Unix vs. Windows Hosting

Although the terms are often used interchangeably, Unix and Linux are two entirely different systems.  Linux was actually modeled after Unix, which is the oldest and one of the most widely used operating systems in the web hosting environment.  This platform is largely responsible for powering the internet and World Wide Web, proving that it can seamlessly run a multitude of applications and put out an excellent performance.  While Unix is definitely a stable and reliable system, its reputation as a cost effective platform isn’t necessarily a fitting title.  Earlier versions were at the forefront of the open-source software revolution but unlike Linux, not all distributions of Unix are open-source and definitely not free.   When purchasing a piece of server hardware equipped the software, you will find that a Unix license and complete system may cost tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Unix Pros

The Unix operating system was made to perform demanding tasks, giving it the ability to run multiple sites on a single machine with ease.  It is extremely flexible for programming environments and provides a tremendous level of administrative control.  Unix handles CGI scripts perhaps better than any other system, making it ideal for hosting operations that require a lot of automation.

Unix Cons

The disadvantages of Unix do not have much of a bearing on end-users or shared hosting customers, but to the server administrator, they can be a determining factor.  Thriving off raw DOS-like commands, it can be incredibly difficult to learn as there is no GUI to simplify management tasks.  In fact, it can take administrators years to fully grasp all the basic commands of the Unix operating system.

Windows

A relative newcomer to the web hosting arena, Microsoft got its start in the market with the introduction of its NT server operating system.  Windows NT was beloved instantly for its ease of use and seamless integration with the FrontPage web authoring tool.  This niche variation really appealed to users who lacked the ability to code with scripting technologies such as HTML, CGI and PHP.  Despite its popularity, Windows NT quickly gained a bad reputation for being vulnerable to exploits and stability issues.  The platform improved greatly with the introduction of Windows Server 2003 and got even better with the release of Windows Server 2008 in 2007.

Windows Pros

Windows offers a user-friendly setting that is quite familiar to its desktop environment, making it easier to use for administrators.  Instead of complex commands, management tasks can be handled from a GUI boasting icons and easy to use tools.

Windows Cons

Now far more stable and secure, the Windows disadvantages have been reduced significantly.  The biggest drawback would be cost, which stems from licenses tied to the Microsoft SQL Server, Exchange and even the Windows platform itself.

Conclusion

When it comes down to it, both Unix and Windows have demonstrated their ability to perform efficiently in the web hosting environment.  Both are traditionally more expensive than Linux so cost may not be as big a factor as you may think.  Perhaps the best way to decide is to base the decision on your experience with server software and most importantly, your particular needs.

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Jul 01, 2009 : Linux Web Hosting Windows Web Hosting No responses yet

Dominant Web Hosting Control Panels in 2009

Back in the early days of the World Wide Web, there was no such thing as a control panel.  This meant that it took a highly skilled developer and system administrator to maintain a simple website.  Trivial tasks such as setting up an email account, creating a database and running cron jobs all qualified as tedious processes that called for advanced OS commands to configure.   With Unix and Linux being the major platforms, these were tasks many administrators did not look forward to.  Thanks to advancements in web hosting technology, control panels now exist, allowing the above processes and several more to be handled by experienced and novice users alike.  Rather than taking an hour to set up a single email address, the entire process can be done in a matter of minutes with the few clicks of the mouse.

cPanel and Plesk are respectively the oldest and most popular control panels on the market.  These two applications are in high demand for several reasons, but mainly because of their features and efficiency in the server environment.  In this article we will talk about these two rivals along with DirectAdmin, another control panel ascending the ranks of popularity.

cPanel

cPanel is the leading control panel and a particular favorite among beginners.  Though it began as a Linux-only control panel, a beta version of the software is now compatible with the Windows operating system as well.  Users prefer cPanel because of its user-friendly interface that offers a simple design while placing all the features you need on a single page.  It won’t take you long to become comfortable with how to upload files, turn on your FrontPage extensions or access the site builder as everything is easily accessible.  Another benefit is the inclusion of Fantastico, which allows end-users to quickly install add-on scripts like blogs, forums, content management systems and other software programs with ease.  The simplicity of cPanel makes it ideal for end-users and system administrator familiar with the Linux operating system.

Plesk

Though very capable, Plesk is often viewed as being more complex than cPanel.  With that said, it has more administrator-friendly features and better clustering capabilities, able to function seamlessly in environments where multiple server applications are involved.  It also has a longer reputation of being a cross-platform solution as it is one of the first control panels to support Linux and Windows system.  Though it strives to meet the same goals, Plesk has a steeper learning curve for both system administrators and end-users.

DirectAdmin

The lesser known of the three, DirectAdmin is quickly becoming a popular choice for web hosting control panels.  This software presents a simple interface that makes it incredibly easy to use for beginners.  While it has does not have all the bells and whistles like the control panels above, less in more is the case of DirectAdim and the major reason behind its growing popularity.

There are several control panels on the market but only a select few are making noise in 2009.  The three programs mentioned in this article are leading the way because of their superior design and ability to automate a number of would-be complex tasks

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Jun 12, 2009 : Control Panels No responses yet

Comprehending Website Traffic Terminology

Analyzing traffic can be crucial to the planning and further development of your website.  When accessing traffic data, it is important to know what you’re actually looking at.  Hit counters such as those built with earlier versions of Microsoft FrontPage can be rather misleading and give you very inflated stats.  This counter and others like it only report numbers and make for a poor method of obtaining accurate, detailed website statistics.  Even the more comprehensive tools such as AwStats and Webalizer can be a bit much if you don’t know what the terminology means.  We will try to clear some of those terms up in this article.

The Hit

A hit is what you get after one of the files from your site is requested and served.  This could be an HTML document, image file or an audio track.  Pages that contain a lot of elements generally yield a high number of hits.  While hits sound good, they are actually of very little importance when it comes to analyzing your traffic.

The Page View

A page view is simply that.  Just like the hit, it does not really give you a good indication of how many different visitors are stopping by your site.  It is however, an effective way to judge the stickiness of your site, which refers to the site’s ability to retain the interest of visitors.  Carefully analyzing page views could go a long in boosting your ad revenues.

The Unique Visitor

The unique visitor area is where your true stats lie, the ones that really count for something.  Hence the name, it refers to a visitor that has a unique IP address, usually visiting the site for the first time on a given day or period.  Thus, even if a visitor refreshes or comes in and out of your site multiple times, they will only be counted for once, thus giving you one unique visitor.  This is the stat that will actually tell you how many people are visiting your site per day, per week and per month, providing a much more accurate way to analyze the performance of your site.

The Referrer

A referrer is not all that difficult to understand.  It simply refers to the origins of the visitor to your website such as the last site they visited, the page on that site and many other insightful details.  This information can be helpful for your affiliate programs and networking ventures.

Conclusion

Going over and analyzing your website traffic data can be vital to its longevity.  Though it may take up a chunk of your time, you will find that this is time well spent.  You don’t want to spend too much time on it though.  After all, you probably also need to put effort into promotions, networking, checking on links, creating new content and all that fun stuff that goes into maintaining a website.  No one ever said that running a website was easy, but it sure can be rewarding when giving it your all. 

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Jun 10, 2009 : General No responses yet

Can You Still Get FrontPage Support?

Much of the web design community is in disarray as an icon grows closer to complete extinction.  If you haven’t heard the news, Microsoft has discounted its popular FrontPage web design tool.  FrontPage 2003 was the last version and this highly successful line was officially replaced by Web Expression in 2006.  If you rely on FrontPage to design websites, don’t panic because Microsoft will continue to support the software until the latter part of 2009 and offer extended support until 2014.  The good thing is that you have the option of importing your FrontPage-built site into the Expression Web environment.  In these article we will talk about how these two web design tools match up to find out what you might be missing one day.

What’s Different

Expression Web was designed to be backwards compatible with FrontPage.  This simply means that is supports websites built with the FrontPage client. And while it also sports a similar interface, the one thing you may notice when working with Expression is that it lacks components such as photo galleries and web forms that had become standard in FrontPage.  The reason these elements were left out is because they created code that did not meet W3C standards.  If you have an existing website that contains these elements there is no need to worry as they can still be maintained and modified with the Expression application.  The major difference is that the new software offers numerous tools that let you create the same features in a manner that is more customizable and mostly importantly, W3C compliant.

Expression Benefits

Perhaps the greatest benefit of Expression Web is that it doesn’t require the use of FrontPage server extensions.  The unique advantage is that you can still use the software to update sites created with the server-side technology.  You just will not be able to create new components that require FrontPage extensions.  Another benefit of Expression is that it provides easy access to tools that allow you to edit CSS without any knowledge of Cascade Stye Sheets.  This is similar to how FrontPage provides comprehensive tools that help you manipulate HTML programming.

When looking at it from this angle, you can see that Expression Web certainly offers a level of simplicity that is reminiscent to its predecessor.

The Outlook on FrontPage

In the end, Expression Web is definitely worth switching over to and the transition should be a smooth one for those who are familiar with FrontPage.  While there is a learning curve with some of the new tools, the basics are straightforward and will help you get set up right away.   The more complex tools can be learned along the way and easily implemented when you make updates to your site.

Even though the software is no longer in development, you will have a much easier time finding FrontPage support opposed to Expression Web at the moment.  It has become a popular niche in the web hosting arena and almost everyone offers it.   Just keep in mind that there will probably come a time when FrontPage is phased out altogether. Until then, enjoy.

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May 13, 2009 : FrontPage Hosting No responses yet

Establishing Your Web Presence with FrontPage

The proven capabilities of FrontPage has made FrontPage web hosting one of the most popular hosting solutions around.  This niche service is particularly a hit among users who lack web design skills as well as the financial resources needed to hire a professional designer.  The technology behind this type of hosting provides the ability for someone with no programming experience to create a professional website that ranks among some of the best in terms of appearance.  FrontPage hosting is ideal for simple personal sites or large e-commerce sites that require dynamic elements and features such as photo galleries, web forms and hit counters.

What is So Special About FrontPage Hosting?

FrontPage web hosting is one that offers support for the popular web design and management software tool developed by Microsoft.  The major draw to this type of hosting is a simplicity that enables virtually anyone to create a great looking website regardless of experience.  FrontPage does not require you to know complex server-side languages such as Microsoft’s ASP or even more basic client-side technologies like HTML.  On the other hand, those who are skilled in HTML programming can benefit tremendously from the ability to add and edit code. These modifications can all be made through a comprehensive interface that caters to the user already familiar with the Microsoft Office environment.

Aside from simplicity, FrontPage hosting also tends to be among the most affordable solutions around.  In fact, this tool has become so popular that it comes included in the majority of the hosting plans on the market, available in both Windows and Unix-like flavors.  Additionally, FrontPage offers a number of features to help build and manage your site.  This includes easy to use drop-down menus, check boxes, radio boxes and instant team websites to support multiple users.  Not to be overlooked is the plethora of pre-designed templates that allow you to instantly change the look of your site along with the web import dialog feature that gives you the ability to connect remote sites.  FrontPage offers advantages for the anyone who wants to create a data-driven site where users can be interconnected in a variety of ways via XML.  This and much more is all made possible through its intuitive WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get) editor.

Finding a FrontPage Solution

When looking at all the benefits, it is clear to see why FrontPage is such a popular offering in the web hosting arena.  If the this is the type of feature you desire, you will first need the Microsoft FrontPage application installed on your computer.  This program usually comes bundled with the Office suite on older versions of the Windows operating system.  Secondly, you will need a host that supports FrontPage through a special set of scripts known as FrontPage Extensions.  Because there are so many hosting providers on the market, finding this type of support shouldn’t be a difficult task at all.  With these vital elements intact, you can have your FrontPage site online in no time.

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May 06, 2009 : FrontPage Hosting No responses yet