One of the things that happened after the dot com boom was there was a massive need for companies of all shapes and sizes to have an online presence. This has also been seen with regards to tech people who want to share their wisdom and ideas with the world on the internet. This has meant that Web Hosting has grown at a dramatic rate as all users, organizations and individuals have been looking to interact. This has meant sharing ideas, information, footage, selling and marketing services and products and all of this has been made possible by operating systems which have supported the platforms of web hosting. In recent times there have been numerous advances in hosting web sites and these providers are always looking to provide customers with the most up to date technologies.
Getting to grips with Web Hosting Platforms.
The Web Hosting platforms are actually the operating systems that support Web Hosting. The most traditional forms of Web Hosting Platforms used are Linux and Windows.
Linux – This is the most traditional form of Web Hosting Platform used. It is widely regarded as the most reliable and uses memory and disk space efficiently. More than 70% of the web servers in the world make use of Linux / UNIX due to its exceptional power and reliability and also because the cost of Linux / UNIX hosting is low.
Windows – Windows is Microsoft’s answer to Web Hosting and is becoming highly popular with the Web developers with its potential ASP and ASP.NET programming environments. This operating system also integrates very well with the advanced .NET server technologies such as:
* Commerce Server 2002
* SQL Server 2000
* BizTalk Server 2002
Previously the Web Hosting Packages came with only the basic features. Some of the features that are essential in any traditional Web Hosting Package are:
* Disk Space – Each web hosting account is equipped with a limited number of disk space that a customer can utilize to save their files on the size of the disk space varies from company to company and package to package. Disk space that is saved on a shared web host space will be less than one on customized space.
* Accounts relating to emails – The actual amount can depend on the physical cost of the package but there will be a provision of email accounts with a Web Hosting package. Amongst all of these packages, the provision of email accounts is extremely common and come in useful when hosting a domain. Having control over the email account can be offered to the customer if the Web Host wants to but there are many Web Hosts who will perform all the set-up processes for the customer. Whilst different users may have their favorite type of email account and their own preference there are 4 key types of email accounts and there are auto responders, aliases, forwarding and POP3 accounts.
FTP Access – Another common feature of all the paid hosting accounts is the FTP access. The FTP programs allow the users to upload files, edit and delete the contents on the server much more quickly than using a web-based interface.
Recent Advances in Web Hosting:
People and companies always require more and as technology advances and the internet becomes stronger, there is always going to be further demand for new and more impressive technologies.
What is available today is seen as the best performing environment with regards to servers and a lot of this is due to the improvements in Windows Server technology and the Windows 2003 Server. This advance provides exceptional support for developers and Microsoft is fully behind its continual development and improvement.
These improvements have meant that Windows and Linux are closer and there are instances of inter-operability between the two. Previously, each system has distinct advantages over the other but now there is not the same distinction between the two. This means that which system is offered by a host is not as important to a client as it once was. The majority of clients today are able to base their web his decision of features and factors if the company itself as opposed to the operating system they use.
Software for hosting a Web Site
The development of the new Web hosting software is the recent advancement in the Web Hosting field. This software makes Web Hosting more efficient and effective. They are available to assist in the functioning of Web Hosting in the following ways:
* Automation of account creation
* Allowing users a better quality of management with regards their dedicated servers
* Ensuring that monotonous tasks can be automated saving the time of system administrators
There are numerous ways that this software is of benefit to a company. In choosing an automation software approach, the company is able to make the management of their dedicated server an easier process and vastly reduce the time spent on providing this resource.
Dedicated server software for Windows include: The Windows dedicated server software are Plesk for Windows, Easy Admin Exchange Control Panel and Helm for Windows. Other server software for Windows includes Cold Fusion MX and Anti Virus & Security Software.
The Linux dedicated server software are centOS Linux, Red Hat Enterprise, cPanel / Web Host Manager, Fantastico De Luxe, Plesk for Linux, Anti Virus Software and Security Software.
> Web Hosting and VOIP – Voice over Internet Protocol technology
As the Web host industry continues to go from strength to strength, there is a growing need to develop new products and technologies to ensure customers remain satisfied. The Web Hosting industry is fiercely competitive and rival firms know they have to push technology forward to be in a position to best serve their clients and win customers. One key development in recent times in the Web hosting industry revolves around Voice over Internet Protocol technology. These advances has allowed any computer user who also has access to a broadband Internet connection to be able to communicate with other people all over the world without being charged the level of fees that is normally associated with this level of communication.
The beauty of VOIP is that it adds an increased level of service without any difficulty which makes it attractive to firms. This means there is a large number of firms offering the service in an attempt to cash in on it.
It can be seen that the Web host genre is coming up quickly with regards to this provision and is looking to follow on. A sizeable proportion of the key Web hosts have devised plans to launch VOIPO, a telephone services that utilizes the benefits of VOIP. This is something that a Web Host provider would seek to distribute across the world
> Launching the Virtual Rack:
The “virtual rack solution” was created by one popular web host and it offers the benefits of rack solutions to customers who may have as little as two servers running. The chief goal of this product is to enable customers to have 100% customization on their own web hosting.
Having installed the virtual rack, the client is able to choose the servers they truly desire or need. There is also the provision for them to choose which type of network and security-based technologies they would like to have. These can range from loaded balances that are provided by server iron to the range of ASA firewalls from Cisco. If a customer ever wanted to tell their Web host exactly how they would like their web site to be configured or to demand what IP arrangements would be best for them, the Virtual Rack will allow them to do it all.
The recent advances and developments are sure to make Web Hosting more efficient and effective. They will help in serving the purpose of the consumers in a way more than expected!
