Web Hosting | Server And Hosting Blog

19 Jan

How To Find a Reliable Web Hosting Company | Part I

So, you’ve decided to bite the bullet and take your business online.

Or perhaps you already have a successful online business and are looking for a reliable hosting provider to partner with as you continue to grow.

But what makes a web hosting provider reliable?

With hundreds of hosting providers out there finding the best one for your website is not an easy task. Don’t worry, we’ve got you!

We’ve rounded up some of our best tips on helping you choose a reliable hosting provider.

What Is a Web Hosting Service and How Does It Work?

For those unfamiliar, a web hosting service is a type of service that stores the files and data of your website or application and serves them, or makes them available, over the Internet. These files can be web pages (text content), images, media content, scripts, and more.

Each website needs a home where it can live.

When you get a web hosting service you basically rent a space on a server for your website. In other words, a web hosting provider is like a digital landlord. Instead of leasing or renting space in a building, it rents space on the Internet.

A web hosting provider, therefore, is a company that leases or rents the technology and resources needed to make your website accessible over the Internet.

What is Web Hosting — *When website visitors type your website URL in their browser, the browser requests the website information from the server that stores it, downloads the files, and displays the web content.*

To make your website accessible over the Internet you need to:

Own a domain name.
Purchase a hosting plan.
Upload your files into your web server.
Point your domain to the server’s IP.

When your website visitors type your website URL in their browser (Google Chrome, Safari, etc.), the browser requests the website information from the server that stores it, downloads the files, and displays the web page.

How Many Types of Web Hosting Services Are There?

There are a few different types of web hosting services. The most common types are shared hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated server hosting.

Shared Hosting

As the name indicates you are sharing your hosting with many other users, sometimes hundreds of users. So, if your web hosting provider is your landlord, shared hosting is like having a small apartment unit in a large apartment complex. You share the complex with hundreds of other tenants.

The advantage of shared hosting is that the prices are lower. The server is also maintained and managed by the hosting provider. All you have to do is upload your website and start growing your business.

The disadvantage of shared hosting is that you get a small allotment of resources and you have less control over the server. You cannot upload custom applications or access the server from the command line.

In some cases, there is not a lot of insulation between the different users. If one tenant overuses their resource allotment it could have a negative impact on your service. This can be significantly reduced if the hosting providers use an Operating System such as CloudLinux OS, which offers better isolation and increased performance.

Virtual Private Servers (VPS)

A private server, as the name suggests, is a server where all the resources are dedicated to you. If shared hosting is like renting a small apartment unit, with VPS hosting you get your own condo.

The advantage of VPS hosting is that you get more resources, better insulation, and full control over your server (SSH/RDP).

A VPS server also allows you to scale as needed. You can also choose if you want to manage the server yourself or have the hosting provider manage it for you.

The disadvantage of VPS hosting is that it’s more expensive than shared hosting.

Dedicated Server

A dedicated server is like having your own private house. It provides the highest level of privacy and you don’t share the building with anyone.

The advantage of dedicated servers is it can include a large number of resources.

The disadvantage of dedicated servers is cost. Dedicated server hosting is typically the most expensive type of hosting. Dedicated servers are also more difficult to manage and maintain.

There are VPS servers that can be just as large or powerful as a dedicated server. However, some companies might still prefer to use a dedicated server due to the higher degree of privacy offered, or due to various compliance requirements.

How To Find a Web Hosting Provider?

Ask a friend

If you have a friend, colleague, or business partner who has a website, ask for web hosting referrals. This is the BEST way to find a reliable hosting provider. You can learn from someone else’s experience.

But make sure the referrals you are getting are meeting your requirements and expectations.

Everyone has different needs.

Just because your friend/business partner is pleased with his/her Windows hosting provider, it doesn’t mean it will work for you, if you are looking for a Linux provider.

Go through your list and get specific information based on your own requirements.

Do Your Own Research

Another good way to find a good web hosting provider is through old fashion research.

Start with the obvious. Do a Google search and be as specific as possible.

Some examples of popular searches include: “managed vps hosting,” ”linux vps hosting,” “shared windows hosting”.

Check Online Reviews

Once you have identified your requirements and done your research, make a list of all the hosting providers that fit your needs.

Do your due diligence and find user reviews for the providers that match your requirements. Make sure you use reviews from reliable sources such as Trustpilot, Google Reviews, or G2.

Check Blogs and Social Channels

To a lesser extent, check which providers have a social media presence and periodic website updates. This will give you a sense of whether or not the hosting company is actively working on improving its services and communicating with its online community.

Is It Easy To Change Web Hosting Providers?

Changing web hosting providers can be a daunting task. If you use a Control Panel such as cPanel/WHM or Plesk and the destination provider uses the same Control Panel it’s a matter of copying your data from the old server to the new server using internal migration tools.

If you migrate to a different Control Panel or don’t use one at all, it’s a much more complicated task. In either case, if you’re not a developer yourself you need to make sure you have your developer on standby to test the migration and assist with any possible issues that arise.

A reliable web hosting company should offer you either a free migration or a discounted quote for assisting with the migration.

When choosing your web hosting provider, you should:

Have a monthly budget.
Estimate your monthly traffic.
Understand the different types of web hosting services (Shared, VPS, Dedicated).
Estimate your server’s resource requirements.
Define the location – where are you and your website visitors are located.
Know what application your website is built with (Java, WordPress, Magento, etc.)
Get a sense of how much support you expect to require. Do you need a fully managed server, unmanaged, or something in between?

Most of these are pretty straight forward, but identifying the resource requirements often poses a challenge.

If you are completely new to web hosting, your web developer should give you an idea about the resource requirements.

If this is an existing website you can get this information from your current web hosting provider.

Coming Up Next

You are now equipped with all the tips needed to find a reliable web hosting provider.

If you’ve enjoyed this article check out the second part of this blog post series: Key Features to Consider When Choosing a Web Hosting Company

Need assistance choosing the best web hosting plan for your needs?

Get in touch!

We would love to learn more about your business and provide a solution that will accelerate your online growth.

01 May

How to Avoid Disaster Recovery

Avoid Server Disasters

While every business regardless of its size or its reliance on IT infrastructure should have a plan in place for disaster recovery, it is even more important to avoid or mitigate the damage from a business disaster in the first place. Business disasters can range from a data center fire to extreme natural disasters, such as a hurricane. Your IT infrastructure should be organized in a way that minimizes its overall exposure to business disasters and mitigates as much of their potential damage as possible if they do happen.

Here are the top 5 methods for protecting your company from needing to enact its disaster recovery plan in the first place.

Enterprise Hosting

Enterprise hosting is an increasingly common service that allows companies to outsource the hardware, maintenance and management of their software and applications. Many companies choose to use enterprise hosting services because it allows them to rely heavily on IT infrastructure to support their business without needing to develop their own expensive and complex in-house IT department. Enterprise hosting also allows a company to focus its IT efforts on product development and customer experience, while leaving the more mundane details of IT maintenance to a trusted and reliable third party with the resources and specialization to maintain the company’s software and applications for a much lower cost.

Using an enterprise hosting service also means that a large proportion of a company’s essential applications and software are hosted and maintained in a location that is not only separate from the company’s offices, but also designed to withstand accidents and disasters. Data centers are the most reliable locations for any form of IT infrastructure, which makes them the ideal place to safely run your company’s software and applications from.

The Latest Hardware and Technology

Using the latest hardware and technology for your IT infrastructure means that you have the most reliable support for your company’s network and software. Aging and outdated hardware and technology will be more prone to failure in the event of a disaster, which means that your company will be more exposed to data loss, network downtime and other similar IT infrastructure failures.

Identifying, acquiring and maintaining the latest hardware and technology for your IT infrastructure can be a very expensive challenge for all but the largest corporations. Most companies operate on dated, and even second-hand, hardware and technology, which leaves them extremely vulnerable to severe negative outcomes during disasters. By outsourcing as much of your IT infrastructure as possible, you not only ensure that most of your IT infrastructure is running on the latest hardware and technology at a professional data center, but it also provides you with the time and money to ensure that your essential on-site IT infrastructure is also able to use the latest technology and hardware.

Solid Network

A solid network ensures that your company’s IT infrastructure will continue to function effectively in the case of a disaster, allowing you to avoid any unnecessary and expensive restructuring, replacement and data restoration. Your company’s IT network is what allows all the different pieces of technology to communicate with one another and act as a secure medium for the operation of your applications and your company’s ability to communicate internally and externally. Weak networks are extremely vulnerable in the case of a disaster, which means that even otherwise intact IT infrastructure will be rendered useless as no individual nodes in your network can communicate with each other.

24/7 Service Monitoring (PRTG)

PRTG is a network monitoring software that provides unparalleled 24/7 protection for your network. PRTG is able to monitor the overall performance of your network and identify any potential problem areas long before they become an issue or cause any damage to your IT infrastructure. As advanced PRTG service monitoring may be, it does require professional oversight to understand the feedback and successfully apply remedies to your network. Professional data centers rely on PRTG to monitor all the company networks that they oversee, which means that outsourcing your IT infrastructure automatically ensures that you have 24/7 monitoring of your network by the most skilled professionals in the industry.

Data Center Certifications and Compliance

It is an unfortunate fact that not all data centers are created equally. Moreover, it is practically impossible for company owners or directors to be able to identify a good data center from a poor one based on sight and intuition alone. This is why the data center industry and regulatory bodies have developed strict requirements for certification and compliance standards, so that the end consumer can be assured that they are receiving a high quality service when they use an industry-certified data center.

Be sure that the data center that you use to outsource your IT infrastructure has all the latest certification from relevant industry bodies, which will ensure that your IT infrastructure has the greatest possible protection from business disaster. Data centers are designed specifically to protect the hosted IT infrastructure from damage and loss in the case of disasters and emergencies, and the certification ensures that you are receiving the highest possible level of protection for your IT infrastructure.

SoftsysHosting Offers All These Services and More

While it is impossible to keep your IT infrastructure completely safe from business disaster, you can ensure that it is as protected as possible by outsourcing most of it to a professional certified data center. Not only will your IT infrastructure have the best possible protection from business disaster, but you will also end up saving money, receiving higher quality IT services and allowing your in-house IT department to focus their efforts on product improvement and customer satisfaction, which is what ultimately drives sales and profit.

SoftsysHosting provides all of the above services and more for the most competitive prices in the industry, which makes them our top recommendation for protecting your company from business disasters and the need to enact your disaster recovery plan in the first place. There are many certified data centers and service providers, but SoftsysHosting stands above the rest for the quality of the services that they provide and the low price that they charge for these services.

09 Aug

How To Change SSH Port Of Linux Server

There are lot of brute force attacks over default service ports and hence it is highly recommended to change the default port as a first steps security measure. The default SSH port of Linux distros is 22. You can change this to something else by following below steps:

1) Login to the server via SSH as root:

ssh [email protected]/IP

where hostname/IP should be the host name / IP address to connect to the server.

2) We will need to edit sshd_config file and hence it is recommended that you backup original file before proceeding:

cp /etc/ssh/sshd_config /etc/ssh/sshd_config_backup

3) Open sshd_config in your favorite text editor (vim / nano):

vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config

-OR-

nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

4) Navigate to line containing text #Port (which is currently commended out with a # sign). Remove # and replace port 22 with your preferred new port # (eg. 2220).

#Port 22 should be replaced with

Port 2220 (without #)

5) Save your changes and close the sshd_config file

6) Important – If you have firewall running on the server, you will need to edit the rules and allow newly entered port # in firewall exception list. For default iptables, you can use below rule (for custom port 2220):
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp –dport 2220 -j ACCEPT

7) Restart sshd service by running /etc/init.d/sshd restart