Whenever you have a blog, website or online shop created it has to be hosted somewhere. The hosting is basically the space in which all your website files will sit and where they called from when someone visits your site. There are a great number of different types of hosting you can choose from a basic shared server to a fully dedicated cloud server which offers greater advantages.

With a shared server you will often find that your site is on the same hosting space as potentially hundreds of other sites. This does allow you to keep the costs down and you may only be paying a few pounds a month for this, but it does come with limitations and risks. As your website will share the IP address with may others, if one or more of those sites does something that is seen as risky, then you may find that your site gets penalised such as being demoted or even removed from the search engines. If you also have your emails hosted here too you could find that your outgoing mail starts to get marked as spam. This can cause a number of issues so it is important to carefully consider if shared hosting paces is right for you. 

Every website that is built needs to be hosted somewhere. Websites are hosted on servers and it is where all the files are stored. When someone visits your website, the server is called upon to access the files which contain information as to how the website looks and functions as well as all the content. The hosting can either be on a physical server located somewhere or up in the cloud meaning the website is called from different places as and when needed. You can opt to have a dedicated server which only contains your website or sites on or your can have a shared server where other people’s website may also be hosted. There are advantages and disadvantages to both and a dedicated server will of course cost more but you may have more control over it.

If you find that your website keeps going offline for no apparent reason, it is likely to be your hosting. You first need to check why it is going offline. It may be that the site is receiving a lot of traffic and the server can’t cope. If this is the case then cloud hosting may be what you need.

All websites need to be hosted on a server. This may be a physical server in your office, a server offsite or even abroad or a server in the cloud. There are a number of different options when it comes to choosing your hosting package for your website and it is important that you understand the differences between them.

The most common type of hosting for most small – medium sized websites is shared hosting. This means your website files are stored and pulled from a server which also hosts a number of other websites. If you have more than one website you may decide to buy or lease a dedicated server but put all your sites on one. This means they will all have the same IP address.

There are advantages and disadvantages to using shared hosting. One of the main advantages is that the cost is usually a lot cheaper than a dedicated server. The host will maintain the server in terms of updates to hardware and software and so there is very little for you to have to do. The disadvantages of shared hosting is the fact that you don’t have as much say over what settings are used on the server and what other sites can be hosted on there. IF you end up sharing with a site that gets reported for being spammy or where the owners use the server to send out mass mailings, you may find that your site gets tared with the same brush and even blacklisted.

Your website might be vital to you running your business. Especially at the moment, as many companies can only trade online due to lockdown restrictions. If you find that your website keeps going offline you need to find out why and fix it as soon as possible.

If your website is going online and then back on again randomly then it is likely that the problem is with your hosting. The first thing you need to do is contact your hosting company and ask them to investigate what is happening. When your website is set up on a hosting account, it may be put on to a shared server. This means there may be hundreds of other sites that have no affiliation to yours on the same server. The issue is that if there is a problem with one of the other sites that are hosted on the same server, it may well take yours offline too. This can be frustrating and cause you to lose business through no fault of your own. Another reason that your website hosting may go down is if you have exceeded a bandwidth limit. If you have a sudden spike in traffic your site may go temporary offline. Using cloud hosting can help prevent this as it calls for the extra space when needed.

Selecting a good hosting service is essential for user experience. This can affect things like the speed at which your website loads, and the amount of downtime that you experience – of course, you want to keep this to a minimum so that people are actually able to access your website. Here are some of the things you should look out for to make sure your hosting service ticks all the right boxes:

• Clear terms and conditions. It’s important to fully understand what you are getting from your hosting service. Does the price include support? Is the price fixed? Do you have to pay for a year upfront to secure the lowest price? Make sure you read everything available to you thoroughly so there are no surprises.
• Good customer service. This is essential, especially if you have an eCommerce site and can’t afford for it to be down. If something goes wrong, you need to know that you’ll have access to the support you need. Check how/ when you can get in touch and how easy it will be to get technical help.
• Clear communication. Is the information that is available about the service clear and concise? Do you understand exactly how everything will work? If there is any uncertainty, this can be a sign that the company isn’t fully trustworthy and isn’t the right host for you.
• An inclusive package. It can get very confusing when there are different prices for different things. Look for a package that includes everything, or the costs can build up without you noticing.
• Positive customer reviews. This is perhaps one of the most important things to look out for. If other people are happy with the server and customer service, chances are you will be too. This is a good way of finding out what it’s actually like to be a customer, first hand.

Follow these tips to find the right hosting service provider for your blog or website. You will be online in no time at all.

There are so many different options for web hosting, so how do you know where to begin? Just one simple search performed on a single search engine returns an overwhelming number of results for web hosting, cloud hosting and all kinds of other options. How do you know which option will be right for you? Here are some factors to consider when thinking about web hosting:

• Price. Whilst low-cost options might seem like a good idea, check what the costs you’re paying will cover and whether they will go up at any point. You don’t want to be caught out further down the line.
• Services included. Is there a support service? If so, is it the host themselves or do they outsource support? It’s worth knowing – if your website goes down, you need to know whether you’ll be able to speak to someone directly who can help. This is an especially important consideration if you rely on your site to make you money and you’ll struggle without it.
• Hardware. Whilst you may not be an expert yourself, if you find out the kind of hardware the hosting company uses, you can do some research and work out if this will be the best option.
• Reviews. Read up on the company and read recent customer reviews. These will give you a good idea about the levels of service you can expect.
• Bandwidth. You’ll need to think about how much traffic you’re expecting on your site and whether or not the server will be able to support this.

One of the most important tasks an IT administrator has, is making sure regular maintenance is carried out on the computers under his or her management.

Over time computers accumulate things such as spyware, malware, cookies, temporary internet files and disk fragmentation. These are a handful of items that will need to be cleaned up and managed by the admin and there can be a lot to keep on top of.

A widely used method of making sure maintenance is carried out is to make a weekly or monthly maintenance schedule. The maintenance schedule will include all of the maintenance tasks required and for them to be done in a regular pattern.

The regularity will help the admin to get into the habit of carrying out the maintenance. It will also allow the PC users to work around the scheduled maintenance, as it’s common maintenance routines require full, uninterrupted use of the computer.

SSD’s or Solid State Drives are becoming increasingly common in web design. A new technology and the current fore runner in storage devices. The SSD is a replacement to the traditional hard drive and is looking to replace it entirely, eventually.

Its major advantage over a standard hard drive is its speed. The ability to load a computer from off to being work-ready in several seconds gives SSD’s a unique selling point. One that is functional and pretty cool in comparison to older technology.

The speed of use will allow someone to save a great deal of time when using a computer, in every area. The near instant access of data will shed hours over the course of a month of computer work. Increased efficiency leading to increased work output a great thing indeed.

Design programs like Photoshop will also function much more effectively. Allowing a user to create designs more efficiently and easily.

Outsourcing backups is not something that usually comes to mind when managing a website. Backups are commonly carried out, in-house, by the website developer.

However outsourcing your backups can be a great way to give you peace of mind, another buffer against un-predictable events, and a level of professionalism towards an important part of webhosting data management.

Outsourcing the backup procedure, in simple terms, is the process of allowing a 3rd party to manage the backed up data of your website or any IT based program. They will not edit or update the data in anyway. A backup company’s job is to simply hold onto the data that is given to them.

With data backed up regularly and in a separate location to your IT base of operations a host of advantages are opened up. For one, the data is safe from any adverse natural disasters or theft of the IT hardware, as it is in a different location.

If you’re attempting to create a successful website, then hosting is usually the second item on the agenda – after buying a domain name. You may see prices vary considerably when you look at different hosting packages, but you should aim to understand what’s included before you decide on a deal.

You may not be expecting a lot of traffic to start off with, and if your website grows quite quickly you can always add more bandwidth with a different package or an upgrade – so check this feature out when you start search for a company.You should always check out the reviews of a hosting company first too, and test different live sites (using that specific hosting provider) to see the typical speeds for small and large websites.

It’s usually wise to choose a provider close to home, no matter how cheap deals are in other countries, and we’d always recommend that you choose a provider with customer support, and possibly a live chat service.