable investing in a dedicated server that is maintained by a third party is much more convenient. Neither you nor your staff has to worry about constantly monitoring your new server for downtime or errors. The web hosting company will perform the exact same support and troubleshooting services as they always have.

There are many benefits to having a dedicated server but the primary benefit in most website owners’ eyes is that they no longer have to fear downtime being caused by another website owner’s site. Many website owners do not realize that when sharing a server their site is in the hands of many other website owners who may not be very knowledgeable or responsible. Poorly designed sites with bad coding and other problems have led to entire servers crashing. Even if a sites coding does not disrupt the server, the sites traffic can sometimes lead to problems.

Many shared hosting plans limit the bandwidth being used by each account that is using the server in question. The web hosting company will either charge heavy fees for overuse or temporarily limit access to a site if it has exceeded a certain bandwidth amount. Unfortunately there are always times when a web hosting company does not notice an overage until it has already caused a server failure. This sometimes happens when a website uploads new content or starts a new traffic campaign that leads to a sudden burst of traffic. When a server is down your company will be penalized as traffic and potential customers are lost when they reach a site that is not active.

To avoid downtime and errors that are caused by shared hosting it is best to invest in a dedicated server. Dedicated servers are perfect for website owners that simply cannot afford to be down often and for website owners that expect a lot of traffic daily. Having a dedicated server will not only cut down on downtime, it will also make your website load faster and work more efficiently for your visitors.

Pros and Cons of cPanel Web Hosting

admin — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 19:41:56 +0000

When talking about server management interface, there is no denying that cPanel is currently the leading control panel in the web hosting industry. Many web hosting companies are also offering cPanel hosting as their preferred control panel. If you want to set up a blog, e-commerce websites or any other web sites, there is no software makes it as straightforward as cPanel. cPanel makes it easy for people to manage and create powerful websites. If you are a newbie, you make have no clear idea of the benefits you will gain from this kind of web host. Here I would very glad to list the pros and cons of this hosting solution.

It is a powerful and easy to use interface which allows you to manage your website and domain via a single interface. Any task including building, maintaining and updating your website becomes increasing easy. No matter a beginner at website development or an experienced webmaster, you are of equally to enjoy the advantageous it come along. You are allowed to use it to build your website and manage your email, web directories, error pages, disk space, databases, backups, FTP functionality and even to set up a shopping cart. With cPanel you can easily see the disk space you have available, set your spam filers and more. It is relatively easy to use; however, if you get stuck there are plenty of tutorials available on the internet.

It has come into the market for such a long time that it proven to be of security and stability. With so many years’ development, it has gained a large user base. Most users choose a cPanel web host because they believe in the quality and reliability of a cPanel web host. Opt in for cPanel you will get a solid foundation for your website.

It is well known for its support for various third-party applications. This allows web hosting provider to offer hosting packages bundled with a wide variety of pre-installed, ready to be used programs. With these pre-configuration, you are allow to use these software with a few clicks of the mouse. For example, the most popular blogging system WordPress and famous e-commerce shopping carts like Cube Cart, Zen Cart and osCommerce is at your disposal. With cPanel, you can instantly enhance your web presence regardless of your experience as a server administrator.

Spam Assassin is available on many cPanel hosting sites. Spam Assassin is a mail filtering system which scans each and every email received under the email accounts hosted from your cPanel account for characteristics which are typical of spam messages. This function also increases your website security.

With so many advantages, when talking about its disadvantages, I find that it is hardly for me to get one reading through the internet. Overall, cPanel should be the first thing you must consider while searching for the web hosting service provider. The shared web hosting services that hostease offer cPanel hosting no bandwidth limitations, unlimited e-mail account unrestricted MySQL databases, and unlimited domain support for a single account and as well as a free domain name for life. It is an excellent choice for any website owners with its great support and affordable price.

The Importance of Web Hosting

admin — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 21:54:30 +0000

In layman’s terms, web hosting is a virtual service that helps you set up and maintain a website of your own on the Internet. This kind of a service is provided to you by a company that deals in helping people with all their web issues.

As we all know the Internet is the perfect place to be looking for just about anything. All over the world people get on the net to start up a quick and efficient search for a product or service. Over the years, companies have jumped onto the Internet bandwagon in order to reach out to a wider customer base. Since so many people have computers nowadays, accessing many websites at one time is a walk in the park. Therefore, it becomes mandatory that you have a website that is updated on a regular basis.

For a commercial establishment, a website plays an important role in the sales of products and/or services. Cut throat competition has resulted in companies looking to create and host websites that are unique and that will arrest the attention of the viewer. Anyone who knows a thing or two about the web world will tell you that the attention span of the average Internet user is very low. This means that you have to grasp his/her attention very quickly. Your web hosting company allows you to have a fully functional website that can be accessed by people whenever the need arises.

Many web hosting companies offer a plethora of services to customers. However, you need to know how to read in between the lines while sifting through companies. For instance, if a particular company is offering you a long list of exciting features this might be because the server speed is lethargic. What would be the use of these services if the server is not performing at the optimum level?

Look out for a company that gives you a fast and reliable web server. This way you don’t have to worry about the speed at which information is added to your site. This in turn will help improve the traffic to your site as well. Internet users will visit a site that is ‘alive’ and functional. Setting up a website is just the first step that needs to be taken. After that, information needs to be updated on a regular basis so that the search engines can throw it up when a person conducts a search related to your website.

Web hosting services are not hard to find in today’s Internet-influenced era. There are quite a few companies out there that are ready to provide you with interesting services that could enhance your site and set it apart from the rest. Don’t waste time in hiring the right company for the job. All you need to do is take care of the information on your site and the rest will be taken care of by the web hosting company. Choose wisely and your site has all the chances of making it big.

Semi-Dedicated Server Is Phased Out By VPS Web Hosting

admin — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 17:36:11 +0000

In the past, there is a need for semi-dedicated servers. But with VPS coming into the picture, semi-dedicated servers are becoming extinct.

Why the need for dedicated servers?

First, let’s explore why the market needs dedicated machines. Isn’t shared hosting enough? Even though shared hosting is highly affordable, it does has its limitations. For example, you cannot install custom modules or reboot your server. In other words, you have little control over the server settings. What if your website NEEDS these settings? Without a dedicated environment, you are stuck.

Then there is the issue of server resources. On a shared server, all resources are shared. For this reason, web hosting companies are very particular about how a website uses the server. A static website will have no problems. But for forum sites and other resource intensive sites, such accounts may get suspended without warning. Moving to a dedicated environment will solve all these issues.

From shared to dedicated hosting.

There is a big jump from shared hosting to dedicated hosting. A shared hosting account cost about $10 a month. A dedicated hosting plan costs several hundred dollars a month. It is therefore understandable why so many webmasters are unwilling to upgrade. The short term solution is to come up with semi-dedicated hosting servers. Unfortunately, this is not the ideal solution because there is no software supporting such plans. In other words, sharing resources on a semi-dedicated server is still not ideal. For this reason, many web hosting companies refrain from offering such plans. Cost for such plans also remain costly.

VPS plans taking over.

Then someone came up with the idea of having virtual private servers (VPS). Such servers behave almost like a dedicated servers, except that resources are shared. How are the CPU resources shared? Using special software, the server is “divided” into different compartments. Each compartment behave as if it’s a separate computer.

When a customer signs up for a VPS plan, he or she is actually sharing the same machine with several other customers. But each cannot affect the other. For example, one customer’s website is down for some reason. But the other virtual compartments remain unaffected. Also, the number of customers sharing the machine are also drastically reduced.

VPS customers also get to enjoy benefits that are previously exclusive to dedicated hosting customers only. A VPS customer is acts as the account’s admin and has full admin access to the machine. That means he or she can install custom scripts, make changes to the server settings, etc.

Of course, VPS plans don’t offer as much resources as dedicated plans. But for many websites, a virtual plan is more than enough. Only very large websites such as enterprise level sites need dedicated hosting.

As time goes on, VPS hosting becomes more and more popular. Semi-dedicated hosting, on the other hand, is being phased out.

A Layman’s Guide To Web Hosting And Servers

admin — Tue, 04 May 2010 03:56:18 +0000

Today Internet has become an integral part of our day-to-day life. It is one of the widely used and powerful mediums for information exchange. Internet is nothing but a network of networks connected together for information exchange. Information is generally present in the form of websites. Websites are collection of pages on a particular subject, person, company, business or any other services. Today websites are available on almost all subjects and services. One can promote his business or do actual business online through his web site.

To make these websites available to the world to see, they need to be placed on a web server. Web server is similar to a common personal computer, except that it is always connected to high-speed Internet and it’s purpose is to serve websites. The process of putting files of your website (generally HTML or php files) onto a web server is called Web Hosting. There are many companies in web hosting business and most of these companies provide a shared space on their server on rental basis. This way a hosting company can host hundreds of websites on its server and such type of hosting is called shared hosting. Within shared resources, there is another kind of hosting called reseller hosting where they also allow you to resell their hosting to your own customers. If a customer outgrows or needs root access to the server then they might opt for a VPS which are virtual boxes. Many such virtual boxes are stacked up in a single server using virtualization software. In case of high traffic websites, customers can also opt for a dedicated server(s) where they can rent the complete server(s) as well as the facilities of the provider. Some web hosting companies also allow colocation services where you can use your own server in their facilities. A large number of such dedicated servers are placed in a data center. Data centers need to have quality high-speed internet from multiple bandwidth providers, proper maintenance workforce, server space, electricity backups, cooling mechanisms etc. and so, maintaining a data center is quite expensive. So, most shared web hosting companies hire dedicated servers from reliable data centers instead of maintaining their own.

Shared web hosting companies usually provide different hosting plans to choose from. Some of the common features of these plans are:

Server Type: It can be Windows, Linux or Unix. This is operating system environment on which your web files are going to reside. Choosing the right kind of OS is important if you need to use a definite script. Different scripts have different requirements though the popular scripts work on both platforms. Linux servers are mostly preferred though as they are usually cheaper as well as more reliable than windows servers. And you also get a large choice of OS within Linux too such as CentOS, Debian etc. and you can choose the one that you are comfortable with.

Disk Space: It is the actual amount of space made available on a web server for you to host your web site. For a startup website disk space should not be a major matter of concern. Even a disk space of 100MB might be sufficient for a small personal blog.

Bandwidth: When a user visits your website, data equal to the size of that web page he is browsing is actually transferred to his computer/browser. Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transferred from web server to the client (user). Most of the small websites will require a bandwidth under 2 GB. However, a website with file downloads or large images might need more bandwidth dependent on the visitors to his/her website(s).

Email Accounts: It is the number of email ids you get with your web hosting plan. Generally a couple of email ids are sufficient for most normal websites. Instead of using your hosting panel email, you can also use third-party email services such as Google Apps for serving emails for your websites.

Control Panel: Control Panels are another important aspect of web hosting. cPanel is the preferred control panel in most shared hosting companies due to the features and ease of use even for people new to websites. Other popular control panels including DirectAdmin, Plesk, Kloxo etc.

If you are not sure about spending money at the start then you can also opt for a free blog at blogger, WordPress.com, tumblr etc. for your own identity on the web. You can also opt for a free hosting website where you need to accept their conditions such as usage of subdomains, ads on pages or forced forum posting etc. However, if you are serious about web hosting, then you would probably need to go for a proper top level domain with a paid web hosting from a reliable provider.

Hosting Your Own Web Server – Things to Consider

admin — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:04:31 +0000

Are you disgusted or disappointed with your current web host? Have you switched web hosting companies too many times? Have you thought of hosting your own website(s)? 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.