You've
spent a couple months developing a really great
site with pages and pages of excellent content
and now all you've to do is choose which company
you want to host with, beware however that choosing
a host isn't usually an easy process, if the decision
you make is not the right one all your hard work
could be wasted.
This
article will go through first what a host actually
is and then go through the features and qualities
most good hosts have. Well then what is a host?
A host is a company that rents you space on their
server for you to store your webpages and files
on. There are thousands of them on the Internet
and they all differ somewhat between pricing,
features and customer service.
With
all the hosting companies and options out there
for you it's tough to know which one is for you.
The three main properties or features however
which will determine a hosts quality are easily
examinable. They are:
1.
Web hosting features.
2. Customer service.
3. And of course price.
First
off is web hosting features, these are the features
and options which come with your hosting account.
In this case the saying ''the more the merrier''
has great merits because the more features a webhost
has the more advanced you can make your site.
One
Common feature is access to your own cgi-bin directory.
This is vital as this is the directory from where
scripts are carried out. CGI scripts are the backbone
of all the functionality of the web. Every time
you fill out a form, buy a product, use a forum
or engage in a chat room conversation you're running
a script of one type or another. This feature
is very important so never go with a host that
doesn't provide it.
Another
is the ability to FTP your webpages instead of
simply having to use an online manager which takes
a lot longer when transferring large amounts of
data. FTP will provide you with much more flexibility
when managing your website, however if your not
the technical type always look out for a host
that provides a good online manager too.
If
you plan on selling anything on your website then
your potential customers will expect nothing less
than a secure server with https:// capability.
If you go with a host that doesn't have this feature
then visitors will never become customers because
of the insecurity to their credit card number.
Any
serious webmaster likes to pay close attention
to his or her website logs. All good hosts will
provide you with the ability to access your website
logs via download, however even better hosts will
have a dedicated online website log analyzer from
which you can check your stats directly without
having to purchase expensive website analyzer
software. This feature is quite important so be
on the lookout for a host that provides it.
Another
feature that's very important particularly to
ecommerce websites is email services. It's best
to go with a host that provides lots of email
services such as unlimited autoresponders, lots
of pop mailboxes, email aliases etc. You need
these services to stay in touch with your visitors,
potential customers and indeed your past customers
in the hope of back end sales.
The
last of the main features of good webhosts is
the amount of space they provide you, this isn't
that important at the start but if your website
grows bigger than allowed you'll have to move
hosts which can cause a lot of problems. Always
look for a host with at least 25MB of space available
and one that has the option to buy more space
should you use your allowed amount.
The
above six features once again are:
1. Access to your own cgi-bin.
2. Ability to use FTP or online managers.
3. Access to a secure server.
4. Access to logs and log analyzers.
5. Access to lots of email services.
6. Lots of space for your website.
These
features form the basis of all good webhosts,
if a host you're checking out has these features
then you could be on to a winner. All that's left
to do now is check out the hosts customer service
and pricing.
Good
customer service from a hosting company is vital
especially with today's availability of scripts
and advanced features for websites. Good customer
service usually includes lots of help pages and
FAQ pages, 24-7 telephone support, 24-48 hours
reply email support. Support is vital because
the questions "not if problems will occur"
but "when they'll occur". When they
do occur you could lose lots of sales and customers
if the problems aren't fixed immediately. Never
go with a host that has a reputation for poor
quality customer service.
Finally
there's the pricing issue. What I'm about to say
next is second nature to most if not all of you,
but I have to say it just to make sure.
Never
host with a free web host, they're simply more
trouble than they're worth, they usually host
thousands of sites on one server meaning that
your site is always slow, what's even worse is
the fact that they fill up your webpages with
banners and pop-up banners making you seem very
unprofessional indeed. That's just two of the
problems associated with free hosts, there are
plenty more so the message I'm trying to get across
is avoid them at all costs.
What
should you pay for quality hosting with the above
and more features? Well like all services on the
Internet it varies but generally it's going to
cost you $20 - $30 a month to host your site with
a quality host. Don't pay more than $30 unless
you need very powerful features available to you
because chances are you could find another webhost
with the same or similar qualities for much less
simply by searching on one of the major search
engines or directories.
There
you have it, hopefully you now know what to look
for in a web host, this is vital as your host
will play a big part in your success or failure
as a webmaster.
Introduction
to Domain Name
What
is a Domain Name?
Before
you can send a letter to someone, you need to
know his/her mailing address. If you want to visit
a website, you also need to know its 'address',
which is the domain name. Here are some examples
of domain names
•
Google.com
• Amazon.com
• Internic.net
• Linux.org
• Yahoo.co.uk
• Natalie-Portman.ws
Domain
name is case insensitive, which means Google.com,
google.com and gOOgLE.coM are the same. A dot
acts as a separator in a domain name. The part
after the last dot is called the Top Level Domain
(TLD).
Domain name registrations for the most seen .com,
.net, .org are unrestricted and are opened to
anyone. They are usually referred to as International
TLDs. When the internet started a decade ago,
it is recommended that companies should use .com,
internet service providers should use .net and
organizations should use .org. But today, this
rules are no longer engaged and you can register
under any international TLDs you want.
Other international TLDs include .aero (for the
air-transport industry), .biz (for businesses),
.coop (for cooperatives), .info (for all uses),
.museum (for museums), .name (for individuals),
and .pro (for professions). But they are not as
popular as .com, .net and .org.
Choose
a .com whenever possible! Most internet users
are not familiar or even aware of the other TLDs.
They usually assume all domain names end up with
.com.
Why do you need a Domain Name?
All domain name must be unique and once your registered
it, you OWN it until the expiry date. The minimum
registration period is 1 year but you can choose
to renew it up to a maximum of 10 years. You can
do whatever you want with the domain name. You
can setup a website, setup an email account, or
do nothing with it! With all the rights to your
domain name, you can decide where to host your
site and you can change your host anytime you
want, without depending your fortune to any specific
host.
A domain name will also make you look BIG and
professional.
How do you register a domain name?
You register your domain name with a domain registrar.
And there are really a lot of domain registrars
available and prices do vary among registrars
even for registering the same domain name! That's
why if you know where to register for cheaper
domain names. You own that domain name and no
one else can register it anymore. You can also
register a domain name through a web host. But
usually registrations via a web host are not instant.
After your submit your order, someone from the
web host has to manually execute your order. Your
domain name is registered only AFTER they execute
your order. It can happen that someone else has
registered your domain name within that 24 hours.
But this is very rare.
You can also register your domain name when you
purchase your hosting account. Some hosts even
offer you a free domain name along with their
hosting package! For example, iPowerWeb and PowWeb.
DNS
(Domain Name System) Servers
Each domain name must be associated with 2 or
more DNS servers. The DNS information act as a
bridge between your domain name and your host.
That means in order for the internet to know who
is your web host, they will need to look at the
DNS info associated with your domain name. That's
why your web host cannot keep you hostage because
you can simply change the DNS info and your domain
name will be pointed to your new web host!
Each web host will setup their own DNS servers.
They look something like ns1.yourhost.com and
ns2.yourhost.com. All you need to do is to enter
the 2 DNS servers given by your web host to your
domain name. Your domain registrar will have a
place where you can fill up these information.
It is a simple and straightforward task. If you
register your domain name through your web host,
they will enter the DNS information for you.
Because the internet is so large, after you register
a new domain name or update the DNS setting, it
usually takes 1-3 days for the entire internet
to notice the new DNS setting. This process is
called DNS propagation. That's why new web hosting
customers will not be able to see their website
immediately after they setup their hosting account.
It is normal and don't blame your web host on
this! Your website will appear after the DNS propagation
is completed.
Email
Hosting (with your Domain Name)
Create Email Account Under Your New Domain
Name
Most
people have a Yahoo or Hotmail email account.
I believe you have one too. If you have registered
a domain name and have purchased a hosting account,
you can now have a brand new email account under
your own domain name! What I mean is, when you
purchase a hosting account, email is always included!
You always have the ability to create email accounts
after you buy a hosting account. But the number
of email accounts you can create depend on the
hosting plan you selected. Some offer only 1 email
account while other such as LunarPages offer unlimited
email accounts!
If you have registered a domain name but have
no intention to make a website yet, you can still
purchase a hosting account just for email purposes.
For example if you registered a domain name myfamily.com,
you can order a hosting account just for creating
email accounts. For example, you can create myself@myfamily.com,
mywife@myfamily.com, mykid@myfamily.com and mydog@myfamily.com
if you have trained your dog to check email. Since
you don't have a website yet, people will see
a blank website or "under construction"
page when they log on to myfamily.com.
How Do I Send and Check My Email?
After
you have created your new email accounts, there
are 2 ways to manage your email. I will start
with
1.
Web Interface (Web-Based Email)
You can do you mailing (sending, checking, manage
address book ....) directly with your web browser.
You fire up your favorite web browser, say Internet
Explorer and log on with your username and password
and you can start mailing. Yahoo Mail and Hotmail
are good examples of web-based email. You can
check your email everywhere in the world as long
as you are connected to the internet.
The web interface is provided by your web host
and they indeed look a lot different than Yahoo
Mail and Hotmail. There are a few common interfaces.
LunarPages is using Horde and SquirrelMail, while
iPowerWeb and Globat is using @Mail. Using web
interface is slow because you need to continuously
making connections with the mail server. Web interface
also have limited features. The better way to
manage your email is by using an ...
2.
Email Client (Email Software)
The
most popular email clients are Outlook Express
and Eudora. Outlook Express is free and come with
Microsoft Windows so you probably already have
this in your computer. Eudora have both free and
paid version. Free version are supported by advertisement.
I am a big fan of Eudora and have been using it
for more than 10 years.
To do your mailing with your email client. You
simply configure it by adding
1. Your Email Address
2. Your Username
3. Your Host SMTP Server, and
4. Your Host POP Server
After that, you can start you mailing immediately!
The POP server and SMTP server information are
provided by your web host and is always included
in your welcome email. That's why your should
always keep your welcome email safe and NEVER
delete it!
Cut it short, your POP server (Post Office Protocol)
play the role in receiving and storing your emails
while SMTP server (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
in charge of sending out emails for you.
When someone send you an email, it is stored in
the POP server until you retrieve it. Once you
retrieve it to your email client, it will be deleted
from the server. Your mail is now available in
your computer. You can read it, reply to it, forward
to someone else or delete it. You can also choose
to keep the email on the server by configuring
your email client but usually you don't need to
unless you want to retrieve your emails to multiple
computer (office and home; PC and laptop).
You might wonder why the word "Client"
is used. If you are dining in a restaurant, you
are the "client" and the waitress is
your "server". The same thing happens
in the internet where servers do the serving while
clients are served. In the context we are discussing
so far, you email client is served by the email
servers, which are the POP server and SMTP server.
Other examples of server client relationship is
website where we have a web server and a web client,
which is your web browser. If you use chatting
software like ICQ , AOL, Microsoft messenger or
Yahoo messenger, they are the clients and are
served by their respective chat servers.
Interchange between Client and Web Interface
You
can still check your email through the web interface
even most of the time you are using your email
client. When you are traveling, you can easily
check for new emails as long as you are provided
with internet access. You can also send email
through the web interface. Of course, you can
only check for new emails as old emails which
has been retrieved to your email client will not
longer be available. Remember that emails stay
in the server until you retrieve them to your
email client. Through the web interface, you can
only read the emails that are still in the server.
Introducing
IMAP
If
you only use the web interface without the email
client, then you can have access to your email
wherever you have internet access. But if you
use your email client, you might encounter a problem
if you want to access your email from multiple
computers! Even though you can retrieve the same
emails to different computer, but each computer
will have their own mailbox. If you delete an
email in mailbox A, the same email will still
be in mailbox B! If you save a reply draft in
mailbox B, you won't have the draft in mailbox
A! You will not have this problem if you are using
the web interface all the time because it will
be the very same mailbox no matter which computer
you use. I have mentioned that emails stay in
the server until you retrieve them to your email
client. If you do not retrieve, they are always
in the server.
There are 2 protocols for email that define how
email should work on the internet. The one we
have been discussing so far is called POP (Post
Office Protocol), which utilize the POP server
and SMTP server and has the "multiple mailboxes"
problem. Later, a new mail protocol is defined
and it is called IMAP (Internet Message Access
Protocol). IMAP solved the "multiple mailboxes"
problem by keeping the mailbox in the server.
This way, you will still be accessing the same
mailbox no matter which computer you are using.
You can also enjoy the features of email client
on all the computers instead of using the limited
web interface.
Although IMAP has been around for some time, it
is still uncommon. The reason is accessing speed.
Accessing a remote mailbox is significant slower
then accessing a mailbox locally. Just like using
a web interface, the email client will need to
make a lot of connections to the remote server.
If you want to learn more about IMAP, you can
visit their website at www.imap.org
Email Forwarder (Email Alias)
Instead
of creating email accounts, you can also create
email forwarders with your hosting account. As
the name suggest, any email received by an email
forwarder will be forwarded to another email address
that your have configured. So a forwarder is not
really an email account because it will not store
your emails and it cannot be used to send email.
It just redirect any email received to another
email address. It is an alias to the destination
email address.
For example, you might already have a personal
email account where you are using all the time.
After you register a new domain, you can create
a forwarder yournewemail@yournewdomain.com and
configure it to forward to your original email
account. This way you don't need to check your
email from 2 different accounts but still be able
to enjoy a new email address!
You can configure an email address to be both
an email account and a forwarder. In this case,
you can send mail and receive mail with this email
address, while at the same time all emails received
will also be forwarded to another email address.
To have more fun, you can set an email forwarder
to forward to more than 1 email address! For example,
if you have a forwarder sales@yourcompany.com,
you can set it to forward to you, your sales manager,
your sales team, and anyone who wants a copy!
Default Forward Address
What
will happen if someone send an email to spiderman@yourdomain.com
which you have never created? You can choose to
receive it by setting a default forward address.
All emails that are sent to any non existing email
address under your domain name will be forwarded
to this address. It is also called the catch-all
address.
Auto-Responder
An
auto-responder automatically reply a preset message
to the sender. This is fun and I bet you have
seen this happens multiple times. Have you ever
sent an email to request customer support for
a product or service and immediately received
a reply which inform you that they have received
your email and will reply to your promptly? That's
an auto-responder!
Another example would be if you are away for vacation
and will not be able to read your email for 1
week, you can setup an auto-responder that will
automatically reply an email to anyone who send
you an email while you are away, telling them
you will not be able to reply to their emails
from when to when. After you come back from your
vacation, you can simply remove the auto-responder
