Here are step-by-step instructions to guide you through the process of changing web hosts for your web site. FYI, this is quite an easy affair so please leave all your fears behind.
Keep the username and password of your domain name account ready. These login details are different from the login information of your present web hosting company, unless you have purchased the domain name from the latter.
To repeat: You need the username and password of the account at the company from whom you bought the domain name.
Research and find a good and reliable web host. I am sure that the reason you want to change is because you are dissatisfied with the present company. We don’t want this to happen again… right? Hence, spend some time exploring the web and reading reviews. Maybe my list of recommended web hosting companies can help - take a look.
Once you have made your choice, purchase an appropriate web hosting package from them. Confirm the purchase and carefully read the emails that you receive from the company. As you can guess, the emails contain sensitive and important information. Taking a printout and keeping it in a safe place would be a smart thing to do.
Make sure you get the name server information of the new server. Your new web host should send you a primary and a secondary name server. It would typically be in the email you receive from the web host. If not (hmmm), check the support or FAQ pages on their web site. Still lost? Contact their technical staff immediately.
Now log in at your domain name account (refer point 1 above) and change the DNS information associated with your domain name to the new values. Generally, you will find a “Change Name Server” or equivalent link in your account. Make sure you enter both the primary and secondary name servers. For details, read how to change the name servers associated with my domain name.
When you modified the name servers, you would be told that the change will take 24 to 72 hours so you need to be patient. Nowadays, I have noticed that name server changes take place quite fast - 14-18 hours.
Why this lag time? The information on all domains is stored on certain computers scattered around the world. All of these machines need to be updated with the new information and that, I think you can understand, would take a bit of time.
Note: When you modify the DNS associated with your domain name you might (depends on your domain name registrar) receive an email from the company. This message would come on the email address used at the time of registering the domain name. The email would either inform you of the change or request a confirmation. Read it thoroughly and follow the instructions carefully.
Once your domain name has been associated with the new web host, you would be able to upload your web site on the server.
In the past few weeks, I’ve been appalled with the price that some churches and ministry organizations are paying for their web hosting. It’s not the church’s fault; many of them signed up with web hosting companies years ago, and are still paying the rates from years ago. Here are two examples of groups who I would say are simply being taken advantage of:
One church was paying $26.95/month for 100mb of storage space, 1 MySQL database and a limited number of email addresses and very poor customer service. In order to use another MySQL database, they would have to upgrade their account.
Another church group was paying $45/month for a “Premier” hosting package that included 100mb of storage space, 24-hr FTP access (I find that funny), up to 20 email accounts(!!!) and “no hidden charges or fees.” Absolutely ridiculous. The same web host charges the following for their “web design:” $425 for the Home page, and $225 for each additional page. Are you kidding me?
I feel like I should start a business that simply contacts every church that has a website and helps them to switch their sites to a new web host. I’d guess that over 90% of churches and small non-profits that have websites are paying 2, 3, 4-times more than they need to for their website/email packages. And it’s not their fault - years ago they just got into a web hosting contract with a company, and they’re not aware of the significant decrease in costs for these types of services now. And that’s how some churches are still paying someone $45/month for 100mb of space, 20 email accounts and 24-hr FTP access.
The other problem is that sometimes these web hosts are church members! It’s an issue of stewardship - and if someone in the church is making the church pay outrageous prices for something that can be as cheap as $5/month, that is just unacceptable. Granted, there may be some reasons why some churches stay with certain providers, but if you are on staff at a church that has a website, I’d encourage you to take a look and see what you’re paying for your web hosting and email services. My guess is that it is probably too much - and while it may take some phone calls and time figuring out how to switch to another host, it will save your church money in the long run.
Interested in starting a Wordpress blog? If you are currently running a Blogger blog, or just simply writing for other websites, it is probably about time you thought about running your own WordPress Blog. If you haven’t already, that’s probably because you feel a little overwhelmed about choosing web hosting and installing wordpress. Well, I’m going to make it easy for you!
You may not know, that some hosting companies offer an automatic install of Wordpress, and many other blog applications for that matter.Wordpress web hosting is actually very easy, and if you have your own hosting and domain, you website is considered much better for Google and other search engines.
To get started, you have to purchase a hosting account and domain. There are many hosting companies out there, but only some of them offer the easy of a simple, one click installation of Wordpress and you’re on your way! The best part about having your own Wordpress web hosting is that you own that web space, so, in business terms, you’ve accumulated an asset that God willing brings you to owning a valuable asset!
To get started, go to 3FN and get a small package, don’t forget to get a domain name also! They are a very reputable company, very popular company, I use them personally for almost all my websites and they also happen to have the cheapest prices! I personally like to just purchase the whole year, so that I don’t pay extra purchasing 6 months at a time.
Shared or Dedicated Web Hosting - Which Should You Choose?
Should I rent a dedicated or shared Web server?
Do I Need a Shared or Dedicated Server?
The overwhelming majority of web sites that you find online are hosted on shared servers. There are indeed benefits to hosting your web site on a dedicated server, as will be explained below, but for most people the significant jump in cost does not justify such a decision.
What’s the Difference Between a Shared Server and a Dedicated Server?
The difference between a shared server and a dedicated server is that in the case of a dedicated web server, your web site has its own server where all of your web files and databases are stored. With a shared server on the other hand, you share server space with other web sites; sometimes it can be a few hundred web sites or even a few thousand, depending on the hosting company you choose. More reliable web hosts will keep the number of web sites on each shared server to a reasonable minimum, so that your site’s load time isn’t adversely affected. Before choosing a web host, it is a good idea to find out from the host exactly how many sites you will be sharing a server with.
In the diagrams below, look at the dedicated server setup (right) verse the shared server structure (left), where multiple sites are hosted on the same device:
To better understand the difference between shared and dedicated servers, think of the computer you’re using right now. Are only your files stored on it, or do you share the computer’s space with other members of your family or co-workers? It would be less economical for your family to have a different computer dedicated to each family member, unless a certain member of your family was using a very large portion of the computer’s resources. In that case, the family member in question may need his or her own computer that is dedicated entirely to them. This is also true in the case of web servers. A web site that demands a large portion of the server’s resources is less disruptive on its own dedicated web server, while a less demanding web site will function fine on a shared web server setup.
Which Should I Choose, a Shared or a Dedicated Server?
Unless cost is not (and will never be) a factor in your decision, when starting a web site it is usually best to store your site on a shared server at a reliable hosting company. We host this web site on a shared server at HostRocket.com, who has provided reliable hosting for several of CTF Media’s web sites for more than five years. Paying five to fifteen dollars a month for a shared server (instead of $90+ for a dedicated setup) will give you time to affordably design and optimize your web site. Keep in mind that you can always upgrade later if you outgrow your memory space and bandwidth, which are usually quite considerable. When signing up for shared hosting, be sure to sign up for a dedicated IP address, as explained below.
Do I need a Dedicated IP Address on a Shared Server?
An IP address is a unique address given to each computer, including web servers. Dedicated servers usually have a single dedicated IP address unique to the server device (unless you’re a reseller). Shared servers however, often share a single IP address across multiple web sites on the server. This can lead to many problems since search engines often identify web sites by each site’s IP address. For example, let’s say that you share server space with JoesCrackHaven.com and Google decides to ban JoesCrackHaven.com from its search engine (Joe could have been spamming the engine or doing something else that Google prohibits). Google will ban JoesCrackHaven by the web site’s IP address, not by the site’s URL (domain name). Unfortunately, since you share the same server IP address with Joe’s site, your web site will be banned from Google as well, because the search engines ban by IP address, not by URL. In that case, when signing up for a shared server, be sure to choose a hosting company that allows you to have a dedicated IP address, which can cost an additional few bucks but is highly advised.
Before you begin your search for a web host you should first determine whether you need shared web hosting or dedicated web hosting.
A shared web hosting account is an account on a web server that hosts other shared accounts. The number of accounts on one shared server can vary widely; some servers host a few hundred, while others have thousands of sites hosted on one server. Hosting your website on a shared server is a workable solution for many small businesses, as shared hosting accounts are priced much lower than dedicated servers. Shared web hosting accounts have limited access to the core administrative functions of the server. Most web hosting companies offer comprehensive technical support for users of shared hosting plans. Complete technical support is usually included in the price of your account plan.
A dedicated server is usually dedicated to one, or just a few websites, usually for the sole use by one company. The cost of a dedicated server is higher than that of a shared hosting account. With a dedicated server, you have access to the core administrative functions of the server. With most dedicated server plans offered by hosting companies, you’re pretty much on your own where technical support is concerned. If you don’t have an IT staff or a server administrator to provide support, you may want to find a person to help you manage your dedicated server. Many hosting companies that offer dedicated server plans also offer “per issue” support, meaning that you’ll pay a certain amount, usually an hourly fee, for technical support issues. Some dedicated server plans have optional “support tickets” that you can purchase in advance.
Another option is what’s called a “managed dedicated” hosting plan. With a managed dedicated plan, you get a dedicated server and the hosting company also provides comprehensive support like you usually find in a shared hosting plan. This is a good alternative for companies that don’t have an IT staff or a server administrator and don’t want to get involved at all in the technical aspects of running a server. The price for a managed dedicated server is usually higher than for an unmanaged dedicated server plan as you’re getting technical support included.
Whatever type of web hosting plan you choose, make sure that the plan you’ve chosen fits your needs.
Shared web hosting is just that – several websites are located on a single server. Since it is split up among several website owners, the price is cheaper than dedicated hosting. The down side is that storage and bandwidth are limited in a shared hosting situation. However, most small to medium size businesses operate their websites on a shared host effectively and efficiently. If you anticipate a few thousand visitors per day or less, shared hosting can be a good choice for your website.
Dedicated web hosting is exactly what it sounds like. One server is used solely for the purpose of hosting one website. If you plan to have an extremely popular website, this option will allow you to host many more visitors than shared web hosting. A dedicated web host is recommended for websites that need high bandwidth requirements or need high storage capacity. Since you are not sharing it with other websites, it all belongs to you on a dedicated server.
While you are researching potential web hosts, there are a few clues you can look for to determine whether the host is shared or dedicated. Many times the web host will actually say whether it is shared or dedicated. If it does not say, it is generally shared. Just to make sure, look at the price. If it’s cheaper than $80 per month, it is generally a shared web hosting plan.
A. Shared, or virtual, servers are usually more than adequate for low volume or entry-level sites. Sites with highly sensitive information, high volume, or special software requirements will probably need a dedicated server. The items below detail the major characteristics of shared and dedicated Web servers.
DEDICATED
Able to install customized e-commerce or database applications
Access to server operating system
More expensive
Increased security; ability to manage firewalls and all password access
Managing and estimating traffic levels is up to you
Requires technical skill to administer
SHARED
Restricted to software and operating systems offered by the host
Limited access to OS
Less expensive
Less secure; a breach of security on another site on the server could affect your site
No control over total traffic on server
Needs little technical ability to administer
Having a dedicated server gives you high flexibility and a lot of options for your site. Usually you have root/admin access to the server and you can manage and modify each aspect of the server behavior - software running, configuration, etc. So if your site needs more than any shared hosting plan can offer or if you have some special requirements - the dedicated server is the right choice for you. When you are on a dedicated server - your site is the only one that uses the server resources. Also when on a dedicated server you have no restrictions on the number of websites that you can host, on the number of mailboxes. The whole CPU and memory is on your disposal. You can install whatever programs and software that you wish.
Most companies rent dedicated servers for a monthly fee. The fee includes certain amount of bandwidth and one or more dedicated IP addresses. Additional bandwidth usually costs less compared to a sharing hosting plan.
The greatest disadvantage of a dedicated server is its price. It is significantly higher compared to shared hosting plans. Another thing is that while on a shared hosting plan, the webhost staff takes care of the server upgrades, security, hacker attacks, etc. On a dedicated server these tasks in most of the cases are your own responsibility. So you need to be familiar with system administration before going for a dedicated or at least hire a sysadmin to take care of your server.
There are a lot of companies that offer the so called “Managed dedicated” servers. With these packages most of the regular maintenance and system administration tasks are carried on by the company itself. You need to check the company offerings for full list of features and specs included in their dedicated server deal.
Some dedicated servers come along with a lot of software installed. This includes regular features as email, database server, web server, etc as well as some management software(Control panel - Cpanel, Plesk, Exim) with web interface for managing different aspects of the server - configuring websites, creating mailboxes, ftp user, etc.
When do I need a dedicated server? There is no simple answer to that. In general you may need a dedicated server in any of the following cases:
Security - Being on a dedicated server, you are on your own. You do not share the server with anybody else. Nobody has access to the server. So you can be sure that you data is safe. For example on a shared host in case of mis-configured server some other users on the server might be able to read your data. When on VPS, there is always a sysadmin that can read your data. When on dedicated - nobody is granted access to the server except you.
CPU power - When on a shared hosting plan or a VPS you share the CPU, RAM and I/O resources with other users on the same server. As any other shared resources, there might be occasions in which a given user will take all the CPU and/or RAM and the server performance can suffer greatly, even a server can go down. The bad thing is that you cannot do anything about it. When on a dedicated, the CPU works only for your site. Yeah, your site can bring the server down too, but at least you have more control over the situation.
Performance
As explained in the previous paragraph, when you are alone on the server all resources are allocated to your site. So a dedicated server performance cannot be compared to the performance of any other type of hosting plan.
The Downsides
The Greatest downsides are that now, when you have a dedicated server you will need to manage it - configure software, apply security patches, monitor uptime, perform backups - all the regular sysadmin tasks that are being performed by the web host when you are on a shared or a VPS plan. So to be able to run a dedicated server, you must either have the necessary sysadmin skills or have the necessary money to hire a sysadmin to manage the server for you.
Conclusion
Dedicated servers are great. However you need to make up your choice and balance between your budget, skills and your website requirements.
Some of the companies offering dedicated and managed servers include:
