Switching To A New Web Hosting Server Tips

When you decide to change your web hosting server, it is a somewhat difficult task to search for a similar or even better web hosting company that suits your website. There are certain very important things that you need to keep in mind while you are changing your web hosting company and moving to a new one. Below are some of the important steps that you need to follow while moving your website to a new web hosting server.

Before you decide to go for any particular kind of web hosting service, check whether it provides you with all the necessary features that your current web hosting service has been providing to your website. Check if you are you getting enough disk space, the monthly bandwidth, and almost 100 percent uptime guarantee. Also check if you will get special web scripts, e-mail, e-mail forwards, auto responders, add-ons, security features like fire walls and antivirus, the programming languages, website control panels, and other such important web applications.

Also, before opting for a new web hosting service, check all its agreement clauses carefully. If you feel that certain clauses need more clarification, ask the web host immediately. It will save you money and more frustrations later, if you are careful in the early stages. If the new web hosting service has its own forums, then take time to read the important threads and posts on that forum.

There will be many happy or unhappy customers writing about their experience with the hosting company. These views will provide you more information about the new hosting company’s service quality and how quickly the support team addresses various complaints. You will also get the idea of how good the entire hosting service is, and how professional their staff is. Check how often the websites experience site downtime, and long it takes for the support team to get those websites online again. Such scrutiny is important to get the information needed before opting for the new hosting service.

Also, check what operating system is compatible with the new web hosting server and does it match your existing one. You need to also check whether your entire website is compatible with the new web hosting server. Checking the compatibility of the web hosting server with your entire website is important. This is because of the fact that if both are not compatible then you may have to recode your entire website, or at least a major part of it, to make your website compatible with the new web hosting server. In the process, you may cause irreparable damage to your site.

Set up your domain name to point correctly to the new name servers. Again, ask your new host to help you in doing this. While the domain is being propagated to the new web server, many clients and web visitors will complain about your website either is being down and nonaccessible, or the data may become nonrelevant. Some may be able to see the new content, while some may only see old content. But these issues will pass away within 2 to 3 days. If this is not resolved, then you must again approach your new web host and seek immediate help from its support team.

After confirming all these important concerns, you can go ahead and register for their web hosting service. After going through the preliminary requirements, spend some time setting up your e-mail accounts. Your new web server must have all the e-mail related details set up, or you may lose important e-mails from your clients and web visitors. Get the POP3 and SMTP set up.

After signing up for the new web hosting company, you must upload all your website’s files and the databases correctly. Set up the File transfer Protocol (FTP) details correctly. Ask your new web host’s support team to help you, because unless you have correct parameters set up for the FTP, you will not be able to upload your backups and databases that contain important details and web content correctly. Each web file must have the correct permissions set, and must be compatible to the new web server.

Generally, the file transfer takes place through the FTP (File Transfer Protocol). It is much easier and much safer to transfer the files using applications like FTP from the old web server to your personal computer, and then from the personal computer to the new web server. However, before transferring the content from the old web server to the new web server, make sure you take the back up of the entire content is properly taken and preserved.

After uploading your web files is complete, test your website thoroughly. Check the various web pages and their graphics load correctly, and check that all the links – external and internal – work correctly. Also check if the changeover to the new hosting company has changed your ranking in the search engine adversely! This may happen if your robot file, file permissions, or the various Meta tags etc., may need careful rechecking.

While transferring the files to the new web server, there are many chances that something may go wrong and you may lose some or even the entire content. So, if you have the backups of the entire content including the databases, then even if the data is lost during the FTP transfer, you can reattempt the uploading of your web files using the backups.

As said earlier, the most important thing that you need to check is the customer support of that web hosting service. You should see that your web host is capable of providing you instant and top quality support in case of crisis. You can check their website, blogs and forums for comments about your web hosts customer support. You can even personally contact the users of that web hosting service and ask for the feedbacks.

If possible, you should keep the old web hosting service going for at least a few more days. Add a redirect page to the old website which directs every user who comes to this website to the website on the new web server. By doing this, you will not lose your earlier web traffic to the old website.

These are extensive procedures but each one needs to be addressed carefully. Your important website demands these tasks from you! Also, successfully carrying out these steps and tips will ensure a long-term successful association with the new web hosting service.

Even the best web hosting service may not suit all your web hosting-related needs, so check each of the guidelines carefully about your site’s needs.  A related search on internet can provide you more information of how to make the changeover to a new hosting service easier.

Desktop Database Programs vs. SQL Database Servers

When choosing a database system for your website, you will probably have to make the decision on whether you want to use a file based desktop database program or a service based SQL database server in order to host the database that you want to use along with your website. Although desktop database systems offer an easy to manage solution for those who may be new to using databases as part of a website, SQL database servers are normally much more scalable and because of the nature in which they run they can normally handle many more requests and users than desktop systems. Some web developers are use to using one kind of system which is one thing that may influence their decision when it comes to building database driven systems; however, there are different kinds of desktop database programs and SQL database servers, all of which are compatible with different programming languages. When choosing the kind of database system that you want to base your website on you should take into consideration a number of factors; you need to ensure that your chosen method will be able to cope with higher demand as your website expands, and that you aren’t going to be limited in any way. As your website grows, you may find it beneficial to switch to another database system if necessary.

The Different Programs Available to You

The main desktop database system being used by web developers at this moment in time is Microsoft Access; although it can only be used in conjunction with classic ASP and ASP.NET based websites, it still provides an easy to use solution that is perfect for small deployments. The main SQL servers in use at the moment are Microsoft SQL Server and the MySQL server; both can be used in conjunction with PHP and ASP.NET based web pages, although MySQL tends to be used more with PHP and Microsoft SQL Server with ASP.NET. Since there are so many options available, it is important for you to evaluate your needs but beforehand you should decide on which scripting language you are going to use.

Advantages

In terms of scalability SQL servers are better for the main reason that databases are served through a service, which in turn means that each time a database is called upon a new instance doesn’t need to be opened, only a new connection needs to be established. Desktop database systems on the other hand don’t tend to work through a service when being used in the context of a website, this means that every time the database is called upon, the database file has to be opened meaning that if this is being done simultaneously by many different users it can be quite resource intensive. However, desktop database management systems can still provide you with the following advantages:

• easy management - programs such as Microsoft Access are desktop based meaning that when you need to edit something, all you have to do is download the necessary file from your web space and from there you can use the program to edit and modify your database, once you have carried out all your modifications you can easily upload your modified database to your web space where all changes will be immediate
• low running costs - to begin with all you have to do is purchase the necessary desktop database program so that you can create and manage your databases - after that you can normally freely use your chosen application to create and modify as many databases as you wish, but it must be noted that you can only use the intended program to modify your database unless you build your own web-based interface
• easy to use - since desktop database systems are desktop based, no knowledge is necessarily needed to be able to manage such databases since the programs themselves are normally very intuitive and easy to learn - since the databases themselves aren’t SQL based there is no need to have any prior knowledge of SQL syntax.

Although using a desktop based database system may seem the best option for you if you are beginner, there are still advantages to be had from SQL database servers, especially if you wish to grow your website rapidly over a certain amount of time. Such advantages that SQL database servers can provide include:

• scalability - because SQL databases are served through a service and are based on SQL syntax they are in fact much more scalable meaning that they are used by some of the largest database driven websites on the internet - having scalability allows you to grow your website without having to worry about the database crashing or not being accessible because there are simply too many people using it at one time
• wider integration - SQL database systems can normally be used by many different scripting languages - for example ASP.NET and classic ASP have the ability to be used with both Microsoft SQL Server database servers and MySQL based database servers which provides webmasters with a good choice of database server that they can use when it comes to making their website database driven - they same cannot be said for desktop database systems however
• desktop management - like desktop database systems, SQL database servers can also be managed from the desktop using external tools which will connect to your SQL database server so that you are able to manage the different databases that users have created on your server, although you can also make use of web admin panels and other forms of SQL database management that are now available to you.

From the above we can safely assume that using a desktop database system is your safest option if you are a beginner, but if you are an experienced user who has confidence in using an SQL database server then you may find it’s worth it purely because of the scalability that is on offer from SQL database servers.

Disadvantages

However, there are still advantages to using either form of database system. The cost of having to purchase a desktop database system is enough to put some off, whilst others may find SQL database servers just too hard to use and understand. The important thing is that you choose a database system that is suitable to your needs and your website since you don’t want to end up finding that you aren’t able to manage your database correctly. Both forms of database are supported by most web hosting providers meaning that your choice of web hosting package is unlikely to affect your choice on the system that you use, but it may affect more specifically the actual product that you want to use in conjunction with your website. The main disadvantages for desktop based database programs include:

• cost - for example, Microsoft Access can cost anything from £100 if you choose to purchase it along with an entire Microsoft Office suite - now to justify this cost just so that you can create and manage databases is hard which is one reason why many system administrators are put off from using such applications with their websites - SQL database systems in most cases can be free to use and provide more advanced and usable advantages
• scalability - because they are file based, desktop databases aren’t very scalable and after a while will start to have an impact on the performance of your website - more so if it is starting to grow - which means that your website will start to load slowly, which in the end may put visitors off from returning since they want to be able to view your pages quickly and slow loading times aren’t going to help you in that area
• integration - for example, Microsoft Access databases can only be integrated into web pages that are based on classic ASP and ASP.NET scripts meaning that PHP developers are left with MySQL as their only real database option - however, this does mean that many developers are still using ASP.NET along with Microsoft Access because of the fact that websites based on both technologies are easy to develop.

Although you may have thought that an SQL database would be the best option for your website, there are still downsides to using SQL database servers. Although they present a much more secure solution, there are still certain disadvanatages including:

• harder management - in some cases you may find that you have to do extra research so that you are able to effectively manage your SQL database since there are many different things that you need to know about SQL - SQL itself is its own syntax meaning that you should know the basics of the syntax so that you can run certain commands against your database as and when needed, for example to clean up database records
• cost - although the MySQL database server is free to use you may find that your web hosting provider will charge you for the right to have a Microsoft SQL Server database since the database server itself does cost money, although the amount itself does depend on the version being usec - on the other hand some web hosting providers will be using the Express edition which means that you shouldn’t be charged a penny.

Since there are advantages and disadvantages to using both forms of database system, it is important that you evaluate your needs but crucially decide on whether or not you think your website will grow rapidly over a short amount of time. Once you have done that and decided on the scripting language you are going to use, you should be able to make an informed choice on which type of database system you want to use as part of your new website.

In conclusion, desktop database systems are ideal for beginners since no advanced technical knowledge is needed in order to manage one; they can also be quickly created and modified which helps make them more popular with experienced web developers. However, when it comes to expanding your website you will probably find that you will have to move over to using an SQL based database server which gives you a good reason to be using one initially. SQL database servers can both be bought for a lot of money and can also be had for free meaning that you can make use of them in your web hosting account and locally on your own computer.

SEO Basics for Your Website

Once you have created a new website and put it live, you may find it hard to attract visitors to your website if you haven’t optimized it correctly for search engines. When creating new websites it is important that you take the necessary steps to optimize your website and code to ensure that search engines will favour your website in certain keyword searches since this is the one thing that will ultimately decide on how many visitors your website gets, and therefore whether it is successful or not. Although there are individuals and companies around willing to offer their SEO services to you for a cost, it is important that as a website designer you embrace SEO so that when you design websites in the future all the necessary SEO groundwork is already laid out to be built upon. Most SEO techniques are very basic meaning that they are easy to learn and use practically; since they are basic techniques it doesn’t mean that you are going to experience large visitor counts everyday, but it does mean that you may get a higher ranking search engines than you would do on normal terms. Of course, if you feel that you aren’t up to learning new SEO techniques then you could of course employ a professional who will be able to do it on your behalf.

Keyword & Content Optimization

The most basic SEO concept that can be introduced to any website new or old is keyword optimization; this is where you have your content written in such a way that you have included as many relevant keywords as possible, a search engine is more like to favour your website in search results for certain keywords if it can see that you have done this with your content. Optimizing content is normally pretty easy once you have identified certain search engine keywords and phrases that you want yout website to do good in, since after that it is just the task of going through your existing content and editing it where necessary to include your chosen keywords and phrases. Although it is farely easy to go through content and changing it where necessary, it is still advised that you should hire a professional if you don’t think you know what you’re doing. The following tasks could also be included when it comes down to content and keyword optimization:

• content styling - to draw more attention to certain keywords that are contained within your content, you should make use of the bold and underline elements that can attached to any style using a style sheet and CSS - this is because search engines first search for the ’strong’ and ‘u’ tags which are sometimes used in web pages, and if a search engine can see that emphasis has been put on certain keywords and phrases then it is more likely to give your website priority when it comes to the keywords and phrases concerned
• use of images - using images to brighten up your content is also a good idea when it comes to encouraging visitors to return, especially in the case of a blog since it helps to put certain things into perspective for some visitors - if ‘alt’ tags are used on images which are inserted into your web pages then this can also have an affect SEO wise since search engines will pick up on the fact that you are using images in your content
• code optimization - you should also optimize your code when optimizing your content since you don’t want to end up having content which is several tags deep since search engines will give up trying to go any further after a certain point - it is also important to optimize the ‘title’ tag which all your web pages have since this is one thing which search engines will also base your score on, so its a good point to add as many keywords as you see fit in, but you should limit it to 25 characters.

As you can see as well as basic keyword and content optimization, there are also other tasks which can be carried out on your website and web pages to help your website achieve the best search engine ranking possible. Although such tasks can be done by some with basic knowledge of web development, it is recommended to hire a professional if you are after the best results.

Backlinks

Building up backlinks to your website is a good way of increasing your overall traffic count since the whole idea is to drive visitors from other websites which may be related to the same topic of your site to your website where they may have a browse around, and in the case that you sell goods or services, they may be tempted to buy these. In some cases backlinks can be had for free if you know the owner of a certain website or are able to a link exchange with them where they link to your website and in return you link back to their website; however, to get the most profitable link backs you will have to pay for them, and this can be done in the form of advertising on someone else’s site either through a third party advertising program such as Google Adsense or directly. Backlinks can provide your website with advantages in ways such as:

• increased visitor count - by getting backlinks from external websites you are able to increase your overall visitor count from external websites which aren’t search engines - if you place a backlink with certain keywords on a website which is related to the same subject as your website then you are very likely to bring in visitors who may be interested in the subject or nature of your website and may be tempted to purchase goods or services if applicable
• higher search engine score - if search engines see that your website is being linked back to on multiple websites of the same subject then they will pick up on this fact and will reward you with a higher score since they will class this as your website becoming more popular, therefore meaning that visitors will be given an advantage if they are presented with your website on the first page of results for certain keywords and phrases
• increased visitor confidence - if visitors arrive at your website through another website which they visit on a regular basis and probably trust then they are more likely to have trust in your website which in the end means that they may be more tempted into purchasing any goods or services that you may be offering for sale via your website.

Along with keyword optimization, backlinks are fundamentally one of the most important SEO tasks which you can carry out to help boost your websites position in search engine results. As the whole idea of SEO is to achieve a high search engine score which will boost your position in results, it is important that time is taken over it and that it is done professionally as to ensure that you can get the most out of internet search engines. If you are going to be paying for backlinks from other websites then it is important that you ask for hard proof of traffic counts, since the number of visitors and impressions are normally what the cost of backlinks is based on.

However, as well as basic SEO techniques you can’t beat good old advertising methods such as Google Adsense and Adbrite who will still serve your adverts to thousands of visitors each day allowing you to make the most of your investment. If you use Google’s Adwords service then your website will be favoured amongst others in certain keyword searches since Google likes to incorporate adverts with search results, as is noticable down the right hand side of each results page. The same is applicable to those who are using Yahoo’s advertising services, since Yahoo also use adverts in their search engines since it helps to deliver targeted results to users who are using Yahoo for their keyword searches.

In conclusion, optimizing your website for search engines isn’t a hard task, even if you use the most basic of methods including keyword/content optimization and building up backlinks from other websites and online directories. By achieving a higher search engine ranking you are guaranteed to be favoured over other websites when it comes down to certain keyword searches. As long as you focus your keyword optimization on a select group of keywords, search engines will probably notice this and take it into consideration when ranking your website. Optimzing your code is also important to ensure that it is readable by search engines who are indexing your website. You should also ensure that you gather backlinks from reputable websites only since this could damage your overall search engine ranking if you decide to use websites that may be blacklisted by search engines for your backlinks. However, if in doubt you can always hire a professional who will carry out the needed tasks on your behalf.

Plesk 9.0 vs. cPanel 11

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Plesk 9.0 and cPanel 11 are the latest and most up-to date control panels being used by web hosting providers to allow them to offer their web hosting services to their clients. Control panels are used by web hosting providers so that clients are able to manage all the different aspects of their web hosting accounts, since at the end of the day it makes the job easier for the support team if clients are able to do a majority of the ‘house keeping’ themselves. Control panels can serve many different purposes since both cPanel and Plesk pack enough features to cover the management of DNS, email, database and web services on both the half of the client and the server administrator. Control panel access is normally provided as standard by most web hosting providers for their web hosting accounts, but when it comes down to dedicated services such as VPS or dedicated server hosting you may end up being charged for the right to have a control panel installed on your server. Control panels are in most cases very easy to use and even those who have no knowledge of web hosting in general will be able to use them which is the main reason that larger control panels such as Plesk and cPanel are used by web hosting providers.

At this moment in time cPanel is only compatible with Linux servers, meaning that it is used by many web hosting providers as their chosen Linux control panel. Although Plesk will work on both Windows and Linux servers it is mainly used by web hosting providers on Windows servers because it is the most stable solution available, whereas cPanel is the most stable control panel available for Linux based web hosting servers. However, in some cases you may find that larger web hosting providers are using their own in-house control panels.

Advantages

Both control panels have their advantages when being used by either server administrators or customers of web hosting providers. Although Plesk may not be widely used by web hosting providers on the Linux platform it can certainly provide those who are use to using it with many advantages in this area. Although cPanel may not be available for Windows at this moment in time, it is still being actively developed for Windows and a version should be released in the first quarter of 2009. Since both control panels are used by many web hosting providers, this one factor is able to more or less ensure that both products will continue to be actively developed meaning that the companies building them won’t be going anywhere and that any necessary bug releases will be made in an acceptable amount of time. As a consumer or systems administrator, the main advantages which you may get from Plesk could include:

• cross platform compability - as a systems administrator you may find it more beneficial having one control panel on all of your servers since it means that you only need to master the one control panel instead of having to learn the ‘ins and outs’ of more than one control panel - as a consumer you may also find it more beneficial since it means that you should be able to get the same sorts of features from both Windows and Linux web hosting packages
• Windows support - unlike cPanel, Plesk will work on Windows web hosting services which allows web hosting providers to offer Windows based web hosting packages to their clients which in turn diversifies their product and service offerings - Windows web developers will benefit from this since their classic ASP and ASP.NET websites will only function on Windows based computers and servers with the necessary services installed
• Windows service support - since Plesk can be used on Windows based servers it has the ability to be integrated with many Windows based programs and comes with advanced feature support for certain Windows-only features - programs such as Microsoft SQL Server can be managed through Plesk 9.0 by both server administrators and consumers with their own databases making it the perfect Windows control panel solution.

Although Plesk seems perfect for Windows web hosting packages, it is important that you don’t forget that it also has its uses for Linux web hosting services. However, cPanel is the preferred control panel for Linux web hosting services, and in most cases is for reasons such as:

• faster loading times - cPanel is built differently to Plesk which means that its internal pages load quicker than those of Plesk and certain tasks are carried out quicker than they would be with the Plesk control panel - cPanel doesn’t have to rely on external databases in most cases which is one of the reasons why it glides along seamlessly and has proven to be a lot more reliable than Plesk on Linux servers
• more features for Linux - cPanel contains more features for Linux web hosting services than the Plesk control panel does - for example cPanel can be used in conjunction with many add-ons such as the CFS firewall and the Fantastico script installer to give customers a wide range of services that they can make use of from their web hosting account’s control panel, such features can’t be used on Plesk Linux web hosting servers
• resellers - until the most recent version, 9.0, Plesk hasn’t had any proper support for reseller web hosting accounts which is something that cPanel has triumphed in - cPanel also comes with the Web Host Manager (WHM) panel which allows resellers to control all the different aspects of their reseller accounts including the configuring of their own packages and that setting up of client web hosting accounts.

From the advantages we can tell that Plesk is ideal for Windows web hosting services because of the advanced features that it comes with, but when it comes down to Linux web hosting cPanel is the most desirable option because of its support for resellers and the multiple add-ons and plugins that are available for it. However, when cPanel releases its much anticipated Windows version, we may find that it also overtakes Plesk in the Windows hosting market.

Disadvantages

Although both control panels are good at what they are designed for, they both have disadvantages both in the way that you use them as well as the underlying architecture which helps them carry out the tasks that they are designed to do. cPanel’s inability to be used with Windows servers can be classed as a disadvantage since cPanel itself is such a highly rated control panel that many web hosting providers feel that this is one thing that they would like to see from cPanel. Plesk itself also has disadvantages since in some cases, especially when being used on Windows servers, it can be very slow to load which can cause problems for some people who may want to carry out a task quickly. However, the main disadvantages of Plesk include:

• lack of integration - unlike cPanel, Plesk can’t be integrated with many other third party applications which could benefit the server itself in any way which puts some off from using it on Linux web hosting servers - the same can be said for when it is being used on Windows web hosting servers but the only applications that can be integrated into Plesk only tend to be the more commercial and in some cases expensive ones
• slow loading times - due to the way that Plesk has been built, some users may find that it can get slow and sluggish at some times which may cause inconvenience for those who may want to change a certain setting on their control panel in a short amount of time, and this is something that can’t really be done with Plesk - this problem is still relevant to the latest 9.0 version and is evident even on servers of the highest specification
• lack of support for resellers - although Parallels has now released version 9.0 of Plesk for both Windows and Linux servers, many web hosting providers are still using older versions which don’t have support for reseller web hosting accounts - however, many web hosting providers have found a way around this and are still able to offer Windows and Linux reseller web hosting accounts using the Plesk control panel.

Although Plesk has its disadvantages, cPanel also has its disadvantages which can affect both users and system administrators. As one of the major players in the control panel industry, cPanel does its best to ensure that it tries and resolves any disadvantages there may be with its software. However, the main disadvantages that you may face with cPanel could include:

• Linux-only - cPanel is only able to run on Linux web hosting servers at this moment in time, and although this has helped it become the most popular Linux control panel around it does prove to be a disadvantage for systems administrators who need to know how to fix and maintain both cPanel and a Windows web hosting control panel - however, a Windows version of cPanel/WHM is due to release next year (2009)
• maintenance - you may find that you have to spend a long time setting up your cPanel server in order to ensure that it is secure so that it can’t be compromised by malicious attackers in any way - as well as this you will also find that you will have to update cPanel on a regular basis to ensure that any necessary bug fixes are installed - it is important to note that such processes can be automated with the use of scripts.

As you can see, both control panels have their disadvantages when they come to being used by both system administrators and consumers. However, as long as the web hosting package you have chosen suits your needs and you have bought it from a reputable web hosting provider, you are unlikely to face any problems.

In conclusion, both Plesk 9.0 and cPanel 11 offer web hosting providers a reliable control panel service but come with their own advantages and disadvantages. Due to it being a Linux-only control panel at this moment in time, cPanel is ideal for Linux hosting servers and has been perfected over a long period of time to reach where it is today; Plesk on the other hand isn’t so ideal for Linux hosting servers due to page lags, but still offer web hosting providers the best option for Windows web hosting services.

Using SQL Database Servers

SQL database servers are used by both businesses and individuals who are running large websites since they provide them with a scalable database hosting solution that is more reliable than any other form of database server such as desktop database systems. Different SQL database servers are available for different operating system platforms meaning that whatever operating system your servers may be based on, there will be an SQL database server available that you will be able to use. SQL databases servers can also be integrated with server side scripts and web pages to create dynamic websites, but again the SQL database server that you are able to use will be dependent on the scripting language that you will be using for your website. Some SQL servers are free whilst you may find that you have to pay for others, and the ones that you do have to pay for can be very expensive. Of course, whether you choose a free database server or decide to buy one, you will of course be governed by how much money you have to spend. Using an SQL database server is fairly easy due to the fact that many can now be managed using easy-to-use desktop management applications; this also means that you don’t necessarily need any such qualifications in order to manage an SQL database server, but having a fair amount of knowledge is a good idea.

The main SQL database servers that are used by web hosting providers and web developers includes MySQL for PHP web developers and Microsoft SQL Server for classic ASP and ASP.NET developers. MySQL is a database server that can be run on both Linux and Windows web hosting servers, allowing it to be offered on both Linux and Windows web hosting packages; Microsoft SQL Server on the other hand is a Microsoft product therefore meaning that it will only run on Windows based operating systems and can only be offered on Windows web hosting packages.

SQL database servers can provide you with many advantages when it comes to how you are able to use them since their architecture allows them to be deployed in multiple scenarios. Since they provide users with a more scalable solution than other forms of database can offer such as desktop database systems. Although there are different SQL database products around, they all serve the same purpose at the core but can be used in different scenarios and in conjunction with other different products. You can usually use an SQL database on any form of web hosting package that you purchase; for example, at least one MySQL database is provided with Linux web hosting services and one Microsoft SQL Server database is normally included with Windows web hosting services. The use of SQL databases is actively encouraged over desktop database solutions since SQL servers tend to be more reliable as well as more secure. The main advantages that you may find would include:

• scalability - by using SQL database servers you are able to ensure that as your website expands over time, your database will be able to expand at the same time - however, unlike with desktop database systems, you will be safe in the knowledge that as your database expands there will be no impact on the performance of either your database or website which means that you can allow your website to grow as much as you like, but you may have to upgrade to a VPS or dedicated server at some point in time
• security - although you can apply a password to databases that have been created using desktop database systems such as Microsoft Access, this is the only layer of security to prevent your database from being hacked - with SQL server databases a separate username and password are needed in order to gain access to any database that is being hosted on the server, and even then the actions of certain user accounts can be limited as to prevent any serious damage or data loss if a database does happen to be compromised in one way or another
• uses - because SQL databases are much more complicated than databases produced using desktop database systems, they can be used in many different scenarios because of the use of the complex SQL syntax - this means that as well as the handling of databases and the records which they contain, stored procedures amongst other features can also be used to help with the process of executing complicated SQL queries.

Using SQL database servers does require a certain amount of knowledge, especially with SQL syntax, since you want to be able to execute SQL queries against your database, but you should also try and make use of advanced features such as stored procedures that will improve your websites overall performance. At least one SQL database is provided with most web hosting packages meaning that you can always use that one database to test out SQL databases; you can also install SQL database servers locally on your computer for development and testing purposes.

There can be disadvantages to using SQL database servers as well. Although they may be able to give you that extra reliability that you may be after for your website, you have to monitor the servers themselves to ensure that they don’t crash since this could also affect any websites that you have running off databases hosted on that server. You as the end user will also require a certain level of knowledge since managing SQL databases isn’t as plain sailing as you may think it to be; having the necessary skills to manage SQL databases aren’t hard to learn, especially since there are many resourceful tutorials websites that contain guides and good collections of information that will teach you the necessary basic skills that will allow you to manage SQL databases. When it comes down to the management of the actual SQL database daemon and server you needn’t worry since unless you have a VPS or dedicated server, this is one task that is normally handelled by your web hosting provider. In summary, the main disadvantages that you may face with the use of SQL database servers include:

• extra skills - as an end user or server administrator, you may find that you will have to go on extra courses or teach yourself basic SQL syntax so that you are able to execute your own SQL queries against any databases that you create, but this will also aid you in the management of your databases as it will allow you take advantage of the more advanced features that come with many database servers which you may not necessarily use under normal cirumstances - however, at the end of the day, if you make use of other such features then you may be able to boost the reliability and speed of your website
• extra security and infrastructure - as a web hosting provider you may find that you have to invest extra money into your network and server infrastructure to ensure that it is as secure as possible so that you are able to deter any potential attackers from trying to gain access to your SQL database servers - for example, although you may alreayd have software firewalls installed on your database servers, you may find it beneficial to also have external hardware firewalls to aid in the security of your servers
• deployment costs - depending on the SQL server that you are looking to deploy across your web hosting servers, you may find that you have to pay license fees in order to have the right to use the software - for example, you will have to pay a license fee if you wish to use Microsoft SQL Server Standard or Enterprise Editions on your Windows web hosting servers, the Express edition however is free to use.

If you have the money to cover the extra costs that are involved in setting up SQL database servers then you may find that using SQL database servers is much more beneficial to your website because of the extra reliability that is provided with using such programs. If you do run a web hosting company then your existing employees may already have enough knowledge to be able to manage SQL database servers to an extent, but if you or your employees don’t have a high enough level of knowledge to do so then you may find yourself having to learn basic SQL management skills so that you can keep your database servers in good shape.

In conlcusion, using SQL database servers is a good idea for any website large or small since it will mean that you can improve the speed at which your website runs but also allows you to ensure that your website will be more reliable for the visitors which it receives. If you don’t have the money to invest in enterprise level SQL database hosting solutions then you can always make use of the freely available SQL database programs that you can then run on either your servers or on your local machine for development and testing purposes.

Using Video With Your Website

With the coming about of Web 2.0 many websites have been adapted to include new Web 2.0 based features, and out of the birth of Web 2.0 has been the boom of online video which is now the focal point for many of the internet’s largest websites. Using video gives website another way in which they are able to present content to visitors and is a welcome alternative to classic methods such as standard HTML web pages and maybe the use of standard flash animation. Using video in your website is a good way of getting information across to your visitors first hand which otherwise may not be classed as verifiable if it was in text form; for example, some companies are now using video as a method of having customer testimonials on their website, since if they have real people giving them good testimonials via video then customers are more likely to be tempted into purchasing their goods or services - however, verifiable information should still be provided to an extent. However, a majority of online video is now the result of user generated content which is what has formed the main part of the Web 2.0 revolution, and sites like YouTube and Vimeo are now being used by existing websites to breathe new life into their content.

Video Technologies

There are many different forms of online video that can be used, and your choice of which video format that you think would be suitable for your website should be based on your requirements as well as which one you think has the best qualities both in terms of audio and video. The main form of video used by websites such as YouTube and Vimeo is flash, but this can have certain compability problems with computers that are over a certain age as well as certain web browsers. Because of the way that online videos have to be embedded into web pages, you have to ensure that your chosen embedding method will conform with W3C accessability standards and that the video will be able to play in all modern web browsers. The main video formats that can be used in web pages one way or another include:

• flash/FLV - flash is the main format used by many websites due to its small file size footprint as well as the ability to work in almost any web browser and operating system combination there is available - however, the ability to be playable in any web browser and on any operating system does come with the disadvantage that end users have to install the third party Adobe flash player on their computers in order for videos to be viewable
• AVI - AVI is a standard Microsoft video format and in most cases is only playable through Windows based computers that have Windows Media player installed on them - also the integration with other browsers isn’t easy since with Firefox installed on a Windows machine for example, you have to installed an extra Firefox plugin in order to allow AVI based and WMV based video files to be playable through the web browser
• WMV - WMV stands for Windows Media Video file meaning that it will only play on Windows based computers whilst certain programs are needed in order for it to be playable on other operating systems such as OSX - although this may prove to be a disadvantage for WMV, it is able to be used for HD video content which may be beneficial to some websites.

Choosing the right video format for your needs is important since you want to be able to strike the right balance between accessibility and video/audio quality. Most formats can be embedded into web pages one way or another, but it is important for you to ensure that the format that you have chosen will be usable in your web pages one way or another.

How Video Can Benefit Your Website

In the long term using video on your website will probably result in a higher visitor count for the main reason that visitors will be returning more frequently. Depending on the subject of your website, as long as you regularly update your video so that there is something new each time visitors come along is a good idea since this will mean that there is something for both new and returning visitors. Using video on your website can also help bring your website up to date with the Web 2.0 era which is one thing that many active websites are still lacking. In summary, using video on your website will benefit you in the following ways:

• higher visitor count - by adding regularly updated video content to your website you are giving visitors another reason to return, and the good thing about this is that returning visitors are more likely to refer your website to friends and colleagues who may also share the same interest that your website is based on - these new visitors are then likely to refer others who they know to your website which in the end will give you a higher visitor count
• a more up-to date website - by using video on your website you are able to bring it up to Web 2.0 standards, and if you allow your visitors to contribute their own videos to your website then you will be adopting the standards even more since you will be allowing the use of user-generated content on your website - alternatively you can use a forum to have user-generated content as part of your overall content
• regularly updated content - when using text content you may find it a long and boring process having to update every so often, but depending on what kind of person you are you may find it more rewarding to use video on your website more often and you may even find it easier to update than you do text content.

As you can see, using video with your website can bring you many advantages both in terms of website management and your overall visitor count each month. If you’re website may be a bit outdated in terms of content then you can use video with it as a way of modernising it but also as a way of breathing new life into it and being a bit different content wise.

Disadvantages of Online Video

Although it may seem that using video with your website as a new form of content, it does come with some disadvantages which may affect you based on the resources that you have assigned to the web hosting package that you are using. The main disadvantage of video is that if you host it locally within your web hosting account, your bandwidth usage is going to rocket up if you have a large number of visitors passing through each day - this could potentially mean that you will use up all of your monthly bandwidth allowance in a short amount of time meaning that you will have to purchase extra bandwidth. Overall, the main disadvantages of using video are:

• cost - if you are planning on using video for your website then you will find that there are many costs involved such as purchasing the software and in some cases equipment that you will need in order to produce videos for your website, and once you have the videos made and uploaded you will end up paying your web hosting provider for extra disk space and bandwidth so that visitors will be able to view them
• bandwidth and disk space - you will find that extra bandwidth and disk space will be required in order for you to be able to host your own videos in your web hosting account since most standard web hosting packages don’t come with large amounts of either in order to be usable in the context of hosting videos that are going to be streamed through a website.

Although the cost of using video on your website may put you off from doing so, there are many other methods that you can use for free that will still leave you with the desired affect that you were wanting to achieve with online video. Services such as Vimeo and YouTube will host your online videos for you and will even produce the necessary code to allow you to embed them into your web pages. Since the third party services will be hosting your videos on your behalf you won’t face any unwanted disk space or bandwidth bills.

In conclusion, using video on your website is a good way of stimulating new growth through the use of updated content. If you have the appropriate software and equipment that will allow you to produce video content for your website then it’s worth a go, however you should note that your web hosting account may not have large enough amounts of either disk space or bandwidth that will be able to cope with the video that you are uploading. In the case that you need extra disk space or bandwidth you will probably have to pay your web hosting provider extra for the necessary resources.