Free Google Websites

[007]

That's easy. First of all I don't own my server server I just rent it. However you can put your own hardware into an ISP and that is called a co-lo (for co-location).

When you have a dedicated server only YOUR stuff is on it. All hosted accounts are just that... they HOST anywhere from 25 to 400 different domains. So IF your domain is on a server with a porn site or a news site that gets heavy traffic, response back to your views is going to be slow.

There are also ten tons of security issues with shared hosting... but that only matters if you are going to have a database with confidential stuff on it.

There are 'flavors' of dedicated servers. The two main ones are 'managed" and 'full root.' Managed servers are usually more expensive. You do NOT have full privileges. The data center staff manage your sever for you... they monitor it, and they upgrade the software and do the security updates etc. You pay for that. Pair Networks only has managed servers which is why they are expensive.

Other data centers offer "root servers" where you not only rent a machine but YOU do all the 'stuff'... load the software you need, keep it running, etc. It is cheaper.

I'm experienced enough to run a root server... but I'm 'rich enough" not to have to! The guys and gals at Pair look out for my server (which is one of about 2,000... my best guess) one hell of a lot better than I could... or want to. With Pair you get a free hardware upgrade every 2 years. I just went through one... pain in the a$$ but the Pair folks fixed the few problems I had quickly... downtime was about 2 hours total.

Most of you probably have no use for a dedicated server. I run a web service called Jaya123 and so I need to have a locked-down machine constantly monitored. Pair is the "best" at this in my experience.

One nice thing is that IF you have your own server you don't have to have the top of the line if it is not high volume. I run on a Celeron... and it runs just fine. Now if I had 10,000 hits a second it would melt... but Jaya does fine with this simple hardware. Anyway, with servers its all about RAM... not processor speed.

Anyway, no matter if you want a simple hosted server or a dedicated server, Pair is one company you should put on your list to check out. All their service is in-house (not India) everyone speaks English, and they answer the phone on the 3rd ring. It's owned by one guy who takes pride in his company... and it shows.

And by the way... if you are thinking a server is a big beast... it's not. Have you ever seen a bakery rack? Well a server is like that... about as tall as a refrigerator ... and has slots for "pizza boxes" which is about the size of a server. It 'shares" power and bandwidth with all the other "pizza boxes" in the rack. I think most racks have room for about 25 servers... but don't quote me on that.

Al

Thanks so much Al for your input. Will be looking into pair.

One more question.

How can I make my site more securable if I'm using shared hosting. I hear websites are being by broken into by hackers into their box.

I guess the mistake is having web files writable by the web server..

 

[Guest]

Thanks so much Al for your input. Will be looking into pair.

One more question.

How can I make my site more securable if I'm using shared hosting. I hear websites are being by broken into by hackers into their box.

I guess the mistake is having web files writable by the web server..

The best way to maintain security is to keep all the supporting software updated... that means having the latest PHP, JSP, or ASP updates, the newest (or close to new) Apache (or IIS... depending on what your ISP uses) and obviously having the operating system patched.

Personally I would not run a web site on a Windows machine with IIS... even if gave it to me. I wouldn't run Apache on Windows either. I find the most secure (in order) is Linux, Solaris, and BSD. My server runs FreeBSD. FreeBSD is built like a tank... solid and secure. I've had five nines uptime for years and years. (Up 99.999% of the time.)

If you are using a content manager (such as vBulletin that this board uses) you need to make sure it has the latest patches and these items are full of security holes.

Any system that lets the user enter data and save it is a potential security threat. One of the most common treats is called SQL-injection... which I'll let you look up for yourself.

If you are running on a non-Windows platform you want to make sure that files that are not "world writable" ... they are read-only or writable only by the web server or super-user.

Obviously you want to have a 'strong' username and password into your server (either virtual or dedicated.) You don't want to make it easy for someone to FTP into your server because they could guess your password.

Any application that lets people email from your server is a security risk.

You want to learn how to use the .htaccess file if running on a unix-like platform (Linux, Solaris, BSD).

If you have root access to your server never, ever give anyone the username and password.... especially to someone who calls on the phone saying they are from the data center and need to do some maint. on your server. Your server farm people already have access to the server... they don't need to call you.

Finally you must make sure that your local machine is clean. If your computer has some kind of "phone home" key-logger, each time you FTP into the web server... you have given away your passkey! And don't ever, ever, ever login to your server's access panel from a public computer in a hotel or airport. (If you absolutely must, remember to clear the cache of the browser when you have logged out!)

If you are hosting with a good ISP (like Pair Networks) you can rest assured that the data center admins know what they are doing and that the web farm is highly secure. Ask them how you can lock-down your slice of the server.

Al

 

[arnguy]

Gosh, Al, can you explain all that again in plain old English?

 

[007]

The best way to maintain security is to keep all the supporting software updated... that means having the latest PHP, JSP, or ASP updates, the newest (or close to new) Apache (or IIS... depending on what your ISP uses) and obviously having the operating system patched.

Personally I would not run a web site on a Windows machine with IIS... even if gave it to me. I wouldn't run Apache on Windows either. I find the most secure (in order) is Linux, Solaris, and BSD. My server runs FreeBSD. FreeBSD is built like a tank... solid and secure. I've had five nines uptime for years and years. (Up 99.999% of the time.)

If you are using a content manager (such as vBulletin that this board uses) you need to make sure it has the latest patches and these items are full of security holes.

Any system that lets the user enter data and save it is a potential security threat. One of the most common treats is called SQL-injection... which I'll let you look up for yourself.

If you are running on a non-Windows platform you want to make sure that files that are not "world writable" ... they are read-only or writable only by the web server or super-user.

Obviously you want to have a 'strong' username and password into your server (either virtual or dedicated.) You don't want to make it easy for someone to FTP into your server because they could guess your password.

Any application that lets people email from your server is a security risk.

You want to learn how to use the .htaccess file if running on a unix-like platform (Linux, Solaris, BSD).

If you have root access to your server never, ever give anyone the username and password.... especially to someone who calls on the phone saying they are from the data center and need to do some maint. on your server. Your server farm people already have access to the server... they don't need to call you.

Finally you must make sure that your local machine is clean. If your computer has some kind of "phone home" key-logger, each time you FTP into the web server... you have given away your passkey! And don't ever, ever, ever login to your server's access panel from a public computer in a hotel or airport. (If you absolutely must, remember to clear the cache of the browser when you have logged out!)

If you are hosting with a good ISP (like Pair Networks) you can rest assured that the data center admins know what they are doing and that the web farm is highly secure. Ask them how you can lock-down your slice of the server.

Al

Two thumbs up to you Al.

Very very helpful information

I'll be looking at some free linux software..

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Geez, Al - all I got out of that was don't use the wrong flux capacitor or you'll have to buy more dilithium crystals.

 

[J.R.]

HAHA, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought "huh?????"

 

[INSwebsites]

With web hosting and free websites (and many things in life), you usually get what you pay for. My experience with Office Live is horrible. I've had clients that tried to move their "free" domain from Office Live to our company and were unable to. Office Live made it impossible to even request a transfer. In the end, we always had to register a new domain name for them before you built a new website, since they did not have "ownership" or admin of the domain name.

Although I like Google for the many other services they provide, I have no experience with their free websites.

If you want to manage your own website, I agree with some of the previous posts. BlueHost is a good host. I would also recommend HostGator and WestNIC. I would never recommend 1&1 for someone that wanted to host their business/agency website. Non-critical personal website maybe.

Many folks make the mistake of taking their website host lightly and getting the cheapest one. Once your website is up and running, your website project is not over - it's just starting. Having a reliable website AND email host is critical.

When we add new datacenters/hosts to host our client websites, we always will pay more to get a reliable host with a long history of reliability and service. Paying more for quality reduces the problems and stress for us and our clients, which saves us time, money, and clients in the long run.

Michael

Michael Garner
michael.garner(at)insWebsites.com
Insurance Web Design - professional insurance agency websites and web marketing for agents, agencies and brokers

 

[wappahso]

turborator insurance website builder has been a nightmare for me this past year.. Now I have no website and don't have access to emails. Ran away from them ran ran ran

 

[fdahl82]

Oxford... if your domains that you have parked are known by clients or were highly circulated, once you have a site built, and a main domain name, all of your domains can be pointed to that one, until you get a site for each.

John (or anyone)... Ok...As an example. I own Majormedicalhealth.com. It is currently "parked" so I get a few bucks per month, but not much.

As far as I know, I do not have a host. After I do the Google Apps...I guess I would need a host. Any suggestions on who to use? Or does Google offer it free?

Thanks

Chumps

By the way John....if only the Ravens could play like that every week...

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

Hi Fdah

It's funny you mention that. At that time (2007) majormedicalhealth.com was parked.

Now it's up and running. I'm trying to attract Major Medical Health Insurance prospects. I'll know more in about 12-18 months.