One of the most crucial decisions that most online businesses have to make is choosing the best web hosting service. With a popular or well known and reliable Internet Service Provider (ISP) you won't face many problems, however with a poor web hosting service provider it can be a nightmare.
Choosing the right kind of web hosting service can be a very daunting task at times as there are some very important features that you need to make sure of. Here you can find below what exactly to look for when choosing the best web hosting service.
Amount of web space: A web hosting service provider would usually assign you a certain amount of space on their server. You need to ensure that does it have the right amount of space for your website and your business requirements. You might want to expand your online business tomorrow and would require much more space. So it's imperative for you that the web hosting company should be able to provide you with ample of space especially if your website is rich in graphics or has video clips.
FTP access: FTP access is very crucial since it provides the ability to upload new pages. Some web hosting service providers allow you to just design your web pages with their own personal web builder. This may be useful for beginners however you need to ensure if they provide you the facility to expand later when you enhance your online business capabilities.
Degree of reliability, security and speed of access: Speed, security and reliability are extremely important for the success of any online business. While choosing a reliable web hosting service you need to ensure that this is taken care of. A site that is not available, not updated on time or is down, will lose many online visitors. If an online visitor finds your site listed on a search engine, and he tries to access it but finds it down, he is sure to move on to the next link and you lose an important customer or visitor. Even slow working websites are very frustrating. So how do you know if a hosting company is reliable or not? By word of mouth or feedback from others! If that's not possible then you can yourself try accessing your site during peak hours and non-peak hours too. Your site has to be secure of intruders at the same time, especially if it's an ecommerce website.
Dependence and support: Does the web hosting service provide 24x7 supports? Do they respond rapidly to your issue? Can you depend on them? If you need 24-hour technical support that larger companies need then expect to pay substantially more. In fact, people are much more expensive than machines.
Pricing plans: Price is also one factor that you should look out for when choosing the best web hosting service. It's not necessarily true that the most expensive hosts are the best. Simply compare prices and services before you finalize one.
Data transfer (Bandwidth): You also need to see if the hosting company provides you with sufficient bandwidth for efficient data transfer. After all it's your website and you need to ensure that you are getting the best services for the money you invest.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Beyond the Basics of Email Hosting
If you work in a Small and Mid Size Enterprise (SME) there is a big chance that you are sending, receiving emails and sharing contacts, tasks and calendars on hosted exchange or Webmail powered email hosting solution. But what are the differences between hosted exchange and Webmail and what is the best option for your business?
Most SMEs usually do not have the time, a large IT budget or technical staff to implement and maintain an entire in-house email server infrastructure. Other factors such as costs are usually the main reasons why hosted exchange or Webmail email hosting is becoming more and more popular. By using hosted exchange or Webmail from an email hosting provider your business don’t need to physical-in-house-on-site email servers. Hosted Exchange is sometimes also called exchange hosting and is usually running on a Microsoft Exchange backend server. Using an email hosting provider you get peace of mind that your email system is always secure, backed up and up and running. Using a premier email hosting provider services also comes with high reliability and performance plus administration and 24-7-365 support. To summarize the main difference between hosted exchange and Webmail email hosting is that 1. Webmail is a budget version of email hosting and 2. With Webmail you use a web browser to send, receive and review emails, i.e. you will need internet access to utilize Webmail.
Hosted Exchange
Hosted exchange is based on Microsoft’s latest exchange server with Microsoft outlook as your client. With Outlook you can do more than send and receive email, you can share calendars, folders and contacts. Outlook is available for desktop, browser and mobile access so you are always connected, whether you are in the office, on the road or working at home. You always connect to the same exchange server; therefore your inbox always stays synched in near-real time, no matter which Outlook client you are using.
In a hosted exchange environment, the hosting provider owns and is responsible for the data centre, network, devices, operating system and application infrastructure components. In short, the hosting provider is responsible for providing a stable operating environment for every application used. Your own IT organization manages the applications and maintains full control over the applications infrastructure and business process.
In contrast with in-house-on-site email servers you need to provide maintenance and have anti-virus subscription and security update upgrades. You’ll need to purchase a new server approximately every 5 years and you will have slow access from outside of the office. You also need to invest in server hardware, server software licensing, exchange enterprise software and Blackberry server software. Finally you’ll need to hire a consultant to install software and perform maintenance/upgrades. Having a hosted exchange solution mean you don’t have to pay through the nose for expensive in-house servers, software licenses, employing IT staff to install and maintain the infrastructure, or being responsible for a 24/7 infrastructure.
Webmail
Webmail gives you anywhere, anytime, emails, calendars, contacts and task lists. It is intended to be as powerful as a desktop client, such as Outlook. The only limitation is that you need is a web browser and an internet connection. You can access email from Outlook, BlackBerry, Webmail, or any other email client or wireless device with absolutely no maintenance on your end. Webmail email hosting is a budget email hosting solution, but nonetheless it delivers great functionality for small businesses. A Webmail service takes away complexities of installing and maintaining an in-house email solution and at the same time offers the latest anti-spam, anti-virus and security technologies. Webmail is an email hosting solution that is perfect for businesses that have somewhat limited in-house budgets for IT expenses, limited IT resources to support an email environment and businesses that need the latest spam and virus protection.
Hosted exchange or Webmail – What is best for you?
What are the main differences between hosted exchange and Webmail? In summary hosted exchange is a more sophisticated solution with more shared options and is more widely deployed, on the other hand Webmail is gaining market share easily accessible and is of course a cheaper solution than hosted exchange. Below is a brief explanation of what the differences are - in terms of ability to share contacts, tasks and calendar - between hosted exchange and Webmail email hosting.
- Share contacts: Shared contacts are usually available with the hosted exchange option. Other users can be granted access to edit your contacts. Usually there is no ability for shared contacts with the Webmail option. Other users cannot have access to edit your contacts. - Share tasks: You can usually share tasks among users with hosted exchange. You have the ability to assign a task to other users. You can select the users you want to invite and automatically see the best times to meet. Collaboration with tasks among users is usually not available with the Webmail option. You cannot assign a task to someone else and you have to manually find everyone’s schedule before you agree to set up a meeting. - Share calendar: Exchange usually allows you to delegate read/write capabilities with the hosted exchange option, i.e. you can have an assistant create events for you. Events can have different statuses and colors on your calendar (i.e. out of office, on holiday, business etc.). No delegation capabilities can be given to other users with the Webmail option, so your assistant cannot create events for you. Only read access can be given. Categories of events are not available (personal, out of office, on holiday etc.) and all calendar events are displayed in the same color.
Most SMEs usually do not have the time, a large IT budget or technical staff to implement and maintain an entire in-house email server infrastructure. Other factors such as costs are usually the main reasons why hosted exchange or Webmail email hosting is becoming more and more popular. By using hosted exchange or Webmail from an email hosting provider your business don’t need to physical-in-house-on-site email servers. Hosted Exchange is sometimes also called exchange hosting and is usually running on a Microsoft Exchange backend server. Using an email hosting provider you get peace of mind that your email system is always secure, backed up and up and running. Using a premier email hosting provider services also comes with high reliability and performance plus administration and 24-7-365 support. To summarize the main difference between hosted exchange and Webmail email hosting is that 1. Webmail is a budget version of email hosting and 2. With Webmail you use a web browser to send, receive and review emails, i.e. you will need internet access to utilize Webmail.
Hosted Exchange
Hosted exchange is based on Microsoft’s latest exchange server with Microsoft outlook as your client. With Outlook you can do more than send and receive email, you can share calendars, folders and contacts. Outlook is available for desktop, browser and mobile access so you are always connected, whether you are in the office, on the road or working at home. You always connect to the same exchange server; therefore your inbox always stays synched in near-real time, no matter which Outlook client you are using.
In a hosted exchange environment, the hosting provider owns and is responsible for the data centre, network, devices, operating system and application infrastructure components. In short, the hosting provider is responsible for providing a stable operating environment for every application used. Your own IT organization manages the applications and maintains full control over the applications infrastructure and business process.
In contrast with in-house-on-site email servers you need to provide maintenance and have anti-virus subscription and security update upgrades. You’ll need to purchase a new server approximately every 5 years and you will have slow access from outside of the office. You also need to invest in server hardware, server software licensing, exchange enterprise software and Blackberry server software. Finally you’ll need to hire a consultant to install software and perform maintenance/upgrades. Having a hosted exchange solution mean you don’t have to pay through the nose for expensive in-house servers, software licenses, employing IT staff to install and maintain the infrastructure, or being responsible for a 24/7 infrastructure.
Webmail
Webmail gives you anywhere, anytime, emails, calendars, contacts and task lists. It is intended to be as powerful as a desktop client, such as Outlook. The only limitation is that you need is a web browser and an internet connection. You can access email from Outlook, BlackBerry, Webmail, or any other email client or wireless device with absolutely no maintenance on your end. Webmail email hosting is a budget email hosting solution, but nonetheless it delivers great functionality for small businesses. A Webmail service takes away complexities of installing and maintaining an in-house email solution and at the same time offers the latest anti-spam, anti-virus and security technologies. Webmail is an email hosting solution that is perfect for businesses that have somewhat limited in-house budgets for IT expenses, limited IT resources to support an email environment and businesses that need the latest spam and virus protection.
Hosted exchange or Webmail – What is best for you?
What are the main differences between hosted exchange and Webmail? In summary hosted exchange is a more sophisticated solution with more shared options and is more widely deployed, on the other hand Webmail is gaining market share easily accessible and is of course a cheaper solution than hosted exchange. Below is a brief explanation of what the differences are - in terms of ability to share contacts, tasks and calendar - between hosted exchange and Webmail email hosting.
- Share contacts: Shared contacts are usually available with the hosted exchange option. Other users can be granted access to edit your contacts. Usually there is no ability for shared contacts with the Webmail option. Other users cannot have access to edit your contacts. - Share tasks: You can usually share tasks among users with hosted exchange. You have the ability to assign a task to other users. You can select the users you want to invite and automatically see the best times to meet. Collaboration with tasks among users is usually not available with the Webmail option. You cannot assign a task to someone else and you have to manually find everyone’s schedule before you agree to set up a meeting. - Share calendar: Exchange usually allows you to delegate read/write capabilities with the hosted exchange option, i.e. you can have an assistant create events for you. Events can have different statuses and colors on your calendar (i.e. out of office, on holiday, business etc.). No delegation capabilities can be given to other users with the Webmail option, so your assistant cannot create events for you. Only read access can be given. Categories of events are not available (personal, out of office, on holiday etc.) and all calendar events are displayed in the same color.
Starting a Web Hosting Company
It seems many people today want to start a web hosting company. Just by typing in “web hosting” into a search engine such as Google, one can see that there are many people trying to break into this market. The concept of starting a web hosting company seems very simple – start with a generic template, get a reseller account, configure some things, and start making money. But things can become much more complicated than that very quickly. There are definitely some things to keep in mind before starting a new web hosting company.
The first thing that needs to be done is to get the website going. This includes getting a template, creating pages that describe the company, its plans, and its services. When that is done, a program such as WHM Autopilot needs to be configured. This is so that when someone orders the web hosting, the order will automatically be received. Not only do these things need to be done but they need to be aesthetically pleasing as well.
Then comes the more difficult part of starting a web hosting company – the selling. As mentioned earlier, this is a very competitive market. The company needs to find people who need the service and will check out the website. On top of that, they need to find the price reasonable. A marketing plan must be developed before taking this step as there are usually cheaper, more reputable companies trying to get those same customers.
Once the company has their website and has customers, customer support becomes a big issue. The first thing to keep in mind is that customers are going to want technical support available twenty-four hours a day. If the company can’t provide this, they’re more likely to look somewhere else. Also customers will usually be paying around ten dollars a month for the hosting service. This is not very much. Because of this, when customers need to be consulted or they have a problem that needs fixing, the rate of pay for the company can drop very quickly. Larger hosts usually hire technicians to deal with these sorts of issues but that may not be a possibility until the hosting company becomes a little more established.
When running larger websites, the hosting company will usually need to offer dedicated hosting services. This is due to the fact that shared hosting only provides for a certain amount of storage space and bandwidth and this is not often enough for the larger sites. The speeds are also much faster with dedicated services than they are with shared. However, there are challenges that come with dedicated servers. They require time, maintenance, and the cost is much more than that of a shared server. The lowest a dedicated server will cost is usually around one hundred dollars but quality servers will usually cost hundreds of dollars each month to own.
For companies that aren’t going to offer plans that have major requirements, a shared server will do just fine. If a company does want to offer those plans, the advantages and disadvantages of owning a dedicated server must be looked at in great detail to know if it is the right decision.
Starting a web hosting company is definitely possible. However before one takes the plunge, it’s important to look at all aspects of it. It’s also important to make sure that there is plenty of time available to run the business and to deal with customers.
Author Bio:
Mohammad Salay Naderi is the president of www.salaalive.com and is a well established internet entrepreneur. He teaches SEO Tools and Tips. His Web Hosting Directory and Web Hosting Reviews at www.salaalive.com are proven to be helpful for web hosting searchers. salaalive.com helps people to find the most affordable and reliable web hosting services according to their personal or business web hosting needs.
The first thing that needs to be done is to get the website going. This includes getting a template, creating pages that describe the company, its plans, and its services. When that is done, a program such as WHM Autopilot needs to be configured. This is so that when someone orders the web hosting, the order will automatically be received. Not only do these things need to be done but they need to be aesthetically pleasing as well.
Then comes the more difficult part of starting a web hosting company – the selling. As mentioned earlier, this is a very competitive market. The company needs to find people who need the service and will check out the website. On top of that, they need to find the price reasonable. A marketing plan must be developed before taking this step as there are usually cheaper, more reputable companies trying to get those same customers.
Once the company has their website and has customers, customer support becomes a big issue. The first thing to keep in mind is that customers are going to want technical support available twenty-four hours a day. If the company can’t provide this, they’re more likely to look somewhere else. Also customers will usually be paying around ten dollars a month for the hosting service. This is not very much. Because of this, when customers need to be consulted or they have a problem that needs fixing, the rate of pay for the company can drop very quickly. Larger hosts usually hire technicians to deal with these sorts of issues but that may not be a possibility until the hosting company becomes a little more established.
When running larger websites, the hosting company will usually need to offer dedicated hosting services. This is due to the fact that shared hosting only provides for a certain amount of storage space and bandwidth and this is not often enough for the larger sites. The speeds are also much faster with dedicated services than they are with shared. However, there are challenges that come with dedicated servers. They require time, maintenance, and the cost is much more than that of a shared server. The lowest a dedicated server will cost is usually around one hundred dollars but quality servers will usually cost hundreds of dollars each month to own.
For companies that aren’t going to offer plans that have major requirements, a shared server will do just fine. If a company does want to offer those plans, the advantages and disadvantages of owning a dedicated server must be looked at in great detail to know if it is the right decision.
Starting a web hosting company is definitely possible. However before one takes the plunge, it’s important to look at all aspects of it. It’s also important to make sure that there is plenty of time available to run the business and to deal with customers.
Author Bio:
Mohammad Salay Naderi is the president of www.salaalive.com and is a well established internet entrepreneur. He teaches SEO Tools and Tips. His Web Hosting Directory and Web Hosting Reviews at www.salaalive.com are proven to be helpful for web hosting searchers. salaalive.com helps people to find the most affordable and reliable web hosting services according to their personal or business web hosting needs.
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