How do I change my web hosting server?

Here are step-by-step instructions to guide you through the process of changing web hosts for your web site. FYI, this is quite an easy affair so please leave all your fears behind.

1. Keep the username and password of your domain name account ready. These login details are different from the login information of your present web hosting company, unless you have purchased the domain name from the latter.
   To repeat: You need the username and password of the account at the company from whom you bought the domain name.
   
   
2. Research and find a good and reliable web host. I am sure that the reason you want to change is because you are dissatisfied with the present company. We don't want this to happen again... right? Hence, spend some time exploring the web and reading reviews. Maybe my list of recommended web hosting companies can help - take a look.
   
   
3. Once you have made your choice, purchase an appropriate web hosting package from them. Confirm the purchase and carefully read the emails that you receive from the company. As you can guess, the emails contain sensitive and important information. Taking a printout and keeping it in a safe place would be a smart thing to do.
   Make sure you get the name server information of the new server. Your new web host should send you a primary and a secondary name server. It would typically be in the email you receive from the web host. If not (hmmm), check the support or FAQ pages on their web site. Still lost? Contact their technical staff immediately.
   
   
4. Now log in at your domain name account (refer point 1 above) and change the DNS information associated with your domain name to the new values. Generally, you will find a "Change Name Server" or equivalent link in your account. Make sure you enter both the primary and secondary name servers. For details, read how to change the name servers associated with my domain name.
   
   
5. When you modified the name servers, you would be told that the change will take 24 to 72 hours so you need to be patient. Nowadays, I have noticed that name server changes take place quite fast - 14-18 hours.
   
   Why this lag time? The information on all domains is stored on certain computers scattered around the world. All of these machines need to be updated with the new information and that, I think you can understand, would take a bit of time.
   
   Note: When you modify the DNS associated with your domain name you might (depends on your domain name registrar) receive an email from the company. This message would come on the email address used at the time of registering the domain name. The email would either inform you of the change or request a confirmation. Read it thoroughly and follow the instructions carefully.
   
   
6. Once your domain name has been associated with the new web host, you would be able to upload your web site on the server.

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I booked a domain name. Do I now need to get a web site?

Yes. A domain name is just a name not a web site. If you are planning to get a web site for your business, purchasing a domain name is the first step.

Depending on how you are inclined, the second step could be the purchase of web hosting for your domain name OR the creation of your website.

Should I buy web hosting before I get a web site?

Should I get a website from the company from whom I bought the domain name?

Should I take other add-on services/features that come with my domain name?

Should I purchase web hosting from the domain registration company?

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I want unlimited bandwidth for my web site. Where can I get it?

The bandwidth of your site is the amount of data transferred from your hosting server account to the visitors of your web site. The visitors include web surfers who stumble upon your web site, search engine bots, and you (when you upload files using FTP).

Each web hosting server is connected to the internet with a network line which may be a fiber optic line, a cable line or a simple electrical wire. The amount of data transferred by these lines is limited. So the issue of unlimited bandwidth is false! That said, let us understand why web hosting companies offer unlimited bandwidth in their packages and where you can get it.

Unlimited or unmetered bandwidth - Myth or Fact... or just plain marketing trick?

Several web hosting firms offer unlimited bandwidth. Does this mean they are misleading prospects? Is unlimited bandwidth just a marketing gimmick?

The thing is no web hosting company can offer this feature even though they put it boldly in their advertisements because their net connection can carry only a limited amount of data.

So unlimited bandwidth is a myth!

Does this mean you can sue them for lying? Oh no... read the small print attached to the unlimited bandwidth phrase.

How can web hosts advertise unlimited bandwidth?

Each web hosting company has a fixed amount of bandwidth because the network lines they use can carry only a fixed amount of data. They know that most web sites hosted on their servers will consume only negligible part of the bandwidth. To put it in figures (even though these are very fuzzy), a smallish web site of a company getting 500 visitors per day will probably have about 5 to 20GB of data transfer per month. [This, as you might know, depends on the number of pages viewed by each visitor, the file sizes of the pages, the file size of images and multimedia elements on the web pages etc.

Any way, web host companies know with reasonable surety that web sites hosted on their servers will take up only a small amount the bandwidth. It would be rare if a web site reaches the bandwidth levels they have set (which you can get in the small print). And, so companies offer unlimited bandwidth in their web hosting packages.

I like to think that unlimited bandwidth offered by different web hosting companies has more to do with helping new prospects than a marketing trick. It is easier for beginners to understand the concept of unlimited than trying to work out the numbers for their web sites. Experienced web developers know that unlimited bandwidth has more truth in it than someone walking over water - The good Lord above is excused from this.

Is it fine to take a unlimited bandwidth hosting plan?

If you are just starting a web site, an unlimited plan would be a good idea. Though we know by now that there is no such thing as unlimited bandwidth, you would soon be able to gauge how much of data transfer your web site gets each month. At least you would not have immediate problems with your web hosting company. As I mentioned above, a smallish business or company web site with about 50-100 pages would not reach significant bandwidth levels. Read "What is bandwidth and how much do I need for my web site?" if you want to know how to calculate bandwidth for your web site.

However, if you plan to put a lot of music or video files (or any other large files) for download, you might just run into problems if your web site suddenly becomes very popular. (We all wish that our web sites start getting tens of thousands of visitors in their first month, however, we must keep our vaulting ambition in check. All web sites take time to get properly indexed by search engines and then have decent rankings for search queries).

Where can you get web hosting plans with unlimited bandwidth?

Web hosting industry is very competitive and several web hosting companies offer unlimited bandwidth in their packages. You might say - "Now that I know there is no such thing as unlmited bandwidth - should I trust companies offering it?"

As I mentioned before, if you are just starting off, there are no problems in putting your web site on a package with unlimited hosting. At least, you don't have to worry about the amount of data transfer the next few months even if your web site suddenly starts hitting it high on visitor numbers. And if that happens you would realize that your web site has outgrown the features offered by the server and that would prompt you to shift to a new and better web server.

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Unix, Linux and FreeBSD operating systems for web hosting servers

The Unix and Linux operating systems are specifically designed for web servers. They are proven to be stable and can serve web pages even under heavy traffic. They are less vulnerable to attacks from viruses and hackers. Unix/Linux operating systems are also a better choice when hosting multiple web sites with heavy bandwidth requirements and can provide a 99% or more uptime.

Servers running Unix/Linux operating systems can be managed easily from any computer connected to the net unlike servers running Windows Operating system which require specialized or expensive administration software.

Third party software and applications for Unix/Linux/Free BSD web hosting servers

Thousands of third party web software are available for Unix/Linux based servers and most of them for free. They can be easily integrated using online control panels or can be installed fairly quickly from the shell environment. These web based software and suite of programs usually run on what is called the LAMP which stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP. You can find forums, message boards, chat programs, shopping carts, mailing lists and many more applications based on LAMP that have been developed as a collaborative effort of several programmers. If you are apprehensive of using free software, rest assured - you will find tons of helpful sites and forums that provide support for these software.

FrontPage and Unix/Linux/FreeBSD servers

Even if you are developing your web site in FrontPage, Unix/Linux based servers can help you integrate using FrontPage Extensions. So unless you plan to use specific Windows software, you should choose a Unix/Linux/FreeBSD based web server.

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What is virtual hosting - sharing your machine with others?

Virtual hosting or shared hosting is a process with which one can host multiple web sites on one machine under a single I.P. (Internet Protocol) address. It is the direct opposite of dedicated hosting wherein only one web site (domain name) is hosted on a machine.

Virtual hosting is provided by almost all web hosting companies and involves dividing the server into several virtual servers each acting like separate entities. It follows that web sites hosted on a virtual hosting package have to share server resources with all other web sites on the server. The resources include hard-disk space, bandwidth, the processing power etc. For this reason, virtual hosting is much cheaper than dedicated hosting. Also usually virtual hosting packages come with powerful control panels with which one can manage and administer the web site such as creating email accounts, databases etc.

Most articles in this section pertain to virtual web hosting because it is an ideal solution for beginners. In virtual web hosting, the onus of maintaining the server uptime and prevention of attacks from hackers lies on the web hosting company unlike dedicated hosting servers which might require configurations, regular maintenance, etc.

Who should take virtual hosting?

Virtual hosting is recommended for all beginners and startups. I have popular web sites getting more than 10,000 unique visitors per day hosted on virtual servers and there have been no problems.

In fact, I would not be wrong in saying that virtual hosting is the best solution for small/medium sized and personal web sites. Remember, no web site gets millions of visitors in the first few months of its launch. Your web site, like everything else, will take time to popularize. And if it does, you can always shift to a dedicated server.
But when you are starting off, a virtual hosting package would be sufficient for your needs. These cost a lot less than dedicated servers, require little or no maintenance and come with reasonable levels of security. You can, thus, direct your efforts in building and popularizing your web site that worrying about server uptime, hacker attacks etc. Finally, Virtual hosting packages provide reasonable levels of security.

As mentioned before, typical virtual hosting packages come with an ease to use control panel through which you can administer your web site whih includes creating email accounts, databases, installing software, protecting directories with passwords, taking backups, uploading files etc.

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