When a company or a person decides to have an online presence or other internet based project they will use a service called web hosting. Simply put, and for the majority of people and companies, this means allowing their website to be seen by others around the world; some of these services are actually free. The data center or server used for by the hosting company is able to store all kinds of digital media which can be accessed (if allowed) by visitors, this includes all website files.

Many beginners start by using the free hosting services that are provided by many internet service companies; while they will have access to email facilities, basic websites and blogs, they will have to pay for a full service provider. Many restrictions exist with free web hosting but that is to be expected and for some it is an ideal situation but for only a few dollars per month, a paid web hosting service is far superior. Paid hosting packages vary enormously so don’t be surprised about the difference in prices; the best thing to do is sit down and work out exactly what your primary requirements are and then check out one of these hosting comparison websites.

You may settle for a shared server (where you share your space with other website owners) and it is a good tip is to go for the shared hosting first.Once you are comfortable with the service level then it might be worth upgrading to a dedicated server. With web hosting you get your own web space, but you do need to have a registered domain before you can use it, then you are allocated with enough storage to keep all your files for online publication.

Another advantage of web hosting and your own domain name is that email addresses will include your own domain name and not that of those free providers such as Google, Yahoo and MSN to name a few of the thousands of providers whose services can be used. If you have a business presence online you cannot afford to have another company’s name at the end of your own e.g. www.yourcompanyname.hostingcompany.com when it should really look like this: www.yourcompanyname.com. The more information that is transferred from your website over the internet, the more bandwidth is used so it is important if you have a great deal of information stored to ensure you have a hosting package that will easily cater for your bandwidth usage.

Web hosting also provides the facility to have your own email address unlike those supplied by Google and Yahoo for example, this means, your e-mail address is exclusive to your website. If you have a business presence online you cannot afford to have another company’s name at the end of your own e.g. www.yourcompanyname.hostingcompany.com when it should really look like this: www.yourcompanyname.com. If you have a busy site with lots of visitors, downloads or video etc.

If you only settle for a package with a minimum amount of bandwidth then there will be times when visitors will have trouble viewing your web site or using its facilities. Of course this won’t matter if you only have a basic website but as soon as you start adding large images, audio tracks, video footage and other big files, your bandwidth will be used up very quickly. In almost every case it is a wise decision to use a web hosting company and not consider using your own computer as a host due to the risks, especially for those unfamiliar with internet security.

The first thing you should do is make a list of what your current goals are. If you are making a professional site, you’ll need a secure and reliable host. For instance, if you know that your website will reach thousands of people within a few months, perhaps you should find a web hosting package that includes extra bandwidth. You need additional space, especially if visitors are constantly going to be accessing your website. On the other hand, if you are just experimenting, you should stick to the free hosting packages. Geocities or Angel Fire certainly provides a basic package, which will leave you satisfied. After all, you do not need bells and whistles if you aren’t serious about the website in the long run. If you do end up changing your mind, you can always switch services and transfer your website.

Once you have made your decision, you need to find a reputable service. While searching for hosting companies on Google may seem appropriate, it often stems bad results. It is important to remember that just because it is listed on a search engine, doesn’t mean it is 100% safe and legit. Therefore, if you do find a potential company, you should get a second opinion. It is usually smart to join a webmaster related forum like SitePoint to discuss such matters. This way you can hear about other people’s experiences and what companies to avoid. Additional references from friends or family would also be ideal.

After picking a host, you will need to provide your credit card information. For many users, 3ix.org is a favorite, as it rarely charges you much. Surprisingly, there are discount coupon codes you can acquire through the internet, to also help you with your initial fee. Due to the fact that you have to include your private information, it is absolutely crucial to make sure you find a legit business. The last thing you want is to lose any money. Therefore, you should google their name and check out the reviews from fellow users. This will most definitely make all of the difference, especially if you find out that they are a fraud.

For website beginners, web hosting doesn’t have to be difficult or even too time consuming. As long as you find reputable sources, second opinions, and a great easy to use package, you are well on your way to website success. With these instructions in mind, there should be no frustrations or year long debates on what company to use. It is quite simple, once you get in the webmaster’s frame of mind.

A managed services provider, or MSP, is revolutionizing the way in which a business manages its information. This is because the MSP manages that information for the business, giving the business a little less to worry about in their day-to-day operations. This is the perfect example of continuous outsourcing of an IT function.

Many businesses today are finding that outsourcing is a more cost-effective way to go about business, especially if they don’t have an in-house staff to take care of IT functions. It is especially beneficial because of the fact that the only function of a managed services provider is to ensure the proper function of the systems that they manage.

Services provided by MSPs

There are quite a few services that can be provided by MSPs. Those services include desktop and security monitoring, remote network, remote data backup, patch management, and technical assistance.

All of this is available at several different price structures. The various price structures are set up because some businesses need services that others may not. This offers a wide range of flexibility to the business, which is probably why MSPs are growing in popularity. They are also growing in popularity due to the fact that the costs to keep these operations in-house are on the rise. Businesses cannot simply see the sense in having in-house operations when operating in-house is more expensive than outsourcing these services to MSPs.

The benefits

There are a wide range of benefits to the company when using MSPs. Those benefits include:

- System monitoring 24 hours per day 7 days per week. This is something that a lot of businesses are not able to take care of themselves. Their IT staff comes in for an eight hour work day and that is it.

- Everything is taken care of by one company instead of multiple vendors. This avoids a lot of confusion.

- The price contracts are fixed, so the cost of using an MSP is not a mystery. The company knows exactly what to expect. Even if a crisis comes about, the price stays the same. The company is not charged more just because everyone had to work a little harder.

- The average revenue per user increases due to reduced costs. This is a result of the company not having to pay an hourly wage to IT employees that can equal tens of thousands of dollars per year.

- The cost for maintaining an IT staff is reduced because the service is outsourced.

- There is no cost to build their own IT management system. This is something that can be incredibly expensive because of equipment costs and staff costs.

As for the services a data center offers, the list goes on and on, but one will find that managed integrated access, networking, and remote access are amongst the services. There is also network marketing and management, configuration management, asset management, managed videoconferencing, managed firewall, managed voice security, incident management, threat assessment monitoring, and much more.

What are the drawbacks?

There cannot be benefits without the other extreme, which are drawbacks. Just like with everything, there is always something. In this case, it is the fact that there is a lack of on-site repair. MSPs can fix software problems from their location, but fixing hardware issues is not possible. That is why it is good for a company to have provisions in place in case a hardware issue occurs. However, even companies with an IT staff on board may have to occasionally have another company come in to fix hardware issues, so this is not something that is specific to MSPs.

Nevertheless, this is something that is growing in popularity, especially in a time where competitiveness requires a business to save as much money as possible. At the same time, the business is able to have the best of everything.

Once you have decided on getting your own dedicated server, you need to choose on the server operating system which can depend on the availability, price and employee expertise.

Unlike the desktop world Microsoft have overwhelming market share. There is a multiplicity of open source operating systems including Linux and FreeBSD. These are often bundled at no extra charge to the customer. Commercial operating systems such as Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or 2008, can be installed on the server if the dedicated server hoster has a Microsoft SPLA agreement.

A commercial version of Linux is Redhat Enterprise or RHEL popular with web hosts and available on a monthly fee basis. With Red Hat there is a subscription which allows for Operating System updates through the Red Hat Network using an application called up2date which is rpm based. Updating is largely automatic This can set to automatic.

Other operating systems are available from the open source community at no charge. These include CentOS, Fedora Core, Debian, and many other Linux distributions or BSD systems FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD. Fedora Core is more cutting edge version of RHEL, the latter being designed for stability.

Management for any of the operating systems above mainly depends on the type of management offered with a particular dedicated server package. Operating system support may include upgrades to the core system in order to that the latest patches and security fixes are installed.

It is quite common on non Microsoft Servers to be provided with a control panel to manage the server, especially if the server is required for web hosting. Cpanel which includes Web Host Manager (WHM) allows for the upgrade of the core operationg system as well as the routine admin tasks.

When you have decided on a managed dedicated server, you need to decide on the server operating system. Quite often this can depend on the availability, cost and staff expertise.

Unlike the desktop world Microsoft does not rule the roost. Variations of open source operating systems abound including Linux and FreeBSD. These are often included at no extra charge to the customer. Commercial operating systems include Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and 2008, can be (installed|provided if the dedicated server host has a Microsoft SPLA agreement.

Red Hat Enterprise is a commercial version of Linux or RHEL offered to hosting providers on a monthly fee basis. However you can use the a RHEL derivative known as Centos which has free updates. With Red Hat there is a subscription which provides for OS updates through the Red Hat Network using an application called up2date which is rpm based

Other operating systems are available from the open source community at no charge. These include CentOS, Fedora Core, Debian, and many other Linux distributions or BSD systems FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD. Fedora Core is more cutting edge version of RHEL, the latter being designed for stability.

Typical support for any of the operating systems above depends on the type of supervision offered with a particular dedicated server package. Operating system support may include updates to the core system in order to that the latest patches and security fixes are installed.

Non Microsoft Servers tend to have a web based control panel to operate the server, especially if the intended use of the server is web hosting. Cpanel which includes Web Host Manager allows for the maintenance ofthe core operationg system as well as the common userand management tasks.

Data center outsourcing is something that has grown in popularity for a number of reasons. Many find that maintaining a data center in-house is not something they can do. They may not be able to do it because of money reasons or because of manpower reasons. Many times, the reason why the manpower isn’t there is because the cash isn’t there to maintain that manpower.

Due to financial and other restrictions, many businesses have turned to data center outsourcing. There are quite a few advantages to it. Although there are advantages to having an in-house data center, you may be quite surprised at the fact outsourcing can reduce overhead, therefore reduces cost.

Where did it come from?

Private data centers started springing up as a way to tell businesses, ?Hey, we have something affordable that you can use.? Basically, they let the business know that they had a service that the business needed. They showed how outsourcing a data center was more practical than the business having to maintain the equipment on their own. It also keeps the business from having to maintain a staff to take care of the data center. It is definitely a full-time job and it takes more than one person to do the data center managed services. That also adds to the responsibilities and worries of the business. In other words, that is just that much more that can go wrong.

Any business that is already managing their own data center can tell you how much stress is involved. If the data center fails, then their business will fail. That is unless they have some sort of disaster recovery plan that allows them to carry out their business functions. However, any data center meltdown can be quite stressful. Just imagine having to run around, trying to figure out what to do about a data center situation. Because your data center is a large part of your business, it needs to be in good hands when disaster strikes.

When you outsource, the company managing the data center will most likely have more backup methods than what you can imagine. If there is a power outage, they?re going to use generators to keep you up and running. If one generator fails, then they have another one to back that one up. They also have individuals constantly maintaining, monitoring, and fixing any issues with the data center. That means you’re going to experience a seamless feed of data as you need it. The data center could be experiencing issues, but you would never know it because they have enough back up methods to ensure you will have no major issues.

The overall advantages

The advantages are pretty evident. In-house data centers just do not have the reliability and the economic feasibility as off-site data centers. There is already too much going on under the roof of the business. The business must focus on the overall function of the business. Having an in-house data center just adds too much to the plate.

So by having an off-site data center where there is a whole other staff that takes care of its operations, you?re able to focus all of your resources on your business. You don?t have to waste any of your resources on something that others can take care of for you for a good price. There is no getting bogged down with details. It all makes financial sense for your business. If it doesn?t make financial sense to you right now, think about having to purchase the equipment, maintain it, and hire a staff to take care of it. That in itself is something that you shouldn’t do if you don?t have to.

A dedicated hosting service, dedicated server, or managed hosting service is a type of Internet hosting where the client leases an entire server not shared with other users.

Typically a large variety of hardware is available typically based around Intel cpu’s Athlon cpu’s. Dual, single, and quad cpu servers can be usually be leased.

This is more flexible than budget shared hosting, as organizations have full control over the server, including the type of server operating system (typically linux based or Windows). Normally you can get a wide range of hardware,including server memory, disk drive and cpu.

Server maintenance is usually provided by the hosting company as an add-on option. In many instances a dedicated server can offer less overhead and a larger return on investment.

Dedicated servers are most often located in large data centers, in major centres where there are large concentrations of power and where there are large network providers hubs. In most cased is that the dedicated server host rents facilities or a suite at the data centre.Many will have their own own site technicians.

The advantage of a server housed in a large data centre is the provision of backup power supplies and HVAC. In contrast to colocation, the server hardware is owned by the provider and in some cases they will provide support for your operating system or applications.

Emergencies happen within a business. That is something that is inevitable. You never know when an entire system is going to crash or another disaster may come about. You have to be prepared for these things. If you?re not, then everything will be chaotic. No one will know what to do. In other words, everyone will be running around asking each other, ?What do we do now?? And no one is going to have an answer.

What is a disaster recovery plan?

A disaster recovery plan is that protocol in which your employees follow when a certain disaster comes about. You have to evaluate everything that could go wrong within your business and have a recovery plan for each one of those situations. Since not one situation is the same, there has to be a protocol for each. From there, your employees have to study it and know what to do immediately. This means they need to memorize. There are many disasters that do not allow time for someone to pull out a manual and read what needs to happen. They have to act immediately.

But why have a disaster recovery plan in place? You should have one in place because you need to conduct business in the best manner possible for your customers. Your customers expect seamless service no matter what, so you have to try to make things as convenient for them as possible. If you don?t, then you risk losing their business.

Your disaster recovery plan will include dealing with data loss during a natural disaster, dealing with a system meltdown, power surges, data center crashes and so much more. It depends on what sort of business you are in as to what kind of plans you use. Just make sure that you cover all of your bases and that you also have a master plan so that you can take care of something that may not have a plan. You just never know what could happen.

Statistics

Statistics have shown that businesses with a disaster recovery plan are amongst those that recover better. Those who have experienced some sort of disaster that lasts for more than 10 days will never recover financially. 50% of those companies without a disaster recovery plan will spend so much time making up for lost cash that they will most likely be out of business in 5 years. That is not something you want to have to deal with. The cost of an outage that lasts only a few days is already bad enough. Contracts can be broken, credibility can be lost, and even future customers will never be acquired. These are extreme losses.

So take these statistics to heart so that you know why it is you need a disaster recovery plan. Not one more business needs to go out of business due to an outage, so you need to be on top of things. You need to realize that anything that prohibits you from carrying out your business practices can do irreparable damages. Your customers expect for you to be there for them whenever they need you. There is nothing more frustrating to them than trying to resolve an issue that you can?t resolve because of an outage. If their request is not fulfilled, then they may suddenly become your competitor?s newest customer.

This should be enough to convince you. It is much easier to come up with a disaster recovery plan than to have to deal with a crisis blind. Imagine your entire business being shut down due to something out of your control. Now imagine sitting there with a thousand questions flying at you about what to do.

Web hosting is basically a way for individuals and companies to store digital media (websites etc.) on the Internet for others to access. This giant storage facility normally comes at a cost owing to the services it provides, but in some instances (normally non-business or commercial) they can be offered free. Digital files like websites, videos and programs for instance are stored on a web host server sometimes called a data center where they can be retrieved by anyone who wishes to view the slide or video footage for example.

There are a great many services available; you even have free hosting where you won’t have to spend a single dime, this is ideal for absolute beginners. For more storage space, better email facilities, sub domains and more you really need top look at paid web hosting plans; this is particularly pertinent for business customers. Paid hosting packages vary enormously so don’t be surprised about the difference in prices; the best thing to do is sit down and work out exactly what your primary requirements are and then check out one of these hosting comparison websites.

In the early days you may be quite happy to have your files on a server which is shared by many others while you try their hosting services. When the need for more space and security is required then a dedicated server at extra cost can be used. With web hosting you get your own web space, but you do need to have a registered domain before you can use it, then you are allocated with enough storage to keep all your files for online publication. The term ‘file’ is a generic name for anything that is uploaded (the opposite of downloaded) to your website with the space allocated normally not less than one half of a full gigabyte but these figures are always increasing.

The good thing about having your own web hosting package and domain means that all your email addresses will contain your domain name in them and not that for the free service provider you may have been using previously. Having your own email addresses are an important sign that a person or company is serious about their internet presence and provides a sense of credibility which cannot be achieved with the many free service providers available. Then you have bandwidth, which refers to how much data is being transferred over the internet, this is something that many people overlook simply because they’re enamored with the low prices of hosting packages and don’t consider how quickly bandwidth is used up.

Problems will occur in the form of an inaccessible website if the bandwidth is exceeded so if the web host cannot provide the bandwidth you require you will need to use another company. This point becomes more important when you have a site that provides large video, audio and image files to its visitors as all of these use up the bandwidth you have been allocated as part of your package. Some people use their own home computers for web hosting but there can be serious security and reliability issues here so it is best to look for a professional company to supply this service.

Any product or service that requires storage or access on the internet will use the services of a web hosting company to do this. And anything that is stored or accessible on the Internet will require some form of storage in a particular server; sometimes this is even supplied free of charge but is normally part of an overall package, so What ever is relating to a website (files, media etc.) can be uploaded onto one of these servers or data centers so people can access them form their computer.

Many beginners start by using the free hosting services that are provided by many internet service companies; while they will have access to email facilities, basic websites and blogs, they will have to pay for a full service provider. When a person realizes they want to host additional sites and store other digital products, they may find that the range of facilities for unpaid web hosting plans is too limited.

Paid hosting packages vary enormously so don’t be surprised about the difference in prices; the best thing to do is sit down and work out exactly what your primary requirements are and then check out one of these hosting comparison websites.

Initially, the majority of users decide on paying for a shared server with their hosting company. Once you are comfortable with the service level then it might be worth upgrading to a dedicated server. Before you can use your web hosting package you will need to register a domain otherwise it will be of no use, then once that is done your website and any other files can be uploaded to the server ready for viewing. Almost any information that is stored on a web server is called a file which can mean audio tracks, images, video footage and the website itself; as digital storage costs drop then the amount of space you are allocated tends to be increased over time.

When you have a paid web hosting package it will allow you to have an email address using your domain name unlike those that are offered free with the likes of Google, Yahoo or MSN for example where their name is at the end of the email address. People who are serious about their internet presence will want to have their own identity and to prove the point; you will never see a company using someone else’s domain in their email address. Then you have bandwidth, which refers to how much data is being transferred over the internet, this is something that many people overlook simply because they’re enamored with the low prices of hosting packages and don’t consider how quickly bandwidth is used up.

Insufficient bandwidth will cause problems as visitors will be unable to see your site if it has been used up and you have a few more days before it is re-set for the following month, so you may need to use another web host. This is extremely important if your website has many images, MP3 tracks or other large files like video clips; even a single webpage can contain a great deal of information, all of which is considered as bandwidth. You may have your own web host in your PC, but that can be too risky; the best option is to settle for paid web hosting, even if you’re new to the internet.