Posts filed under 'Web Hosting'
A Enterprise Host is a host that provides a thorough set of features and options to a wide range of hosting customers. The technical staff also provides extra attention and care for its clientele, with 24/7 technical support being the norm. Features such as ASP, PHP3, CGI support, predefined CGI, Custom 404 pages, etc. are typically standard.
Customers looking to host Enterprise sites usually require one or more of the following:
- More hard drive space
- More bandwidth
- Better technical support
- Need for advanced features
- Need for ‘extended’ services
Web Space
A good rule of thumb to follow is: You are not going to need as much space as you think. However, when purchasing a enterprise package from a Web host provider, Web space comes en masse. A good enterprise site will have at least 100 MB to for your use, and often times more than that.
If you decided on a enterprise site package, then chances are you will want more bang for your buck. Be sure to make a list, mental or otherwise, about how much space you need for the moment and how much space you will need in the future. Many enterprise site packages come with discounts for extending things such as Web space.
February 1st, 2007
What is a Dedicated Server? Just like shared server systems (or virtual servers) similar to those that most Web developers use, the Dedicated Server also shares the large network components such as the T1/T3 Internet connections, routers, and other networking hardware. However, a Dedicated Server is a physical machine tied into the Internet used by only one customer. The customer controls the entire system, including the upgrades (which can range from extra RAM to more hard drive space). The customer controls the system via programs such as PC Anywhere, FTP Daemon, or Telnet. The Web Host provider provides various levels of maintenance for the Dedicated Server hardware and software components, as well as the physical data center space needed to keep the system.
How will a Dedicated Server fit into your needs? In general, users matching any of the below criteria can benefit from having their own Dedicated Server:
- Users that need more than 1 gigabyte of data transfer per day
- Users that need more than 250 megabytes of storage
- Users that need multiple IP addresses
- Users installing or running applications requiring root access to the server
- Users specializing in virtual hosting
- Users who want more autonomy in their Web services
- Users who require more bandwidth
What type of operating system do Dedicated Servers use? A Dedicated Server platform, the complete hardware and software system on which a Dedicated Server is built, is a complex system comprised of numerous components, each of which has its own performance issues. The operating system is the glue that fuses all these components and is a critical component of any Dedicated Server. The choice of operating system is perhaps the most important decision a customer will make, and the two names leading the pack are UNIX and Windows NT.
February 1st, 2007
With the rising growth of the Internet,Ecommerce Web Hosting businesses are learning new ways to expand their storefronts into new markets creating new opportunities and new challenges. Businesses across the board are finding that the Internet brings a multitude of opportunities for success. However, the task of setting up a web site is often not as simple as it seems. While many sites lack focus and functionality, others possess the basic ingredients for easy use and quality information delivery, but fail to take advantage of their full potential.
Ecommerce Web Hosting allowing the smallest of businesses to access markets and develop a presence that allows them to compete against the giants in the industry. So exactly how does a small business compete? Most small and mid-size online businesses are not candidates for hosting their own sites in-house. The cost of running an in-house development department and data center renders the option implausible.
Fortunately, there are alternatives. Companies specializing in Ecommerce Web hosting abound, and enable even the smallest e-business to gain an online presence quickly and inexpensively. These hosting providers allow many customers to take advantage of the economies that they develop through the operation of large data centers. Cost savings are passed along on everything from hardware, software licenses, bandwidth, back up systems, and environmental control systems. However, as an online business, you have a number of factors to consider prior to making a final decision on who your hosting partner will be.
February 1st, 2007
Almost every Hosting Provider offers some sort of reseller web hosting plan. These plans come in all shapes and sizes and are generally presented in a way that emphasizes that particular Hosting Provider’s strengths. Some Hosting Providers have strong e-commerce packages, which include free or discounted e-commerce software. Their reseller web hosting plan reflects this by catering to resellers who wish to resell to e-commerce sites. Other providers may have a simple feature set and their prices reflect low cost solutions. They would cater to resellers who wish to have ‘bargain-based’ web hosting plans
Does the Plan Correspond To Your Customer Base?
Before you go with a reselling plan, check to see what type of customers you wish to cater to. If you already have a customer base, check to see what features they need. Look at your client’s requirements and determine if the reseller plan meets those requirements. If you are reselling web space to e-commerce sites, be sure to get a plan with plenty of e-commerce extras.
What happens if you’ve found the perfect plan, but they don’t have a few options you need? Your best choice is to ask them for it. Many Hosting Providers are adding new features everyday, and if they haven’t added it already, you may be able to get them to add it.
How to Keep Expenses Low
It is a given that you are in the reselling business to make money. Regardless of the scale of your reselling efforts, you always need to consider how much you pay as opposed to how much you bring in. While the initial costs of a reseller plan can be substantial, also consider monthly costs and upgrade costs as well as buying software packages for your clients.
Many Hosting Providers will include discounts for multiple reseller packages. Be careful to not overlook extra savings that can be achieved through paying for a year or more in advance. Many providers will also include discounts for pre-packaged software. By ordering software bundles from your provider you could save a substantial amount of operating capital.
Discounts
As stated above, be on the lookout for discounts and better deals. Always plan ahead: items such as yearly discounts for paying in advance might seem costly at first, but will save you anywhere from 8% to 20% off of your total bill.
Another tactic is to sign up multiple accounts ahead of time so you can take advantage of multiple reseller plan discounts. As usual, if you are not sure if your provider has such discounts, ask. Chances are, if they don’t now they may later.
February 1st, 2007
A growing number of hosting companies are now offering customers a choice of several variants of UNIX or Microsoft Windows NT. Of those that offer a choice of both operating systems, the bulk of these vendors advise their customers to use UNIX unless the customer has specific reasons to run NT. Most problems faced by UNIX and the UNIX family can be solved with quality training and careful planning. UNIX is still, even after all these years, considered the most reliable, high-performance operating system on the market
From the user’s point of view, the UNIX operating system is easy to learn and use, and presents few of the usual impediments to getting the job done. It is hard, however, for the beginner to know where to start, and how to make the best use of the facilities available
Application Interface
UNIX’s ‘unique’ mix of C and assembly implemented an OS, instead of the traditional “input command-process command-output process.” Due to this, features whether simple or sophisticated were quite easily done using C language. So why was this revolutionary? When UNIX was distributed, users and programmers could write applications using only C and make full use of the operating systems capabilities.
Networking
In 1984, UC Berkeley released a version of UNIX, which allowed for TCP/IP networking protocols. The version was called BSD. Networking support included e-mail, file transfers, remote login, etc. Future systems based on this added multiple networking capabilities using Ethernet.
Interface
UNIX is an excellent operating system for experienced programmers. The OS was designed for programmers with all of the features a programmer would need to design, implement, and upgrade applications. Though the whole UNIX family has been revamping the user interface with GUI (Graphic User Interface) with items such as X-Windows, NextStep, OpenLook, etc, UNIX is still weak in the interface area for your average computer user.
February 1st, 2007
From its first release back in 1993, Windows NT Server was, arguably, the first networking operating system whose main focus was ease of use. When it was released as a partner product with Windows 3.1, Windows was the standard operating system for the vast majority of PC users and the new NT setup requirements were not considered too difficult. Because of that, it was easy for many users and companies to take the next step to a more powerful, more robust operating system. NT is easier to administer than a UNIX based OS and allowed for a lower level of technical expertise. Unfortunately, as Microsoft aims NT at the same market segment now occupied by UNIX, it becomes more complex and correspondingly more difficult to administer.
Setup
Microsoft’s Windows NT provides a full GUI (Graphical User Interface) for the bulk of its setup configurations. Unlike many OS (except perhaps for the Windows 9x series) Windows NT setup comes in twos. The first pass, copies the bulk of files needed for installation to the hard drive. The second run through, the actual installation is performed. Windows NT, unlike its Windows 9x predecessors, does not support plug and play applications, but it does support auto-detection. On the other hand, Windows 2000, the latest NT version, supports Plug and Play with even more hardware support than Windows 98 second edition.
Windows NT is compatible with Intel and RISC processors, thus allowing for expanded platform support. However, just because NT works with RISCs doesn’t necessarily mean its applications do. When buying a dedicated server that happens to have a RISC platform, make sure that all pertinent applications work with it.
Core OS
The foundation of Windows NT is a 32-bit operating system. Even though this causes backwards compatibility problems with programs written for the 16/32-bit DOS based OS of the Win 95/98 genre, it allows for a more stable working kernel. Also, to its credit, NT is both a multitasking and a multithreaded OS.
Remote Access
Unfortunately, NT lacks true remote-control features right out of the box. Upgrades to handle the problem can be found at Microsoft’s web-page, but these only take care of a few features. In order to achieve maximum remote access through NT, one must buy a third-party software package such as PCAnywhere from Symantic.
Memory Usage and Allocation
As an additional feature, NT supports virtual memory. Virtual memory is a feature that uses swap files on the local or network hard drive to replace the need for having a large amount of physical memory (or RAM) on your local PC. It provides a cheap solution to the problem of never having enough RAM to handle memory hungry programs. On the downside, virtual memory is slower than physical memory by a wide margin.
Another drawback is NT memory usage is higher than any other operating system. NT’s minimum memory requirement is almost four times more than Novell’s IntraNetWare.
Compared to UNIX, NT’s memory allocation is inferior in many ways. UNIX allows for multiple programs running off the same memory block, saving memory allocation space. UNIX/LINUX uses demand loading for all compatible applications. In other words, if an application is loaded into memory and requires 5 MB, but only needs 90 KB of code is needed to monitor for incoming connections/usage of that program, UNIX will only use 90 KB during program idling times.
Security
While NT has not suffered from the takeover attacks afflicting UNIX, it has proven vulnerable to denial-of-service attacks. A denial-of-service attack is when a program sends a TCP/IP SYN packet with the same source and destination address. The result is an infinite loop sequence, which causes a system lockup and shutdown. Fortunately, Microsoft has put out fixes for these attacks in the form of NT Service Packs which resolve the problem by running the loop for 60 seconds and trying to resolve the loop. When the loop fails to resolve, Windows cancels the loop and continues on. Windows 2000 has this feature standard.
The most significant NT security failures have been related to weaknesses in the Net BIOS service running on TCP. Services such as file and print sharing, normally used only on the LAN, can be accessed from the Internet by binding Net BIOS to TCP. To prevent this disable Net BIOS usage for all computers which are visible to the Internet.
Because NT is completely proprietary, relatively new, and still evolving rapidly, there is less certainty about what is required to make it truly secure. Source code is not available, and university students spend little time hacking it, so knowledge of NT internals is much less widespread than knowledge of UNIX.
Few NT security experts are available. The saving grace is that NT is no fun to hack, so casual hackers tend to avoid it. It just doesn’t attract the attention that UNIX systems do. Though NT has become more widely used
NT is a great operating system, is getting better, and is easier for most casual users. It is a security quagmire if Net BIOS is allowed over TCP, but that service is easy to disable, and there are no noteworthy examples of it being used to compromise a Web server. NT has no history of hijacking attacks and does not offer the capabilities that such system hackers are looking for.
Networking Ability
NT server includes such protocols as NetBEUI IP, IPX, AppleTalk, DLC and has support for Ethernet, Token Ring, ATM, FDDI, PPP, ISDN, and Frame Relay. When more than one networking card is installed, NT Serve has the ability to act as a router.
For all inbound dial-up connections, NT uses the Remote Access Service (RAS). With RAS users are able to dial in to the network over the Internet through PPP or ISDN using their LAN password and logon name. Once the user is authenticated, s/he has access to all IPX, NetBEUI, and IP services on the whole network, not just the server they connected to. For small business this is a cost-effective way of avoiding the additional costs of buying a modem pool.
NT only has one major drawback. When changes need to take place, no matter how minor, NT must be restarted. Adding a new protocol, restart. What a new DNS server, restart. In smaller working environments were the system can be shutdown after everyone goes home, this is acceptable. When running a major web hosting service or a large e-commerce service when 24-hour access is not only recommended, but nearly required, this is unacceptable.
Conclusion
Windows NT is a good OS with a lot of well thought out features. Many of its downsides can be easily fixed. Microsoft usually posts service packs in the case of known security problems. When adding protocols to a NT server, make sure a backup server is up and running to carry the slack of the down computer when restarting is required.
When choosing NT for your web site, make sure your vendor understands the ins and outs of the OS and are competent in their job to administer the inner workings. When choosing a dedicated server OS, Windows NT makes sense if you have a great deal of Windows compatible applications, documents, and forms and changing over to another system would not only waste money, but waste time in learning new applications.
February 1st, 2007
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