How to Choose a Reliable Web Host ?The first thing you should do before beginning your search for a reliable web host, is to make a list of your specific web hosting needs. How much space will you need? How much transfer allowance? How many emails? Will you need a database? Will you need a shopping cart? Will you need a merchant account? Are you going to set up a forum or chat feature with your web site?....etc After all, A Reliable Web host should first be a web host that meets your specific needs. But there are some things that every web host should have in order for you to consider using there services, and they are listed below.
Up Time and Reliability You'll want to make sure that your web site is accessible. Ask your web host whether he quarantees a certain percentage of uptime. Many web hosts will guarantee your web site to be available 99.5% of the time. Ask about the hardware used, the connection, and what safequards are in place to minimize downtimes.
Reasonable Price Your web hosting company should offer you a reasonable price for services and flexibility in payment methods and schedules. Look for hidden costs when comparing prices. You will find that some web hosts charge a setup fee. Don't rule out a web hosting company just because of this expense. Some of the best companies charge a setup fee to help in covering the cost of having high quality technical support available.
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Hosting your e-business for free? Smart thinking Johnny...
David A. Saharkhiz
Yes, there are dozens of websites on the internet that offer free web hosting solutions, but before you place important information on Geocities or Freewebs, there's something you must understand:Trusting your online name to a free web-host is almost always a bad idea
Why?
Not only do free web hosts often restrict your bandwidth, offer miserable http transfer speeds, place ads on your website, or severly limit functionality, but also they severly limit your potential in less tangible ways.
The most important factor is recognition. It doesn't matter how small your business is. The average internet user is going to trust www.MarysPrinting.com over http://angel24index.freehost.server.com any day of the week. Domain names are cheap, and nowadays owning a domain isn't just professional, it's a near-absolute necessity. Your users will come back, note your professionalism, and be much more likely to remember your URL.
Another factor to consider is the clutter that many free web hosts force onto the pages of clients. Banner ads, pop up ads, required links, and flashing advertising messages will make your content much less accessible and will often make your website look horrible unprofessional.
Take advice from someone who's been done that road before:
If you care about your online business at all, get a quality web host, stop wasting your time with self-serving free web hosts and register a domain name.
If you get stuck, you can check out this handy Web Hosting Guide.
David Saharkhiz is a computer science major and National Merit Semifinalist at America's Clemson University. He provides comprehensive web-help and HTML coding tutorials, codes free HTML scripts, and works to help novice webmasters set up new websites.
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Clustering Solutions and Zero Downtime Hosting PitfallsTitle: Clustering Solutions and Zero Downtime Hosting Pitfalls Author: Godfrey Heron Email: info@irieisle-online.com Word Count:1452 Copyright: © 2005 by Godfrey Heron Article URL:www.irieisle-online.com/zero-downtime-hosting.htm
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Clustering Solutions and Zero Downtime Hosting Pitfalls
There are a number of benchmarks, which we may use to evaluate hosting companies. One of these is, reliability.
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