You can embark upon a mission to look for a quality free web hosting service with no advertisements and useful features, but you will likely return disappointed once your search has concluded.  While you can never really expect any guarantees when it comes to free hosting, knowing what to expect will better assure that you do not end up with a terrible service.

Understand How Free Hosting Works

There are more than enough free web hosting providers to go around.  Unfortunately, most of them force you to place advertisements on your site or only provide you with the free service for a limited time.  Some do set you up with a quality service in exchange for carrying banners while others leave you to run your site on slow and insufficient servers.  In some cases, these servers fail to respond at all, leaving you with a website that is essentially useless.  So, if the service is impractical, how do free hosting companies make enough money to survive?

More and more, we are seeing free web hosts keeping themselves afloat by persuading their customers to sign up for paid hosting plans.  If they can provide a good service, this actually turns out to be a fair deal.  Premium hosting services are very affordable these days so purchasing service with a company you trust could prove to be worth your while.   The major downside is that even when upgrading to a paid service, your package could still end up lacking features that are commonly found on the professional hosting market.  For example, you just might have to pay extra for items such as FrontPage extensions and FTP support.  So even when you purchase service from a free web host, you still have to make sure you are getting your money’s worth.

Secure Your Web Presence

Should you find yourself in a situation where you must rely on a free web hosting service because of financial restrictions, there are a few things you can do to protect your website and identity.  First, you can register yourself a domain name with a reputable company such as GoDaddy or Yahoo.  Domain names are pretty cheap these days and only cost about $10 to $12 per year.  Before registering the name, look out for domain features such as a control panel and URL forwarding.  This will provide you with the ability to redirect your domain and change the destination to where ever you prefer.  So if your free web host folds and goes out of business or things simply are not working out, you can point the name somewhere else and move your website right along with it.

1.) Tried and Tested

Unix is arguably the most dependable operating system for the network server and web hosting environment.  The platform has thrived for more than 30 years and has been tightly integrated with the internet since its inception.  Although other systems have received worthy improvements over the years, Unix is a time-tested platform, offering the power and flexibility needed to meet a wide range of hosting needs.

2.) Unrivaled Stability and Security

During its tenor in the hosting industry, Unix has proven to be notably faster than other operating systems.  It also has a reputation for having the ability to create the most secure hosting environment imaginable.  These qualities have made it a mainstay in the world of corporate business and e-commerce.  Perhaps the greatest benefit Unix offers is its high level of stability and performance.  Unrivaled processing power and a rock-solid core makes it an ideal choice for simple web pages and complex applications alike.

3.) Unmatched Reliability

While Microsoft Windows offers a graphical icon-based interface for added simplicity, Unix has no GUI at all.  This dramatically reduces overhead and allows the system to dedicate the full power of the hardware to quickly and efficiently serve web pages when they are requested.  Even in a shared hosting environment, Unix is virtually impervious to server crashes or any types of faults caused by administrative errors dues to its user-level permission structure.  When used as a platform, it can help create a fault-tolerant web server with the ability to prevent potentially damaging processes, thus enabling your website to continuously run smoothly.

4.) Extremely Compatible

Being a veteran server operating system, the Unix platform is largely supported by software developers and vendors.  The software integrates seamlessly with Apache, PHP, Perl, MySQL and other web technologies commonly used with Linux.  It also offers full support for Microsoft FrontPage, a web design and management tool that was once only available in Windows-based hosting plans.  Thanks to compatibility enhancements, FrontPage can now run flawless on both Windows and Unix servers alike.

5.) Affordable and Easy to Use

Several have the misconception that Unix is an open-source operating system.  This is not true.  In fact, its source code is under license with numerous vendors and much of the core remains proprietary.  However, Unix hosting still tends to be affordable because of its integration with free and low-cost open-source products.  And while naturally a more complex system, this platform is just as user-friendly in the typical shared hosting environment as Windows or Linux.  Therefore,  it does not matter if you are an inexperienced webmaster or a novice, Unix hosting can offer all the power or simplicity you need to succeed with a website.

]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/08/28/five-reasons-to-choose-unix-hosting/feed/ 0 http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/08/10/saass-content-management-with-clickability/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/08/10/saass-content-management-with-clickability/#comments Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:12:53 +0000 CommunicateBetter http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=467 Previously known as cmPublish, the Clickability Platform is a CMS with a different approach on content management.  Developed by CMS provider Clickability, this platform is delivered on an on-demand basis, as well as full service with the company’s “Innovation as a Service” solution.  Aside from content management, the Clickability Platform also offers analytics, email campaign, web 2.0 and advertising among other functionality.  While there is obviously far more to the Clickability Platform than content management, this is indeed the focal point of the package.

Core Technologies

Though a licensed commercial product, Clickability Platform is based on powerful open-source technologies such as PHP, MySQL and Java.  It utilizes Apache as its web server and Velocity for the templating system.  Even though you have to pay for a license, the leveraging of various popular open-source tools makes Clickability Platform a cost effective CMS product.

Clickability Content

The main content entity in the Clickability environment is the item.  Authors have the ability to create content items by selecting various types of content from the navigation pane.  This CMS gives you a number of different content items out of the box, including jobs, blogs, press releases, case studies and FAQs.  Furthermore, custom content types can be created as well.   The templating system is a major part of the process as it allows you to actually get the content on your web pages.  These templates can be tailored to display numerous types of content in different sections of a single page.  While this feature caters to beginners, Clickability Platform also has something for developers with advanced creation environments and other customizing assets such as stylesheets.

Additional Features

Clickability Platform certainly isn’t short on features.  The package bundles streamlined content management capabilities alongside a host of SEO tools, Web 2.0, capabilities and the following list of features:

Newsletters – Publishers can create a newsletter of content and automatically distribute it to subscribers.  They can also manage mailing lists and have the ability to provide subscribers with double opt-in capabilities.

Advertising - Adverting functionality is tightly integrated into the Clickability Platform.  This allows administrators to create and maintain campaigns as well as all the details that go along with them.  Because ads are considered content pieces, they have targets that provide administrators with a way to track and keep up with the history of their performance.

cmSideKick – Clickability Platform allows you to run your website in the browser and the intuitive cmSideKick in a second frame.  cmSideKick is a utility that enables you to perform deep analyzation of statistics, allowing you to view your site in the administrator mode or selective views to modify certain areas.  This is one tool that you are likely to put to great use in the Clickability environment.

Conclusion

Clickability has come a long way since its days as cmPublish.  However, it has managed to maintain all the basics of content management and received some nice upgrades to compliment the emerging technologies and web trends.  Clickability Platform is definitely a enterprise CMS solution and can help to satisfy the needs of businesses of all sizes.

Databases and Website Content

Database-driven sites are powerful because they offer the ability to easily generate fresh, updated content.  For most developers, this is enabled by the combination of PHP and MySQL.  Unfortunately, these technologies can be very complex and will definitely take some time learning.  Thankfully, a FrontPage web hosting solution can empower you to create a database-driven and use it with virtually any database, including MS SQL, Access, Oracle or the open-source MySQL.

Making a Database Connection with FrontPage

To make a database full of information that will be displayed on the website you created with FrontPage, all you have to do is connect it to the data you want it to show.  A database connection is merely a function that allows your page to connect with a database via server-side scripting.  While this could be performed with PHP and MySQL, doing it with FrontPage is much easier.  This is because FrontPage lets you create a template that will modify the content by communicating with the database and automatically creating a new page without any additional coding.

Before getting to the template, the first thing you need to do is manually create a database in an application such as Microsoft SQL Server, Access, Excel or Oracle.  The database may contain customer messages or just about any other content you want inserted on the pages of your website.  After creating the database, set up the template where you want the information to be displayed.   The advantage of having a template in FrontPage is that it gives you the ability to change the content of your page by importing new content from a database without needing to re-code the page itself.  As long as you connect the page to the new content in the database, it will be generated on the server-side whenever your visitors view the page.

To import content, simply choose “File” from the “Tool” bar and open the “Import” menu.  After browsing for the file you want to import, select “Yes” when asked if you to create a connection for it.  That’s basically it.  FrontPage offers a great way to make sure your pages are frequently updated and appealing to your visitors with fresh content.

Summary

You will have to do a little more to truly customize your database-driven site, but FrontPage hosting is so user-friendly, that nearly every task you want to perform is simplified through a wizard or tutorial that goes along with it.  Because FrontPage is such a forgiving tool, even if you do make mistakes, detecting and correcting the problem will be a piece of cake.

PrestaShop

PrestaShop is a comprehensive, professional-grade shopping cart that is easy to use and setup.  The software offers a fully featured back-end interface to maintain your inventory, orders, shipping options and customers in real-time.  It is also highly customizable as you can incorporate your own modules.  PrestaShop keeps security in mind but securely transmitting customer payments directly to your bank account.

Magneto

Magneto is a robust e-commerce solution that offers unparalleled flexibility and control.  This software is so well designed and functional that you would never think it came from an open-source project.  Unlike other shopping carts, this one gives you clean URLs and SEO-friendliness right out the box, bypassing the need to make additional configurations.  Magneto has a scalable architecture and seamless integrate with various third-party applications.  Additionally, it gives you the benefit of both community and professional technical support.

CubeCart

CubeCart is one of the most popular shopping carts around.  Although it is free to download and use, you are forced to leave the developer’s copyright notice in your footer.  That disadvantage aside, CubeCart offers a plethora of features with support for most of the major gateways and shipping options.  The software comes with decent support from an active community that regularly contribute plugins to the cart.

Agora

Written in the Perl programming language and driven by a MySQL database, Agora is another popular choice for open-source shopping carts.  Very customizable, it features a built-in CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) manager that lets you control the look of the shopping cart as well as setup options ranging from a simple template-based storefront to more complex visual designs.  Agora supports unlimited products, a wealth of shipping and payment options, up to four tax zones at once and much more.

Zen Cart

Zen Cart is a user-friendly shopping cart that caters to beginners.  This is one software that actually focuses on the shoppers and store owners opposed to developers.  Zen Cart is easy to use and supports multiple shipping and payment options.  It also allows you to easily provide discounts and coupons to your customers.

osCommerce

The wide variety of features in osCommerce enables you to set up an online store fairly quickly.  It supports multiple currencies and also lets your customers print their invoices directly from the order screen.  osCommerce gets the backing of a superb community who provide ongoing support and make contributions to the project.

These are just some of your choices for open-source shopping carts.  Rest assured, there are many more to choose from.  While you can probably pay for something better, numerous users are doing just fine running their store with these free versions.

The Benefits of Database Hosting

A database server is an intriguing piece of software as it has the ability to store tons of information.  Unlike the average web server application, this type of server stores information in tables, which consists of columns and rows.  Through the use of a database, users can get the information they need in a matter of minutes.  For example, Google aims to keep its online searches below a half a second, all made possible by the more 3 trillion pages in its extensive database.  What makes a database such a good source of retrieval is that it mainly pulls data out of memory opposed to a hard disk drive, something it does up to 10 times faster.  Since the database is the core of the entire application, it tends to have more RAM and therefore, functions much faster than the typical web server.

Downside of Database Hosting

Similar to the software application side of a dedicated server, a database server calls for heavy administration.  For this reason, it may be a good idea to go with a managed service if you lack the experience this type of hosting requires.  A managed service will get you a package where the hosting provider handles some or even all of the database server administration on your behalf.  These services generally range from simple management operations to more demanding tasks such as system security patching.  If your plans call for a complete database server but you do not have time or skill needed to maintain it, you might be interested in a managed solution or at least one that allows you to purchase some sort of service upgrades to ease the pain of administration.

Do You Really Need Database Hosting?

While there are tremendous benefits involved, database hosting is not made for everyone.  For example, if you simply have a need to run a small online business with shopping carts and other e-commerce features, you can probably get by with a normal web hosting package that provides you with access to multiple databases opposed to the entire server.  It is imperative to keep in mind that there are significant differences between database hosting and simply having access to one, or even multiple databases.  In this type of arrangement, the database system is the most essential element of the entire application as this is where all the processing is handled.   True, there are similarities, but the MySQL database server is an entirely different animal than the Apache web server.

Windows

Microsoft Windows is popular in the web hosting environment because it offers a plethora of functionality and a user-friendly interface.  Unlike older systems, almost all critical tasks can be done through a point-and-click method rather than writing DOS commands.  The Windows platform is usually preferred by those that require ASP (Active Server Pages) technology or MS SQL Server databases.

Pros: Maintaining a Windows server is much easier than any other operating system.  The platform is largely supported by software vendors because of its name and domination in the PC sector.

Cons: Versions of Windows Server applications are costly, ranging in the hundreds of dollars per license.  These costs are often tacked on to the price of a web hosting service.  While the platform has been greatly improved over the years, older versions, some of which are still in use, have a higher vulnerability to security threats.

Unix

Many refer to Unix as the granddaddy of all operating systems.  This system has been used as a server platform for decades now.  Known for its stability, Unix is a reliable application mainly used for larger and more complex computer systems.  The software often comes bundled with server hardware made by vendors such as IBM, HP and Sun Microsystems.  These servers are powerful but they are also quite expensive, sometimes climbing into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Those with smaller scale needs typically utilize FreeBSD, a free Unix-like platform that runs on cheaper server hardware.

Pros: The Unix platform offers unparalleled stability and reliability.  It creates a rock-solid server that can thrive for years upon years without memory leaks or needing to be restarted.  Unix was built with security in mind and is therefore less susceptible to security flaws and threats.

Cons: The Unix platform can make for a very costly option.  The system also tends to be more complex and harder to find that Windows solutions.

Linux

The Linux operating system has become a major force as a web hosting platform.  Though it shares many characteristics of Unix, Linux is far more cost effective due to being released as open-source software.  The platform comes in many different distributions and is compatible with a variety of open-source technologies such as PHP and MySQL.

Pros: As a Unix-like system, Linux provides great stability and performance in the server environment.  While it isn’t exactly free, Linux always tends to be more affordable than both Windows and Unix in terms of web hosting.  Due to widespread use, the platform has great support from a community of users and software developers.

Cons: Similar to Unix, Linux requires a special set of skills to work with as most configurations must be performed from a command line.  Though it is becoming more mainstream, the platform isn’t as largely supported by software vendors as Windows.

]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/06/05/the-pros-and-cons-of-web-hosting-platforms/feed/ 1 http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/04/23/choosing-a-hosting-platform-for-your-business/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/04/23/choosing-a-hosting-platform-for-your-business/#comments Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:08:13 +0000 CommunicateBetter http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=301 If you are looking to make your mark as an online business owner, one of the first things you need to do is find yourself a web hosting solution.  The web has grown tremendously over the years and so have your choices.  Web hosting services are not hard to find as companies have the industry covered from every angle of the market.  While there are many critical factors involved in choosing a service, one of the most important is the platform your business site is hosted on.

What is a Platform?

In web hosting terms, a platform refers to an operating system like Mac OS X or even an something older like DOS.  This type of software stores critical files, gives basic commands, tells the server how to interact with applications.  In the early days of the internet and World Wide Web, most servers ran on the Unix platform, a very powerful system that while flexible, has always required a considerable amount of technical skill to administer.  Though still a popular choice, hosting customers now have a greater variety to choose from in platforms such as Linux, Windows and FreeBSD.

Linux

Linux is a newer version of Unix and perhaps the most popular variation.  This platform is incredibly versatile and made to perform in the server environment.  It is makes an ideal solution for demanding tasks and activities such as messaging and multimedia streaming. Unlike Unix, Linux is an open-source system under the GNU General Public License, making it a cost effective solution for both web hosting providers and their customers.  Perhaps the greatest advantage of this platform is its compatibility with various open-source technologies.  A Linux hosting package typically means you also get the benefit of tools like Apache, PHP and MySQL.

Windows

Often regarded as the main competitor to Linux, Windows is the server version of the popular Microsoft desktop operating system.  Upon first entering the server environment, these platforms were powered by systems like Windows NT and 2000.  Most plans now are based on either Windows 2003 or 2008.  What makes this system so popular is the user-friendly interface that gives IT teams a familiar environment to work with.  Not only is it supported by a large number of applications, but also Microsoft technologies that were specifically designed to work with the platform.  Some of the main selling points of Windows hosting include ASP or ASP.NET programing, the SQL Server and other services like Exchange and SharePoint.

FreeBSD

The FreeBSD platform is based on the BSD system, which is one of the many Unix variants.  Similar to Linux, FreeBDS offer cost efficiency as an open-source system.  Extremely well integrated, this platform is well known for its speed and stability, making it an excellent choice for mission-critical operations.  FreeBSD is becoming increasingly popular and offers support for a growing number of technologies.

Choosing a Platform

All the platforms mentioned in this article are great for business hosting, Windows especially.  The key is finding a web host that delivers a reliable infrastructure and enables the chosen system to effectively meet your needs.

What is phpWCMS?

phpWCMS is an open-source, web-based CMS scripted in the widely used PHP server-side programming language.  Like many open-source software applications, it uses a MySQL database to store all website data with the exception of converted images and uploaded files.  phpWCMS is divided into a frontend and backend.  The frontend is for presenting the site while the backend is only accessible to registered administrators and users.  With backend access, members of your community can login and modify template settings, manage their own content and much more.  The learning curve for phpWCMS is much shorter in comparison to other systems, making this software ideal for beginner and intermediate users.  Ease of use and user-friendly features often make it the preferred choice over comparable systems like Typo3.

As a cross-platform application, phpWCMS runs efficiently on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X operating systems.  In addition, the backend translates into 13 different languages including English, Danish, Dutch, Italian and Swedish.

phpWCMS Features

The phpWCMS software is extremely rich in terms of features.  Below we have listed some of the most notable:

Unlimited page layouts - The built-in, customizable Page Layout Wizard allows you to mix and match elements to create as many page layouts as you want.

Unlimited templates – The Template Editor features support for custom HTML headers,  JavaScript onload functions and CSS stylesheets that enable the creation of unlimited themes.

Simple content management - Building your site is made easy with numerous content parts.  You articles and blog posts can have summaries, redirections and other parts that distinguish it from the layout.

Multiple WYSIWYG editors – The phpWCMS HTML editors give you the ability to build your site with little to no programming knowledge.  In addition, such a wide variety ensures that your creation looks good in popular web browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera.

Multiple content parts - Content comes in many different variations and phpWCMS is able to support many.  The software handles images, articles, multimedia files, newsletters, custom search forms, sitemaps, guestbooks and more.

Although phpWCMS is loaded with an array of useful features, it does not support a great number of add-on modules and therefore, it is not as flexible as more robust content management systems.  For this reason, it is recommended for small to medium sized websites.

Where to find phpWCMS

As an open-source application, phpWCMS is free to use and can be downloaded from the official project website.  In order to enjoy the benefits, you will need a web host that supports the software.  Because the system has become extremely popular, it is becoming easier to find.  phpWCMS is now offered in many web hosting packages as a one-click installation through control panels like cPanel and Plesk.

What is a Web Server?

There term web server actually describes to different elements.  One is the computer that stores the data for a website.  The other is a software application that runs on the computer and processes requests from web browsers and other client-side technologies.  Though often used interchangeably, these two components are quite different.  For this reason, one should always clarify the mentioning of a web server as it can refer to either a machine or an application.  This article will focus on the latter and give a brief overview on how this type of software works.

The Web Server in Action

A web server application helps the actual hardware serve web pages upon the request of a browser such as Internet Explorer or Opera.  Because it deals primarily in HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) requests, this type of application if often referred to as an HTTP server.  After receiving a request, the server runs HTTP, which is a protocol for transferring data over the internet and enabling two computers to communicate with each other.  When using your web browser to access any given website, a request is transmitted to a web server on a remote computer.  The server application then processes the browser’s request and attempts to locate the requested web page.  If it is found, the server sends the page to your browser which then displays the appropriate content.

Commonly Used Web Servers

The Netcraft Web Server Usage Survey reports that the Apache HTTP server is the most the widely installed web server in the world, claiming that it has nearly 60% of the market share.  As an open-source application, Apache supports numerous open-source technologies such as the Linux operating system and MySQL database server.

The main competitor to Apache is IIS (Internet Information Services), a robust server application developed by Microsoft.  This web server was designed to work with various server editions of the Windows operating system.  Though it is compatible with MySQL and other open-source technologies, IIS was designed to be integrated with Microsoft products such as ASP (Active Server Pages) and the SQL Server.  Other web server applications exist but they are rarely used in comparison to Apache and IIS.

Using a Web Server off the Web

While primarily intended for the web hosting arena, web server applications can also be used for other purposes as well.  For example, many techies have the Apache server installed on their Windows-based computers.  This is great for someone who scripts custom programs for their own servers.  Several developers find this method much easier than working on a remote server.   So, if you have a powerful computer with a need to create PHP or ASP scripts, a web server like Apache or IIS could work wonders on your system.