Tips to Buy Web Hosting That Fits Your Business Needs

Web Hosting Solutions

At present, the services of a web hosting service provider are the foremost requirement for putting a website live on the World Wide Web. Irrespective of the website, which may be a personal blog or an ecommerce portal, one needs an efficient and reliable web host. Hosting solutions are needed for enhancing the site's overall security, providing access to the website and a control panel replete with variety of tools. In order to launch a site on the internet, one is required to choose between two types of website hosting- Windows or Linux. Therefore, experts have advised to consider the merits and demerits of both hosting services, before buying a hosting plan for the website.

A look at Windows hosting and Linux hosting

Windows hosting services are basically suited for small and medium business purposes as they offer limited storage space. Web hosts that use Windows servers offer their customers several flexible plans that serve as a good value-for-money, besides being reliable at the same time. A typical set of services provided by a Windows hosting plan includes multiple mail boxes, a control panel, Windows application compatibility and instant activation. It must be noted that if the website requires use of Windows operating system based applications then Windows hosting plans are mandatory. Further, the user friendly control panel can be used for all minor or major changes required on the website.

Linux hosting is similar to Windows in a manner that it is used on systems that run on the Linux operating system. Performance wise both website hosting types are more or less the same, however, pricing wise Linux plans are slightly more affordable than Windows. These web hosts have helped many individuals and organisations looking to have successful and reliable online footprints. A web hosting service provider usually gets websites online within a short time frame.

Tips to buy the perfect web hosting plan

1. When buying a website hosting plan, it is advisable to opt for a web host that has servers located geographically close to the target incoming traffic region.
2. Choose a plan that fits the optimal requirements for data storage, upload/download bandwidth, email service and security.
3. The data storage needs of a website could change over a time period. Therefore, a flexible hosting plan should be chosen that is easy to upgrade.
4. There are several web hosts that offer hosting plans on both pay-per-click and flat rate basis. The choice should be made according to the amount of traffic a website receives.

Domain Registration: Protect Your Privacy When You Register a Domain Name

Domain Names

World Wide Web. Domain registration is the mandatory first step towards putting a website live on the internet. However, one must remember that it is really important to protect personal information while carrying out domain registration. Likewise protection of domain names is also crucial for ensuring safety from hackers. Hackers can illegally divert all the incoming traffic to their website and can get access to the website owner's personal information and email data, such as contact ids. Therefore, protection of privacy is one of the most important areas to be worked upon while registering a domain.  

Importance of privacy protection in domain registration

As an integral part of domain registration process on the internet, the website owner's personal data including name, contact details and personal email is listed on the public WHOIS database. This means that a website owner's personal information can be easily exploited for wrong purposes. Therefore, the domain registrar provides a paid service called Domain Privacy through which they remove the website owner's information from the WHOIS registry. The domain registrar replaces the contact name and email address of the website owner with details of a forwarding service (for emailing purpose done by a proxy server). At present, several forwarding service providers are active in the market, such as Domains by Proxy, Inc.  and eNom's ID Protect.

Privacy protection through a domain registrar

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the organisation that is behind all domain registration being done on the World Wide Web and regulates the name and number conventions used on the internet. It must be noted that ICANN requires mailing address, contact number and email address of the website's owner to be publicly listed on the WHOIS directories. However, this policy is exploited by spammers, identity thieves, direct marketers, hackers and other individuals for wrong purposes. Therefore, privacy solutions are provided by registrars for mitigating the risks posed by public listing of a domain name owners' information on the WHOIS directory.

The typical set of services offered by a domain name registrar include changing contact details on WHOIS directories, updating name servers, control A and MX records, Privacy Protection and Domain Theft Protection. A domain name registrar also provides bulk tools and an easy to use control panel. Many service providers also offer a service called transfer lock or domain lock, which keeps a domain name safe from unauthorized transfers. Currently, there are several registrars that provide cheap domain names with a privacy option for some basic monthly charge or even free of cost. Therefore, proper market research must be done before finalizing upon a certain domain registration service provider.