Web Hosting Guide

Password Protecting Your Website with a .htaccess file: Three Easy Steps

2007-10-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

Creating a simple file can substantially increase the security of your website through password protection.

This tutorial will take you through the steps of creating the .htaccess file, which will generate stronger security for your website. The .htaccess is only a file, yet it has the ability to alter server settings; thus, the .htacess file can be used to redirect users automatically, create custom error pages, change file extensions, ban or allow users with certain IP addresses, and most importantly, offer solid and convenient password protection.

In preparing to work with a .htaccess file, there are several steps that will make the overall process much easier.

1. Create a .htaccess file - The creation of a .htaccess file is very easy; you simply need to type the appropriate code into a text editor, such as Notepad or Word. Please note that a problem may occur when you attempt

Note: Microsoft Front Page Warning:
It is best to use extra caution if you are using the Microsoft FrontPage Extensions. The FrontPage extensions make direct use the .htaccess file. Therefore, if you do want to edit it, you should first download the .htaccess file, if available, from your server. Then, at the start of the file, you simply add your code.

Adding password protection to a directory using .htaccess takes two stages.

2. Working with the .htaccess file - First, in the directory you wish to increase security, you need to enter in the proper lines to the .htaccess file. Password protection will then apply to everything underneath the directory.

AuthName "Section Name"
AuthType Basic
AuthUserFile /full/path/to/.htpasswd
Require valid-user

To offer further clarification to the above lines of text please keep in mind the following:

"Section Name" should be changed to the title of the portion of the site you would like to protect, such as "Members Area."

In addition, you need to change the AuthUserFile/full/parth/to/.htpasswd in order to fully reflect the total server path to access the .htpasswd file. Please cotnact your system administrator to obtain this information, if you do not currently know what the full path of your server is.

3. Working with the .htpasswd file - In order to password protect a directory, you need to create a file that holds the passwords and usernames for those individuals who are permitted to have site access. This information should be typed into a file named .htpasswd . Similar to the .htaccess file, .htpasswd does not have any specific file name; rather, it has a eight letter extension. You may place the .htpasswd file anywhere in your website because of the encrypted passwords; however, if you place the file outside of the web root, it would be impossible for anyone to access the information from the web, and thus, your can achieve a higher level of security.

Creating Usernames and Passwords for the .htpasswd file:
After you have created the htpasswd file, you will need to type in the username and passwords that can be used to access the site. The usernames and passwords should be typed in the following format: username:password

Please note that the user name should match the registered user name; however, the password will need to be listed in the encrypted format. To encrypt the password, you can write your own, or you can also utilize available premade script. There is a good username/password service located at http://www.tools.dynamicdrive.com/password/ , which will allow you to enter the user name and password and will output it in the correct format.

For multiple users, simply add extra lines to your .htpasswd file in the same format as the first.

There are many additional free scripts that you may work with to enhance the functionality and usability of the .htaccess file. There is no doubt that this is one of the most useful files a webmaster can use in customizing the functionality of his or her web site.

What Is MSSQL?

2007-10-11T21:29:00.003-07:00

MSSQL is a database server created by Microsoft.

MSSQL integrates with the Windows hosting environment and other Windows products like ASP.Net. It is very similar to MySQL but not free.

For hosting companies it often is quite expensive to lease MSSQL so be prepared to pay more for Windows hosting that offers MSSQL. A lot of hosts charge extra for MSSQL as well. I strongly recommend using MySQL which is very similar, free, and can still be used with ASP.Net.

What Is MySQL?

2007-10-11T21:29:00.001-07:00

MySQL is a database server that is very popular and free!

It allows you to easily store and retrieve data from a dynamic website or web application. This site runs using PHP and MySQL and a lot of the sites you visit that are very automated use this combination.

On a basic level MySQL is just like Access where you can easily sort through a row or columns. This isn't entirely accurate but if you are having some trouble understanding how it works this is a ruff concept. Scripts like WordPress, PHPNuke, Mambo, etc all use MySQL to store data.

Here are 10 reasons why MySQL is a good choice and why so many people love using it. MySQL runs on just about every operating system including Linux and Windows.

What is Cpanel?

2007-10-11T21:19:00.002-07:00

Cpanel is an online control panel that you can use to control your website, email, and even more advanced things like installing scripts. A lot of hosting companies use it so users can create email accounts and other things on their own with ease.

Cpanel Hosts and Cpanel Tutorials
For some recommended hosts that offer it try our cPanel Hosting Guide. Also be sure to visit our cPanel tutorial section if you need some help.

Cpanel Demo
For an online demo of Cpanel go here. Good way to see if you like it!

5 Examples of Things You Can Do In Cpanel
1. Add a new email account.
2. Add password protection to a file or folder.
3. Install blogging software.
4. Check your stats and see how many visitors your site is getting.
5. Edit your html files to make changes through your web browser.
And much much more!

What does Cpanel look like?
Here is an example of what the cPanel menu looks like

What Is DirectAdmin?

2007-10-11T21:19:00.001-07:00

DirectAdmin is an online control panel

that you can use to make changes to your hosting and other related settings. It has a zillion options such as creating email accounts, setting up FrontPage extensions, change DNS settings, create FTP accounts, creating databases, and lots more!

For a full list of features go here. It even has an integrated ticket system and is totally customizable via skins and an API. I highly recommend Directadmin as its easy to use and similar to Cpanel and Plesk. For resellers is is nice as it is lower in cost and a good way to differentiate your hosting companies.

What Is Ensim Pro?

2007-10-11T21:18:00.001-07:00

Ensim Pro is an online control panel for your web hosting account.

It allows you to easily create and manage things like email, ftp, and other hosting settings. Ensim Pro works with Linux and Windows. For a full list of features and screenshots go here.
Ensim Pro also comes with Power Tools. Power Tools allows your users to easily setup scripts that do content management, forums, chat, e-commerce, etc! There are no public demos of Ensim Pro but on their homepage you can email them to request a demo.

What is Plesk?

2007-10-11T20:51:00.000-07:00

Plesk is an online control panel that lets you control your website

and do lots more like install scripts and create email accounts. It is one of the most popular online control panels and has a lot of extra features. You can do things like add email accounts, add ftp accounts, check your webmail, and more!

Plesk Demo
To try a demo of Plesk just go to the official site here. Its a good way to see if you like the feel of the interface.

5 Examples of Things You Can Do in Plesk:
1. Add a subdomain.
2. Create an email account.
3. Create a MySQL database.
4. Edit your html files directly via your web browser.
5. See how much bandwidth and diskspace your site is using.
And more!

What does Plesk look like?
Here is a screenshot of Plesk

Here is the official description of Plesk:

Plesk is a comprehensive control panel solution used by leading hosting providers worldwide for shared, virtual and dedicated hosting. The control panel is designed to simplify the management and administration of web sites. Plesk control panel automates a large number of tasks that allow service providers to reduce operating costs and resources while at the same time increasing profitability, efficiency and customer satisfaction.

What is Bandwidth in Web Hosting?

2007-10-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

Bandwidth is a measurement of how much data goes between

your website and anyone viewing your website. Today web hosts offer such a huge amount of bandwidth that it isn't really a factor for the typical website. Some hosting companies also call bandwidth data transfer.

For a more detailed illustration of how bandwidth works just imagine your website and how much room it takes up. If you have one picture on your front page that is 15 Kilobytes(kb) big and your text/html adds another 5 Kilobytes(kb) that would be a total of 20kb. So if Bob in Nebraska is viewing your front page your host sends your web page to his computer so he can view it. It sends 20kb to him and thus you use 20kb of bandwidth that your host gives you.

This is a very small amount of bandwidth and a host might offer 5GB of bandwidth to use a month which means Bob would have to view your site over 260,000 times in one month to max you out. Most big hosts offer 50GB of bandwidth or more a month so this really isn't an issue unless you are showing large video or photo files to thousands of people a day.

Explanation of Bandwidth Measurements:

1 Gigabyte (GB) = 1024 Megabytes (MB)
1 Megabyte (MB) = 1024 Kilobytes (KB)
1 Kilobyte (KB) = 1024 Bytes (So small no one uses them anymore!)

What is Reseller Hosting?

2007-10-11T20:42:00.000-07:00

Reseller hosting refers to the act of buying

a hosting account with a large amount of disk space and bandwidth that you break apart into smaller packages and sell to your customers. This can apply whether you are buying and reselling from any type of hosting package.

Some people start with reseller hosting package and then move up to a a VPS or dedicated server. When I first got into the hosting industry I bought a server, setup a control panel for it, and sold small hosting plans to friends, family, and people I knew from online gaming. It helped pay my way through college or at least beer money. Lots of people start this way and grow to dozens of servers or even hundreds. Hosts like HostGator started with 1 server and now have thousands of servers.

Becoming a hosting company is good for a lot of people but especially web designers. As a web designer you already know people that need a web host so you might as well offer them hosting for a low monthly rate. For more info on reseller hosting I highly recommend Reseller Hosting Guide. It goes into a lot more detail on business planning, setting your account up, marketing, and running your business.

What Is A Web Host ?

2007-10-10T01:11:00.000-07:00

A web host is a service provider that places your web site on a computer which is connected to the internet. This then gives people who surf the internet a way to access your website. The computer that the web hosting company uses is typically just like the computer you have at home, the only difference being that it is set up to serve up web sites and is therefore called a "server".

A web host will typically have a fast connection to the Internet and they may host thousands of web sites on many servers. The web host essentially rents out space to you so that you can get your website up on the world wide web.

Some large web hosts own their own datacenter (collection of servers), some rent a server from a larger web hosting company and then resell the space under their own company name. In this case the web host will manage your account on the server, but they will be renting the actual web space from another much larger company.

This is a picture of a datacenter. Which contains many PC's all connected to the Internet It is very expensive to own and operate a datacenter. Datacenters have reliable and fast connections to the Internet and also have backup power and high security.

Most web hosting companies do not own a datacenter, but rent web hosting space in a datacenter.

There are literally thousands of web hosting companies available in the market, all with different types of plans and at different prices. It can be hard to wade through all the options, especially if you are completely new to web hosting and just want to get your website up on the web. All web hosting plans have some basic common features.

Server Type	This is the type of server software that is running on the server. Windows 2000 server, Linux and Unix are common server types. If you have a basic website then the server type does not matter. If you have a more complex website that has database functions and serves up dynamic pages, then the server type will be more important
Disk Space	This is the amount of actual space available to you for storing your website on the web server harddrive
Bandwidth / Month	This is a measure of how much website traffic is available to you. Every time somebody looks at your website, data has to be passed over the Internet from the web server where your site is hosted to the browser of the person looking at your site. Bandwidth is a measure of how much transfer is available. High traffic sites like Yahoo for example have very high bandwidth requirements, but the average site does not
Email Accounts	How many email accounts you can have with the web hosting account.

How Does My Website Get a Name ?
All websites typically have a name - just like we are called www.youwebsite.com - This is a name that points to the space on the web where your website is physically located. In reality, your website will have an address which is just a set of numbers. This is called an IP address and it looks something like this 205.11.109.64 An IP address is a unique address (just like a street address) for your website location. Domain names like www.youwebsite.com are really just a pointer to the real address. This makes it much easier to remember websites.

When you buy web hosting it can be easier to let the web host handle everything associated with this. You just tell them the name that you want (www.yoursite.com for example) and so long as that name is available, they will set up your web hosting space so that when people type in that www address, it will automatically go to your website. You can check if a domain name is available on our domain registration page.

If you already have a domain name and need to transfer it to a web hosting account, then the domain records have to be pointed to your web hosting company. Most web hosts will handle this for you, but if you need to do it yourself then you will need to contact the company where you registered your domain name and provide the Nameserver address of your web hosting provider. Your web host will tell you what their Nameservers address is.

You probably don't want to buy your web hosting plan until your website is ready, but you might want to buy your website name early to prevent somebody else taking the name you want. Almost all companies that sell domain names will park your domain on their servers until you are ready to buy web hosting.

Different Kinds Of Web Hosting
There are different kinds of web hosting setups and dependent upon your website and budget, any of these may be the right type. This is not a discussion of the features a web hosting plan may offer - just a description general types of web hosting

1. Free Web Hosting
It is possible to get free web hosting accounts. These are great for small websites, but normally you have to have a banner ad at the top of every page. Some free accounts let you use your domain name (free virtual hosting) and with some your website address is a subdomain of the free hosting company (www.yoursitename.freehosting.com). This second type is called Free Sub-domain hosting.

Hosting for small websites can be very cheap, but If you can answer yes to all of the following questions, then free web hosting may be right for you.

I don't care about having ads at the top of every page in my website
I don't care about the performance / reliability of the website
I don't expect any customer support
My website is very small and will never grow

2. Shared Hosting
This is the most common type of web hosting account and can be very low cost. With paid shared (virtual) hosting you pay a monthly fee and get a share on a server. For very low cost plans you may only have a small amount of disk space and a low amount of bandwidth (although this will probably not be a problem for the vast majority of websites). With cheap virtual hosting plans you maybe one site amongst hundreds on the same server - in this case reliability may suffer. For slightly more expensive plans you will probably find better reliability.

3. Dedicated Hosting
With dedicated hosting you have a full server dedicated to your website. This gives you a lot more freedom and you can host potentially hundreds of your own websites. Typically you will have access to the server just like you have access to your PC at home. Dedicated servers are normally reserved for large ecommerce type websites, sites that get a lot of visitors (thousands a day), or for people that want to start their own hosting company and sell shared hosting accounts. A dedicated server is more reliable, but also much more expensive being at least $100 a month vs $1 - $20 range of a shared hosting plan.

4. Colocated Hosting
This is very similar to dedicated hosting, except that you own the server rather than rent it. Your server is placed in the datacenter and connected to the Internet through the web hosting providers fast Internet connection. You will then pay a fee for maintenance and bandwidth.

So What Web Hosting Plan Is The Right One To Buy?
You have a lot of choices in the web hosting market and it can be very confusing to find the best deal that meets your needs.

The 1st step before you start to look for a web hosting company is to determine what your needs are. It can be very tempting to look for plans that offer everything. There are many such deals available, even at a low price, but you will be storing up trouble for yourself. Take a step back and determine exactly what you need and then use to find a plan that matches at the right price from a web hosting company that you are comfortable with.

tep1 - Determining Your Needs

1. DiskSpace
Web pages (html) are normally very small - on average 40 - 50KB. This means you can store a lot of web pages in a small amount of diskspace. Images take up more space, but unless you have a big database driven site - it is unlikely that you will need very much disk space. Below is terminology used to describe disk space. If you have a computer at home or the office, then you will be already very familiar with this.

Disk Storage Space Terminology
1 Byte	1 character. This sentence is 25 bytes
1 KB	1000 Bytes
1 MB	1000 KB
1 GB	1000 MB

2. Bandwidth
Bandwidth is always stated as a monthly limit in either MB or GB. This is the amount of actual data that can be transferred from the web server that holds your website, to the browser of the person who is looking at your website. If you go over the limit, then either you will have to be an extra fee, or your website will not be available. The amount of bandwidth you use is obviously related to the amount of traffic (visitors) that you receive.

There are web hosting companies that offer Unlimited bandwidth. This sounds like a good deal. The truth is that this is nothing but a lie and you should steer clear of web hosting companies that offer unlimited bandwidth. Bandwidth is a commodity that costs the web hosting company money - unlimited bandwidth is not only impossible, but would cost an unlimited amount of money. When web hosts offer unlimited bandwidth they are trying to trick you. They know that you will probably not use very much bandwidth. The moment you try to use a lot of bandwidth - then you will find your website shutdown.

For most web sites you will not need much bandwidth. Probably 99% of all websites use less than 2 GB of bandwidth a month. If you intend to have a lot of downloads of software, audio or video, then you may end up using a lot more bandwidth, maybe 50 GB. Adult sites typically use a lot of bandwidth. Sites like mp3.com require an enormous amount of bandwidth, but for the average site - a low level will be enough in almost all cases.

The calculator below will help you determine what amount of bandwidth you might need. This assumes a simple web site with no audio or video downloads. Remember 1GB = 1000 MB (eg 0.75 GB = 750 MB)

3. Email Accounts
How many email accounts will you need? Normally 10 is enough, but if you think you might want more then you can use

4. Support
You need to ask yourself questions like do you want phone support, or will email support be ok? Do you want support 24 hours a day? If you have a small website that is not critical (i.e you don't pay your mortgage with website earnings) then you probably don't need phone support or 24/7 support. It costs web hosting companies to provide this type of support, don't pay more for a plan that offers this if you don't need it.

5. Server Type
If you have a small website, then it is unlikely that you will need to select a particular type of server for your website. Windows 2000 server web hosting tends to be a little bit more expensive than Linux. If you need to run a Microsoft SQL server database, or use Microsoft Active Server pages then you should choose Windows2000. If you have no clue what these things even are - then you don't need Windows2000 - you will almost certainly be fine with any type of server.

Hosting Company Template 2

2007-10-10T00:48:00.000-07:00

Details: A one page hosting company template. Very nice layout!
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=2HL8JVY3

Hosting Company Template 1

2007-10-10T00:30:00.000-07:00

Details: A white and blue one page hosting company template.

Download: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VCM2IOII

CHMOD – Command for Files

2007-10-09T20:56:00.000-07:00

CHMOD

CHMOD command is used to permit files in the operating system which are based on Unix. This command works with asset of parameters that are given after it. If you are dealing with FTP clients then all you need to do is, select the file name whose permission you want to change and then right click and select CHMOD command.

When ever you select the CHMOD command, you find three types or groups of permission. The three groups are the owner or yourself then the Unix group of yours and then every one else, only these three groups can read and change the fire in query. It should be made clear to you that your Unix group and every one else can only read and do required changes to the file in query, they can not add, delete, or rename the file.

How numbers work in CHMOD command:

You can give three types of permission to the file and that is to read, write and execute. You have to allot some value to each every permission. Read permission is allotted the value of 4, write permission is allotted the value of 2 whereas execute permission is allotted the value of 1 and value 7 is allotted for all the permissions. So as CHMOD command gives the value 7 that mean all the three permissions are allotted. And as any client is given the value 0 that is no permission is allotted to the file. And as value 6 is given that means the person can read and write on the file but can not execute the file.

Permissions That Are Common:

If you give permission 644 then most of your html files will work on this permission.755 permission is given to script files and 777 permission is given to configuration files that are in the script parcel, but be careful before allotting 777 permission to every one because anyone who gets this permission can add, remove, delete, read or edit the files. And to remain safe it is good to allot few permissions or permissions with less numbers, to anyone.

How Can FTP Client Keep The Things Simple?

The persons who are using shared server do not get right to access on command line through CHMOD command. Many of them use FTP process for transferring the file or for changing the file. For this you need to right click on the file you want to modify and then click on the CHMOD command. You will generally nine checkboxes through a popup, and these will be set in three rows. On the left side you will get read, write, and execute permission. You can also take the permission by typing the number where you were clicking on any of the required three boxes. As you choose the permission just then click ok and file permission will be changed.

Always prefer the way that is secured one and move with the most restrict permission possible that is execute permission and there already exist three parties that will define permission. And the three parties you already know are owner, group, and everyone else.

CGI Web Hosting

2007-10-09T20:55:00.000-07:00

CGI Hosting

Every site owner wants that he should provide some automated features to his site users and almost all the users want that they should surf the site that is fully loaded with automated features. And the sites which are fully automated are extremely communicative and have lot of users and customers and generate lot of money for the owner that run it. The features that are automated also provide easy usage of your site, smooth working, easy selling on internet and protection of password. If you need your site to be automated then there are many ways you can prefer for your site automation but the point that is necessary for all the methods is that you need server side scripting or client side scripting.

Scripts:

For web programming there are specially designed scripts written in language according to the program. And there are some scripts that are widely used. Mostly the client side scripts are written in java which is of course the widely used abd best programming language among all other languages used and other functions of site are completed by server side scripting and the widely used language for server side scripting are PERL, PHP an CGI. In CGI there are many features that can support your site with automation whereas PERL and PHP are new languages and are proffered by many site owners.

Shopping cart:

If you are having a site which involve sale items must have shopping cart feature enabled and the best sites prefer scripts written in CGI language. So if you have shopping cart script enabled then the best hosting for your site will be CGI as CGI can communicate well with most popular databases like MS Access, MYSQL, And not only this it can work smoothly on the operating system like windows, UNIX, LINUX and MACOS. This web hosting is also used for shipping cost calculations and for sales tax. But most of the sites owners also prefer shopping cart scripts written in PHP and PERL but many other functioning of carts are done in CGI scripts.

Form Managers:

The form which is filled by any customer for any purchase is managed by CGI hosting. All this process is done very smoothly, as the customer fills the form and press the ‘submit’ button CGI script starts working and sends the information in email or to the database where it can be easily viewed by the site owner.

Password Protection:

Most of the sites require registration and password for any user or customer or visitor as to access the pages of that particular site. This criteria is made for many motives like to track the new user for motivating him to do marketing, allowing postings on the message board, and for confirmation that the buyer has deposited the fees for the use of the site. So the automatic issuing of the passorwd and registration are safe if they are written in CGI scripts and most site owner have done it and prefer CGI scripting.

So you can now make decision that which script you will prefer if you have a site that is related to sale and marketing. For its features and automated functioning CGI scripts are preferred and there are many features that can be seen on the website if it has CGI scripts. There are many scripts that are coming in front like PERL and PHP and gaining lot of popularity but CGI web hosting is best than other one.

Co-location Hosting

2007-10-09T20:54:00.001-07:00

Co-location Hosting

Introduction to Co-location Hosting:

In the terms of general man language, co-location means placing the things together or placing in an order. But in the terms of web hosting, co location is used to denote the space provided to the site owner for telephonic contact on the providers location. I will explain it to you by an example like any site owner can place his own computer server of the site on ISP location that provides co-location service.

Co-location Hosting-Who’s Need:

Co-location hosting is needed by those site owners who have full control over their site, control over its operating system and appropriate for dedicated hosting. There are some customers who want, or need the power to remove their server at any time or to move it to some other location mainly for internal hosting. It means they can host their website by themselves and do payment for the connectivity of internet and networking requirements. So co-location is for the site owners who can complete the above requirement but can not host their website by themselves.

The Supplier of the Server:

If you have hosted your site on co-location provider’s server, the server actually belongs to you. Generally this is an advantage given by a provider to the site owner under which a fully configured server loaded with information is delivered to co-location. You can also say that a hardware or server is offered by the co-location provider and you can purchase it.

Will Your Site Remain Online?

It totally depends on your web host because if you have a custom written application on your server and if it causes some problem within the operating system then it is your responsibility to repair it. Usually co-location providers put forward server monitoring contracts for you and if you sign it then it will be his responsibility to maintain your server and check whether it is running properly or not.

Problem With Server Hardware- Will Provider Help:

It is again the matter of the contract; if you sign it then provider will definitely help you. Many providers offer contract for hardware support, and keep your system in good working condition if you sign the contract. If you provide your own computer and you want spare parts on your site then you need to purchase the parts in advance and give it to your provider. But if you have already purchased the computer from your provider he will provide you the spare parts. But if your provider gives you the spare parts the also you will have to pay for it. If you are not having any agreement with your provider then you can ask him to mend the problem related to your computer and can pay him for his service.

Server Limits-In Size:

Yes definitely you will find difference in limitation and price with relation to the size of server. I will give you example, like 1U server’s size is half that of 2U server, so it needs less space in rack actually. Like wise 1U server are less expensive than that of 2U server. And there are many servers which differ in size on the basis of hardware it contains within and on the basis of their manufacturer like rack mount server.

Points To Remember:

If you are searching a co-location provider then the things you should keep in your mind are-

*Bandwidth ~ ask your provider about the level of bandwidth he will offer you and what he will charge if go beyond your limit for the month.

*Hardware Support ~ Make sure that your provider is offering you any hardware support contract or agreement. If your provider is providing a contract then how much time he will take to repair your computer, will he give spare parts if required? If you do not need the contract or provider is not offering you any such contract then what support he will give you if there comes any problem with your server. Also ask them whether he will render his services to repair the down server or will provide any technician.

*Size of server ~ ask your provider about the space and size and cost according to the size of server you want place at ISP. There are different charges according to the size so get it confirmed.

*Uptime ~ what sort of uptime your provider will give you for your presence on internet.

*Server Monitoring ~ ask your provider for server monitoring services to make you sure that your system runs properly all the times.

*IP addresses allocations ~ get it confirmed from your provider that how many IP address he will assign to your server. And what extra fee he will charge if you need more addresses.

*Services Related to Backup ~ what will be the level of data backup if you need and ask about extra data backup provided and if, at what gap and at what rate.

How to secure PHP

2007-10-09T20:51:00.000-07:00

Introduction

PHP is a widely-used general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML.Yes PHP is a programming language that works on Linux and windows server. And this language helps in maintaining user accounts and server. I will tell you some feature to lock down PHP and securing it. Firstly I will tell you about how to edit php.ini as this is the main arrangement folder for php. You can do it by following way:

Put On Safe Mode:
You can safe guard your security and functions which you are using through this easy mode. You can work out over the security problems happening in shared server with the help of PHP safe mode. Although it not good to resolve the security problem at php level but as features of web server and OS stage are not very trustworthy many webmasters prefer and use safe mode. I will too suggest you to use safe mode if you are working on shared environment. It will help you to keep your data safe and untouchable.

Discontinue Unsafe PHP functions:
Through php your server can mess up with other server an there is danger that anyone can hack your account and can get your root. Many users prefer apprehensive php scripts as to get entry to your server and to provide dangerous commands and capture your server and put there control.

Put Off Registers Global:
Through registers global anybody can introduce any variable like in the form of HTML scripts to your data as it is very easy under php environment. Anybody can write insecure code as php does not involve variable initialization. Internal variables get mixed with the data send by any other user. Many peoples did not know that from were this unwanted data is coming and getting mixed with their variable.

Work on PHPsuexec:
The great problem with PHP is that on Cpanel servers it works as nobody and if any user sets a script to 777 admittance so it means nobody user has right to use that file and if any other user sharing the same server wrote some script to search 777 files can also get entry over the file and he can very easily introduce some unwanted material to your data and can remain unknown. And safe mode does not work over sharing other user’s files and here PHPsuexec helps to maintain privacy and stops one user to get through other users file. And with PHPsuexec you can very easily trace the other person who is doing spamming over your mails.
Through the above explained function you can easily protect PHP on shared server. There is also one more method, through which you can protect files from other user so that he should be unable to read or to spam it, that is open base protection

ASP Web Hosting

2007-10-09T20:32:00.000-07:00

ASP Hosting

Introduction: ASP hosting stands for Active Server Pages. With this hosting any user can create and design its web page according to its wish and will with the help of server side scripting. The web page or interactive page is a massive collection of blogs, newsletters, calendars, web based emails, search engines, forums of users, polls, surveys, hit counters and many more.

ASP Hosting:

Now if you are concerned that how your web page will appear on other browser then get tension free from now onwards, use ASP hosting, with this your web page or site will appear same on all the browsers which is not possible with HTML.

Before you host your site it is very important for you to choose a host that must have a server that should support ASP, if you choose some other provider whose server does not read ASP scripts then your website will be useless. So when any time the customer requests for the web page that has .asp extension, hosting provider’s server should interpret the ASP script first in any program then it should be delivered to any other HTML data to browser.

ASP helps you to link your web page to a database through which any visitor can interact with the web page by logging inside and they can also use their own personal settings or they can interactively place order on to your site.

Before hosting your website please confirm from the provider that their server should support ASP and please do not assume by yourself that if the provider supports most of the web scripts so it will also support ASP. If you can not find whether the company is supporting ASP or not just go towards the FAQ’s of that company. But if you prefer any particular company and you are unable to find any information about ASP then contact that company via email or by any other medium.

ASP works smoothly on windows operating system so if you want to design your web page through ASP you will have to install on your system ASP server. Like if you have Microsoft personal web server with the package of windows you need not to pay any additional charges for that but if you do not have the particular program with your package then you need to add the program to your hard drive by using the windows software CD ROM or with the help of control panel as some times it does not include as the part of “basic install”. The same thing is done with ASP server, if it is not installed. ASP works very efficiently, if ASP file is sent from the web server on to your computer, firstly it will run HTML code and after that it will run ASP code.

There are some windows operating system that do not support ASP scripts, they are Windows ME and Windows XP home edition but I hope that the forth coming Window vista should support ASP scripts.

If you do not have a pc that is windows based, Do not get worry, sun Microsystems has launched a program called chili!soft ASP that offers other server like red hat, apache, secure server and many other operating system like Linux, AIX, Solaris will support ASP hosting.

If you think that you can not work on ASP then do not get upset, writing and working over ASP is very easy, it is easy than HTML but not entirely different. On ASP you will find lots of web software tools that help you in creating designer and different web page as you want.

If you are using ASP or you are deciding to use it , you will come to know how multipurpose language is ASP and many providers and companies are adding ASP language in their package to promote their services and to remain ahead in the world of competition. With this article you will surely get some advantage before selecting any other hosting.

Frontpage Web Hosting

2007-10-09T19:46:00.000-07:00

Introduction

FrontPage web hosting is used to make a better site with higher flexibility and functions. FrontPage hosting contains professional design, data and publishing tools to create a dynamic website.

FrontPage Explained:
The commonly used software for designing of the website is FrontPage. The main feature of this software is that it helps you in creating small website without any knowledge to HTML. Only thing you need to do is to make the layout of design and the coding will be automatically done by FrontPage. When your site gets completed you can upload it on the server by clicking the button “publish site”. But for this you need FrontPage hosting.

For this firstly you need the server with Microsoft FrontPage, offered to prospective customer. If you need other scripting languages like PHP, ASP, and CGI then you have to find a web hosting company who can provide you all the desired languages. And if you need MySQL or Access database then you have to pay extra money for this. If you have hosted your site on FrontPage hosting then its provided feature enables you to amend your site through a set program with many functional peripherals. And you can change all the pages of your site only through touch a button system.

Advantages of FrontPage:
• On the server of FrontPage you will find unlimited java scripts, templates, images and solutions that are ready to start. With the features of FrontPage you can also change the format of the text written without learning or succession to style sheet. And these features will definitely help you and save your time if you are a beginner.
• Under the package of FrontPage the Microsoft visual basic script is also integrated. With the help of VB script you can also execute many functions on your site. Not only this, you can also do desired changes on the files straightforwardly by coding in a window on the server itself. When editing is over you can also browse the files on the design view and can also perform different screen resolutions on your files. But if we compare FrontPage to UNIX, You can only change the files of your website on your computer and then you can upload those files on to your server.

Disadvantages of FrontPage:
• Undoubtedly FrontPage provides many function and features to you to work on desired changes on your site, but once if you have created the site you can not move your site on to any other server unless and until you again start coding all the pages of your site. The major difference between FrontPage and other hosting servers is that FrontPage works on Microsoft windows Operating system whereas other server works on UNIX operating system. And this will be difficult for you as you might need to install extra modules on your site if it was not designed for windows.
• Not only this if you want your site accessible on other browsers like opera, fire fox, Netscape etc. then you need to code your site pages manually, no matter if your site is on installed FrontPage server. But you will not face much problem as most of the users Explore internet.

Reliable Provider for Reseller Web Hosting

2007-10-09T19:43:00.000-07:00

Reseller Hosting

Reseller hosting means providing the space on the server by a mediator to the customer. Reseller host firstly purchase lot of space on any real provider’s server and then sell that space to customers and earn in between. Here provider also gets profit and sell its space to reseller for its business promotion. But some times I hear that resellers look for some other provider. It happens because provider does not give full service as he promised and reseller get pressure from there customers and when it’s uncontrollable they search other provider. And to choose the provider that sell reseller account is not a tough job as there are so many hosting companies which provide reseller account but it is a process which should be done with proper information.

The most important job that is done by a reseller before searching a new provider is to check the plan which is offered by the provider. There should be flexibility while you work as a reseller with any of the provider. And if you will read this article with full attention you will definitely get good help, if you are searching a new provider.

You will be surprised to know that reseller accounts are the best option for you if you are a web designer and want to host the site of some of your friends or if you want to start a business of web hosting. This article will surely help you to choose a reliable provider and to get established in web hosting industry. As changing host is not an easy job.

Downtimes You Face:
The most crucial reason for which reseller and host dispute occur is the problem of downtimes provided. Stretched and repeated downtime generally works very slowly for the duration of uptime and lack appropriate support and this makes reseller irritated and to move for the search of new host.

Sometimes slow speed and downtimes are inevitable; no host can provide can 100% downtime. Failure of hard drives, DDOS breakup, script problem, server crash etc. can happen at any time and can not be controlled fully. So here nobody is responsible, the only thing can be done is to minimize the problem.

Now here the matter to be discussed is how any company or real provider faces the problem and how he solves it. How fast and proficiently they can react to pressing calls. And if you need a good host and want to avoid the problem and also need the help of host at crucial times just check the rating of that company and read reviews of the customers of that company.

For this reason I favor the web hosting forums where customers can help each other and provide good and valuable information about any of the hosting company. And here you can receive positive advice before selecting any of the hosting company.

Support You Need:
Support is the very important feature of any hosting plan. Support is needed by client from its provider and reseller also needs support from his host. And for reseller support is very important as he may have hundreds of clients under his support. So support is needed for all 24 hours.

For resellers it is best to choose that host who provides his at least one phone number for emergency time. In my view talking on phone can work more efficiently than mailing to somebody and then waiting for response. And toll free number is the best advantage given by any of the hosting provider.

Support given by the provider are- if some times server gets crashed then it should not take days to respond. And it is good if you get response within few minutes after the problem. And the support given by the provider is can be provided through any of the medium like phone call, email, chat, or via messenger. This help should be given by a provider to his customers and also to his resellers.

Under support one more thing comes that every customer wants is clear and up to mark answer of his any query. And you can check whether the provider is helpful or not by asking questions before hosting any site and related to the development of your site or any thing which comes in your mind.

Reseller Accounts and Their Difference:
There is a lot of difference in reseller accounts like space, size, bandwidth, and other features. Price is also a difference, But in my view price should came at last. If all the features and services are same then choice on the basis of price can be done. And if there are some other differences like space, bandwidth, downtimes etc. you can find it out by yourself.

Overselling:
If you want to sell more bandwidth or space to your customer then you should select a host that allows you overselling by paying some extra rent. And if you do not want to sell over space or bandwidth you can choose the host which does not allow you to oversell these services. And of course you will be charged less rent for this none overselling. And you will get both types of providers in the web hosting industry.

You should not prefer overselling in my view but if you want to select provider who offers you overselling make sure that he will not shut down the sites for more consumption of bandwidth or downtimes without intimating them. This usually happens with a non responsible provider. And with this you may loose you’re your good customers and can face a huge loss. So oversell under special circumstances only.
And if you as a reseller overselling services wildly your server can at any time swamp down. But if your business is fully depend on overselling, then sell smartly, making profits, and to remain fit in competition but charge more for your space from your clients.

And if there as a reseller and overselling server crash problems occurs frequently your customer will not accept this thing and may leave you for poor downtimes. So it is best to choose a host who does not allow you overselling as a reseller. And if you want to become a reliable host then you should not get involved in overselling.

And a good host will always put a limit on the number of domains or websites on your space if you are overselling bandwidth, because to keep the things controllable. There are many providers overselling with no limit on number of domains like HTTPme and there are also providers who does not allow overselling and also put limit on the number of domains like AussieBob.

The limit put by provider on reseller for the number of domains indirectly put limit on overselling the bandwidth or downtimes and this restriction works pretty successfully. And if resellers are doing overselling up to maximum extent and made it a tendency the hosting company can not dash in long run.

If you are facing the limit of the domains on your account you will face the problem of inflexibility. And this may lead you to make your standing in the hosting market very tightly.

And you as a reseller can make the profit by choosing a company who enforce strict rules and do not offer custom plans as they are tough to handle. And as a reseller for you it is best to divide the bandwidth and space in any of the size you want. With this you can get the maximum advantage of elasticity, and can perform well in the cut throat competition.

Reseller- Name Privacy:
If you are a reseller then firstly you will buy space and bandwidth from the real provider and then you will sell it to your clients on higher rate. So the important thing you should keep hidden from your customers is that your providers name as they can directly move to your provider and can buy the same services in low price or lower monthly rent.

So always try to make this privacy on strict rules and regulations and I will tell you some tips to maintain this secret. If you give private name to your server then it can maintain your secret and will also provide you a business impact. You can give the name of your private server to your customers which of course should not hint the provider’s name. There are some hosts who charge additional rent for giving you a private name server. So be careful while selecting a host.

But if any how your customer is able to find the real provider and he asks you for confirmation then tell him the truth that you are a reseller. This will give you a better image and simple look. And also do not keep your server names like “your datacenter” this can drag your image if your original provider is found by any of the client. So if you are choosing a host as a reseller then in my view you should try for Hostgator.com or Hostnexus.com as these providers does not allow overselling and also not put any restriction on the number of domains you are having or you are planning to have. And also you can have your choice too with my advice.

How to Become a Good Reseller:
If you want to become a successful host then you should offer a good business plan to your customers. I know that no body can work exactly according to the theory but if you work on the rules of a good plan then surely you will get success. And if you follow the conditions of your plan then you can not be deviated by another external force.

If you want to become a good provider as well you should provide your customer well answer when he needs from you and for this you should increase your knowledge regarding your business, and there is no matter if you are areseller because your client does not know that you are a reseller or the real provider. So you have to act like a real host. So be knowledgeable.

You should also know how to set up POP email account or how an email account is created in control panel if any customer asks you, do not rush to your real provider as he may get irritated if you ask these easy questions from him as a reseller.

Also keep reading new 5things related to your business or to hosting industry as this may help you in the long run of your business life. So know all the new things in other fields also as some day you might host your own server and become a real provider. So increase your knowledge in hardware, software, internet, web design, programming, marketing online, and many other fields so as to become a good host or I must say a successful host.

How to find a reliable host

2007-10-09T19:36:00.000-07:00

Choosing a hosting company

So, you are a beginner and want to host your site? But you are confused between many types of providers, their packages, their services. And you are also in difficulty while choosing a type of hosting like shared, dedicated, virtual, non-virtual, reseller virtual dedicated server and many more. So now it’s a time to note some points which will help you while choosing a good host.

1. Uptime: Always check what uptime your provider is giving to you. Sometimes there is a problem in uptimes, related to server. A good provider not only checks and helps you in server related problems but he will also provide you a good uptime. If a hosting provider doesn't provides 99% uptime then you may stay away from the company.

2. Support: Always ask your provider whether he will give you support for 24 hours or not. If you ask a question related to your site problem and he takes days to answer, be sure he is not a reliable provider.

3. Bandwidth: Surely check the bandwidth provided to you. If your site is busy one and server gets down and users have problem while opening that site, it’s a big problem for your business. It will lead you to a huge loss. Ask your provider for a good bandwidth. Also check the problems related to database. Database should be supportive; this will help you to increase your business.

4. Monthly Rent: Please compare the monthly rent charges with other provider’s charges for the same services you are getting. Sometimes providers also charge extra monthly rent or over charging. Please go to that provider who offers you money back guarantee.

5. Top 10 providers: The easy way to check the best provider is, enter “web hosting” into any search engine and get the list of top ten providers, also check their rating. If there are more users with a provider and his rank is fourth, don’t get confuse, move to that one only, he will surely provide you good services.

6. Read Web Hosting Reviews: Always read the reviews related to hosting. They will also provide you sufficient information about many hosts, and you will get some more points while choosing a web host.

7. Work Time: Always check the status of that host. Check for how long he has been working. If he is a developed one he will be good for your site.

8. Ask About Your Needs: Always ask the question related to your site, that what help the provider will provide during the services, if services are broken then how much time they will take, how they will improve your site if you are a business professional etc. A good host will surely answer your questions and will make you relaxed and tension free.

Reseller Hosting Guide

2007-10-09T18:43:00.000-07:00

Do you want to know more about reseller web hosting? The primary host or the real hosts sell their services to the resellers and then resellers sell the space to the site owners. Resellers purchase a huge bulk of space from the real host and resell them to their customers with some more services like web programming, web designing, management services etc.

Now the question arises why the primary hosts allow reselling? It is only to increase their sale. As there are many reseller hosting companies who provide different packages, so in order to remain in competition, hosting companies sell their services to resellers. Under this reseller web hosting, the primary host or the real host are able to make huge business and can deal with every individual client through resellers. Resellers are very important here, they perform a great task. They directly deal with the customers regarding their need and monthly rent. In this situation both remain in competition and gain profit. But the real provider or the primary host after all gains much than that of resellers.

Here the services offered by the intermediary host do not differ from the real provider in fact they may provide some extra services like web designing, management services to their customers which a real host can not offer. And these extra services which are provided by a reseller are only to remain in competition.

Today it is very easy to start a business like reseller web host. The real host through reseller provides better and extra services which other developed web host can not provide to their customers. The real host through this gets good business. Some times the host gets special relations with the corporate clients.
This also improves his business and he pays special attention over the site of that customer.

So if you need simple hosting services and you want that host should only keep an eye for designing of your site and programming, reseller is the best one for you.