CWCS Managed Web Hosting Blog

Easy VNC/Remote desktop connections to Linux servers

2009-07-15T09:25:00.002+01:00

NX server:-

One common misconception regarding Linux is that there is no simple way of using a remote desktop - (RDP). Linux has always had the capabilities of remote desktop functionality since it has had X support, however compared to RDP on Windows, it was always slow. VNC is an option however again it has speed drawbacks.

There are now several ways of remotely connecting to a Linux server's desktop using NX technology (See the list at the bottom of the article) the speed of which outperforms terminal services / VNC – it is even acceptable on a dial-up modem, for those who are not yet on broadband.

Some of these apps also have the ability of free unlimited simultaneous users, compared to the 2 simultaneous users allowed on a standard version of Windows RDP.

Connecting remotely to a Linux server will allow you to access a wealth of useful, mainly free, GUI tools in Linux, you can install the Ubuntu-desktop environment, this would give you access to the OpenOfffice suite, you can use OpenOffice base with MySQL to have an Access style GUI asn an example. Some people also find it far easier to work in a desktop environment to perform server admin tasks then using the traditional and very tricky command line method (telnet/SSH).

There are various other useful network/server admin GUI tools available and countless tools of developers e.g., Eclipse:-

http://www.eclipse.org/screenshots/ A powerful GUI tool that has IDE's for programming in C++, PHP, JAVA,

You will have to make sure that you install a desktop environment on your server to connect to it– Gnome/KDE are the most common this can be done using your distributions package manager.

There are 3 main versions of the NX technology:

1) Nomachine Nxserver

http://www.nomachine.com/

This is the original version (the company created the technology)

Advantages:

- Very simple to setup and very stable

Disadvantages:

- Free version has only 2 users allowed - Unlimited users requires a license.

2) FreeNx

http://freenx.berlios.de/

A 100% free opensource implementation of NX Server

Advantages:

- There are no license changes

- Can have unlimited users free of charge

Disadvantages:

- setup/config is less user friendly than Nomachine Nxserver

3)Neatx (google.com)

The 'new kid on the block' has been created by google – see blog post:-

http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2009/07/releasing-neatx-open-source-nx-servier.html

Advantages:

- Designed to be more user friendly and faster than the original

- Supported by the Google.com corporation.

Disadvantages:

- Very early project (released 7th July 2009), missing several features presently

If you would like support to install any of these technologies on your dedicated server (Virtual dedicated servers are not appropriate) please contact sales@cwcs.co.uk for a quote. We would advise against Neatx due to the very early stage of the project.

Things to look for in web hosting UK

2009-07-13T10:36:00.002+01:00

Web hosting is a very serious business; it literally takes the prosperity and well being of your website and your company into its hands. Poor web hosting services offered from less than desirable web hosting UK companies could see your company struggle with its online presence and reliability. You need to prevent this by looking for a few key features from good web hosting UK companies.

What to look for in greatness

There are a great number of web hosting UK companies. Because this overabundance of choice includes bad companies, you need to make your choices very carefully. Suss out the companies with good reputations and make a list of the best ones. Once you have a list of reputable web hosting UK companies you need to scale it down to a shortlist. The first thing to look for in a prospective hosting company is quality service all-round. That means that customer care and technical support needs to be top notch as it is with CWCS. Your questions should be answered promptly, issues should be seen to and you shouldn't have to wait a week for help. Look for a company like CWCS that offers you options. Always look for the option to tweak things, upgrade and change features that are highly variable. The third thing to look for is uptime. Look at the percentage uptime versus the percentage of downtime websites from that host experience. You want a web hosting UK company like CWCS that will offer you uptime percentages that you can depend on to ensure your website is accessible to clients at all times.

How managed hosting helps you

2009-07-10T09:32:00.002+01:00

A managed hosting package will be more costly than a dedicated server package that is unmanaged, self-managed, or shared server-hosting options. However, with the extra costs come extra benefits. How can these benefits help you to create a better website that will ultimately improve your profits? To manage is superior With CWCS managed hosting you don't and wont experience significant downtime. Downtime is a customer offender, repels visitors and is a headache for your company. Downtime through managed hosting is also usually less than it would be if you were to manage your server yourself. This is because here at CWCS, we have full time staff with a wealth of technical knowledge and experience, dedicated to keeping your hosting active. Your security through CWCS managed hosting is tight, helping protect you from viruses, worms and malicious cyber attacks. With CWCS, your regular data back-up is a vital part of the service. With CWCS, you also get a high level of technical service and support. As they say, more heads are better than one. CWCS managed hosting holds a wealth of benefits for your company, shouldn't you consider it?

New Google Chrome OS announced

2009-07-09T09:21:00.002+01:00

The major search engine Google has had an effect on everyone within the IT and web industry with there successful search engine. Everyone wants to have the top ranked Google search result and even companies have been setup providing optimisation to help gain a better result within the search engine.

In addition to the search engine, Google have branched out and are now competitors with its chrome web browser and even the mobile phone industry. The latest addition Google announced yesterday is an entire new operating system to release on netbooks in 2010. The operating system is expected to have a high focus on security. Built into the operating system is protection against all the Internet's nastys such as viruses and malware. The users will simply use and work with the operating system rather than keeping it up-to-date and applying patches on a regular basis.

Google have said the operating system was originally designed without the presence of the web. The new operating system will be fast and allow you to start accessing the web within the quickest time possible. Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects for the new browser.

The browser is designed on top of a Linux kernel, Google’s strategy is to allow people to see its source code and show people what it’s trying to achieve. The operating system will be compatible with all existing developer’s web technologies allowing access to applications straight from the OS. New applications can also be developed and will still be compatible with the latest existing browsers to ensure developers reach the entire market.

The new operating system is being developed as a solution to the most common frustrations with existing technology. Google believe they will over come the most common problems experienced today such as

Slow boot up times and slow internet access
Slow email retrieval
Slowdown of the computer from when it was initially purchased.
Data not being accessible while on the move.
Configuration of every hardware device added.
Constant software updates

It seems Google have set high expectations for the new browser. Google have seen success recently with its new technologies and additions being released. Will they continue to be a top competitor and provide an outstanding new operating platform? Or has Google bitten off more than they can chew with this major project….

We will find out..
http://www.cwcs.co.uk
Tel: 0845 203 1000

What is the best scripting language to learn and use?

2009-07-08T16:58:00.002+01:00

A scripting language allows you to take your website to the next lever, from a series of static hard coded web pages, to a website that will interact with the user, draw data and history from its database and intelligently calculate what the visitor needs to see. There are many scripting languages out there at the moment and more come on the horizon so we will just discuss the main ones that have become industry standards. When considering a scripting language to learn and use, if you haven’t already used one, should be a mix between your past skills and what you need from your site.

PHP is becoming the main scripting language for most internet sites and scripts. It is based on C and C++ so if you have experience of these it will be of great benefit. Combined with Linux, Apache and MySQL (often called LAMP - LinuxApacheMysqlPhp) it forms a powerful engine which will allow you to do almost anything you need for a dynamic database driven site. You can combine PHP with normal HTML and other languages fairly easily, and the website www.php.net is a very good resource for finding the information you need on functions and variables.

ASP is probably the second biggest scripting language, it can be run in either JAVA (a derivative of C) or VB (Visual Basic) which is of particular interest to those older programmers who grew up using windows. It is a Microsoft scripting language and supported by them. It offers many of the same features as PHP and can combine with MySQL, MS ACCESS or MS SQL to name a few of the databases. Its use is however declining.

ASP.NET is quickly taking over from ASP. It is a much reworked version of ASP and is also released by Microsoft. It allows a greater scope and much cleaner coding practices then the older ASP and includes languages like C#. It would be strongly recommended if you wish to use ASP, that you instead learn ASP.NET. The main restriction is that in order to utilise the full functionality of ASP.NET, you need to run it on a windows IIS4.0 + web server (ideally IIS 6 or 7). Very few Linux servers will support ASP.NET at all, those that do will have limited functionality support.

CGI/Perl used to be the widest used programming language on the internet and is also very similar to C and C++. It is extremely powerful in what it can do but with that power comes a lot of complexity and some users new to scripting might find it a challenge to pick up at first.

ColdFusion is the last language we will discuss, unlike the others this is designed purely to allow those who are less able or willing to learn scripting code to be able to design a powerful site using a WYSIWYG (WhatYouSeeIsWhatYouGet) editor. Unlike most other web design tools, this allows you to interface directly with a database and perform a large number of powerful features. It does however require your host support ColdFusion so bare this in mind if you decide to go for this option.

Managed hosting and the benefits

2009-07-08T11:52:00.000+01:00

Managed hosting is an option many websites need to look into when they choose a dedicated server. However, not all managed hosting services are equal and offer the same. Thus, it is important to choose your dedicated server and the managed hosting thereof carefully.

What are the benefits?

So where do you start looking at why managed hosting is beneficial for your website and why you should invest in it? Managed hosting fees for dedicated servers vary greatly from one hosting company to the next. However, you should take the quality of the service into consideration and not just the price. Managed hosting services obtained from a reputable hosting company like CWCS can be significantly less than the services of an in-house server manager.

This could be a great way for your company to cut costs in the face of a global financial recession. Along with CWCS managed hosting services you get everything you need for your hosting to run smoothly. Getting all your needs met by CWCS reduces costs, and effort, significantly.

Along with CWCS managed hosting services you also get a wealth of features and extras. We offer vital security services as well as services to monitor all aspects of your server with managed hosting. This helps to ensure maximum uptime and hopefully a hassle free server experience.

AJAX Benefits

2009-07-07T18:36:00.000+01:00

AJAX is not a new technology, rather a combination of JavaScript and
XML. It allows for rich, dynamic websites built mostly from HTML and
Javascript.

Google popularised it's use quite a few years ago and since then it has
caught on. So what are the benefits and should you really be going out
your way to incorporate it?

AJAX has two huge benefits.

- Speed and invisibility, makes a web page seem 'smart' and provides a
realtime user experience
- Less resources used at the server end. Most of the processing is done
by the visitors web browser.

As an example. Imagine having a PHP page that POST's a username and
password to a server for processing. In this case all the data is sent
and the entire page is returned. Page sizes can range from 20k and
upwards. So in total you would be sending (back and forth) double that,
once for the visitor and once for the server.

By using AJAX the entire page is loaded once, then only the needed data
is pushed back to the server. In the above case once the visitor has
received the page, the only data sent back to the server is the username
and password, probably consisting of around 100 bytes. So as you can
see, the bandwidth and processing time saved is actually quite
substantial, especially when you consider the fact that these requests
are happening all the time.

There are many helpful libraries around to help AJAX developers. In
fact, Google has their own codebase specifically designed for this type
of thing over at http://code.google.com. It's very easy to incorporate
into your existing website and makes AJAX development a lot easier.

User experience is also very important when visiting a website. AJAX
enables a developer to turn their website into a responsive, real-time
application. Many sites have multiple pages and navigation links,
directing the user to different areas via different methods. Using AJAX
the user can stay on one single page and the data can be fed to them in
real-time without them having to navigate around the place. This also
reduces resource usage on the server and exponentially improves response
times.

Although all new technology should be approach carefully, the fact is
that AJAX is not new, it's just a clever combination of two existing and
thoroughly tested technologies.

Monitor traffic and protect your servers - the firewall

2009-07-01T16:37:00.002+01:00

When dedicated server setups are running a critical task and serving your businesses online presence, its important to remember to take precautions just as you would in every day life…

Protecting yourself in a dangerous environment is human instinct, protecting your servers over the Internet requires a smart person to apply the correct level of protection to the amount your online presence is valued. If it’s a small shared hosting package or a large enterprise level clustered server setup you have, you are vulnerable to the internets nasty attacks and intrusions.

Luckily CWCS Managed Hosting has the ideal network infrastructure to eliminate such intrusions way before any potential problems could ever reach your server. With a complex network setup and strict firewall rules, you can rest assure general attacks will be excluded with constant monitoring of the networks traffic.

Larger multiple dedicated server setups and colocation often requires a very strict and custom set of firewall rules, which can be changed and configured on a regular basis. The Internet is changing all the time and network traffic is getting bigger with more advanced attacks and exploits out there. For the extra assurance and full control over the firewall gateway we recommend investing in your own dedicated hardware firewall.

CWCS Managed Hosting always offers the right hardware suitable for your setup, its important to have the right level of security protecting your servers and equipment. Our firewalls are manufactured by Cisco, which offer production level hardware suitable for data centre environments. The cost is kept to the minimum we are able to offer and support for the firewall is included.

How the firewall works?

In a nutshell, the firewall basically filters traffic by separating the good and bad requests. It can be used to separate a public network such as the Internet from a much smaller private network. It also is used to divide different segments of a large network; acting like a fire door in a practical real life situation you can imagine why this device was given the name ‘firewall’.

Different types of firewalls are available including software firewalls, to find out what is required to protect your business. Contact one of our sales advisors who will happily look into what you have and what we can offer to give you the security you need over your equipment.

Tel: 0845 203 1000
Web: http://www.cwcs.co.uk

Cheap does not always mean cheap with web hosting

2009-06-30T09:45:00.001+01:00

Finances are tight for everyone, so when a web host offers cheap dedicated server packages it is very tempting to jump at the opportunity. If you are shopping around for a dedicated server you will know the advantages that it brings. The exclusivity of not sharing a server, the greater bandwidth, better storage and memory as well as customisation options. A dedicated server logically is more pricy that a shared server package.

It is thus in your own interest to make sure of exactly what is included in your quote for dedicated server costs. It is too late once you get the first bill and find out you were charged more than you were expecting.

Uncover hidden costs

It is your responsibility to thoroughly go through the terms of service to make sure what the web hosting package includes. This means checking on hardware, licence fees, software included as well as the fees for the management of the control panels. Make sure of the details whether you are signing up for a managed dedicated server package or not. Not everyone is aware of the differences between fully managed and partly managed dedicated servers.

Then there are also options for self managed and unmanaged dedicated server packages. It is top priority to educate yourself on exactly what these different packages entail. It is in the best interests of your business to not go simply with cheap and end up with inadequate services.

It is far more economical most of the time to take an average priced dedicated server package. The price is not the deciding factor; the quality of service and benefit outweigh the actual monthly costs, which is why at CWCS, we pride ourselves on superb customer service and the quality of our web hosting.

Web hosting on a budget

2009-06-27T09:40:00.001+01:00

It is not easy to choose a web hosting company, no matter the size of your business. There are a huge number of companies offering web hosting packages. What makes it so difficult to choose amongst all the web hosting companies, is that you need one that meets your needs.

So when it comes to choosing budget web hosting, there are specifics that must be verified to make sure that all is above board and that the company is reliable. To do this you need to compare the services and prices of several companies before you make a decision.

Do your homework

First of all evaluate the web hosting company by viewing their websites to see if everything looks above board and that they appear professional and most importantly, what contact options they give. It is very important that the company has a support number. Check to see if the company openly offers good guarantees as we do here at CWCS. If they do not, walk away.

Then check on the percentage uptime they guarantee and calculate the downtime over a year. A business cannot run at an optimum level with too many down hours per month. It is most important to check what type of after sales support the company offers. What are the resources they offer and what type of marketing tools do they make available to their clients?

If they cannot offer you top service, good quality and several features, you should look elsewhere for budget web hosting. CWCS offer all of this and more so check out our web hosting packages to find the one which suits your needs best.

Quality assurance with managed hosting

2009-06-25T09:35:00.000+01:00

To get your website onto the internet you need web hosting services. There are many different options for web hosting services and a myriad of different packages to choose from. This means when choosing a service and package you should have knowledge of what your chosen option means to you and your business.

When considering managed hosting, what are the benefits and what makes this a good option? Managed web hosting means you leave the management of the server in the hands of the web hosting company, such as CWCS. This can be a good idea when the website owner has limited technical knowledge. The reason why managed hosting takes control is to assure quality of service. The user manages his data through tools such as FTP remotely.

All-round benefits

The quality through managed web hosting and having minimal control comes with stopping any user from modifying the server. This prevents huge problems later that could have impact on the business of the client using managed hosting. The benefits of managed hosting are many. Managed hosting is cost effective to use. Users do not have additional costs as the software and equipment used is provided by the web hosting company.

Managed hosting is normally an option offered with a dedicated server package. That in itself holds great benefits with increased bandwidth. Managed web hosting offers increased security, an uninterrupted power supply and information backup features. These benefits are critical in the smooth running of any business, which makes managed hosting the logical option.

Dedication or sharing?

2009-06-24T09:30:00.000+01:00

When you are looking for a web hosting company to support your website and the online aspects of your business you will be confronted with an entire sea of choices. Not only will you have to choose the right web hosting company for your needs. You will be facing the decision between using a shared or dedicated server as well. The decision between a shared and a dedicated server is a fundamental choice that will seriously impact your business.

Dedication may be best

Web hosting services utilising shared servers have some drawbacks and can only really service smaller websites with limited web traffic. For larger companies a dedicated server is the best option. It may be a little more costly than shared server but it will save you money in the longer run. A dedicated server offers you the use of an entire server all to yourself. You get to use a server privately and have far fewer worries with a dedicated server.

You do not have to worry about other websites causing your website to suffer downtimes. You need not worry about malicious scripts from other websites affecting your own website and causing problems for you. You will have much faster website response times with a dedicated server.

You are not sharing it so there are no other websites draining your server and slowing you down. You can get a larger monthly bandwidth allowance. This means that you don’t sit with an inaccessible and dead website half way through the month. You can also opt for CWCS managed hosting with a dedicated server. This is where CWCS will take over the maintenance, technical aspects and administration of your server for you.

Simplify your life with managed hosting

2009-06-23T09:23:00.000+01:00

Managed hosting can truly make life easier for people who need it. With managed web hosting you get the technical services as well as the administration of your server taken care of for you.

You will also be offered services such as the maintenance of your hardware to provide optimum uptime. Your host will provide networking testing and management, security, maintenance of the system and software installation.

If you run into problems, they will be taken care of. All of this takes a huge weight and an enormous responsibility off of your shoulders. This allows you to get on with your business, knowing that managed hosting is taking care of your server and web worries.

Choosing a managing host

Managed hosting can come with a dedicated server which although more costly, gives you many more features than shared hosting. So it is imperative that you make the right decision from the get go. You need to make sure that the web hosting company, such as CWCS, can meet and even surpass your needs. You need to know that you have the freedom to hand over the reins and your business will be prosper.

You also need to know that the managed hosting on offer can cope with your business needs and offers room for further growth as you progress. You need to look into the service history of your prospective managed hosting. Look for reviews and complaints.

Take all the good and the bad into consideration and then make a decision based on facts. Making the right decision now will help to see your company prosper so take a look now at what CWCS web hosting can offer you.

Know your own web hosting needs

2009-06-22T06:31:00.003+01:00

Starting a new business could mean you are not yet really internet savvy. Remember that everyone had to start somewhere and learn, nobody automatically knew all the answers. This means that you will need to use a web hosting company that you can trust - and one that keeps its promises, which is why CWCS are a great place to start.

To help you understand your own needs for web hosting, you need to know the basics. The typical small website normally takes between 10 to 100 MB. Most businesses start out small with the intentions of growing and developing so look at our CWCS web hosting packages that have generous web space. The important thing is to know what your needs are before you start looking at the best packages.

The basics

Find out on average how much bandwidth you will need. This can vary hugely between different types of websites. Check on the amount of bandwidth offered with your package and what the charges will be when you exceed the limit. Another factor to check into is the connection speed. CWCS offer a range of packages with different features so you can have what you need with the minimum of fuss and expense.

You will have customers that do not all use the same manner of connection. Not everyone has access to the most modern technology. Some people still have to connect with a 56K modem.

Make sure that your web hosting company offers a high quality of customer service, as CWCS do, to ensure that you can always contact them if needed and any issues are resolved quickly.

Web Hosting Buyers Beware – make sure of your facts

2009-06-19T01:50:00.004+01:00

Web hosting is a necessity for anyone who wants to have a website. It does not matter if you are a small business that is starting up, or if you want a personal website. This means you are in the market for a good web hosting company that can offer you a shared hosting package that is affordable, like CWCS. Usually entry-level web hosting packages come at a modest price.

There is great competition amongst web hosting companies and of course every one wants to get the most clients. This means that there will be companies that will offer the most generous features, but then are not able to live up to the promises they make.

So how can you tell which are the good guys and which of them are wolves masquerading in sheep’s clothing? Your first port of call is the web hosting review websites.

Verify the facts

Browse through several to get a general idea of how specific web hosting companies are rated. This alone is not good enough though, you need honest customer reviews as well to get the full picture. The web hosting company you choose is critically important so review websites and customer testimonials on the web hosting company’s website is not enough.

Research the blogs and websites that give customer reviews where people did not get paid to do the reviews. Remember though, that every web hosting company will have a percentage of disgruntled customers, so do your research well, it is time spent worthwhile.

Get a good selection of unbiased reviews, you can make sure to choose the best web hosting company. You need one that lives up to its promises - like we do at CWCS. We offer a range of high quality web hosting solutions with features and prices to suit everyone.

Keep The Good Times Rolling

2009-06-17T12:05:00.008+01:00

Web hosting UK offers the world some of the best web hosting there is out there. However, it can also offer you some of the worst. With the good comes the bad and you need to know how to weed out the rotten apples and stick to the ones offering you good business, such as reputable web hosts like CWCS.

Your relationship with web hosting UK services can prove to be rocky if you don’t find exactly the right company. And, of course, there are always a few things to remember about maintaining a good relationship from both ends.

Keeping up good relationships

The first thing that you need to do when you are trying to decide on the best web hosting UK for your needs is to take the time to find out exactly what you need. Knowing what you need now may be easier than trying to predict what you are going to need down the line. However, they are both equally important. You need to make sure that the web hosting UK company you are considering uses the technology you do and might later want to implement, which is why CWCS solutions can grow and upgrade as you do.

Not getting what you want will only make you want to move later anyway. Do comparative shopping; ask business associates and friends which web hosting UK company they make use of. Scour the internet for blogs and reviews of web hosting UK companies and their offers.

Bloggers and down to earth online reviews are a good source of advice. Finding the right web hosting company will aid your web hosting relationship and help to make it less rocky. Why not check out the CWCS web hosting packages and see what we can do for you?

Designing a website for the non website designer

2009-06-15T23:44:00.003+01:00

At CWCS we have many customers who purchase web space without any knowledge of web design. In order to have a website, you need to have both a domain name (www.domain.com for example) and web site files. These are files stored with your web host on a physical machine(s) that are always on the internet. The content in these files determines what displays on the internet. A majority of internet pages use HTML to display their code and in many instances things like CGI, ASP or PHP to generate the HTML code. To see HTML in its raw form, click on “view source” in your web browser (usually under the tools menu).

HTML is fairly complex hard to fathom for many people so the use of web design tools has become the choice for most web designers or casual website owners. These can break down into 2 main types. The first is the powerful offline application, for example Dreamweaver or the no longer supported MS Front Page. These will allow you to design your site while not on the internet quickly and then upload them when you go online to your web space. These are fairly useful and are often quicker then the online applications, however they do require some basic knowledge in order to get the files you’ve designed onto the web in the correct format. The online applications have the benefit of not requiring you to upload files or have knowledge of how to order the files. You also can design or add to the site from multiple locations unlike the offline applications.

We offer the Parallels SiteBuilder for customers who are looking for a complete package of hosting and an easy to use web design too.

Web Hosting UK Choice Factors

2009-06-15T11:15:00.005+01:00

Whenever you are going to be giving money out on anything you will want to have a choice. Having that choice can be taken for granted, never get lax with your web hosting decisions. You can simply move on from one company to the next until you find what you are looking for, however that is costly, time consuming and it irreparably damages your cyberspace image.

Making the right choice

When you are considering a web hosting UK company you need to take many things into consideration. You may be tempted to look at just the monetary deals they can offer you, this would be a mistake.

Customer service is what the web hosting UK company should be all about. You need a company that offers you not just basic, but as extensive telephonic support as possible, such as CWCS's 24/7 support. Look after hours and weekend services as well as a friendly and helpful telephone manner.

Looking for user reviews online for your web hosting UK company can help you to get an idea of what their clients think of services offered. This will paint a picture of their track record and what you can expect of them, but use your own judgement too, as the some internet users have their own agenda.

Usability is another huge factor to consider. If you like familiar things, routine and hate change then you need to find a web hosting UK company that offers systems and control panels you are used to. Finally you need to look at the fee structure. Rather pay a little more for what you need and want than less for something that does not make the grade. Check out our CWCS web hosting packages to find the right one for your needs.

Package concerns

2009-06-12T11:00:00.005+01:00

Web hosting is a vital part of running a successful online business. You may just need a website for information purposes or you may need it to actually do business. Whatever you need your website to do, you need to choose the right web hosting packages to support you completely. The last thing you want or need is to be stuck with sub standard web hosting.

What’s on offer?

First and foremost, you need to look for reliability. You need to be able to rely on your web hosting UK company, such as CWCS, to fix problems and give good service. You need to know that your web host is there for you when you need them and not at their convenience. You need to scrutinize the quality of service they offer other clients. That is why going for an established and experienced web hosting company like CWCS makes sense.

If a web hosting UK company does not offer you the best value for your website you need to move on. Find out which websites the web host in question supports. Visit these sites and take note of website response times. If they are all slow, step away from the web host. Lastly, check out how much bandwidth you get offered. Too little won’t do and too much is a waste of money. CWCS web hosting packages can meet all of your needs and more, so take a look at which option will suit your requirements best.

Why The Importance of Dedicated Servers?

2009-06-11T10:00:00.002+01:00

Normally people start out with shared server web hosting when they have more basic web hosting needs. As business expands, these needs change and more bandwidth is needed as well as extra features to accommodate growing business requirements.

Once shared hosting facilities are no longer adequate, it is time for businesses to upgrade to dedicated servers. Dedicated servers give exclusivity where it is no longer necessary to share servers with many other websites.

Other websites do not slow down these servers and cannot cause crashes that inconvenience a business and its clients. With dedicated servers come full control and customisation. When businesses use dedicated servers, they can install extra software to make things easier in managing their businesses. This ups their performance levels and in turn can lead to faster business growth. CWCS dedicated servers allow faster data access and can effortlessly accommodate much heavier website traffic.

Simply better and faster

Companies that have dealerships/ branches gain great benefits from dedicated servers. The parent company uses a dedicated server and puts all its dealership websites on this server. Dedicated servers give the whole company a streamlined online presence and it is cost effective to host everything on one server. Dedicated servers mean all the dealerships, no matter where they are, can use the same online tools.

Administration and support is streamlined through customised software called point of sale software. Many businesses opt for dedicated servers. This is to be able to customize their software, gain fast access and drastically increase their customer service.

One of the biggest advantages of CWCS dedicated servers is the greatly enhanced security that is critically important for online businesses.

VeriSign release statistics of more than 180 Million registered domain names…

2009-06-10T16:54:00.002+01:00

During the first quarter of 2009 VeriSign released statistics of more than 180 million registered domain names across the Internet.

They stated that during the first quarter, a high amount of new registrations is always expected from looking at previous years figures. The new figures released are a 12% increase globally on domain name registrations from last year.

The most popular domain suffix is .com, which totals up to 43% of all registrations. .uk and .de are also doing well for country specific domain names with .de registrations amounting to around 90% of Germanys total domain registrations.

Who owns the domain names?

Around two thirds of all domain name registrations are business owners and 64% of all domain names now have an active website. VeriSign released figures that state approximately one in 100 people now own a domain name.

These figures give us an indication on how quickly the Internet is growing and how much of a demand there is for domain names. Register your domain name with us now to ensure someone else doesn’t register it first…
http://www.cwcs.co.uk/domain-names/

The advantages of dedication

2009-06-08T10:30:00.006+01:00

We all know what dedication means. It means undivided attention, it means having something all to your self and it means personalization. All of these are features of dedication, no matter where it is in your life. Dedication is an especially good thing when it comes to dedicated servers. Do you need one, do you want one?

Benefits of CWCS dedicated servers

The average website is hosted on a shared server. Shared servers mean doing just that, sharing. It means sharing everything right from the good things to the troubles and problems. The biggest drawback to that is that the troubles and problems of other websites affect yours while on a shared server. Dedicated servers, on the other hand, offer you unsurpassed service.

You have the entire server all to yourself, essentially you have server privacy. You can come and go as you please. You can use as much bandwidth as you please and you don’t have to worry about other websites. Their bad scripts and other things don’t affect you. Dedicated servers offer businesses fewer downtimes and faster website response.

On a shared server your website could take too long to load and thus scare prospects off. Dedicated servers also offer companies more bandwidth usage, which is great for larger sites that need it because of higher web traffic and high download volumes. CWCS dedicated servers naturally come at a higher price than shared server space does. However, the advantages far outweigh the costs if your website and your business are suffering due to having outgrown shared hosting.

Do You Have Time To Manage Your Web Hosting?

2009-06-05T11:45:00.003+01:00

In today’s day and age, management of everything from your time and schedule to your home and relationships is paramount to any semblance of success. Your web hosting is no exception to this rule of thumb. Managing your web hosting is something that many small businesses do to help save money when they start out, but unless you are an expert, you could run into problems.

But when you enter the realm of dedicated servers and dedicated hosting it becomes a lot harder to do. The technical knowledge needed to run a server is significantly greater than piggybacking on shared hosting provided by a good web hosting company.

This is where managed hosting steps in to offer you a well deserved helping hand. Having started your business up and nurtured it to where it is today is no small task. So don’t be too proud to admit that your baby is now so large that you need help with the web hosting now.

Dedication and management

Companies that expand often move on to dedicated hosting, and those that go it alone often soon find that they do not have the IT capabilities to back up their expansion. Managed hosting services offered by CWCS Managed Hosting can keep your business going at the optimal level all the time. Managed hosting offers you the chance to hand the reins of your web hosting over to a reputable company like CWCS.

A company like CWCS will then run and manage your web hosting for you. This allows you to get on with running the rest of your company. Managed hosting can greatly improve the efficiency of your website, so think of the benefits when moving to managed web hosting.

How To Choose A Dedicated Host

2009-06-05T11:44:00.006+01:00

When you are looking at investing in dedicated servers there are obviously certain factors that you need to think about regarding your possible web hosting candidates. You need to make sure that you know enough about the company and that they have a high level of integrity. You need to know that they will keep your data secure and offer you the right technical support.

Then you need to know about the availability of bandwidth, their hardware maintenance plan, what equipment they use and what the uptime is.

Little pieces of information make a big difference

You need to investigate their rates of data transfer. The rate you will need data transferred at will depend on how many downloads will take place and how much each download will be. You also need to look at what type of content your website will be sharing. A good host providing dedicated servers such as CWCS Managed Hosting offers variety.

They will offer you different dedicated server packages to suit different needs and wants. You need to consider what platform you will be using. Will it be Windows or Linux? Windows will prove more expensive, but unanimously more user-friendly, abundant and preferred by many.

Does your candidate offer server monitoring to minimize interruptions and downtime? Do they offer assistance with backing up data and automated software? An important thing to take note of is the service level agreements that your candidate offers. CWCS can provide for all of your web hosting and dedicated server requirements.

Be Picky About Web Hosts

2009-06-05T11:44:00.005+01:00

Choosing a web hosting company can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Out of all the web hosting companies that bombard you with advertisements you may only consider a few. The first step in making sure that you pick the perfect company to handle your web hosting is to dig into their reputation.

Search for a web hosting company through a major search engine, as well as their own company website appearing, you may also find customer reviews online too so make sure that you choose a web hosting company who seems to offer highly regarded solutions. The next phase is looking at and comparing what hosting packages the different web hosting companies can offer you.

What do you really need and what do you want?

Companies that offer quality web hosting services, such as CWCS Managed Hosting, will offer you different plans and packages ranging in price according to the features they offer you. The more basic the web hosting plan the cheaper it will be. Now you need to assess what you really need from your web hosting and what you want.

Depending on your business budget you may need to cut back on what you want in favour of what you need. Take the time to compare the packages on offer.

If you jump at the first package you like you may miss out on another that offer you the same for less. Remember though, price is important, but quality services are the most important, which is why CWCS are renowned for offering superb customer services as well as comprehensive web hosting packages.