Cloud hosting is a web hosting service that is derived from a group of servers that are all connected together to increase features. These connected servers are what are referred to as a ‘cloud’ or ‘cluster’ and they enable any users on those servers to utilize all the resources from all the servers on the cloud.

Features like processing speed, power, memory, and hard drives are all shared. These servers can be easily added or removed and the best part is for the users, is that if one server goes down an alternate server can be used. Because cloud hosting providers measure what are known as compute cycles, which is measure of time it takes to process something, this allows for users of the cloud hosting to actually be billed for the resources that they use and need as opposed to the traditional web hosting billing methods.

Besides being able to be billed for what they need, many users prefer using cloud hosting for different reasons, some of which include:

o Scalability: This allows you to very easily add or subtract the resources you need without having to move to a different server. Such flexibility provides you with more control over your spending and also allows for you to adjust as you go along.

o Uptime: Typically with cloud hosting you get a better uptime than you do with the traditional web hosting services and this leads to your site being down less and ultimately will help keep money in your pocket. Sometime though cloud hosting can experience downtime if there is a problem within the network of servers and the servers are having trouble communication with one another.

o Traffic increases: Sometimes you see where a company that is profiled in the news has their website go down because their server couldn’t handle the big spike in traffic volume. When you use cloud hosting this is not a problem as the added servers can simply absorb the traffic spike.

o Technology integration: Hosting in the cloud different technologies can be used together that can’t be used together with regular hosting. For instance, with cloud hosting it is possible to use .php and .asp files together and even in the same folder because it can draw the technologies needed from the cloud. This gives you better flexibility and the ability to use almost any type of technology you want to and know that it will mesh without a hitch.

o No hardware installation: Since you are connected with a whole host of servers, instead of downloading hardware or software you can simply connect with a server that is in the cloud that has what you need.

Cloud hosting is relatively new and the track record is therefore anything but long. The biggest complaint with this type of hosting is that the lack of root means that there is going to be a lack of control. But still this type of technology is quickly gaining popularity and may just be the way that everyone in the future experiences web hosting.

There are many different Web Hosting options available. Three of these are Shared Hosting, Managed Hosting and Colocation Hosting. This article looks at these three hosting options and there advantages and disadvantages.

SHARED HOSTING

Shared Hosting is where different sites share a server provided by a hosting company. This is the most basic hosting option and also the cheapest.

The main selling point of shared hosting is the cost. As the server is shared between different servers the hosting company can split the cost between all of the clients using the server. This option is suitable to small businesses that do not have the requirements of a more advanced type of hosting. Multiple software options are available with Shared Hosting.

There are restrictions though. The flexibility of other hosting types are not available. There is restriction to the amount of bandwidth available. The amount of bandwidth and RAM that is available is shared between all of the sites sitting on the server and therefore is limited. Although there is technical support there is a limit to the amount of support clients will get from the hosting company.

Due to the price, Shared Hosting is the best option for many businesses. If it is only basic web hosting that is needed, shared hosting is sufficient. For those who require more from their hosting, though, the service provided by Shared Hosting may not be enough.

MANAGED HOSTING

With Managed Hosting a client leases an entire server from the hosting company. Therefore they effectively have their own server to host their site on. The server is still owned by the hosting company but it is not shared with any other websites.

Managed Hosting is most suitable for large websites that expect a high amount of traffic or require large databases. It is much more powerful than a shared server and there are almost an unlimited amount of software solutions. The amount of bandwidth available is also much higher. The client can have multiple domain names on the server if required. One of the main selling points is that the client has full control over the server, although there is still support available from the hosting company.

One of the main disadvantages of Managed Hosting is that it expensive. As a whole server is being rented, the cost is quite high. More knowledge is also required when compared to Shared Hosting. Although there is much support available, knowledge of hosting is required to get the most out of Managed Hosting.

COLOCATION HOSTING

Colocation is when a client has their own server, but they store it at a colocation centre owned by the web hosting company. Colocation host’s rent rack space for companies to use for their servers. In many ways it is the same as a client hosting their own website except the server is stored elsewhere.

Colocation has many of the same advantages as if the client hosted their own website. They own the server so they can do with it as they please. They have full management of the server. With Colocation there tends to be high bandwidth availability and high uptime, although it is still limited compared with Managed Hosting. Colocation centres have high security and a controlled environment suitable for hosting needs.

Price wise Colocation is quite expensive, although cheaper than Managed Hosting. A client has to purchase their own server and then rent rack space on top of that. The skills level required to run the server is high. As the client owns the server they have to sort out any problems themselves and the support available is fairly limited, although there are sometimes packages available which come with support.

Colocation is mainly for anyone who wants to run their own server but do not have the space or budget to run it from their own premises. They therefore can store it at a Colocation centre, while still being in control.

Andrew Marshall

Ventrilo is a VOIP solution that is critical to keeping your gaming experience state-of-the-art. Of course, while ventrilo may be doing its job, the difficulty may be if you have ventrilo hosting solutions that are less than superior. In this article, we look at stable and reliable Ventrilo hosting solutions and how to achieve that at a reasonable price.

Ventrilo

Ventrilo is a trademark of Flagship Industries. Ventrilo is also the industry standard by which all others measure themselves. Many attempt to imitate its features but few have had success coming even close to the same level of performance.

Ventrilo exceeds the competition by offering surround sound positioning and special sound effects on a per user, per channel, per server or global configuration. In addition, the ventrilo program provides each user the option to fully customize exactly how they wish to hear sounds from other users or event

Hosting Considerations

When you are considering hosting solutions, keys things that you should keep in mind are stability, reliability, ease of installation, customer support, and of course, reasonable pricing. In addition, you should really be looking for a solution that has a powerful control panel to manage every aspect of your Ventrilo server.

In addition, you should recognize the different voice modes that your Ventrilo Server is capable of providing. So, for example, queued mode on a Ventrilo server allows only one person to talk at a time. By building in ease of use and total flexibility, you can totally control your Guild’s user experience.

With some ventrilo host control panels, you have full control of the Ventrilo Server to make all needed changes including editing the in files, start and stop and ventrilo tracker. Also if that wasn’t good enough, some also offer a Ventrilo Control Panel allowing you to make all needed configuration changes. Honestly, probably the two most important things to you are going to be easy of use and setup with the control panel as well as 24/7/365 quality support.

Pricing for ventrilo server hosting is all over the map but let me give you a rough target. For 50 slots, you can get your pricing down to 15.99 per month, which if you do the math, comes out to a whopping $0.32 per slot, per month: in our mind, that is truly outstanding capability at an excellent price.

Servers

Many Ventrilo server hosts have one or two locations, which may be a bit limited for your needs…. remember, the closer you are located to your host server, the better your gaming experience is likely to be. Also, be careful. Sometimes you’ll be forced to low fidelity by the limitations of the ventrilo server, in which case it’s time to go elsewhere to find a different host…. believe me, saving a few bucks does not make it worthwhile if your game experience is lousy.

So to conclude, a quality ventrilo server can really make all the difference in your gaming performance. Simply start out by finding a good quality host, with a good control panel, with good bandwidth, and with good customer support. When you find that source, you are in for a trouble free, gaming experience.

A revolution is taking place in business IT infrastructure. The growing need to find more efficient and effective ways to store and share data has led many businesses to adopt cloud services. What are these alternatives to the standard enterprise storage and computing systems utilising in-house servers? What can cloud services really offer?

When it comes to cloud computing, the benefits are clear. Using a platform on a cloud means all your processes are streamlined through the one location. Because the server is offsite and managed by the service provider, infrastructure technology costs are massively reduced, as there is no need to expand or maintain an in-house server.

Should the business need more storage space, it can simply purchase more. Likewise, there is no need to upgrade software packages, which was very costly using legacy computing, because using cloud computing the software is kept online as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), which is updated by the provider.

Naturally, the cost effectiveness of cloud computing, through the negation of hardware, software and licensing costs has attracted the attention of businesses worldwide. However, the sheer improvement in accessibility has also proven an attractive benefit. Cloud computing means all the services are accessible via the web, enabling employees to access their work using a laptop or smartphone, whether they are in the office, at home or on their way to a conference.

Needless to say, businesses who are planning to expand find peace of mind using cloud computing due to its sheer flexibility in allowing extra storage space to be purchased. In these tough economic times, cloud computing is proving an incredibly useful option.

Equally interesting among the cloud services is cloud storage, which shares the same basic model as cloud computing, except it is focussed on providing an efficient and effective data storage solution for businesses. The service provider delivers an online storage network across multiple virtual servers, which can easily be enlarged depending on the needs of the business.

Cloud storage is cost effective, because the business need only pay for the storage space they require, without having to expand, upgrade or maintain any in-house hardware or software packages. The wide array of data storage, security, maintenance, and backup responsibilities are taken care of by the service provider, freeing up the business’s IT workforce to focus on other tasks. As with cloud computing, cloud storage allows improved accessibility to data online from anywhere in the world.

Greater flexibility, reduced costs and enhanced accessibility: cloud services have a bright future as a business IT solution.

A web hosting service can be considered as the gateway to having your web site published over the internet. Since there are a wide range of web hosting companies available in the market, it becomes fairly easy to possess a website if you like. However, if you are owing a website of high traffic, a shared web hosting may be not sufficient due to various reasons, such as bandwidth limitation, function limitations, just to name a few. If this is the case, it is the time for you to find a dedicated server for your website. A dedicated hosting service, as the name suggested is the server which is used only for your website. With a dedicated server, you are able to enjoy the benefits of large bandwidth usage and good performance.

In a dedicated web hosting service, the provider takes the responsibility to take care of servers, software’s and other requirements. Therefore, as a user, you do not need to pay your valuable time on controlling the hardware or software that is required to run the server. Your dedicated hosting provider also possessing a technical support team which are willingly to help you around the clock if any problem rises at any time. With the help of on-site support and monitoring, your website uptime can be enhanced a lot. As a dedicated server client, you have exclusive rights to the server’s bandwidth, memory and storage space. Overall, dedicated servers are useful for firms and individuals that run complicated applications that need the bandwidth, consistent performance, and flexibility.

Given the above benefits, a dedicated hosting service will cost you considerably more than a shared hosting service. This is also one of the common reasons why certain companies with a growing web presence hesitate to make the move to a dedicated server. This is because they are wondering about the budget concern. Actually, with the excellent service with dedicated server, you will find that you paid for what you get. Dedicated servers with round the clock maintenance and support ensure that no matter how many visitors are coming to your website at a single time, you website is keep up and running without any downtime. And you may also find out that it is not necessary to worry about security issue with a dedicated server, since the proprietary information and customer databases are protected by special data safety method.

And the other reason for my recommendation of dedicated server is that most companies that offer dedicated hosting service are usually big and more established than those that only offer shared hosting. As we all known, as a small company, it is impossible to have the financial or technical support to provide dedicated hosting. This requires big investment and also the knowledge to manage it. Therefore, if you expect your chosen partner to be more reliable, you had better opt in for who both offer shared web hosting and dedicated server. A shared hosting is suitable for a new company or a small business. A dedicated server, on the other hand, is the best choice for website with high traffic and great complexity.