Hosting Services

Hosting Services

Web hosting services allow individuals and companies to make their websites viewable online. Hosting services also provide domain name registration, domain parking, and e-mail services. Companies may charge a fee for these hosting services. This charge could be a fixed amount that has to be paid on a periodic basis (monthly, quarterly, or annually). Some consumers might prefer a free option. If you are hosting a personal website or a professional website with low traffic, you should consider free hosting.
Evaluate the following factors when choosing a hosting service: space, security, and reliability. The service provider that you select to host your website should be secure and capable of protecting sensitive data. If you are planning to set up an e-commerce website, you should make sure that your host provides a secure gateway for financial transactions.

Domain Parking

With domain parking, you reserve a particular domain name, but you do not use it for a service. If you like a particular domain name, then you can reserve the domain name for yourself. You can even register a domain name prior to launching a website. In such cases, a default page with an "Under Construction" or a "Coming Soon" message will show up when you type the domain name. Some hosting services allow you to feature advertisements on your parked page, so you can make money with your domain. You could even choose to leave your domain as a parked domain.

Domain Registration

You need to register your selected domain through a registrar. All registered domain names from around the world are tracked by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). You can register a domain name for free, or may have to pay a fee to the provider. Domain names are allocated to websites on a first come, first-served basis and are not dependent on the location from where the website is hosted.

Domain Name System

Domain Name System(DNS) translates a domain name into its corresponding Internet Protocol (IP) address. This service is of vital importance as the Internet is based on IP addresses. An IP address for a domain name translates into a set of numbers. For example, www.domain.com directs you to the address 66.150.120.131.

Email Service

E-mail Service providers handle e-mail marketing and bulk email services. Most e-mail services include host features including personalized setup, free online storage, and easy-to-use interfaces. Security add-ons include spam protection, file encryption, user authentication, and more.

Shared Web Hosting

With shared web hosting, several websites are hosted on the same server. Each website has its own space on the server that is separate from other businesses. Small businesses tend to find shared web hosting more affordable. The speed of the server depends on the number of websites that are hosted on the server. Shared hosting services have a system administrator who manages and monitors the activities of each website.

Dedicated Hosting

With dedicated hosting service, there is only one website on a particular server. The website owner can lease the entire server space for a particular period of time. Dedicated hosting services offer substantial flexibility. Dedicated hosting is expensive but ideal for websites requiring more space, bandwidth, and security.

Hosting Features

When you are researching hosting plans, evaluate features for control panels, reliability, up-time, free hosting, server type, and server size. Compare various features provided by different hosting service providers before finalizing your choice.

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HBA

Overview

A host bus adapter (HBA), also known as host controller or host adapter, is a device that is used to connect storage devices to networks. HBAs connect Fibre Channels, Small Computer System Interfaces (SCSI- pronounced "skizzy"), and eSATA devices to networks through Ethernet, Universal Serial Bus (USB), Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE), and FireWire connections.

HBA cards come in single, dual, and quad port configurations. The single ports are less expensive than dual ports if used on PCI-Express interfaces. Quad ports are more expensive than dual ports, so try to use a dual port when possible

Benefits

Host bus adapters come with extensive vendor support. If a driver is available, independent software vendors can integrate the host bus adapter with a particular storage area network. You have flexible options in integrating your hardware platform with your storage area network. This flexibility keeps prices down. Performance characteristics are more predictable and less affected by network performance if the HBA does not require reassembly packets.

How It Works

You need a host bus adapter to connect devices in your storage area network. Host bus adapters are also required to host virtual machines. The virtual machine should be configured for booting a storage area network and does not require a direct connection to the host bus adapter.
There are different kinds of host bus adapter. The Ethernet HBA uses iSCSI technology including hardware for implementing Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) Offload Engines.
Consolidation of these interfaces reduces port costs and hassle for expanding internal ports. You can use different types of host bus adapters in a network. Even if one fails, the other will be functional and the operations will continue. Host bus adapters also simplify storage management procedures by providing a common interface.
A SCSI Bus connects multiple SCSI-based devices in a chain. A host bus adapter bridges the computer and these SCSI devices. A host bus adapter is configured by the Basic Input/output System (BIOS), which has the ability to boot the system off a SCSI device. The system has a device driver with a unique numerical ID. A host bus adapter allows more than one SCSI to be connected simultaneously. Host bus adapters support speeds of up to 20 gigabits.
Infini Band, ATA, SAS, SATA, and eSATA are host bus adapters that support other architectures.

Companies/Brands

LSI, HP, Sun Microsystems, Emulex, and QLogic provide host bus adapters.

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Web Design

Web Design

Web design is the process of creating and building websites. There are many steps that are involved with designing websites. The website should be designed with an understanding of the target audience. You can design a website on your own using free website templates, or you can hire a web designer to build it for you.

Website Templates

Website templates are user friendly tools that can be used to build a website. You can design and create a website using premade and pre-coded web templates that are available for free or for a low cost on the Internet. Instead of spending endless hours on designing each and every web page from scratch, you can simply use a high quality website template and add your own content to it to create a unique website. You can choose from different kinds of formats including Flash, HTML, PHP, and CSS.

Web Design Tutorials

A web design tutorial provides step by step instructions on how to create a website. Even if you do not have expertise, you can create one with the help of tutorials. You can teach yourself all aspects involved with designing, owning, operating, and managing your own web site. Certain web design tutorials also available in video formats that demonstrate all the steps involved in building a website.

Web Designers

Web designers and website developers are people who can help you build a website.
Depending on the nature of the business, web designers can create a simple or complex website. A web designer plans the theme, layout, color combination, and content of the website based on your specific requirements.

Web Usability

Web usability is the process of making your website user friendly. It includes providing easy navigation so that users can find what they need in a quick and efficient way. Usability involves factors like ease of learning, efficiency of use, and optimized content. Proper usage of web usability can increase traffic to your website and improve your website ranking.

Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is a professional image editing software package that helps you to edit, manipulate, and crop images. It is a popular program among web and graphic designers. It provides a certain set of image transformation tools for editing 3D and 2D images. Photoshop also has enhanced vector graphics tools like gradients, styles, and masks.

Flash

Flash, commonly known as "Macromedia flash" or "Adobe flash," is an animation tool that can be used to add animations to web pages. Flash enables you to watch the animation immediately after you have designed your webpage. Flash uses raster graphics (tiny colored dots) to draw photos and vector graphics (math formulas) to draw animation shapes and resize formats. It also supports bidirectional streams of both audio and video.

CSS

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a powerful tool that a website developer can use to control the design and the feel of the web page. It is mainly used for creating a set of styles that can be applied to fonts, tables, and to other attributes of a web page. Using these style sheets, you can create interactive websites. CSS lets a developer to separate the layouts and styles of a web page from the actual data or information that is to be displayed.

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Web 2.0

Overview

Web 2.0 refers to the new generation of web applications that facilitate information sharing and social networking. The term is commonly associated with sharing information, interoperability, and user-centered designs. The technology brought about the change in websites from static web pages to dynamic, interactive web pages. Web 2.0 tools enable online participation in content creation and social interaction.

Web 2.0 has become so widespread that companies are now using it as a marketing technique. Using Web 2.0, information can be taken from various places and personalized to meet the needs of a single user. The term has little to do with technology upgrades; rather, it describes a change in which we use and perceive the Internet.

Benefits

Web 2.0 has revolutionized the entire concept of online communication. Users can create a network of friends or change the content of a website. Web 2.0 allows more interaction among people who visit various websites. There are more opportunities to access information, share ideas, and reduce communication costs.

How It Works

Web 2.0 uses the web as an application platform to develop blogs, social networking sites, user-provided content sites, content syndication, Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds, social book marking, image sharing tools, and video sharing sites.
The client-side/web browser technologies typically used in Web 2.0 development are Asynchronous JavaScript (AJAX), Extensible Markup Language (XML), Adobe Flash, and JavaScript. Ajax programming uses JavaScript to upload and download new data from the web server. The data fetched by an Ajax request is typically formatted in XML or JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format. As a result, the user can easily transmit structured data through web applications. After the data is received, JavaScript uses the Document Object Model (DOM) to update the web page.
On the server side, Web 2.0 uses languages such as Hypertext Processor (PHP,) Ruby, Perl, Python, and Active Server Pages (ASP). Developers use these languages to dynamically output data using information from files and databases. To share its data with other sites, a web site must be able to generate output in machine-readable formats such as XML, RSS, and JSON. When a website's data is available in one of these formats, another website can use it to integrate a portion of that website's functionality into itself, linking the two together. In this way many websites can be linked together.

Companies/Brands

IBM, Iflexion, Black Soft, and Silver Touch develop Web 2.0 and its related tools, technologies, services, and infrastructure.

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NAS

Overview

Network attached storage (NAS) systems are part of a network and used specially for storing noncritical data. A NAS is cost effective and simple to maintain when compared to a storage area network (SAN). File transfer protocols supported by NAS include the Common Internet File System (CIFS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and Network File System (NFS). Connections can be established through Ethernet or Fibre Channel networks. NAS systems are developed through Small Computer Systems Interfaces (SCSI) using various disk technologies.

NAS performance depends on drive support, number of in-use drives, and overall capacity. You can either choose Serial ATA (SATA) or SCSI drives that cost very little for bulk data storage

Benefits

NAS devices are capable of storing various forms of data from CDs, DVDs, and magnetic tapes. An NAS system offers faster access via Local Area Network (LAN) to stored data. Since a Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID) is a part of LAN, storage costs are lowered.
The installation process is quick and easy. NAS allows administrators to increase and consolidate the storage infrastructure as needed. There is unlimited storage expansion, and one single NAS can be used to replace a number of file servers. It can be run on any operating system and can be checked anywhere on LAN. NAS devices have small computers as part of them. Hence using USB port, you can add hard drives, printers, and other resources that can be accessed without turning the desktop on.
A NAS system separates data storage from the personal computer in order to provide portability and scalability. Adding extra space is simple, saving the administrator from the task of constantly adding servers. NAS devices are easy to maintain because of centralized and uniform standards and can handle several terabytes of files, meeting the needs of the growing IT industry.

How It Works

NAS provides remote file service over an Ethernet network. NAS devices are directly connected to the desired network, providing file level access to data through certain protocols like the Common Internet File System (CIFS) and Network File System (NFS). NAS devices can be optimized for all operating systems that need file systems.
Storage options such as SAN and DAS provide blocks of data for block input or output, while NAS is capable of handling file input and output in the area where data is requested from a file. High end NAS devices can handle more than just the basic capabilities of NAS based systems. For example, they have special handlers allowing them to handle multiple operating systems along with file system protocols.

Companies/Brands

Hitachi Data Systems, LaCie, NetApp, Buffalo, Thecus, and HP are leading NAS providers.

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Display Advertising

Overview

Display advertising refers to a method of online advertising and can take a number of different forms. The most common display advertisements are banner ads at the top of a website. By placing advertisements where people will immediately see them, the company is more likely to recruit potential customers.

Display advertisements have begun to use more attention grabbing elements including sounds and interactive games. They are among the most cost effective ways methods to recruit new customers.

Benefits

Display advertisements are static and prominently displayed in a website. Unlike pop ups, they are non-obtrusive. They are simplistic, and a website can update its content without interfering with the advertisement. The ads are generally created by a marketing agency or the product developer. It can be adjusted and improved. If the ad does poorly, it can be replaced immediately. You can create an advertisement quickly.
Display advertisements take up minimal web space. They can also complement existing contents and layouts on a web page. Advertisements could actually improve traffic flow to a website. You can create bold and effective marketing campaigns with less work.

How It Works

The process begins with the creation of a banner ad with the help of a professional company. While most people do choose banner ads, you might also find that text based ads are just as effective. Of course, a visually appealing ad can be very beneficial. You can set u an account with a company like Google to crate simple advertising strategies. You pay a marketing agency every time someone clicks on your ad and if a deal is completed. You end up increasing your return on investment (ROI).

Companies/Brands

There are a number of companies that help create display advertising campaigns. One of the most popular companies is Google. Its AdWords and AdSense campaigns work together to utilize its search engine capabilities to reach as many relevant customers as possible. About.com and AOL are also well-known in the area of display advertising.

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How to Make a Website

Overview

Creating a website is easier than you think. There are two components to a website. One is a domain name, and the other is a web host. A domain name designates your website's online address, and a web host is a company that gives you the space to create and save your website on the Internet. Web hosts also provide the tools and guides that you need to create your website. If you would prefer, you can hire a web developer to create your site for you.

The cost of creating a website will vary based on several factors. The web host where you are planning to place your website may charge you a nominal amount for the service. This price is determined by the plan you choose and the features that it provides. Once you have chosen a domain name, you should pay a yearly fee for it. It is cheaper to create a site yourself. If you hire a web developer, they could charge you hundreds or thousands of dollars. Your options for web hosting also vary in cost. Some services are available for free while others could cost over a thousand dollars per year. Typically, business websites require more features and will be more expensive.

Benefits

Websites come with many benefits. The first and foremost benefit is that the whole world gets to know about your product or company. If you are the owner of a small business and cannot afford expensive television or magazine advertisements, then a website will be especially useful. You can even increase your company's income by placing advertisements from sponsors on your website. Websites can also expand your customer base and help your company grow nationally and internationally.
Personal websites help families stay connected. You can create photo albums, message boards, and blogs to help your family stay in touch with one another, no matter where people are located. You can stay in touch across borders, time zones, and countries.

How It Works

The first thing that you have to do before creating a website is to plan what kind of web site you want to have. Then, select a domain name that makes sense for what you want to do. Select a domain name that is catchy or easy to remember. The domain name should be short and attractive. Once you have selected the domain name, register the name through a service like GoDaddy. It will cost you as little as $10 to park your domain name.
If you do not want to pay for a domain name, you can register for a free website service like Tripod. Services like Tripod are recommended for personal website users. If you have a business, you should purchase a domain name.
You can then select a host for your site. Make sure that you select a host that provides all the features that you need. Take some time to plan what your website will need before you select a web host. Possible features include message boards, shopping carts, HTML editors, blogs, photo galleries, and chat rooms. If you do not know HTML, you can find templates online, or you can use a program like Microsoft FrontPage.

Companies/Brands

Act Now Domains, Pro Website Group, and IPowerWeb provide services to help you create a website.

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Raid Types

Overview

A Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID) is a system that allows computers to increase options for storage reliability by arranging devices into redundant arrays.

RAID is a computer data storage scheme that allows you to divide and replicate data between several hard disk drives. RAID architecture is designed to increase data reliability and to improve input and output performance. Multiple disks that use RAID technology are known as a RAID array. Even though a RAID includes a group of disks, you should think of it as a single disk.
Depending on the design and function, RAID is classified into different types, which are designated by numbers. RAID 1 includes mirrored drives, RAID 2 servers a purpose of hamming codes for error correction, and RAID 3 has a single check disk per group. RAID 4 independently reads and writes, and RAID 5 spreads data across the disks.
RAID systems can be hardware or software based. Software works through the kernel disk code, and hardware connects to an SCSI controller. Because of today's fast CPUs, software RAID can actually outperform hardware RAID.

Benefits

The benefits of RAID depend on your business's needs. Mostly, RAID systems are used to improve data reliability, availability, and serviceability. You can increase your capacity to store information, which is especially important if your business relies on computers. A combination of smaller and inexpensive disk drives will perform better than one large and expensive disk drive.

How It Works

The redundancy created by RAID allows extra data to be written throughout the array. As a result, one failed disk will not cause data loss. The failed disk can be replaced with a new one. Any extra data can be loaded on the new disk.
With a 2 disk RAID 1 configuration, if both the disks operate independently, each disk would store its own data in addition to the data of the other disk.
The array is presented to the computer as a single unit through hardware or software configurations. When RAID is hardware based, the computer assumes that one disk drive is attached. When RAID is software based, the hardware recognizes multiple drives while the software recognizes only one single drive.
High computing power is required to read and write data in a RAID array. This method also requires a separate controller for operation. As a result, off-board RAID processors have gained popularity.
If you choose to work with RAIDs, make sure that you develop backup plans to minimize potential for data loss.

Companies/Brands

HP, Adaptac, and IBM develop RAID hardware. Midwest Data Recovery Inc., Microcom RAID Data Recovery, Optimum Data Recovery, Chicago Data Recovery, and Disk Internals offer RAID recovery services.

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Databases - SQL

Overview

Structured Query Language (SQL) is used for database programming. Databases are used to store

information, and SQL has been important for the development of online databases including blogs and online photo galleries. SQL was developed in the 1970s in response to growing needs to store information electronically. SQL can be used to insert, update, delete, or manipulate data. Large organizations make use of SQL to store and analyze their database records.
SQL was developed by IBM. In contrast to previous database programming languages, SQL allows the end user to analyze their own data. Large organizations could use their SQL database to create customized applications and reports. Query functions allow users to sort and organize their data by selecting exactly what they need.
The costs associated by SQL vary by an organization's needs. A company might choose to develop their own SQL database, or they may choose to hire a consultant. You might need to pay for a customized database, or you may need to pay a programmer on a consistent basis. If you do not need a customized database, you may choose to purchase database software that was developed using SQL. 

Benefits

It is beneficial to learn SQL if you are going into database programming. SQL is used to create databases in a variety of industries and is a universal tool. Even if you are not a programmer, knowledge of SQL can help you develop a database to match your organization's needs. You can develop a database without having to worry about licenses and performance degradation. You can customize everything from options to interface to color themes. SQL can also be automated to select the best means of optimization, regardless of how complex a query is. SQL also allows organizations to develop cost effective databases.

How It Works

SQL databases can be developed for any department in an organization. Companies can hire database administrators who work as system analysts or project managers. They design databases in accordance with what the business needs. Businesses may hire analysts to design a database and to assist end users.

Companies/Brands

Companies that offer SQL software development programs include Oracle, IBM, and Sybase.

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Social Media Optimization

Overview

Social media optimization (SMO) is a technique that helps generate publicity for a business or product using social networking sites, blogs, and online websites. This technique helps organizations achieve a high search engine ranking and increase traffic.

SMO includes adding news widgets, RSS feeds, blogging, and sharing videos and images. Popular sites for social media optimization include Digg, Del.icio.us, YouTube, Orkut, Newsvine, StumbleUpon, Flickr, MySpace, Shadows, Twitter, Blogs, and Facebook.
SMO can bring many people to your website through a variety of channels. Social media optimization requires knowing how to target audiences, creating content, planning a SMO strategy, book marking and tagging, and increasing your linkability (how many sites link to your website). SMO should be a continuous process that increases traffic to your website.
Social media optimization is relatively inexpensive since most social media sites are free. There are some tutorials that cost around $100, which you can use to learn techniques. You can work with consulting or advertising firms, or you can conduct your social media optimization in house.

Benefits

Social media optimization can be used to raise a website's popularity through online communities. It is a great tool for branding due to its penetration in the target market. SMO keeps people informed about changes in your company so that you can recruit and retain customers. This technique is one of the cheapest methods of Internet marketing. It can also be used for direct marketing and sales purposes. SMO helps companies to build an online reputation by facilitating a direct interaction with consumers.

How It Works

Social media optimization implements changes to your website that can be easily linked to visible social media searches on custom search engines. There are four steps to take when optimizing your website. The first step is to make your website more dynamic. Many sites are static, this means that they are rarely updated and are used for storage purposes only. To optimize a website for social media, you need to increase the linkability of the content by adding blogs posts and press releases.
You'll also want to add tags in the HTML of your pages. You can select popular keywords that people would be searching. You can also track of who refers your website. You can give a commission to the social media sites that direct traffic to you.
Finally, let others use your content. You must actively promote content through submissions to social media and relevant sites. This seems to be more convenient if the content is produced in a portable format like PDF, video, and audio files. Then make it easy for visitors to visit your website by adding links, tags, and bookmarks.

Companies/Brands

USA Web Solutions, Awareness Networks, and SSPR provide social media optimization services.

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