Well, if you want to get attention you do have it But it would be very nice if you would be able to describe your problem in more detail while trying to find help on a forum. It’s because you do have the attention, but with no relevant data to start with no one will be able to help you.

Include as many information as you only can when trying to find help in web hosting. People are willing to help but they need info to get started.

When searching for help try to append these information:

• your domain name so others can check if they can see your web site or the Error message
• what have you done before this problem started to show up
  • what did you install
  • what did you uninstall
  • what did you allow
  • what did you disallow
• how long do you know about the problem [to estimate a time-frame]
• what control panel you are on
• what operating system you are on
• what php version you are using
• what mysql version you are using
• other software and version you are using [only relevant...]
• what technology the web site is build on [it’s a CMS, php site, html site etc.]
• try to be descriptive and do not mix your thoughts with the supplied data to make it easy to read

I know web site problems are not the only ones, but they are common. This small guide can be used as a template for any other server service you might think of like Database server, mail Server, DNS Server etc. It is always about the information you give – more information = a higher probability someone will help you out!

[ad#Adsense360]

I tried to make this one a very easy and quick guide to help you start searching for help related to web hosting and your web site online Have a nice day and see you next time here at Icethunder.net

PS: Some reason why your web site might not show up:

• DNS is still propagating
• Your domain name does not point to the right directory
• Your database is down or has a problem
• Your home IP is blocked on the hosting server
• The port is blocked by your ISP
• and many more…

What I tried to say is the pure fact that what is good and what is bad is influenced by the experience of single individuals and these individuals all have different criteria they use for evaluating. And this is what you should keep in mind. Also the experience is influenced by the users “luck factor” as you may go from one host to another host and do not get into any kind of trouble even if you sing up with the host with the worst image in the industry. On the other side other people might never really get a satisfactory level of service even if they only sign up with great web hosts. Sometimes it is about luck.

A good solution to fight the “bad luck” would seem to be to only sign up with creditable web hosting companies. Companies with good image are a safe harbor for all the people with tons of bad luck. They are proven as good and they respond to problems well and thus there is a big chance even “unlucky” people might get a very good level of service

Is there a “best web hosting company”?

As described in the previous paragraphs you cannot show with your finger and say this one is the best and all the others are not worth it. It depends on your luck and personal experience. A very important role is played by the type of project [web site] you are trying to host there, or you hosted there. Different web sites require different things and thus you need to include this in your list while performing the search as well.

[ad#Adsense360]

There are no “best web hosting companies”, but there are very good ones and very bad ones. You just need to read trough the forums to make an image of what company fits into which group.

Hopefully this has been informative to you and gives you something to thing about Have a nice day and see you next time at icethunder.net

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Hosting companies tend to offer so many different features. They offer them in different amounts and thus it is hard to decide between two or three hosting companies. The top three things a offer should have to appeal to me are :

1. Offer SSL for my mail client connection
2. Offer SSH as an option for file uploads or a secured HTTPS web space uploader
3. Offer the option to create at least 20 MYSQL databases

Offer SSL for my mail client connection

This is a very good and very important thing I am searching for when trying to find a good web host. It is about security and in todays world it is very very important. It helps to keep your mail outside of reach of bad guys and it gives youthe feeling of added security.

Offer SSH as an option for file uploads or a secured HTTPS web space uploader

Although to many of you it may seem as unnecessary, but it is once again very important, because while you are uploading stuff to your web page you are very vulnerable. You should realize that you are not uploading “stuff,” but that you are uploading data and it can be very valuable to you. And if you are uploading valuable data should it be visible to everybody? I don’t think so

Offer the option to create at least 20 MYSQL databases

I like hosting companies not setting limits on the amount of databases I can create, but there are always limits in some areas and thus I like to have the ability tobe able to create at least 15 to 20 databases. Most of the time I am hosting multiple web sites on one account and today nearly everything runs by utilizing a database and thus you need the ability to create many of them. and you do not know how many you might need before you sign up and thus it is good to know how many you can create and you could need beforehand

This is not an exhaustive list and it could be much longer, but these are at least a basic list with some basic points Have a nice weekend and see you next time!

What’s a name server

A name server is a special kind of server telling people where to find a specific web site. We could take Icethunder.net as an example. You would not be able to come to icethunder.net if your PC would not be able to figure out a way to my web site! You would not be even able to visit any web page if your PC would not be able to find the destination at which the particular web site is located. The mechanism helping you is known as DNS. With the help of DNS servers your PC is able to figure out IP address of the web site you are trying to visit. A DNS server is like a phone book for web pages. It holds records of web site names and their corresponding IP addresses, because network communication is based on IP’s and not on word addresses like google.com!

A name server holds information of your web site which help other people find your web site. There is not only one DNS server in the world, but there is a network of them.  There are of different levels and they hold different data.

Where to get a name server?

You need to set up your name servers if you are hosting your web site at one company and your domain name is registered at another one. But do not panic as it is a very easy process. Everything is a matter of  a few keystrokes. You fill the necessary data into an online form and your web site will be available to the whole world in less than 48 hours

The required information is provided by your hosting company and you can find it:

• in their FAQ
• by sending and email to support
• by looking into your invitation email
• by searching a little bit on the Control panel

Most of the time the format should be something like ns1.your_host.com and ns2.your_host.com [the suffix depends on the suffix your host uses... e.g. ns57.1and1.com] . Two name servers are required in the event, that one is hit by some kind of a problem.

[ad#Adsense360]

There are in fact many options in your domain control panel, but most of the time it is only needed to fill out the name server part and leave anything else as it is. You can change different settings as well, but you need to know what you are doing. If you do not know what you are doing, than do not risk!!!

Hopefully this post helped you. Have a nice day and see you next time!

Image: Francesco Marino / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What should decide?

What way you will go – the free or the paid one – depends absolutely on the nature of your project. It depends on your expectations and projections. You need to have a plan in place for your online project. The plan should hold basic information about your web site and what do you want to use it for. Does it matter if you have a few days downtime per year? Does the speed matter to you? Does the features and their availability matter to you? Could you need support from the company during your stay? These are the basic questions you should ask. These questions also answer the question what is better for your case. They give you the answer what direction to take and do not get lost

One more question – it should be the one about revenue. Do you think your web site will be able to generate some revenue from ad’s? If the answer is YES, then will the web site generate enough to cover the costs of a paid hosting plan? This and the previously mentioned questions are very basic and they should help any one starting their web site and thus their online presence.

[ad#Adsense360]

You do not need to start on a paid service if the web site really does not need it. If your web site could be perfectly fine on a free web host, than do not hesitate and use it. It could be better than waisting money on a project not needing it or do not generating enough in return!

Conclusion

Do not try to run to paid web hosting every time you are starting a web site. Maybe your web site does not even need a paid web host. If you do not expect the web site to get heavy traffic, generate huge revenue, or being a linchpin [according to Seth Godin], than there is only a small need to put it on a paid hosting plan. Certainly, you can put even less important web sites on a  paid hosting plan, but always think about this move if it is smart and really necessary

Have a nice day and see you next time here at icethunder.net by a discussion about web hosting and tips and tricks

The black magic behind aka “the Intro”

As you may or may not know HTTP stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol and it’s the protocol you are using when trying to get to a web site. The web server serves HTTP requests and gives clients the proper web sites. The whole idea behind HTTP is, that it’s “plain text” and everything you send this way is not encrypted. All the data you put into a web site starting with HTTP is send “as is” and thus you could lend your password and username to anyone who would be spying on your network!

HTTPS stand for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure and as you might think it is the safer “brother” of  the plain HTTP protocol. Everything you send trough a web site starting with HTTPS is send in an encrypted form and thus it is very complicated for a “man in the middle” to figure out what is the content of the message, but I have to say, that there are ways to find it out! But you can rest assured and as long as there is no “MITM” attack with a fake web site, than you should be secure, but always check if you are o the right web site, the web site authenticated in the reight way and a few more things

What do I need to be able to use HTTPS?

To have the ability to use HTTPS instead of HTTP you need not only to get a web hosting account. You need some more things. First of all ou need to make sure your web host will allow you this feature. To use HTTPS you need to have  a static IP address assigned to your domain as you will need to buy a certificate from a  trusted certificated issuing authority like VeriSign. This certificate holds data about your web site and the IP address and more [this is why you need a static IP] and it ensures, that your visitors know who they are talking to while having a session  with your web site.

[ad#Adsense360]

A static address can be bought from your web host and it can cost you form $1 upwards and this fee is paid mostly on a monthly basis. Make sure to not get with this address on a “black list” as your host could be a little bit angry

Another option is to buy a VPS or a dedicated server where you are assigned a dedicated static address and thus do not need to pay for it, but you have to look after the server yourself.

HTTPS – the requirements:

• static IP address
• certificate from a trusted authority [from $9.99 - $XXX XXX]
  

You should not underestimate any part of your web hosting life, because it could backfire in a very bad way. You should be always the one who manages every aspect of your online project and thus no problem should surprise you. As long as you do have a back up strategy everything is great. But procrastination of your every day hosting tasks is  a very bad habit. One day you wake up and find out, that your web site is down for several days. You would have noticed thisa lot sooner if you only would monitor it regularly

I would say, that some of the basic tasks you should perform every day if you really mean it with your hosting life, are:

1. Daily back ups of your web sites as they help to minimize the risk and problems if a web site goes down.
2. Daily monitoring, because there is nothing better, than to know everything is up and running. You could use a free online monitoring service like monitorus
3. Subscribe to your web hosts RSS and forum FEEDS to be notified about any problems, or special offers. You would be surprised how many great info you an get this way

These are only the basic steps for you to think about and come up with your own strategies and steps to use. You can shared them with the rest of the world in the comment area under this article I will be happy to repsond to any questions related to this topic Have a nice day and see you next time

You can have a great we site. Your web site can be full of great articles, images, audio or other great stuff, but it does not mean anything as long as your web site’s name is not easily remembered! You need to think hard what name you will use for your web site, because the name is the only thing you can’t change. OK, you can change you domain name [buy a new one], but it’s less easy and more expensive then to change an article

What are signs of a good name?

1. The name is short. This helps a lot as not many people do really remember too long domain names. It is always better to keep the domain name as short as possible while making it understandable as well
2. The name desribes what’s the site about. It’s always good to give some sense to the domain name. It should be linked to the web site’s purpose or vision
3. It’s easy to remmeber. This closely relates to the first and second point. Your name needs to be easy to remmebr and make sense!

These are the three very important things you should think about before registering your domain name. You need to understand, that your domain name will become your brand. You will need to build a marketing around your name and it will represent you. It should be able to attract visitors and make them to remember it and tell their friends. How do you want to attract more visitors if current visitors do not even remember your name, because it’s hard and long?

It takes some time and brainstorming to come up with a good name, but finnally you should be able to come up with something good Have a nice day and see you next time at icethunder.net!

1. Buying in a rush. It’s never very good and clever to buy in  a rush. You should always leave enough time for exploration and comparison, else you could make bad decision based on too little information.
2. Buying more than you need. This is closely related to the fact, that people do not know how much they really need. How much bandwidth they may need, or how much web space they need for their web site. But it’s very essential to know these facts before buying anything.
3. Do not asking questions.People tend to complain pretty quickly and loudly if something is not going their way, but never try to communicate before they buy something! It’s better to communicate with your future host before you buy something and ask questions And the next level of this is, that if you have  a problem aways contact your web  host and leave him time to react and only than go to forums and cry…
4. Don’t reading reviews on forums, but relying purely on review web sites… I think, there is nothing more stupid, than to fully rely on only one resource. A web site can be operated by anyone and do you really trust “anyone,” or do you trust “someone you know, or the community knows”? I think the second option is much better. In a forum there are people with reputation. They are known by other members and you can always check what they said in the past and compare their stand points

Hopefully I gave you something to think about in this article. I know there could be many more things listed in this list, but I just wanted to cover the most visible ones. Have a nice day and see you next time!

• Definitely make some estimation beforehand. You need to know how much bandwidth and web space you will need!

This comes very handy in the beginning and during your search as it helps you to decide which hosts and package just do not offer what you need… .

• Decide what operating system & database type you need.
• Decide your annual budget.

Yo should know how much you are wiling to spend on web hosting beforehand.

• Decide between “Good image & slightly higher price” vs. “Cheap and mainstream.”
• Forget about unlimited and look for unmettered…Although they are mostly the same
• Buy a domain name and decide how many email accounts you will need.
• Don’t buy the domain name from the same company. It could get you into trouble if the company would experience some problems. Try not to put all your eggs into one basket!!!

This is only a basic list and it’s not complete – and it never really could be as there are so many things to think about when searching for a good web host. Many times it’s about experience and patience in searching, but sometimes even luck helps you a lot.

You can spend months by searching and find the worst host ever, or you can go out. Try to make up some decision points and choose your new host with confidence. Choose the host with confidence, that if something bad happens you will be able to react in an appropriate manner and not over-react!

Have a nice day and a great weekend!

[ad#Adsense360]

Shared hosting isn’t for huge projetcs, than what is it for?

Shared hosting, as it’s name implies, is a shared platform, It’s shared by a group of people [accounts] being hosted on one single physical server. The reliability, speed and level of service you get from a shared server depends on a few things. It all depends on it’s configuration and optimization. And of course the people behind the company. If the people behind the company just want to make money and don’t want to truly deliver the promised level of service than not even the best configured server can make your stay better

With shared hosting you are sharing the whole server with many other web site owners. It depends on the company you are with if they oversell the server, or keep only a reasonable amount of accounts on one machine. If there are just too many accounts with busy web sites, than at a certain level you will most probably start to experience problems…

A VPS is this virtual thing, right???

Well, that’s true. The term VPS stands for Virtual private server and it’s only a virtual machine emulated on a  physical server. Once again the same rule with the number of accounts per server applies. Too many accounts on one busy server just overloads it and makes your life worse… .

VPS hosting is the so-called next step on your hosting journey. You will most probably decide to go one level up from shared hosting if your web site starts to feel the need for more resources, than you are allowed to use on a shared platform.

While still staying on a shared system you are given the right to use a dedicated amount of system resources on a VPS and thus you are given much more flexibility and rights to control things. You even have an own IP address and you can control pretty much everything you need to

But be warned, that with this power comes responsibility and thu you are the one who needs to look after security, optimization and configure the whole thing!

A dedicated server?huh?

If your project needs a server of it’s own than you are going to the dedicated server hosting level. It’s one level up from the VPS [or two ], but the fundamentals apply. You are given a whole physical server and it’s up to you to configure, secure and optimize it. You are also provide with a certain level of support from the side of your hosting company, but this differs from host to host

[ad#Adsense360]

While on a dedicated server you can use the whole power of the server for your own projects. You do not need to care about other accounts on the server as you are alone on the physical machine! This is really suitable for important, big or high security requiring projects and not a simple web blog

Image: graur razvan ionut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What determines the speed?

The speed is determined by the datacenter your hosting company is located at. You can not get more speed, than the highest possible port speed at the datacenter. But do not be unhappy, because you will  not get it at all. You web host  limits what speed you can get and thus no real need to think you will get 1Gbit/s anytime soon on  a shared hosting account

The port speed

A 100Mbit/s is a standard port speed of a single server in a datacenter while being hosted on a  shared server. You should always know, that you are not alone and thus you will not be able to use the full 100Mbit/s speed. A shared hosting environment is not for bandwidth [or speed] hungry web sites. If you are trying to  set-up a new Youtube-like service than you are better off with a dedicated server or an own datacenter

Datacenter ownership

A very important factor is who owns the datacenter. If you are with a host who owns his own datacenter, than you could get higher speeds, but once again I would not bet on it as you are on a shared platform Smaller hosts with only rented space in big datacenters can only give you what they get from the DC owner and thus your options are pretty limited.

Different speeds at different locations

I think, that many times you have come to the conclusion, that a certain web site loads faster from one server, than from a different one. The reasons for this can be different and you should not judge the host by the speed of one or two attempts. The reason why your site loads faster can be different:

• different server location
• your ISP speed
• server’s ISP speed
• etc.

This looks like a nice article and I will expand on this topic in the coming days a little bit more. Have a nice day and see you next time!

Regular user point of view

A regular user just log’s into his account from whatever Internet connection and computer he may have at his disposal and does not care that much about security. He just wants to log in to his accounts and check whatever he needs to check. He does not care, but the same regular user is very unhappy when someone has stolen his credit card information or misused his personal data.

After something bad happens to his personal data he blames everyone, but not himself most of the time, but security online starts right where you sit. It’s your responsibility to thoroughly check if your computer does not have any virus, trojans and other kinds of malware. I would say a firewall is a must and regularly updates of the operating system should not be underestimated!

There is a difference between having an anti-virus installed and actually using it for scanning for malware. You should perform at least weekly scans and I would highly suggest at least a “smart scan”, before you perform any financial transaction on the web.

At first it might look like a waste of time, but you never know when this could save you a lot of time, money and nerves!

The security point of view

Everything you are sending over the Internet is sent in  the form of so called “packets”. These packets carry lots of information, and I will not go into the details, but I have to tell you, that they are formatted in a certain way. For the purpose of this blog I just need to show you one important thing.

There are two widely used protocols to access web pages. The first one is HTTP. It’s an insecure protocol and all you send trough HTTP is send in plain text. You log in trough a web site like “http://www.domain_name.com”, which does not use SSL, and you’re sending your data in plain text. Password and username are easily intercepted by a possible attacker!

The second one is HTTPS and the last “S” stands for  “Secure”. What this protocol does before actually sending your data over the wire is, that it encrypts the data and only the other side intended to receive this data is able to decrypt it and to read it. The HTTPS is widely used while communicating with your bank, or wherever you enter your personal information and credit card info.

I would recommend you to always make sure your hosting company uses HTTPS during your sign up, sign in and while you are entering any sensitive information. This way you and your data stay secure while on the Internet

Have a nice day and good luck!

Image: Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

1. Always check your VPS and perform daily updates

It’s because you never know what could go wrong!!! Some time ago it hit even me. I performed daily updates, tried to secure my VPS as good as I only could, but then I had to go out for work for a few days and in this short time my VPS got hacked. It’s not a very pleasant feeling when you can’t log in to your server

The only solution I was able to think about is to reinstall the whole operating system as quickly as possible and perform even better security measures. Make sure you do not leave your server without a guardian who watches it whether it’s OK if you know you will not be able to care about it for a few days.  Daily back up are a must I think, but I will mention i here as well. The damage the attack had on me was not big as I use the server only for testing purposes, but it could  be bad. The worst thing is, that you are responsible for the server and if it’s used in an unlawful way, than it’s a problem you could possible face

Why did I reinstall the whole thing?

If you even get hacked and you are not an admin of a production system, than it’s a pretty good thing to reinstall the whole VPS server. If you have back ups than it’s no problem at all By only scanning the PC and checking the firewall you could miss something and it could lead to even more problems. It’s only good to don’t touch anything if you know what you are doing and you are a very experienced administrator!

That’s all for today! Have a nice day and see you next time here at Icethunder.net!

I know this my template at Icthunder.net is not the best optimized and it would not pass a code validation, but it works and it is not that crucial as it’s only the look of the web site. And the look is still pretty good even it did not pass the validation. It’s not that the code is badly written, but the plug-ins make the whole validation process and it’s not valid at the end

Code optimization matters?

Well, YES and it’s a big YES. It’s always great to have a very well optimized web site. If you are using your own engine and not a content management system or a blog platform, than  it’s very important to have a very well written application. It helps you with your life at your host as you are not in the middle of your hosts attention for system resources over-usage You need to be able to code the app in such a way, that it does not consume too much of anything else you will need to think about a VPS or a dedicated server.

The shared hosting environment is not build to accommodate one  heavy application on one server with hundreds of web sites. You could get into trouble very quickly. Be warned! And always try to check with your host if they are happy with your application and the resources it is using!

Ask before to limit problems

That’s the golden rule of this article. It’s always better to ask your host before you actually deploy an own app. You will save a lot headache and possible money by asking beforehand

Image: Francesco Marino / FreeDigitalPhotos.net