Sean’s Weblog

Part 1

Now you have chosen a memorable and unique name, it’s time to purchase it and host it on a server.

Some hosting services offer to register your domain name for free others charge a fee varying from £0.99 – £15.
Others will offer free registration upon purchasing a hosting package. A hosting package is the hosting of your Domain Name on a providers server, the fee charged varies and so do the levels of both service and functionality.

Some such providers are:

• Streamline.net
• Go Daddy
• Fasthosts
• 1&1 Internet Ltd
• 123-reg

So what do you need to know before you choose your provider.

1. First can you register the domain name and identifier you wish for? Such as .net, .com, .co.uk (or other country identifier .au)as these are short and the norm. There are others too.
   • .TV
   • .Org
   • .edu
   • .biz
   • .mobi
   • .info
2. Then you have to decide what do you want to do with your new Domain.
   • Will you be using Content Management Systems such as Joomla, Drupal or a blog management such as wordpress?
   • Will you be using it for your business?
   • Do you need secured access
   • Do you need different server platforms?
   • Do you want good support?
   • Will you need streaming for Video
3. After you have decided what you want to do with your site, then you need to look at the pro’s and con’s of the different hosting providers.

 

A real World example for Mind Mapping Puposes.

I will go through my choice of Host merely as an example and not because I wish to advertise my Host nor because I believe that it is going to be the right Host for you. I am simply going through this process because it will give you some idea of how I came to the choice of my own host as an example for you.
I chose my host streamline.net for many reasons.

1. First their website worked, surprising how many providers had websites that failed to work giving a 404 page not found error or Script errors. Now for a Service provider that was unnacceptable.
2. The website was easy to use and easy to find the information I needed.
3. They offered a variety of different priced packages and I eventually chose the “unlimited” package for my requirements.
4. They offered Free Domain Name and registration for new customers and a reduced yearly rate.
5. Registering the Domain name was easy as I couldn’t find it on some providers
6. With my account I had unlimited sub-domains eg www.Blogging.mediamice.net/
7. Unlimited Email accounts
8. 10 free MySQL databases, this was important to me as I host databases for clients and use content management and blogging software which require a MySQL database. One company Fasthost at the time charged £50 extra for a MySQL database.
9. Payment was easy and Quick
10. They are affiliated with search engines and offer £50 vouchers towards advertising your site
11. They offer 2 different server platforms Linux and Windows

So how have I found them?

I can only speak as I have found and what I say is in no way meant to be a statement for other people who have used streamline. I have found setting up my domains and adding sub-domains very easy, and I can choose different server platforms for my sub-domains.
Setting up email accounts is very easy and can be accessed through webmail (not that I use it). I didn’t realise how easy it was until I had a client last year who had me set up his email accounts on his host and it was a very complicated and difficult process namely because there was no link to email set up in the control panel of the domain. And when I found it I had to set up folders, permissions, passwords for each user. I was surprised at how non-instinctive this host had made the process.
The support is very good and replies arrive within 24hrs always. The server is relatively fast but I didn’t choose the option for streaming media. In the 14 months I have been using them as a host I have never had a days down time. They have a mirror server just incase one goes down. They are PHP, ASP, compliant to the most recent versions, the servers are updated regularly.

What to be aware of.

When I first started with streamline the fee for the year was £70 plus vat. On renewal the Domain has to be re-registered and this is nolonger free, my renewal cost this year was £94 plus vat. Now I don’t mind the extra for a good, reliable service and I have no issues with the increase, but it is worth noting that if you are choosing a host because of the initial price, be aware that that cost may increase significantly on renewal.
Also if you require any extras make sure they are included in the cost of the package. £50 for a MySQL Database is very steep. Now streamline aren’t the cheapest as I am sure you will find when you start looking for a host, but in the longrun they have saved me money on what they provide in the package I chose.
I would like to hear from others who have had a Good experience with their host so that I don’t sound biased.

In part 3 we will look at what to do after you have chosen your host, registered your name and are ready to FTP into the htdocs folder.

Part 1

Domain Names, Hosting, Newbie Level, Website Identity