Shared webhosting vs Dedicated webhosting

By

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July 29, 2008

Your Web hosting company can be your site’s best friend or worst enemy – depending on the level of service and responsiveness. A successful Web site depends on a good Web host, but it’s just as important to select the right kind of hosting account.

Are you willing to share space on a server with other sites or do you need a server of your own? Know the answer before you start shopping.

Unique And Shared Addresses

Every server connected to the Web has its own IP address. The IP address uniquely identifies that server much like a membership number or driver’s license number identifies a particular individual. IP addresses are also tied to domain names. This relationship means that Web users can either enter a domain name or an IP address in a Web browser to access the information on a Web server.

The basic difference between Web hosting accounts is whether a site has its own server or shares one with other Web sites. That arrangement determines whether the site has its own IP address or shares one with other sites.

Most small to medium-sized sites use a type of hosting called “virtual hosting” where a number of Web sites reside on the same server. Because the sites share a server, they also share an IP address.

Large and/or busy sites usually can’t share server space because the volume of Web traffic from many sites would quickly overwhelm the server. Those sites either operate their own servers or select a “dedicated hosting” option from their Web host. Dedicated hosting means that your site is the only site residing on the server and so you aren’t sharing an IP address with any other site.

Which type is best for you? Let’s look at the good and bad points of both.

Share The Risk With Virtual Hosting

The best thing about virtual hosting is price: it’s usually really low. Depending on your site’s technology, storage, and bandwidth requirements, virtual hosting can cost anywhere from $3 to $20 per month. It’s even possible to get free hosting in return for displaying ads from the hosting company or one of its partners on your site.

If price is your main concern, then virtual hosting may be right for you. But make sure you’re aware of potential problems:

Know your neighborhood

Sharing an IP address with known spam sites or adult sites raises a warning flag with search engines. Spam sites try to trick search engines into giving them an under-served high rank, so some search engines like AltaVista respond by banning the entire IP address from their index.

Check your Web host’s terms of service page to see what sites are allowed on their servers. Also ask if they offer an individual IP address for different sites on the same server. Some hosts do, but make sure the IP address and domain name resolve correctly before you start promoting the site.

Slower server response

A server receives requests for files and serves up those files in the order the requests are received.

It’s like a line at the bank

if you’re second in line you get served pretty quickly but it you’re twelfth in line you’ll wait much longer.

Ask your host how many sites reside on each server and how much traffic those sites get. The sheer number of sites isn’t the only issue. Response time may be slower if you share space with 100 busy sites than if you share a server with 250 sites that only get a few hits per day.

Slow server response can hurt site promotion by frustrating visitors. In extreme cases, pages may timeout and never load: not a good idea if that happens when search engine spiders crawl by.

More server crashes

Most Web hosts strictly limit the type of CGI scripts allowed on their servers, and with good reason! A poorly-written CGI script can quickly run wild and consume most of the server’s resources, even crashing it.

Your site could be slowed or brought down entirely due to the action of a neighboring site.

Don’t get scared by these concerns. The overwhelming number of Web sites use virtual hosting and never experience any problems. You just don’t want to be the exception! Evaluate the host carefully before you sign up for an account.

Own Your Home With A Dedicated Server

Dedicated hosting costs more, but offers more features and benefits. With dedicated hosting, you’re the only site on the server and have your own IP address. A dedicated IP address used to be a requirement for SSL (secure sockets layer) encryption, but some hosting companies now offer it as part of virtual hosting packages.

Because you have the server to yourself, dedicating hosting is more expensive. It’s like owning a home instead of renting an apartment. Like any homeowner, your costs will be higher, but there are benefits to the arrangement:

More control

You don’t have to worry about someone’s bad script slowing or crashing the server. You have only yourself to blame if that happens!

Faster response with high traffic loads

Because the server only responds to request for information from your site, visitors won’t have to wait in line to view your Web pages and images.

Easier setups

It’s easier to set up the server to handle anonymous FTP and SSL encryption if the server has a dedicated IP address. This isn’t impossible with virtual hosting, it is more difficult.

Many virtual hosts don’t offer it or charge a premium if they do. If the host offers SSL encryption with a virtual hosting account, make sure they set it up for you!

No bandwidth penalty

Virtual hosting accounts usually offer a certain amount of bandwidth per month to each site on the server. Sites that go over their allotment get charged extra. But dedicated hosting generally has no such restrictions because it’s assumed you need a lot of bandwidth if you require your own server.

Those are great benefits, but they usually don’t justify the extra cost for smaller sites. Evaluate your needs and your financial resources before you sign up for hosting and choose your host carefully.

A First Commission Meeting

By

Alan

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July 15, 2008

I read once, long ago, in our local blogosphere, that there had been, or were, too much unanimous voting going on in our City Commission meetings.

After attending what I could of tonight’s City Commission meeting, I can come to understand why the commission would be voting in such a way on various ordinances and the like.

Watching the meetings on TV would be fine I suppose, but that sort of limits any potential input. Seeing the commissioners in action tonight, up close and in real life, sort of put a different spin on some of what I’ve been reading in the blogosphere over the months.

The realtors and the landlords that were there tonight absolutely didn’t care about the proposed passing of the City Budget. They were much more concerned with not wanting to be “too” responsible for the folks they rent to instead, and once their proposed ordinance was tabled, they all lit out of there as if they had a bug up their butts.

I guess that City business isn’t all that important … well, it’s important enough to complain about … but not important enough to be an active participant in the process. I mean, after all, realtors must not care that their property taxes just went up 3% on all of their rental properties … no one stuck around long enough to provide any input on the matter. So the next time I hear one of our landlords bitch about property taxes, I’ll just remind them of tonight’s meeting.

Our Mayor and our Commissioners need to get a medal. Sitting there for hours, having to listen to the same old stuff, the same old off-cocked statements … every other week, there’s the same old people presenting the same old tired irrelevant arguments.

” … So? Are you for or against the City Budget? …. wait a minute, I didn’t ask you to show me all of those silly little graphs and charts … I mean, who cares about dated materials anyway? … “

” … What is it about this tax hike that makes you think it shouldn’t be passed? And, no, I don’t care if you are from hell … just provide me with your statement, either supporting it, or not…

I don’t think that landlords should be let off the hook so easily. So we’ll give the tenant 3 strikes? How about giving the landlord 3 strikes. In that if the premise/apt/residence is cited 3 times in 90 days, then write the landlord up with a citation. Landlords are responsible for their own properties … They take the risk, by renting, to someone who “isn’t” them … risk comes with the territory in any business … Landlords are in business, are they not? So let them carry some of the risk.

Oregon has a law that puts the parent in jail if the juvenile is a delinquent and gets arrested … Juvenile Delinquency in the state of Oregon dropped 90% in one year because of that law … Landlords need to be held accountable in just such a fashion as this. Drug houses would disappear over night, and our law enforcement wouldn’t have to be working so many long hours as a result. It would be a “Win” “Win” for Great Falls.

Don’t cut ourselves off at the pockets. Lose the golf courses, sell them to private interests, and save DARE and our law enforcement officers.

Match funding with the private sector, dollar for dollar for things like Riverfest and fireworks for 3 years at least, and approve a tourist tax, at restaurants and department stores … whoever doesn’t have a Montana drivers license with an address inside of Cascade County gets to pay the 4% sales tax. (the tourist tax would cure a lot of budget shortfalls all on it’s own) Let’s use a little bit of OPM (other peoples money) to make up for our budget shortfalls by a 4% tourist tax.

Raise parking meter rates to 50 cents, and raise our curbcut permits from $30.00 to $50.00 …

There are a ton of ways to make money here, all are easily administered and applied.

I don’t mind having to pay a little more for permits, or parking, especially if it would benefit Great Falls.

And, for as many as there are that “don’t” show up at commission meetings … these things shouldn’t have to worry much about being “tabled”.

There are those around here that would piss and moan their entire lives away because they somehow feel that our City Commission isn’t doing their job … Really though, the way it works is that “no one” ever bothers showing up to the commission meetings, thus, in the end, leaving our commissioners with very little, or no, input from the public at all … The job of running this city is only half finished until folks realize that showing up for these meetings is what makes the job complete.

I’m at a loss here … How can our City Commission go all on about the business of the day when nobody ever bothers to provide them with any “real” input?

Trailer house remodel

By

Alan

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April 5, 2007

This is all coming along fine.

Hallway and bathroom are being done at the same time and it’s causing somewhat of a bottleneck in the house.

Had to do the tub and toilet area in the same day because, well, you know, both of these are used on a constant every day deal.

So far so good though. Wife said that the next one I do should be done one room at a time instead of all at once.

1 1/2 inch furring to the exterior walls in order to accommodate R19 insulation – some new wiring (wiring re-routed in some cases) – double pane windows, and new exterior doors with deadbolts

Clean and tight

Dustin meets the family

By

Alan

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March 20, 2007

Dustin is growing so fast.

Here he is finally getting to meet the family and of course, he’s the center of attention 🙂

Windows from Chinook Windows in Great Falls

By

Alan

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February 20, 2007

Spent a bit of time over the past weekend installing these custom built windows from Chinook Windows here in Great Falls. I simply gave them the measurements of what it was I needed and they did the rest.

This old trailer needed sort of a facelift anyway and the old aluminum framed trailer house windows just weren’t up to the task any longer.