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Web Hosting - How To Select A Web Host
As with many purchases, our first impulse when selecting a web hosting company is to go with the cheapest. Hey, they're all alike, why pay more? Au contraire.
There are a number of objective criteria that separates one web hosting company from another and money is only one of them. And not the most important one. Selecting a company based on price alone is equivalent to selecting an auto mechanic on price alone. Sure, he may maintain or fix your car cheaper. But will the car spend all the time in the shop and none on the road?
The first consideration is 'horsepower'. Do they have the capacity to carry your load and deliver decent performance? Most hosting companies will advertise that they have huge bandwidth and hundreds of servers. They're usually telling the truth.
But there's a difference between existing capacity and usable capacity. If they also have thousands of sites with millions of visitors per day the available or free capacity will be much lower. A big pickup truck may be able to tow 5,000 lbs. But not if it's already carrying 4,999.
Be sure to ask about available capacity, and have the prospective company back it up with reliable numbers. If you can't interpret the information they provide, find someone to help you do so.
Next, and a very close second, is reliability. A lot of power is worthless if it's cut often. Outages are a normal part of business. Even Google and Microsoft go down from time to time. The difference is, it happens rarely and they have failover plans. That means, if their site/system does go down it's either up again in a flash, or you never see the outage because a backup system kicks in automatically and seamlessly.
Be sure to grill the company closely about their up time. They'll often tout 99.6%, or some such figure. But, like the on-time figures of the airlines, those numbers can be shaded by adjusting the definition of 'up time'. What matters to you is whether your visitors will be able to reach your site at any time of the day or night they might want to.
Find out what systems, both technical and human, they have in place to deal with failures of all sorts. Servers can go down, networks can fail, hard disks can become defective and lose data even when the other components continue to work fine. The result is YOUR site is unavailable, which is all that matters to you. The web hosting company should be able to deal with all of that and have you up again very quickly.
Last, but not least, is security. With the continuing prevalence of viruses and spam, you need to know that the web hosting company you select has an array of methods for dealing with them. That means a good technical plan and staff who are knowledgeable in dealing with those issues. The old saying: 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure' is more true here than anywhere else.
All these issues are central to finding a web hosting company that can deliver the services you need. After those criteria are satisfied by a number of candidates, then you can start narrowing them down by price.
Save the Earth and Get Free Stuff from Recycling with Freecycle Get ready to become more earth-conscious by freecycling. What is freecyling and how can it help the environment? As the name implies, the concept of freecycling is directly inspired by the idea of recycling. Freecycling is not only a great way to help protect the earth's natural resources and prevent the flooding of landfills, it is also a great and viable way to find goods and services that you really need. Thus, freecycling is a very practical approach to many of the problems that we face today. What is the Freecycle Network? Freecyling has found a home at freecylce.org. The Freecycle website is home to the Freecycle network. This network is made up of over 4,000 groups with a total member population of over four million people worldwide. The freecycle philosophy is spreading like wildfire as more and more people come to learn more about this exciting and environmentally friendly new exchange network. The Freecycle Network represents an entirely grassroots, nonprofit effort that allows people to get and give their stuff fro free in their own cities and towns. Freecycle allows all the good stuff that would normally end up in a landfill in the hands of someone who can really use it. A local volunteer who is in charge of coordinating the freecycling efforts and awareness in their own community moderates almost each local freecycle group. Membership to join the Freecycle Network is absolutely free and open to anyone with something to give, or get. In order to join the Freecycle Network today, simply find your local community by searching in the search box. The Ins and Outs of Freecycling for the Freecyling Newbie No freecycling is not a new, cutting edge sport—it is an easy way to manage one's owns possessions so that you leave a smaller footprint on the Earth. If you are new to freecycling, perhaps you could use a little guidance on how to get into the freecycling side of things. Here are some things you need to know before you get started in the exciting world of freecycling. Take the Right Kinds of Precautions When Freecycling One of the most important things you should do is to always make sure to freecycle safely. Freecycling often means coming into direct contact with seemingly perfect strangers. You should always maintain your safety and privacy when interacting with other members of your freecycling group. If you do not know someone well, avoid giving out your personal contact information right away. Whenever possible, try to make exchanges in a public setting or at least make sure that you are not alone with picking up or waiting for someone to pick up the item that is being freecycled. Tips and Hints for Using the Freecylce List What happens once you has signed up to become a part of your local freecycling group? Once you have successfully joined, you can use your local freecycling list to communicate with other members. You can post a message, read messages and send email to your local groups collective address. Most local freecycling groups use local yahoo groups to communicate. To send an email to the list, simply send an email to your local groups email address. If for some reason you wish to unsubscribe to your local freecyling group, you simply need to send an email to the unsubscribe address that is listed at the bottom of each email from your local freecycling group. For information on posting, replying or reading messages to your local yahoo group, visit your local group and become familiar with the delivery options. If you have any questions, contact your group's moderator directly. Three Important Tips to Land Better Job Prospects If you are not satisfied with your current job or the job prospects that you are running across, it is time to revise your search. Use these three tips to help find the type of job prospects you are looking for. First of all, before you start your job search, figure out exactly what it is that you are looking for. Going out into the world and searching for any type of job is the perfect way to end up with an array of job prospects you are unsatisfied with. Think about the reasons why you are ready to leave your current job. Consider what things you are looking for in a career that your current job is not giving you. Are you looking for make more money? If so, only apply for jobs that will increase your income. Are you tired of working long hours and weekends? Then do not apply for jobs that will keep you at the office after hours and during family time on the weekends. By defining what exactly it is that you want in a job, you will be able to weed out the jobs you do not want. Once you are able to concentrate on the select few that have the qualities you are looking for, you will be able to put froth the effort necessary to get those jobs. Another thing that many people do when they are looking for a job is underestimating their own skills. You do not want to apply for jobs that you have absolutely no skills or training for unless they offer training, of course, but you can apply for jobs that you have some of the skills to do. For instance, if you are apply for an office job where that you need to be able to maintain the company website and you are familiar with the components of designing and maintaining a website, but have not done it on a regular basis, apply. On your resume explain that you have a working knowledge of html and other website tools. That way the employer will understand that you are not an expert at the task but you are capable of beginning, and with some help, finishing the task. Never misrepresent your skills on a resume. Instead, be honest and place emphasis on the skills that you do have. Apply for jobs that you have some of the skills for only. If you get an interview, be ready to impress the interviewer by being totally prepared. Speak confidently and make eye contact. Confidence can take you a long way when it comes to the job hunt. Shoot for the stars! If you want better job prospects you will need to believe that you deserve a better job. That means you will need to have some faith in yourself and be willing to apply for higher-level jobs. The only way you are going to get better job prospects is if you apply for the better jobs. Do not be intimidated by job descriptions. If you read a list of responsibilities and you cannot perform all of them yet, apply for the job. There is a good chance that you will be asked if you can perform the specific tasks of the job when you get an interview. This is the time to explain what tasks you are capable of performing. Better job prospects are highly attainable. You just have to clearly define what it is you want from a job and believe that you deserve and will get that type of job. Believe in yourself and you are halfway there. |