Best Hosting Deal

In my previous article, I have already made you familiar with some features which normally a web hosting company would deal with. I am now going to mention some few more features so that you get a better understanding about the entire web hosting package which you have purchased from a web hosting company. The features are as follows:

1) Customer service or customer support:

Whether you are an expert or a newbie in web hosting, it is essential to have a web host which provides good customer support system. Some of them would prefer to search quick answer without seeking staff. So, if there is huge database, normally it’s searchable. Some web hosting providers come up with a video tutorial facility in order to guide the person step by step in setting up a new account. Good for beginners. If a person is not interested to find the answer of a big pool of database, in that case, he can get the direct answer from someone who knows it. Direct customer support can come in the form of email support, phone support and web chat support.

2) Reliability and uptime commitment:

You must choose a web hosting provider which is reliable from the uptime point of view. Imagine a situation where your visitors come in contact with your website and suddenly notice that it’s not accessible. In such a case you will definitely lose credibility and you could even lose a sale. If your web hosting provider cannot provide 99% uptime then it time to quit and move on to some who is genuinely reliable. A good web hosting provider will know how to minimize downtime with the help of a good management systems implementation. It is very essential from a web hosting provider to install a redundant back-up system. I mean that if there is any interruption of internet connection, at that time, the alternate internet connection will be in force. There are also sophisticated software being used in order to monitor the uptime of the concerned web host.

3) Using efficient network facility:

The web server setup and local area networks play an important role in dealing with the speed of data transfer. However, how fast your website gets displayed also depends on the type of network connections. There are so many web hosting providers who still use internet connection through T1 or T3 connections. The top Web hosting companies use optical carrier lines. Usually a T1 line will offer data transfer rate of 1.5 mbps while a T3 type of connection can offer data transfer at a rate of 43 mbps. It all depends on the capabilities of a web hosting provider which is in the form of features that are incorporated within the hosting package.

4) Popularity to survive as a host:

A web hosting company must be popular in the eyes of the customer. A web hosting company might have the best feature offered and unbeatable customer support and also reliability intact but without a good marketing plan, the company may not survive. These days, there is a lot of competition In the market and a web hosting provider should have sufficient members and also a steady growth of new members in order to survive in this highly competitive industry.

Domain registration is generally very easy. In fact you can simply contact your local domain registrar and give your details like name, address, contact info and of course the name of the domain you want registered and your domain gets registered. Alternatively you can simply go online to your domain registrar’s website and if the facility is provided just fill out a simply online registration form with your name and other details and submit to register your domain. It’s as simple as that.

The problem arrives generally for most of us after the domain has been registered. We keep hearing all these words like name servers, domain pointing and forwarding, domain locking and other things which make it all a nightmare. But it is not as bad as you think. Domain management, once you understand the various aspects to it, is actually a very simply task. We look at some of the aspects in domain registration and management which you might have to go through while setting up your website.

Name Servers

Name servers are probably the most common words used after you have registered a domain. Your hosting company will tell you to change your domain name servers to their address in order for your web hosting service to function properly. So what are name servers?

To put it in simple language, name servers are the name of your server. It basically tells a domain where your website files are located so every time someone types your domain name in their browsers, the domain exactly knows where to go to show your website files – your homepage etc.

Name Servers generally look like this:

Assuming you are hosting with xyz hosting company then your name servers should generally be:

NS1.XYZ.COM

NS2.XYZ.COM

Note the NS could be followed by 3 or 4 depending on your hosting company. Your hosting company will generally provide their name servers to you when you register with them.

Domain Forwarding / Domain Redirect

Domain forwarding or also know as Domain redirect means if you have multiple domains registered and you want one of your domains to quite simply point to another domain that you have as an active website.

This technique allows you to have a single website be available under multiple domains. For example you can register your domain in both .com and .net format and then make the .net domain address forward to your .com website. That way you don’t have to spend on having two different websites hosted for each of your domain extensions.

Domain Locking

This is quite new to the world of domains but is a very important one and you should always be aware of your domain’s status – i.e. whether it is locked or unlocked.

Now, how does domain locking make a difference to you? Firstly if your domain is not locked, then malicious software or hackers have the ability to shift the domain in to their name or shift the domain’s name servers on to their web site which could cause lot of embarrassment to you. Not just that in some cases, hackers can pull the domain from your domain registrar to theirs, giving them full control of your domain.

In general you should always make sure your domain is in locked status. Of course when you need to change the domain’s name servers etc for your own use then you can unlock a domain. But always make sure moment your work is done and the name servers or any other information you are trying to change has been completed, immediately lock your domain. If you can’t lock or unlock your domain, please contact your domain registrar regarding this.