W3 Spin|Internet news blog

With the dot com boom, website hosting became a necessity for all the companies regardless of size and capacity. It has also become a latest craze for the individuals who are internet savvy and love to share information with other people on the internet. Web Hosting thus fast grew as a service that provides individuals, organizations and users with online systems so that they can interact with others, promote their products, share information, images and videos. The Web Hosting is supported by the Web Hosting platforms - the operating systems. There have been lots of recent advancements in Web Hosting and the Web Hosts are continuously striving to offer their clients with the latest and the most upgraded technologies.

What are Web Hosting Platforms?

What is known as a web hosting platform can generally be describes as an operating system whose primary task is to support the act of Web Hosting. Linux and Windows are the two types of Web Hosting platforms that are seen as the most traditional.

Linux can be seen as the older and standard type of web hosting platform. Linux is seen as very reliable and is able to utilize its disk space and memory effectively. It is said that in excess of 70% of web servers use the Linux / Unix system because it is cheap and has fantastic power and can be relied upon.

The other platform is Windows - Window is what Microsoft has offered to the world as a response to web hosting and its popularity is on the increase. Part of the reason for this surge in popularity is due to the programming aspects contained within it which offers developers the chance to use ASP and ASP.NET programming environments. Another string reason for using this platform is due to the way it integrates with other .NET server technologies, including:

* SQL Server 2000

* BizTalk Server 2002

* SQL Server 2000

In days gone by, there may have only been basic functions for web host packages but there are more now and some of the most commonly found and essential ones are:

* Space available on the Disk - Each and every web hosting account contains a finite amount of disk space that can be utilized by a customer to place all their files on. The total size offered on the disk varies by firm and by each individual package. Potential clients should be aware that the disk space offered by a shared web host will be smaller than the space offered by a customized host.

* Email Accounts - The price of the package can have an impact on how many email accounts are made available. These accounts are a feature provided by many hoists and sought after by many clients and some hosts allow their clients to have full control over their mail settings. Of course, some web hosts will do all of this for their client. How each client sets u their email accounts is down to their preference but there are a number of options including POP3, auto-responders, aliases and forwarders.

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:

As technology surges onwards and more companies find a presence online, the needs and wants of individuals and companies are evolving rapidly. This means that Web Hosts also have to progress to be able to deliver the most modern technologies to their clients.

The level of service and technology that is bring offered by technology today, for instance the Windows Server technology and the Windows 2003 Server, is probably at the highest it has ever been. Modern technology ensures there is a tremendous level of support for website developers and they can continue in confidence knowing that Microsoft, a single vendor, is wholly committed to this continual development of technology.

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.

Web hosting software

The key step forward in recent years in web hosting fields has came through web hosting software, which has greatly increased the effectiveness and efficiency of the hosts. The manner in which the new software can aid the host can be seen in the following functions:

* Automation of account creation

* Management of dedicated servers

* Making many tasks able to be automated allowing administrators increased time to work on other issues.

The software helps the companies in more than one ways. By opting for and hosting the automation software, the management of the dedicated server becomes easy to control and the provisioning of resources comes down from hours to minutes.

The Windows dedicated server software are Plesk for Windows, Helm for Windows, Easy Admin Exchange Control Panel, Cold Fusion MX, Anti Virus & Security Software to name a few.

Similarly, the Linux server is supported by software packages including centos Linux, cPanel / Web Host Manager, Red Hat Enterprise, Anti Virus Software and Security Software, Fantastico De Luxe and Plesk for Linux.

> 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 service providers have discovered that the VoIP can add a new, and often very appropriate, dimension to their services without much difficulty. The VOIP companies are coming up in great numbers in hopes of cashing in on the rather new industry.

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:

One major Web Host provider has created the “virtual rack” solution and its aim to offer the much liked private rack solution to clients who can only run a limited number of servers. The ultimate goal of this product is to enable customers to have the full range of customization on their Web Hosting.

As soon as the customer is in their private rack, they can choose which servers they would like. There is also the ability for them to select security technologies or advances networks which best suit their needs. This may range from the top of the line firewalls from Cisco ASA or perhaps a load balancer from server iron. However a customer wants their configuration, they can request it from their web host as well as asking for the IP arrangement they would like to receive.

All of these modern changes and progressions will make Web Hosting far better value for money and efficient than it has ever been before. The recent advances and developments are sure to make Web Hosting more efficient and effective. With exceeding customer expectations a vital goal for every firm, the changes in technology will allow many Web Hosts to do just that.

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