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With many businesses converting to online trading, websites are now considered one of the most important assets to a business. As you may know, dedicated servers are the backbone of the hosting setup. Different types of dedicated servers include Windows dedicated servers and Linux dedicated servers, although the server specification is what makes the dedicated server a reliable hosting platform.

RAID is one of the fundamental differences between a desktop machine and an actual hosting dedicated server. Dedicated servers need a higher level of resilience and redundancy because of the crucial role the server has in maintaining your websites uptime.

RAID hard disks consist of multiple disks working synchronised with each other replicating all data. This allows for each hard disk to have an available fail-over in the event of one hard disk failing. There are many different types of RAID available for more advanced forms of redundancy, the different levels of RAID are determined by the amount of hard drives and the way the data is distributed across the drives.

So… does your dedicated server need RAID?

It is strongly advised to have a dedicated server with RAID; hard disks have moving parts, which make the life of a hard disk much less compared to other hardware components. Dedicated servers with RAID may cost more, although in the long run you will find it costs a lot less than the impact a hard drive failing would have on your business.

As a managed hosting provider we are able to offer a range of dedicated servers, our Windows and Linux Professional and Enterprise dedicated servers include RAID, details and specifications can be found on our dedicated servers page.

A question we often get asked at CWCS is “how do I know how much bandwidth I will be using or how much space I will need?”

To answer that question we will break it down into two parts. Firstly, the easiest one is:

Web Space

Almost all FTP and PC programs will allow you to work out the size of a file or folder. When you want to work out how much web hosting space you need, you should simply use the tools on your computer to calculate the size of all the web files you are going to upload. This is the bare minimum your site will need. Obviously if you expect to grow the site you should add an extra buffer onto the top of this. If you have areas on the site allowing your users to upload images or so on, then it becomes a little harder to calculate. The best thing to do is to take the average file size you expect your customers to upload, the number of files you will allow them to upload and the number of customers you hope to have. Then add on about 25% for the unexpected.

Bandwidth

Due to increases in bandwidth allowances it is not usually so much of a problem or restraint as it used to be, however it is important to try to predict bandwidth usage to prevent any problems in the future.

The best way to calculate it is with web statistics, however this is not always possible. The second best and less accurate way is to take how many viewers you expect on your website, then take the average amount of data they will download and taking into account any large media files they might download and this will be your expected bandwidth. Always add at least 25-50% for seasonal changes and also any web promotions you might run.

Today, most people are aware of the importance of taking regular backups of irreplaceable files and documents, however few consider that this also applies to data on your websites as well. We are regularly contacted by customers who have accidentally deleted or overwritten a important file, causing inconvenience, loss of revenue or worse. Whilst we take regular backups of all our production servers, we recommend all customers take independent backups of their data, especially if you are about to make changes to your website such as upgrading your blog or forum software etc.

The Plesk control panel has a built in back up feature which will allow you to backup and restore snapshots of your entire website and databases. The backup files can be stored in a repository on the server, uploaded to a remote FTP site or downloaded to your personal computer. The remainder of this blog entry will explain how to use this feature.

To create a backup login to your Plesk control panel. Once logged in, click on the Home link in the left column. You should then see a list of domains in your account, click on the domain you want to back up. In the top row of icons you should see a floppy disk with a green arrow labeled ‘Backup’, click on it. You should now be on the Backup screen, there are four Icons, click on ‘Create Backup’.

You should now be on the Backup file creation screen. Enter a name for the backup file and a comment if you wish, then click on the Back Up button. It may take a while depending on the number and size of the files on your site. When it is done you will see the backup file you created in the Backup files repository. To restore the backup file you created, click on it then click on the restore button.

For the other Backup features, please refer to the online help in Plesk or pages 135–144 of the Plesk manual for Domain Administrator’s (http://download1.swsoft.com/Plesk/Plesk8.6/Doc/en-US/plesk-8.6-win-domain-administrators-guide.pdf).

The latest version of the Plesk Control Panel is included in our Windows Web Hosting, Windows Dedicated Servers and Linux Dedicated Servers plans.

So you have a dedicated server or plan on taking out a dedicated server for a new or existing project…

The journey begins with a single dedicated server processing all of your services such as website, email and databases…. What are the limitations with a single dedicated server? What happens when your requirements reach a stage when a single dedicated server just isn’t enough?

Complex Hosting

Although the journey begins with a single dedicated server, there are no boundaries on how far you want to take your hosting setup. We are able to offer a setup, which includes a number of dedicated servers load balanced for intensive processing and redundant failover.

It is possible to have a full rack of servers with specialist equipment such as hardware load balancers, SAN devices, firewalls, and it’s even possible to setup a VPN to servers within your office network for secure data transfer.

As a Managed Hosting provider we have flexible approach to individual customer requirements. No matter how complex your requirements are; we will always go that extra mile to provide the desired setup at the best possible price.

Who Needs Multiple Dedicated Servers?

Having more than one server gives customers the reassurance in there hosting setup.
You need to be confident that your web hosting can still deliver under intensive hardware strain and will still manage should one of the server nodes fail. Long-term it costs a lot less to have a setup with multiple servers than the impact it could cause if a single server failed.

This type of hosting is suitable for any business that requires that extra reassurance with there website hosting. It is always recommended to have multiple servers. Companies that have had bad experiences in the past with their hosting provider would largely benefit from the reassurance this setup has to offer.

How many Dedicated Servers do I need?

Its not always the easiest task determining your required hosting setup, with technical advisers always ready and up for a challenge, contact our expert team to discuss exactly what you need.

From one dedicated server to a clustered load balanced setup we take every enquiry seriously and will vision exactly what is recommended for your business, contact us now:
http://www.cwcs.co.uk/contact/

You may be familiar with hosting a single website on a single account, but what if you want to host another website, or you plan on hosting lots of websites?

Do you buy a hosting package for each account, well you could but then you would have lots of different accounts spread out across different servers making management a nightmare. What you can do is purchase what is a Reseller hosting package, this gives you a single account which allows you to create hosting packages when you need them, without having to place another order for a new account.

With such freedom you can host your friends websites or even start your own little hosting company. CWCS now hosts websites and servers for many customers around the world, but its not known that when CWCS started it used a reseller package to sell hosting to its customers before building its own data centre.

A Reseller package is not ideal for everyone but it does give a much more affordable viable hosting solution for people who will need to host multiple websites. Why not try one of our Reseller Web Hosting packages?

It’s natural to be drawn towards the most attractive price when it comes to a service that is not always thoroughly understood. Web hosting is sometimes considered a grey area within the IT industry; even skilled web designers are not always up to scratch with different web hosting options.

So, why part your cash for a dedicated server when various smaller packages are available for a reduced cost?

A web-hosting package that is not suitable for a large business could cost your business severely in the long run. A dedicated server is always ideal for businesses that rely on a website or application within the day-to-day business operation. Think of a hosting server as a container for your website, if the container is not the right size and cant accommodate growth it will fall over and collapse.

Dedicated servers are the roots to all hosting packages; even the smaller packages are hosted on dedicated servers, although you share the machine with other users. We always advise to invest comparatively and allow your business to breath with a dedicated server.

First class web hosting is a term we feel can be used to describe the service included when considering a dedicated server. You receive a super fast service with no interruptions and all the luxuries thrown in. All servers are located in our high specification Nottingham data centre with facilities in place to ensure the smoothest hosting experience possible.

Take a look at our great dedicated server offers!

We have upgraded Joomla to the latest version on our advanced load balancing linux web hosting platform. Joomla is a powerful, yet simple to use, content-management-system (CMS) which can be used to create websites. It can also be used to easily manage every aspect of your website, from adding images, updating text to updating products in your catalog.

Joomla is available at no charge (free) on Linux Professional Hosting, Linux Business Hosting and Linux Reseller 1 and 2 plans.