Tag Archives: hosting
Top Ecommerce Hosting Considerations to Keep in Mind
With businesses expanding their markets online nowadays, it is just normal that different website hosting companies provide special options for their patrons. Especially since these enterprises tend to have special needs. Demands tend to spike up for a package that will let an entrepreneur offer as much features and services they can in their sites, making it important for an ecommerce hosting to be available.
If you are still quite new in this department, you may be wondering what exactly an ecommerce hosting is. For those who are still learning the jargon, this term refers to the kind of hosting package commercial websites need. As you may know very well, a lot of businesses are already using the internet to sell and profit more. And as these websites need the different features to support their catalogues and download options among many others. They have to find not only the right website builder for the task, but also the kind of servers, software, applications, and even programming language support to achieve what they want in their site.
An ecommerce hosting is fitted for this purpose. However, they may differ in various features, especially since not all businesses offer the same thing. A retail business may not need what a service-providing company requires in their website, so learning what are the most important considerations when choosing an ecommerce website hosting package would be important for any thorough entrepreneur.
But what are these things that you need to keep in mind? Here are some examples:
1. Ample amount of disk space
If you are going to upload a good amount of information on your site to cater to your customers, it is very important that you have enough space for everything. Stuff like a shopping cart and product catalog needs a lot of room, especially if you have tons of items for sale. Sure, you may go over the limit and just pay for the fines, but also keep in mind that there are better packages that can give you more space without the extra payment, so why not look for those opportunities instead?
1. Enough bandwidth
Of course, being an entrepreneur, you are looking forward to attracting a good amount of traffic to your website; besides, this is one of the ways you can make a sale. This is why planning ahead is important if you want to succeed, because even if your venture is still small, chances are, you can generate a good amount of traffic one way or another. So, to cater to that amount of activity, your site needs to be capable enough of handling the influx of clicks and page impressions. Or else, your website can crash and be the very reason why you can’t profit from the great thing that is happening.
1. The server
This is probably the most important of them all because it can determine a lot for you. It can help you save and make a more efficient website for starters.
What kind of server should you use?
You see, there are different kinds of these available, and some can give you better performance than others. It may seem too technical for someone who’s inexperienced, but your website builder can surely lend you a hand and walk you through in choosing one of these things.
These three are just the most basic things you should keep in mind when choosing an ecommerce website hosting offer. Again, if things tend to be too difficult and technical for you, you can always ask for assistance from website builder firms, like Pace Work Technologies. They will surely know what you need.
The Disadvantages of Windows Hosting
Windows hosting certainly has its advantages; it’s easy to use, and is compatible with Microsoft Access, Microsoft Frontpage, .NET and Visual Basic. However, there are some disadvantages to Windows hosting, too. While this doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t use a Windows hosting package, there are significant drawbacks to using one that you will need to know about before you choose. Let’s take a look at some of the best advantages that come with using a Windows hosting package; then, you’ll be able to make an informed decision.
Instability
Unfortunately, Windows is not as stable as, for example, UNIX. Therefore, if you are planning on running Windows instead of UNIX, you can count on having some downtime, perhaps significant. Most Windows servers will have some issues, because the platform itself is not particularly stable. If at all possible, it’s much more desirable from a stability standpoint to go with UNIX.
Slow performance
UNIX servers run much more quickly than do Windows servers. Therefore, if you want your content to come up quickly, you’re better off using UNIX. The slowness of a Windows server relates to the programming, and it’s not something you can easily fix.
System resources hog
Unfortunately, most Windows servers use many more resources than servers running on UNIX do. This means you’ll need more RAM, more bandwidth, and more disk space, likely, which can cost you significantly more money than if you were to go with a UNIX server.
Frequent reboots
You’ll need to reboot your Windows server more often than you will your UNIX server, which can mean your site will be down significantly more than if it were run on UNIX.
Incompatibility with Perl and CGI
Perl or CGI applications can cause Windows compatibility issues. These were developed in UNIX, which means that many scripts are going to be incompatible as written and you’ll need to be able to work around them. Many Perl and CGI scripts do indeed function correctly on Windows, but you have to do some research to find them, and they’re not particularly common.
No SSH or Telnet administration
You won’t be able to administer your site using SSH or Telnet, since these are UNIX based. If you’re used to being able to do so, you’re out of luck if you decide to go with a Windows server.
No “free lunch”
Because Windows is not a platform that is free operating, your Windows hosting package will likely cost more than if it’s based in UNIX. Very few free applications will also run on Windows server, which means you’ll have significant out-of-pocket expenses, likely, because you’ll need to pay for applications you could get free with a UNIX server.
What do these disadvantages mean?
Do these disadvantages mean you shouldn’t use Windows hosting? Not necessarily, but you most certainly need to look at the drawbacks a Windows server will give you versus one that runs on UNIX — as well as the advantages.
If your website is relatively basic AND you use FrontPage and/or Microsoft Access on your website, then Windows hosting may indeed be your best fit. For anything more complicated than that, though (and if you don’t need the “perfect fit” that Windows hosting provides FrontPage or Microsoft Access users), consider going with UNIX instead. UNIX provides you so much more flexibility and stability that it’s well worth your time.
The Disadvantages of Windows Hosting
Windows hosting certainly has its advantages; it’s easy to use, and is compatible with Microsoft Access, Microsoft Frontpage, .NET and Visual Basic. However, there are some disadvantages to Windows hosting, too. While this doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t use a Windows hosting package, there are significant drawbacks to using one that you will need to know about before you choose. Let’s take a look at some of the best advantages that come with using a Windows hosting package; then, you’ll be able to make an informed decision.
Instability
Unfortunately, Windows is not as stable as, for example, UNIX. Therefore, if you are planning on running Windows instead of UNIX, you can count on having some downtime, perhaps significant. Most Windows servers will have some issues, because the platform itself is not particularly stable. If at all possible, it’s much more desirable from a stability standpoint to go with UNIX.
Slow performance
UNIX servers run much more quickly than do Windows servers. Therefore, if you want your content to come up quickly, you’re better off using UNIX. The slowness of a Windows server relates to the programming, and it’s not something you can easily fix.
System resources hog
Unfortunately, most Windows servers use many more resources than servers running on UNIX do. This means you’ll need more RAM, more bandwidth, and more disk space, likely, which can cost you significantly more money than if you were to go with a UNIX server.
Frequent reboots
You’ll need to reboot your Windows server more often than you will your UNIX server, which can mean your site will be down significantly more than if it were run on UNIX.
Incompatibility with Perl and CGI
Perl or CGI applications can cause Windows compatibility issues. These were developed in UNIX, which means that many scripts are going to be incompatible as written and you’ll need to be able to work around them. Many Perl and CGI scripts do indeed function correctly on Windows, but you have to do some research to find them, and they’re not particularly common.
No SSH or Telnet administration
You won’t be able to administer your site using SSH or Telnet, since these are UNIX based. If you’re used to being able to do so, you’re out of luck if you decide to go with a Windows server.
No “free lunch”
Because Windows is not a platform that is free operating, your Windows hosting package will likely cost more than if it’s based in UNIX. Very few free applications will also run on Windows server, which means you’ll have significant out-of-pocket expenses, likely, because you’ll need to pay for applications you could get free with a UNIX server.
What do these disadvantages mean?
Do these disadvantages mean you shouldn’t use Windows hosting? Not necessarily, but you most certainly need to look at the drawbacks a Windows server will give you versus one that runs on UNIX — as well as the advantages.
If your website is relatively basic AND you use FrontPage and/or Microsoft Access on your website, then Windows hosting may indeed be your best fit. For anything more complicated than that, though (and if you don’t need the “perfect fit” that Windows hosting provides FrontPage or Microsoft Access users), consider going with UNIX instead. UNIX provides you so much more flexibility and stability that it’s well worth your time.