Category — Web Hosting

Keeping a central Focus on a business is essential in creating a successful company. Too many times companies find themselves spread too thin and dealing with issues due to bad service acquisition.Growth is still key however, and a business needs to do what it has to in order to move forward regardless of the headaches that may ensue. This means having to address 2 key factors in visibility and capacity.

Visibility in creating a progressively relevant business known to the technologically-inclined society of today and capacity in having the ability and flexibility to appropriate resources to handle the added volume of a growing customer base and ensuring efficient communication through increased traffic between employees.

Enter Business Hosting, fresh off the presses, a revolutionary medium for businesses striving for the growth they seek but with less of the problems they need to face, while giving the appropriate visibility and capacity needed.

There are many unique points with the new plan on offer, one of which is having 10-users per hardware. In regular shared hosting it could contain as many as hundreds of users using the same resources in one given server, this is why in Business Hosting a limit is in place on the hardware to a mere 10 customers per hardware. 10 customers per hardware means there is an incredible boost in performance, and resources to go around, whether for web or app space, memory etcetera, all vital resources needed as a company grows.

Private space is also emphasized with the use of VPS or dedicated servers as option. The Business Hosting plans offered do not use shared hosting; HostSG understands how valuable a company’s data is and how added security and privacy is very important. This is why VPS and Dedicated Servers are used to provide better isolation.

The first three plans on offer uses VPS technology, and if there is a need of more resources the fourth Business Hosting plan uses dedicated server technology. This allows for flexibility of choosing which technology is best for a business.

An excellent platform is nothing without going hand in hand with a robust backbone for its network; this is why HostSG provides each customer a Multi-homed Physical Network.

What is it? To put it simply it’s a having multiple top tier net service providers. This is how HostSG is able to provide 100% network uptime, by having numerous redundant top level networks to make sure data is always flowing.

What top tier networks?
• SingTel (Global)
• SingNet (Singapore)
• NTT (Japan, USA)
• PCCW (Hong Kong, China)

HostSG (SG.GS AS24482) multiple-homed direct physical connections
How can someone be sure? Click to find out:
http://bgp.he.net/AS24482 (Tabular)
http://bgp.he.net/AS24482#_graph4 (Graphical)

Managed, this is what Business Hosting brings on the table. This means, a business can focus on their affairs while HostSG takes care of the support issues that may come up. This creates an optimal environment where a business can place its attention where it is needed most.

There are numerous benefits in acquiring a Business Hosting plan, the basic premise is to provide a solution for businesses meeting their growing needs and making sure to remove as many issues as possible away.

About HostSG:
HostSG has not wavered in bringing the power of the internet to our customers across the globe with innovative and easy-to-use products that are supported by unmatched customer service since opening our doors in 1997.

The Internet is now one of the leading mediums of different companies and even individuals in order to promote their businesses. In order to make it possible, they should have their own website to showcase whatever product or services that they are offering. Every website requires hosting services such as web hosting that will allow it to occupy a space in a server, so that it will be accessible and available in the World Wide Web every time people will search for it.

One of the astounding advantages of having a website, a company can target clients from different countries to increase their business stream. Online marketing can be easy for others, but it requires time, effort and of course a reliable server that can be provided by any dependable web hosting company. There are now plenty of success stories of people and businesses that garner success through the use of the technological advancements provided by the Internet.There are so many web hosting companies nowadays that offer different features and packages.

Choosing the best can be a daunting task for anyone. However, those who are planning to create their own website can sort their choices of web hosts by knowing their own needs and the allotted budget. The capacity of the website in terms of continuous improvements and performance is what will make it successful. The possibility is always high if the website acquires the services of a web hosting company that is highly protected and responsive. The growth and success of the website will also ricochet to the host. The host should be able to provide the needed services of a website, as well offering additional facilities that will promote further development of the site.

The qualities of a good or top performing web hosting company are being able to provide efficiency before focusing on the profit. The company should focus on providing excellent services to its clients. It should be true to its promised services and capabilities. People who are just about to make their own website should first compare the features and services offered by different web hosting companies such as the size of the bandwidth, future additions, protection, and dependable support. Most hosts are offering 24/7 toll-free telephone support for all the queries that need an immediate response. Business owners should only hire a web hosting company that can guarantee regular and consistent round the clock checking, so that unwanted meddlers who are trying to hack the website will be prevented.

There are thousands of web hosts around today with thousands of plans to choose from making what was once a simple procedure seem like a daunting task for both newbie and pro alike.Whether you’re looking for your first host or looking to move on to a better one there are 7 simple steps you must follow to succeed in choosing a great host.
1. Platform
The first and most crucial step in choosing a web host is determining the platform the web server should run, usually a choice between Unix/Linux and Windows.

Your choice is largely determined by your website and the technologies used to create it, generally a website created with Microsoft technologies (ASP, VB) will run on Windows servers while most other sites using open source technologies (PHP, Perl, Python etc) will run on Linux based systems.
2. Features
Once you’ve chosen your platform the next step is determining the features you’ll need from your web host. Take your time with this step as the feature lists of web hosts are getting longer and longer every day and while some plans may look similar on the surface, a good look at the feature lists may tell another story.

Only you can determine the specific features you’ll need, but some key things to keep an eye on are:

Disk Space
Bandwidth
Backups
Uptime
Money Back Guarantee
Domains Allowed
Databases (Number & type)
CGI, PHP, Perl, Python, SSI
Email accounts

The list goes on and on, just remember to take your time and make sure your new web host is going to provide you with everything you need.
3. Cost
Often this is the only thing people consider when choosing their first web host, funds are usually tight and on the surface most hosts look very similar. Sometimes you get lucky and choose a good host, but more often than not it turns out to be a horror story.

I can’t stress enough that choosing a web host based on price alone is asking for trouble, remember that the cost of your web hosting is more than just the monthly fee, think about the total cost of ownership. TCO includes lost sales due to downtime & slow speeds, downtime rebates, extra bandwidth charges, setup costs, extra feature costs, and your monthly fee.

Many hosts will require you to pay yearly to get the best price available though there are some that allow you to pay by the month and still get the best price, it’s really a matter of personal choice as to what payment method works best for you.
4. Customer Service
Customer service is another aspect that is often forgotten about until it is too late, something breaks and you need it fixed and those wonderfully handy sales people who were more than helpful in taking your money are now nowhere to be seen, all the while you’re losing out on sales every minute.

You shouldn’t settle for anything less than 24/7/365 service, your website needs to be running all the time so it’s no good if your hosting company doesn’t work during the holidays. Don’t take the web hosting companies word for it, they all claim 24/7 support but few back it up with consistent performance. Be sure to test them out at various times of the day and night via phone, email and live chat if they offer it.
5. Support
An extensive knowledge base or faq can be a real time saver as well as being an indication of the level of customer service support and expertise you can expect to receive. Spend some time browsing the support sections of the website and see for yourself the level of support provided.

Are questions in the knowledge base answered thoroughly? Are real solutions provided or are they just “cut and paste” replies?
6. Longevity
Do a whois on the web host’s domain name and find out the creation date, anything less than a year ago and the risk that they won’t be around next year increases. They could be a great host, but considering more then 95% of new hosts go out of business within a year that really isn’t something you should be taking a chance on.
7. Uptime
It’s a fact of life that a web host cannot be online 100% of the time, servers need to be rebooted for security and software updates and any web host that doesn’t get updated faces the increased risk of being successfully hacked.

99.9% uptime guarantees are pretty standard in the industry however a guarantee is only as good as how it is defined and the company behind it. Look for no less than a full months free hosting should they not meet their guarantee, a prorated refund based on the amount of downtime is virtually worthless. Say you pay $10 for a month of hosting and your site is down for 24 hours. They will refund you for one day of downtime which ends up being about 33 cents.
There you go, 7 simple steps for choosing a great web host. It’s not rocket science, just a little research and investigating that can save a lot of heartache in the future.

HostSG, is an award winning web hosting provider in Singapore, offering domain name registration, budget hosting , cloud hosting as well as virtual private server (VPS) is home to more than 25,000 worldwide. Coupled with multiple first tier link from Singtel direct international network, PCCW (hong kong) and NTT Communication, HostSG delivers fast hosting network from Singapore to worldwide. Come talk to our sales representative today for your hosting requirement.

1. How often do you back up the files?The answer you should be looking for is that they backup every night. You should also keep a up to date copy of your site on your computer to be on the safe side.

2. What sort of equipment and software are in place to ensure that my site is up?

Most Internet Hosting Companies use some combination of equipment and software to ensure that the servers are up and working. You want to make sure that the server is hooked up to an UPS (uninterrupted Power Supply). The UPS is just a big battery that will provide the server with power for 30 minutes to several hours. Also most Hosting Companies have software and equipment that monitors the servers and restarts them if they quit serving pages. You will also want to know if this fails, does the company have a way to restart the server manually.

3. How many domains can I host per account?

If you have 2 domain names, say joestools.com and cooltools.com, and wanted them to both go to the same site, would they charge you extra for the domain names or since it all goes to one site will you be charged just for one. If you plan on hosing several sites to see which ones will be successful, you might want to ask for a volume discount or ask if they have a reseller package.

4. What are their billing policies?

You need to find out who to contact if you have a problem with billing and what is the process for resolving problems.

5. What is the procedure for uploading files to your account?

You want to know if you will have 24 hour FTP access. Some hosting companies restrict how you can upload files to the servers.

6. Do they provide log files or Stats?

Hosting companies usually do one or the other, either provide you with the raw logs for you account or provide you with some sort of online statistics. You will want to make sure that the logs contain information from search engines on the words and phrases used, how long the visitor stayed at the site, entry page, number of page visits, broken links and errors, and exit page.

7. Do they provide Form to email processing?

Nearly every hosting company will provide atleast a basic form of this. You will want to know if there are any limitations on the size of the form. Also you might want to ask if there is a way to encrypt the form. If so you could use this for an ecommerce solution until you are ready for a shopping cart.

8. What exactly is included in the monthly charge?

You want to know what the features of the account are, but you also want to know if you need them to do something extra whether there will be a charge for it.

9. How quickly they respond when you have questions?

Before choosing a hosting company call them up or email them with a question and see how quickly they have an answer for you.

HostSG is an award winning web hosting company with years of experience with the best infrastructure to host your application and mission-critical data in Singapore to Asia.

Unless overtly listed otherwise, most web hosting packages you^‘ll come across in your search are what are called shared hosting providers. What this means is that the server or servers that host your website are simultaneously hosting numerous other websites also. This gives you a discounted rate on web hosting services in exchange for tolerating certain technical constraints, like bandwidth, disk space, upload and download speeds, security and privacy, traffic, and probably the most notable restriction — total control.If you want total control not only over the administration of your website but also over the very hardware and software used to run it, then you should be evaluating not shared hosting providers, but dedicated hosting providers. If your business is large enough or growing fast enough that it requires its own internet connection and server, you may need a dedicated web host.

What^‘s the downside to going with dedicated hosting providers? In a word: responsibility. In most areas of life, with total control comes total responsibility, and it^‘s no different with hosting providers. With a dedicated server, the onus is on you to buy, install, and maintain the actual equipment — the server itself — mounted in the dedicated hosting providers^‘ data center.

Fortunately, you still get the benefit of their presumably top-notch, around-the-clock security over the physical premises, but you remain fully responsible for the security of your cyber-premises. Likewise, dedicated hosting providers will ensure that the systems in the building are all provided with redundant uninterruptible and backup power and environmental controls, but it^‘s you who must keep your machines and cables maintained and functioning in this idyll environment.

How do you identify whether it^‘s time to switch from a shared host to a dedicated host? There are 3 main indicators to stay alert for:

Speed

If the traffic streaming through your shared server is slowing down your customers^‘ pace as they browse your site (or your employees, if an in-house site), it may simply be time to look for more unencumbered shared hosting. But if you^‘ve tried several shared hosting providers with the same results, then it may be time to remind yourself how impatient the average web surfer is. While you^‘re jumping from shared host to shared host trying to save a buck, your customers are jumping ship. Your ability to respond promptly and effectively to customer transactions and inquiries cannot be overemphasized either.

Reliability

The limits to your control are nowhere more apparent than in the areas of reliability and security. It’s not simply that problems can arise: problems do arise. It^‘s the nature of the biz. And if you don^‘t have unlimited access to your own operating system, software and database apps, etc., there^‘s not much you can do when one arises.

Customizability

If your company is growing fast, you^‘re going to be changing many aspects of your web presence along with it. You may regularly need to tweak your disk space and bandwidth and experiment with using different applications to better serve your changing needs. On a shared host, upgrading in such a way usually involves leaping from one “package” or “plan” to another. These packages are generally preset and may or may not serve your immediate needs. They may be riddled with programs you don^‘t yet need, for example, yet lack in the one singular program you do. Or the next leap up from your current plan has way more disk space and bandwidth than you need at the moment. With a dedicated server, you can make changes incrementally, step forward, step back, heck, step sideways if you need to — and when you need to.

In large part, it^‘s the size and growth rate of your business that will dictate whether you need a shared or dedicated host. Affordability and personal time commitment are nice secondary considerations, but if your business is booming, you would do it a great injustice to try and save on a few bucks and few extra hours per week of your time in exchange for slower and poorer quality of service for your customers.

By the same token, however, if your business is small enough to function quite smoothly on any of the shared hosting providers out there, don^‘t squander your precious capital on a dedicated server just so you can have total control. Because sometimes total control isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Domain Names and Anchor Text

Branding vs Naming

Many people say that the name of a website should be original. It should convey some sense of branding unlike any other site. They say your name should not be generic.
The truth of this matter is that branding is more developed by how you interact with people than by what your name is. Your name can be used to help develop brand, but many smart webmasters use their domain name for more than just branding.
Superstar Websites
People take the branding idea one step further and rattle off some of the best technological leaders. Amazon, Google, Yahoo!, Ebay, etc. None of these sites say what they do in their site name.
Google is so powerful because it is the only Google. It was a wide open market. Yahoo! became Yahoo! because there was no great well marketed directory on the web. Ebay became Ebay because nobody else had a PEZ trading marketplace and it’s creators wife needed a place to trade her PEZ. (Ebay is yet one more great thing we all owe to PEZ).
Business Facts
Most successful businesses or websites will not be like Google. Most will not be a runaway technological success. Most businesses become successful from soft innovations. Small focused consumer centric changes can help you craft a successful business model.
Anchor Text
Anchor text is extremely important to search engines. What a link says is as important as who is saying it. When I link to your site with the words “I eat cats” as the link text a search engine will evaluate that link and assume you eat cats.

You can’t control all the links you get (meow), but you can help control some of them. People often link to you using the words in your domain name as the link text (also known as anchor text.) If your domain name has your primary keywords in it then you have an extremely powerful business advantage over your competitors.

Using Dashes in Domain Names

Most of the benefit of dashes in the domain name have eroded in the last year or two. Domain names themselves have been greatly devalued in search engine algorithms, and most links use the site name vice the domain name as the anchor text.

I am of the opinion that you usually can pick out a keyword rich domain name without needing dashes. It may take a bit of creativity and a bit of time, but it is possible. If you are aiming to sell products vice become a consultant you may be able to do well making a living from search engine traffic and not need as strong of a branded name behind your domain.

Brandable Generic Domain Names

High quality directories usually prefer to list sites by their name vice “insert keyword phrase here.”
Having a domain name like mine makes it very easy for me to get inbound links with “SEO Book” or “Search Engine Optimization Book” as the link text. This allows me to rank better for those search phrases, and eventually it will allow me to rank good for “SEO” and “search engine optimization.”

Otherwise known as cloud computing, cloud hosting is a process that involves the combination of a number of servers for the sole purpose of providing a more stable hosting solution. This is a more commonly used hosting system as it maximizes the use of the available resources as opposed to other systems. The idea of combining several servers together was preferred as it improves the overall performance of all servers and the output is much better. Generally, the process involves an advanced form of web hosting that is designed to massively increase its hosting power whenever you have a huge traffic on your website. By so doing, the visitors do not have a difficult time navigating through the site and they end up getting to fulfill their mission of visiting the site. The server design is quite resourceful as it lowers the hosting power when there isn’t much traffic so as to avoid wastage .

Cloud computing is entirely useful as in as much as it is effective in its operations, it is also cheap to have. The system works like the prepaid electricity billing method where you only pay for what you use. You will get to save on human resources costs as you don’t need to hire someone to take care of the servers for you. Another thing to say goodbye to are installation and maintenance costs as there is no such thing in cloud computing. There is no doubt that cloud computing has indeed gone mainstream . In as much as not every of its aspects is entirely perfect, there are quite a number of services that it is able to deliver successfully . That is why there is growing popularity on the use of the cloud hosting service .

The load of the servers is entirely taken care of by the combination of several servers. The system ensures that the work at hand is shared and none of the machines on the shared platform is left idle or overworked. This is a great idea to avoid a failure of the system, should any of the servers fail. By switching your systems to use the cloud computing technology, crashing servers will be a thing of the past . Under cloud computing, the server to be used is never set up at the customer’s location. The servers are randomly distributed so that there is absolutely no chance of them experiencing any faults and should that arise, the system will work just fine without shutting down.
HostSG offers shared Cloud hosting service popularly known as Cloud Sites. With full redundancy and high uptime guarantee, it provide next generation hosting for web site with high requirement. Cloud Sites only starts from S$8.50 monthly.

Hosting your personal or business web sites on your own dedicated server may seems expensive choice in comparison to shared web hosting, but at the end, it proves a smart choice.

Shared web hosting, no matter how well managed, cannot be 100% reliable and stable. However if you have your own dedicated server you can manage to avoid most of the variables affecting the reliability and stability of a server, commonly experienced by shared hosting accounts; variables such as: overload, bad codes and scripts from other users (especially beginners); and, too many applications and components uploaded, and so on.

On a dedicated server you will install only software and applications you want to use, while on a shared hosting server you will find a host of other software and applications installed for other users.

By the very nature of the account, a dedicated server: reduces your dependency on the web host; and bypasses time delays and possible expenses incurred from these. With dedicated server hosting you can provide instant support to your own clients whenever required, which is not possible if you are on a shared server. A reliable and fast support service is vital for your own business growth just like the stability and reliability you wish for your own website. In business, reliability is reflected through word-of-mouth as one of the most effective promotional activities.

For people with clients, such as Graphic Designers and Web Designers a dedicated server is invaluable. A dedicated server will bring extra income into the studio, not just as a hosting facility, but, as a designer knows only too well, for the extra ‘bread and butter’ income value. If you have 24hour access to your own dedicated server then you can adjust, correct or update a clients website in minutes, allowing you to keep the dollar back in your studio and not in someone else’s. Ready availability results in reduced labour costs for the client, but higher studio-income frequency for the designer. Hence you will see the return of all your regular offline clients, bringing their web work with them.

The need for a dedicated server to your average shared server user is realized when stats tell you: how quickly people left your site because it was taking too much time to download; or how many daily visitors you are down by, because your site was not up. The true negative is the worry of how many lost visitors could have been your future paying-customers. The loss could easily equal the value of the upgrade to a Dedicated Server!

For a business, a website that is quickly downloadable and up all the time gives the visitor encouragement that your service is just as reliable, hence you will be more likely to make a sale. It will also enhance the company’s image and encourage existing customers to refer your service to others. This will result in more sales for less promotion.

If you are serious about your online presence you need to get a Dedicated Server.

By becoming a reseller, not only can web developers create websites for their clients, but they can provide their clients web hosting, as another studio service. All you need to become a reseller, is to find a web host who: offers multiple website hosting accounts; along with reseller services; and then its up to you to host your clients’ web sites from your own account. Your clients will be happy with the low fees you can offer; and, you will have yourself a very profitable side business.

So what do you need to be a successful website hosting reseller?

Multiple domain hosting - To become a web hosting reseller, the first step is to get yourself a multiple domain account. For example, if you take out an account that allows up to 6 websites (or domains), you can use one of the domains for development of your own site; and, still have 5 domains to allocate to your clients sites. All you need to do is pay your regular fee to your web host; then, you can charge your clients what ever you like.

Control Panel - It is preferable to have full administrative control over your client’s web sites. Make sure that, not only does your web host provide you with a control panel that includes full administrative facilities to easily manage your multiple account, but that your host provides your clients with their own control panel too. Most importantly your web host should give you the facility to “hide your web hosts identity” so clients are unaware that you are offering a third party service. Ensure that you can customize your clients control panel to suit your own requirements.

Terms and conditions - Terms and conditions are essential when offering any service, ensure that all your clients have a copy of your terms and conditions. Many resellers forget to create their own terms and conditions, as they are often very time-consuming to write. If you ask a web host you will find that some of them will either let you copy theirs or they will just supply you with terms and conditions specifically written for this purpose.

Fast and reliable support - Fast and reliable, service and support, is essential, from your web hosting company. If something happens to your client’s web site it is important to be able to get the problem solved as soon as possible. You don’t want clients being unhappy with your hosting services, as this will reflect badly on your other services too.

Reselling can be a very profitable side business if you find the right host. It may take up some of your time, however, if you put the time and effort into providing a little bit extra in your services, not only will your clients be a lot happier you will have a rewarding total web services business.

“Some people tend to go for freebies, but would you take free eggs if they were offered on the parking lot of a supermarket? I know I wouldn’t”.

What is affordable anyway? At first, you could think it solely depends on the price. In most cases you end up realizing it’s rather far away from that. Taking the cheapest hosting service on internet is not far away from buying the cheapest house or a car available. I know you wouldn’t do that so read on and i’ll explain why you shouldn’t get the cheapest hosting service provider either.

There are many hosting companies out there offering web hosting for ridiculous prices. They offer everything unlimited for only 5.95 per month. At the same time they talk about global sales, special trained staff, fiberoptics, fully redundant cisco networks and so on but how can they get all the money for building the infrastructure, equipment and training then? Not from hosting. You can see it from their price tag.

While these companies render themselves economically unwit by the promises that are proved to be impossible, they also reaveal their true knowledge of technology by claiming to offer unlimited anything. The truth is, nothing is unlimited, except outer space, and this we are still unsure of. So unless we prove the space to continue forever and get it captured inside a hard disk cover, let’s just assume there is no such thing as unlimited. Especially when it comes to bandwidth and disk space.

The major concern when it comes to choosing a web host is the speed. Not the bandwidth or the disk space as you can always get more. But when it comes to server speed, or responsiveness, that is something that you cannot get with money. It’s just what it is and usually gets worse by the time when the server fills up. If your host offers unlimited features with a low price, you can be sure that the servers need to be filled with a lot of customers to get profit from the server. And that means slow speeds which will never get any better.

The next concern is what you can do with the service. Many companies like to play safe and simply install everyhing into their servers and offer that as a single package. But what happens on a computer that runs ASP, ASP.NET, PHP, Perl, Python, mySQL, MSSQL, SSI and so on? In worst cases, nothing. In a milder variation of the above, something but not what they truly intended. When they get it all working, the server will have so many workarounds configured and security holes created so that it should be drawn out of production to be repaired. Unfortunately on some companies this doesn’t apply and instead of being concerned about clients security, they’re more concerned to get everything somewhat working so they can write all the fancy features in a single ad on their site.

The time goes by, they apply some updates and nothing works. They apply some more funky configurations and get the computer running once again. This game resembles a lot of the spring-games I used to play when I was still a kid, trying to get the waterflow from melting snow going where I wanted. It’s not like you tell the flow where to go but where not to. No matter how hard I tried, the next morning the water was going where it wanted. The problem wasn’t with the tools or the technique, but the original idea of getting the water go forever where it wouldn’t go. This is very close to the idea of having all the technologies running on a single box. Cool, but doesn’t work.

When you get your site hosted on a server with the above configurations, you’ll force your webmaster coding in a broken environment. Many times with old drivers because the new ones caused problems. The code that the webmaster codes on the server is forcibly filled with workarounds similar to the ones in the operating system configuration. And when the time comes, that the hosting service provider discontinues their services because they were found to be impossible, you will need to switch hosts. For your surprise, the code won’t work on the new server. Why? Because the new server doesn’t have all those “special” configurations and “hot ideas” in the operating system.

At this point you will need to contact your webmaster to get things working. And pray the god that you can contact the same webmaster you previously used as he hopefully remembers even something about the workarounds in the code and why they were implemented. Getting a new webmaster would probably lead to rewriting the whole code. At least it should be cheaper that way. Sounds pricey? It is, especially when you take into account how much time and money were used with the initial code while coding in all the workarounds we’re about to trash.

So when choosing an affordable host, you should search for a host with reasonable prices compared to the services they offer. This way they can afford keeping all the technology working top notch. This way your environment will be stable and working and the development on the server should be as fast and cheap as possible. Do not believe in marketing gimmicks like unlimited mailboxes, disk space, bandwidth or anything. It’s not even possible and it only proves that the company is driven by marketing people biased to improving their own economy. Not the customer’s. When it feels too good to be true, then it is exactly that.

Hardware failures, software failures or user error can all cause system downtime. Downtime causes customer dissatisfaction, additional customer support, lost revenue and impacts your reputation. When your web site goes down, you’re losing potential customers and risking existing ones.

The problem is, the majority of web hosting companies have no redundancy in place, with one server handling all requests. A hard disk failure, power supply failure or software issue will bring all websites on that server off line. It may take hours to repair the problem, leaving customers stranded. Carefully read the fine print when choosing a web hosting company. Most provide uptime guarantees that only cover network uptime, not service availability. That way, They guarantee this because as long as the network is functioning, regardless of whether or notif your web site is up, the uptime guarantee is being met.

High Availability refers to an architecture designed for very high uptime. A High Availability solution greatly reduces the risk of downtime by integrating spare devices that will take the place of any resource that becomes unavailable. A High Availability infrastructure has redundancy starting at the network level all the way to the server level.

A High Availability network will connect to multiple backbone carriers and have fully redundant routers /and switches. A provider, router or switch failure should not affect your website. Power systems should be fully redundant including auto transfer to a backup generator in the event thatof grid power failures. Power distribution units should be redundant and never overloaded.

Temperature and humidity should be controlled by multiple air conditioning units, with enough additional capacity to maintain the environment in the event of an AC unit failure.

Servers designed for High Availability include dual power supplies and a RAID (redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID).) If a power supply fails, a backup will instantly take its place. The failed power supply can be replaced without bringing the server down. RAID refers to using multiple hard disks which appear as one. If one of the hard drives in a RAID fails, no data is lost and only a small performance penalty occurs while the array is rebuilt using a spare hard disk.

Redundant power supplies and RAID are key components in a High Availability infrastructure, although it can be taken a step further. Clustering is a term you may have heard before. Fail over is a type of clustering that dramatically increases service availability. In a fail over cluster, two servers are linked together. One is actively handling requests, while the other stands by. If the primary server should fail, the secondary server will detect this and automatically take over. The switch should take place within seconds, with little noticeable effect to your sites’ visitors. Fail over clustering can protect against total server failure, including file system corruption or critical hardware failure (such as the processor or motherboard.) It can take hours to re-build or provision a new server after a failure, clustering eliminates this possibility.

Monitoring the state of a High Availability infrastructure is equally important as the redundant hardware itself. The network, server and application layer need to be closely monitored on a continual, 24×7 basis. Technicians trained in High Availability need to be available around the clock to instantly respond to any issues that arise. Monitoring should be performed from an off site and off network location, to ensure a true perspective on service availability.

A hosting environment designed for maximum uptime includes redundant network, power, cooling, data storage, server hardware and proactive monitoring. If you have a mission critical web site that you depend on, make sure your next host has an infrastructure designed for High Availability.

HostSG Cloud Sites offer high availability and redundancy based on Cloud Computing Technology with multi-tier network. Apart from this, HostSG also have extensive network connection via Singtel, NTT Communication and PCCW. This ensures our clients fastest connection to Asia and the world.

At nearly all webhosting companies websites now a days, you will see the two terms “Cloud Hosting” and “Dedicated Hosting”. What is the difference between these? Well its fairly simple.

On a Shared Cloud Hosting network you have your website placed on a computer (The webserver), that has other websites on it - anywhere up to 350 or more. This has a number of down sides, such as being slower, less secure, as well as giving you less access to edit things on the server, such as installing & updating the system software. One the plus side however, it is much cheaper then going for a dedicated server, as well as being easier to administer.

On a Dedicated Server, you have the entire machine to yourself. This is fast, secure and you have full control. You can install any program your heart desires and update programs as often as you wish. This is a good choice for sites that get a lot of visitors, use a lot of system resources (through the use of CGI scripts), if you are holding very important data, or if you need special software that is not available on virtual servers.

• To sum it up, you need a dedicated server if ::
• Your site gets so many hits your Virtual Server account cannot handle it.
• You want to host many sites on the one server.
• You need a feature that is not offered on a Virtual Server.
• You require a high level of security.

HostSG offers highly reliable dedicated server on our high speed network as well as cloud hosting for daily business email communication. Contact us today to see how we can assist with your business.

Before buying your domain name, give some thought to the following:-

1) If possible use your sites name as the basis of your domain name e.g www.discountdomainsuk.com for Discount Domains UK. This might seem common sense but not every site follows the convention. If you use your name in your URL it will be much easier for your customers to find you.

2) Generic names - if you can register a generic domain such as toys.com that’s great, but most of these have already gone. Also getting ranked in the search engines is likely to be harder. Selected a domain closer to your market segment will cut down the competition. E.g toyplanes.com

3) Hyphenated Names - Its easy to forget the hyphen! Which is the problem, particularly if your customer remembers your name but not your URL. Though on a positive note hyphenated names are less likely to be registered already.

4) If the .com or .co.uk extension is not available then consider the alternative TLD ( Top level domain types) such as .net or .biz. If your domain name has already been registered then approach the owner and ask if they’ll sell. They may accept a S$100. If you ask, they can only say no.

5) Plurals. Very often a domain name will be free in the plural but not in the singular form. It’s a personal choice, but if your preferred choice of domain name is not available you might be stuck.

6) Short or Long domains - A short domain name is more memorable, but less likely to be available. A longer domain is harder to remember, but can contain more keywords which is important as some of the search engines, use keywords in a domain name as part of the search algorithm.

7) Which Top Level Domain Type - .com, .co.uk , .net etc This is a question I am often asked. There is no evidence that any domain name type is given preference by the search engines. However some search engines such as Google, have local searches e.g www.google.co.uk which do select local content. Customer often get re-assurance from seeing a local TLD as they know they are dealing with a local company etc. You can, of course, register all of them!
HostSG offers domain registration of more than 100 different type of country extension. Contact us to secure your branding on the internet today.

Many of us who is still beginner in web hosting industry didn’t really know what is Dedicated IP/Static IP and does it really important to have dedicated IP for your site ?. And is there any difference between having dedicated IP and shared IP. In this article, I will try to explain and elaborate as much as possible so you can have better understanding and decide whether you really need them.

As the IP Address is getting harder and harder to get, most web hosting company doesn’t offer dedicated IP to their hosting account. So basically when you host your site with them, you are sharing your IP Address with other web site and one IPaddress is normally shared by hundreds or even milion sites.

Then, the question for most of our Singapore Web Hosting customers is , how does it work, how did it knows how to load my site and is there any performance issue when your site IPAddress is shared between other web site?

The answer is that all the web request is handled by Web Server,and the webserver will load the your site based on the host header or virtual host name that your site is configured.

For example if the web server has 5 website and all sharing one IP, then the Network Admin has to configure host header or virtual host that is unique to your site such as www.yourdomain.com to your site.

And there is no performance benefit on using dedicated IP over shared IP. It all depends on your hosting provider bandwidth.

So what is the reason why people want dedicated IP?. The main reason is if you planning to use SSL on your site, then you need dedicated IP.If not then either static IP or shared IP doesn’t make any difference.

HostSG is proud and honoured to receive Spirit of Enterprise Awards 2010 from Mr. Lee Yi Shyan , Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Manpower.