Although the web has huge differences between the look, feel, content and design of any two sites, there do tend to be some core common web page templates which a majority of sites tend to rely on for their operation. A great number of these are accommodated by open source solutions which can be downloaded and installed for free on almost any website which meets the technical requirements (usually PHP/asp and MySQL access).

One of the more famous and popular uses for both individuals and companies is the Web log, or Blog. A blog can keep a site dynamic, insightful and fresh. One of the most popular tools for creating a blog on your site and keeping it updates is Wordpress. This is available for download at http://wordpress.org/download/. Wordpress allows you to create articles and have user approved comments on such articles if you wish, allowing you to build a community or keep your customers informed of the latest developments and products.

Many sites need to be updated and the content added to and altered as time goes by however it’s not always practical for the web developer to have to do this themselves and it can save time and resources if the product manager for example can update the list of products directly. In cases like this, a CMS (content management system) can be very useful by creating a web interface that even a non technical employee can use to update key parts of the site. A popular free product for this is Joomla, you can download it from http://www.joomla.org/download.html. Joomla is an extremely powerful CMS and has been around for quite some time in one form or another. You can integrate it with most payment gateways if you wish to use it as a shop and can add numerous extra functionality quickly and easily, it also has a powerful template system allowing you to customise its look and feel to your own tastes.

Both Joomla and Wordpress are available as 1 click installs on our clustered hosting system.

Web hosting can mean a range of different hosting solutions, starting from shared hosting up to Dedicated Servers and colocation. Everybody has different requirements and expectations from their web hosting provider, managed hosting is suitable for most users with little knowledge or less time to manage the web hosting set-up on a regular basis.

CWCS Managed Hosting focuses strongly on the ‘managed’ sector of the business, providing an exceptional level of support and maintaining servers on a regular basis ensures less work is required from customers. Providing this type of service requires strict internal policies and procedures, regular audits and a strong business relationship with customers.

Flexibility is also important to provide tailored web hosting solutions, with no barriers or limits towards the hosting set-up, providing complex and unique tailored solutions is possible. Web hosting packages can be in a Linux or Windows environment and with a wealth of features and components available the web hosting packages are suitable for all kinds of developers.

Managed Hosting is the highest level of web hosting available and with a strong team of experienced technicians working 24/7, you can be assured your web presence is protected and remains on-line at all times.

CWCS offers many different types of packages that are suitable for a wide user base with varying requirements. A blog is a very common thing to host on your web space and CWCS will have a package available that is equipped to handle hosting a blog.

While you probably won’t need a dedicated server for your blog (well you may do depending on how popular it may get) you can’t simply rush in and buy the cheapest package. There is an abundance of blog software available out there and they all vary in features and requirements. Choose the blog software that most closely matches your required feature set. Once chosen you will need to take a note of it’s requirements, which will be provided on the blog software’s homepage, usually under their support or F.A.Q section.

You can now simply match those requirements with an available package from the following selection for example http://www.cwcs.co.uk/web-hosting/. Some of our hosting packages also contain blog software built in, like out Linux Business Web Hosting account (link to linux business hosting account here), which means you won’t need to install or configure anything, it’s a one-click setup.

The usual requirements to keep an eye out for will be the PHP and MySQL versions. 95% of all blog software will be compatible with the latest technologies CWCS uses today, but some older blog software may require specific component versions. That’s really all there is to it.

So to summarise, choose the blog software that matches the feature set you are after, match the requirements with a hosting package and start blogging.

Making the decision to move to dedicated server hosting is an important choice and will mean taking on a lot more responsibility for the Information Technology department in your business. If you have shared hosting and a small business that has just started to grow and attract high traffic volumes, you will find the move to dedicated hosting quite complex.

If you have technical knowledge of web hosting and the requirements for security, operating systems and which will be most beneficial to your company then you will find the management of your server straight forward. However, if you are having to learn the technical aspects of managing a dedicated server and all that it entails, then you will find that you are spending all of your time managing your server. Time spent away from the running of your business may cause a decline in the level of custom, and therefore may see profits decline.

An affordable solution is very often to pay a hosting company to manage your dedicated server for you. This means that you will have your chosen operating system installed and kept up to date, along with a security system that is fully backed up to protect your data. The team of experts here at CWCS offer a managed dedicated server option which will leave you free to run your company and continue to attract new business, steadily building your income. We are able to spot any problems with your server that may cause a loss of service and offer a guaranteed uptime for your website.

Dedicated server hosting is the perfect solution for larger businesses and companies who are experiencing new growth and have large traffic volumes. This creates a greater need for increased memory and higher performance in terms of data transfer and loading times. Security is also an important consideration for a large company who hold the confidential details of clients.

Managing the Information Technology department of a company is a large expense and it can be a lower cost option to outsource as much of this work as possible. Many dedicated server hosting packages are managed, which means that virtually everything is included. Your software is included and is kept operational and updated. Security is also taken care of, with back-ups provided. Paying for all your hosting requirements with a monthly package can work out to be an economic decision and enables you to have a dedicated server that will provide a constant, reliable service without you having to take time away from other important tasks to maintain your web hosting.

Without managed hosting you will have to either take on the duty of looking after your dedicated server, which requires a high level of technical knowledge, or employ someone with the knowledge to take care of the server for you.

Here at CWCS we have a wide variety of additional services that are competitively priced and are designed to make your life easier. Managed dedicated server hosting is just one of those options and will leave you free to manage your daily business requirements as well as saving two precious resources, time and money.

Many people believe that something that is low cost will represent low value, but this is not always true. The option of having a dedicated server is now a very popular consideration for many businesses. As the population now relies heavily on the internet for many daily tasks such as shopping, booking event tickets and transport, companies know that their potential custom will be found on the Internet, so they build attractive websites to attract visitors. This has caused a surge in the amount of websites looking for web hosting solutions that are reliable and low cost.

The demand for cheap, reliable web hosting has meant that many hosting companies are obliged to produce a higher service with reliability and a low cost as an essential part of the service. This in turn has affected the supply and demand of dedicated hosting, meaning that you will receive a high performance, reliability and a low cost as standard.

When looking for cheap dedicated server hosting, you still have to be aware of what you are purchasing as there are some unscrupulous companies who will make false claims, or have fine print that means you end up paying extra for your dedicated server. The dedicated server hosting packages here at CWCS are all set out very clearly so that you can see what is included in the hosting package and the monthly fee that you will pay. If you are unsure of anything, we have a team of professionals who are able to answer any queries you may have so that you know whether our low cost hosting is for you.

A dedicated server is usually required by larger businesses with high traffic volumes, and therefore use a large amount of resources, such as memory and storage. A large amount of traffic on a website will slow things down and the upload times will be slow, and may even crash altogether. As a business relies on the traffic to their website in order to generate sales and interest in their products, it is essential to keep the site up and running. In today’s climate people don’t have time to wait for your website to be available; they will simply move on to the next website that is available. Having a dedicated server will provide the security of knowing that your website will be available to your existing and potential customers.

A large organisation or company that has high traffic synergies will require a dedicated server that is robust and provides the extra security needed to keep confidential files and records safe. When you have shared hosting, you are always vulnerable to a certain extent from the threat of viruses and hackers getting into your files. If you hold confidential information on your website, you have a duty under the Data Protection Act to maintain confidentiality. A dedicated server provides that guaranteed security for your business.

Here at CWCS we have a team of experts able to help you decide which web hosting will benefit your business and fulfil your business requirements. You can contact us using email, Live Chat or by telephone, and we can discuss your requirements or answer any queries you may have about a dedicated server.