Web hosting is the act of renting space on servers to ‘host’ a website. As well as space for your site, web hosts, like NSDesign, also provide full internet connectivity. In short, it’s the internet equivalent of renting shop space.

Hosting comes at the very end of your web design process and is the final step to getting your site live on the internet. Personal web pages and small, simple constructions can be hosted from home through various methods, most of which are free, but require your page to carry advertising.

Complex sites, or those who require a professional advertising-free approach, will need to link up with a web hosting provider. So what questions do you need to ask when choosing a provider?

•    What is the average downtime per month? Downtime is when your website, for whatever reason, is unavailable. Most providers aim to average 99.5% uptime per month, this means a loss of 45 minutes each month.

•    Is there 24 hour technical support? Unexpected downtime can occur when it is least welcome, so you need to know you can speak to somebody quickly and easily to ensure the issue is resolved with minimum impact on your business.

•     What type of hosting is it? Dedicated hosting allows you to retain full control over your server, whereas managed hosting allows the provider to retain administrative functions. There are several other types of hosting, and a good web host should be able to take you through the options to find the one that is right for you.

If you’re looking for a home for your website, then speak to NSDesign for flexible web hosting packages that use the latest Linux technology.

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There are so many web hosting companies out there, it can be just about impossible to tell them apart. How do you know which ones are going to give your website a secure, reliable home with maximum uptime … and which ones are going to cause untold problems for your website and your company?

Web hosting companies range from one-man-bands through to large-scale corporations, but regardless of size, you can use the following checklist to determine whether they’re likely to provide a good service:

1)    Security is a major concern for website managers. Check whether your prospective web host houses their servers in a secure facility.

2)    The safe-guarding of your website’s files is also crucial. In the event that the server hosting your website should fail, make sure the hosting company has a system for backing up your website.

3)    Find out whether the web hosting company can offer any guarantees to give you confidence in their service levels. Also ask to see any ‘uptime’ statistics to give you confidence that your website is unlikely to crash.

4)    Locality is also something to consider, although it’s less important than the security and reliability issues outlined above. It’s usually a good idea to host your website in the country in which you do business. This is mainly for search engine optimisation purposes. When UK customers type search terms into the search engines, for example, the results will prioritise pages from UK-hosted websites.

5)    Finally, we recommend you choose a web hosting company that gives you a control panel or a suitable alternative that enables you to administer your website 24/ 7.

This seems like an appropriate moment to mention that NSDesign offers all of these web hosting benefits and many more besides … but to avoid too blatant a plug we’ll leave it there and let you come to us if you happen to be in the market for web hosting.

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Last week ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) announced significant changes in the way web domains will begin appear. In addition to the most common web suffixes such as .com and location specific domains like .co.uk, domain names can now be based on any string of letters, allowing the registration of thousands of new domain names. Businesses will now be allowed to apply for a far wider range of domains including more specific locations like .london and .scotland and suffixes relevant to particular industries such as .bank, .flight, .entertainment or .gamble. The existing system categorises web addresses under 260 geographic and general names. The new domain names will begin to appear next year.

There has been concern among the web community as the changes will surely make the web a more complex and expensive place for small businesses and home users, while affecting web security and opening up more opportunities for fraudsters and cybersquatters. Small companies will find it more expensive to maintain their web presence as they be will be forced to buy a lot more domains. The pricing of the new domains will also vary more.

One of the biggest concerns is that the changes could lead the way to a huge online red light district where all adult sites would carry the .xxx or similar suffixes. ICANN had cleared this type of domain then later withdrew it. The process of clearing a new suffix involves the the applicant going through an initial review where anyone can raise concerns on aspects such as racism or trademark issues though if no objection is raised approval will be very quick.

Other changes in consideration include the use of non-English characters in web addresses which would allow Chinese or Arabic letters to appear. The demand for these type of names has been increasing due to the fact that the the internet expands to non English speakers and those who cannot easily type English characters. This particular type of change would definitely be positive for web accessibility.

Links

BBC News Article on the subject: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7475986.stm

BBC Video Report: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7474203.stm

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