CWCS Managed Web Hosting Blog

Joomla & WordPress Web Hosting

2010-02-08T09:56:00.000Z

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.

Managed Web Hosting – Overview

2010-02-05T18:16:00.002Z

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.

The right web hosting package for your blog

2010-02-05T09:30:00.001Z

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.

Benefits Of Managed Server Hosting

2010-02-04T10:53:00.002Z

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.

Managed Dedicated Hosting Service

2010-02-03T10:46:00.006Z

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.

Cheap Dedicated Servers

2010-02-02T10:37:00.002Z

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.

Who Needs A Dedicated Server?

2010-02-01T10:19:00.004Z

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.

Choose the right Web Hosting....

2010-01-30T09:36:00.000Z

Web Hosting can sometimes be difficult to choose when presented with so many options and choices. Web hosting companies sometimes offer attractive deals which seem too good be true and in many cases, they usually are.

It's best to plan ahead when deciding on a suitable hosting provider and prioritise important factors and requirements of your website. You may be building a retail website which performs many secure transactions on a daily basis. In this case, prioritising security and availability would be considered important as these are crucial requirements for this type of website. If the website is for a start up business which you are looking to have information about your company hosted on the website, the impact on the website being off-line for a short period of time would not necessarily affect the day-to-day running of the business. In this case, price and usability may be important factors. Many different web hosting companies target different sectors of the market, it's best to find the hosting provider which best suits your requirements.

Web hosting does not necessary refer to a specific type of hosting, there are many different hosting solutions available and its important to remember and understand the different options. You will hear the terms 'virtual hosting', 'Dedicated hosting' and maybe even 'cloud hosting' and 'Colocation'. Experienced web developers generally know the exact type of web hosting required, although if you are not sure or have been given the task by developers. It's best to speak to the hosting providers sales team directly which will point you in the right direction.

When discussing and deciding on your web hosting package, be sure to mention every type of feature you need as you should never assume specific web components or databases will be included within the web hosting package. It's also important to let the sales team know any other relevant information which will affect the type of web hosting required. A website that receives 300 hits a minute and has large marketing campaign based around the website is important to mention. Having the wrong hosting package could end up in disaster as limits in place may restrict traffic or even bring the server down completely.

Windows and Linux are different platforms which support a web hosting environment. Many companies offer web hosting for both, although it's important to know which platform your website has been designed for.

Contact CWCS Managed Hosting directly for managed hosting solutions tailored to your specific requirements.

0845 203 1000

Service Level Agreement And Reliable Web Hosting

2010-01-29T10:00:00.001Z

For anyone who has an online business, especially one with high traffic, it is important to choose the most reliable web hosting possible in order to keep their business running smoothly. For a large business, a dedicated server may be a necessity to have the resources and capacities which are essential to a thriving business.

When selecting a web hosting company, it is always wise to check that you are going to receive all the services necessary in order to help you run your business without the extra problems caused by a less than adequate hosting provider. A reputable company will give you a guarantee of what you will receive with your dedicated server hosting as part of your contract and this is called a Service Level Agreement.

Here at CWCS, we offer a level of service that we feel is essential to help you make your business successful. If any component of the hardware fails we agree to replace it within one hour, which will ensure that your website doesn't suffer. We also think it is imperative to reboot the server within twenty five minutes if it stops responding at any time. Again, this will mean minimal disruption to your website.

A high level of service is essential when the success of your business depends upon the performance of the dedicated server hosting and a company that wants to help you become a success will happily provide a high level of service.

Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on our latest news, special offers and useful tips - http://twitter.com/cwcs_hosting.

Shared, Dedicated Or Managed Web Hosting?

2010-01-27T10:00:00.001Z

There are advantages and disadvantages to all types of web hosting and really the final choice depends upon the specific purpose of your website and your budget.

If you have a website solely for personal use, you will be fine with shared web hosting. As long as you choose a reputable web hosting company and you know exactly what you will receive from your host then you will be able to use your website without any major problems.

If you have a small online business you may be looking for more resources to cope with the demand of a high traffic website plus the high security factor. This again depends upon your monthly budget and the amount of technical knowledge you have. Dedicated server hosting may be the preferred option, but you may not actually require all the resources provided and paid for each month.

If your business is still developing and you still don't require unlimited bandwidth and storage then a virtual dedicated server could be the best option for you. With a virtual dedicated server you will have all the resources but will pay a lower cost.

Here at CWCS, we have managed hosting as an option. It is slightly more expensive, but you won't waste time struggling to understand the technical knowledge as you will have a manager to do that for you, making sure that your server is operational at all times. We are fully experienced professionals who are here to make your life much easier in terms of addressing your website hosting requirements.

Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on our latest news, special offers and useful tips - http://twitter.com/cwcs_hosting.

Operating System Options

2010-01-25T10:00:00.001Z

Once you have made a decision to opt for a dedicated server you will then have to decide whether you will use a Linux based system or Windows. A large part of the choice depends upon whether you are already familiar with Windows. If so, then you may want to stay with an operating system that is familiar to you and therefore easier for you to deal with.

Linux is slightly more complicated and will need some instruction to enable you to become familiar with it, but has many benefits to make it an attractive possibility. For instance, Linux is a lower cost option than Windows. This is because Linux doesn't have a security licence to pay for and can pass on the savings to customers.

Windows provides a much larger range of software than Linux, although these do cost more. Linux has a reputation for being more reliable than Windows which will be an important consideration for anyone with a business to manage. Windows on the other hand is a far more popular company and therefore is compatible with a larger selection of hardware manufacturers.

Whichever operating system you choose for your dedicated server, the web hosting company should be able to offer a range of solutions for your business and also a twenty four hour support for any difficulties you may experience. Here at CWCS, we have the option for you to choose managed hosting to help you through any difficulties with a Linux or Windows operating system. Basically the choice of operating system comes down to a cost benefit analysis.Contact us today to learn more about our dedicated Windows servers or dedicated Linux servers.

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When Should You Move To Dedicated Hosting?

2010-01-22T10:00:00.001Z

Shared web hosting is perfectly adequate for anyone with a personal website or who is just building a business. With a personal website or a new business the daily traffic probably won't be too high and you won't use many of your available resources. If you have shared web hosting you could be affected by problems with other websites, but initially that won't be too much of a significant problem, and with a reputable company such as us at CWCS, any down time will be minimal.

Eventually, the traffic volumes to your website will increase and as your business becomes more successful you will require more memory and storage than previously. You will also be thinking more about security options, especially if you have payment options on your website or are collecting sensitive personal details from your customers.

A dedicated server becomes an option at this point as it has higher security levels plus unlimited resources as you aren't sharing with any other websites. However, depending upon the development of your business you may not be at the point where you can justify the cost of dedicated server hosting or managed hosting. This is where a virtual dedicated server will be a viable option. By splitting a server into several virtual servers you have your own resources within a larger unit. However, because you are still part of a physical server the cost is shared by all the virtual servers in the unit. A virtual dedicated server could be the perfect solution for your website hosting.

Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on our latest news, special offers and useful tips - http://twitter.com/cwcs_hosting.

Do You Need Web Hosting Support?

2010-01-20T10:00:00.002Z

Whether you are building a website for personal use or building a business site, web hosting can be confusing to most people, whatever technical knowledge they may have. From the simplest of queries to the most complex problem, it is better to have a support network to help you find the optimum solution as soon as possible. This is of the utmost importance to anyone with an online business as time is money and down time is wasting your valuable resources.

The type and amount of support received will depend upon the web hosting provider and should be a large factor in who you choose to provide your web hosting. One of the crucial aspects of a support system is the person you will speak to if you telephone with a problem. If you can only contact a call centre then you should be prepared to speak to a different person each time you call and explain from scratch about your system. Here at CWCS, we provide each client with a project manager as well as having a team of dedicated experts to assist you on a twenty-four hour basis. We guarantee to respond to emergency emails within ninety minutes during business hours along with a team who have knowledge of all aspects of your dedicated server hosting in order to assist you as quickly as possible.

Without a full support service, you may find that your dedicated server hosting experiences security problems and down time which will inevitably have a negative affect on your business.

Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on our latest news, special offers and useful tips - http://twitter.com/cwcs_hosting.

Is Managed Hosting An Affordable Solution?

2010-01-18T10:00:00.001Z

Large business owners will usually benefit from having a dedicated server for their hosting requirements as they will need large resources such as memory and storage with added security for their website. Managed hosting can be a cost-effective solution for a business to enable the technological aspects to be dealt with by someone who is an expert in IT.

With managed hosting you will receive many benefits including a team of experts which are available twenty four hours a day to assist with any problems, full data back up to avoid the loss of important data and a hardware replacement guarantee.

Deciding to upgrade from shared hosting to a dedicated server hosting is essential for a business with large traffic volumes and expanding custom, but it be complicated to deal with all the technical issues, and whilst you are still learning you may experience downtime. This will, in turn, affect your business as customers expect you to be available around the clock. You can solve this problem by employing your own team of experts who will look after the dedicated server hosting but you won't have any guarantee of their expertise and may have to provide training which is expensive and time consuming.

With managed hosting here at CWCS, we have a team of people who are all fully trained to deal with all aspects of a dedicated server and we also provide a full support team to assist you with any queries you may have. We welcome contact from everyone to enable us to help you succeed.

Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on our latest news, special offers and useful tips - http://twitter.com/cwcs_hosting.

Which Type Of Web Hosting?

2010-01-15T10:00:00.001Z

One of the largest factors when selecting web hosting is the cost, whether paid monthly or yearly. It is also important when selecting a cheap web hosting company that you are paying for all the essential services you will require, but not paying for anything superfluous to your requirements.

If you have a website which is solely for your own personal use then you won't need lots of resources such as unlimited bandwidth or storage, and shared web hosting on one of the low priced plans will serve you perfectly well. However, if you are building a business you may need more resources and will probably need to upgrade your web hosting package after a few months. In this case it would be wise to choose a cheap web hosting company that is flexible and will allow you to upgrade to a package which is better suited to a business with high traffic.

If you have an established business with a high volume of traffic you are going to have to consider whether a dedicated server will better suit your hosting requirements. A dedicated server will enable you to have unlimited resources which you won't be sharing with anyone else. Managed hosting is an option as you will have someone to take care of all the technical side of your business, while leaving you free to continue building your business.

Here at CWCS, we have many options that will suit a range of situations from someone with a personal website to a large business which requires extra resources and support.

Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on our latest news, special offers and useful tips - http://twitter.com/cwcs_hosting.

Why choose Virtual Machines?

2010-01-14T09:30:00.001Z

Virtualization has been around for some time now, and is becoming a popular choice for many businesses on a tight budget looking for the same level access, as with a dedicated server.

Using a virtual server has no restrictions to the operating system and software configurations, your website/web application can be set-up exactly the way you need it without no restrictions in place. The dedicated server is the obvious solution for high traffic/performance intensive websites, although the virtual servers may be an option if you are on a tight budget and need some of the benefits a dedicated server can offer.

Virtual servers work with a number of client machines installed onto the main virtual server node, these machines are called 'containers' and each container can include its own operating system and software running. There are many security advantages of running a virtual server over hosting on a typical shared hosting environment. Each container has its own partition which segregates your own hosting environment from all others on the same node.

A virtual server gives you complete control over all the services running on your server, you can restart individual services such as mail/databases and web server software from with the control panel. You also get SSH access as root to perform any tasks which is not possible via the control panel included.

Overall, virtual servers are a cost effective alternative to dedicated servers, however you may want to still consider a dedicated server for business critical hosting. Contact our sales team to find out our services can benefit your business.

Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on our latest news, special offers and useful tips - http://twitter.com/cwcs_hosting.

Managed Hosting Is A Positive Option

2010-01-13T10:00:00.001Z

There are many benefits to managed hosting - an option which is unfortunately often overlooked. There are many reasons why you would benefit from this type of website hosting, with advantages for anyone who wants to spend less time looking after the hosting of his website and more time on the necessities of the business itself.

One of the main advantages of managed hosting is the time aspect. By having someone to take care of the management aspects you are able to spend more time on your business, such as dealing with your customer queries and the day-to-day maintenance of your business, knowing that your hosting is being taken care of.

Managed hosting can be a cost-effective solution because it does give you so much more time as well as having high performance hardware which will provide numerous benefits as you are not sharing the web site hosting with anyone else.

You receive personalised support which means that you will have access to your own technical support team when you need them, usually around the clock. This constant support also gives a guarantee of minimal downtime and higher security levels as you will receive system updates and data back up.

Here at CWCS, we have two UK data centres owned and managed by us, offering twentyfour hour support for your hosting. Our managed hosting has a team of experts all fully trained in all aspects of information technology in order to leave you free to build your online business without worry.

Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on our latest news, special offers and useful tips - http://twitter.com/cwcs_hosting.

Failover vs Load Balancing

2010-01-11T19:28:00.003Z

In an ideal world, your applications will be load balanced over several servers to prevent any load issues and downtime due to server crashes and have a failover system identical to the main system which can take over should your main system completely fail or become unreachable. This is usually very expensive and many companies have to make a choice between having a load balanced system or employing a failover mirrored system.

A load balanced system tends to be the industry standard and provides high availability, speed and data resilience. A true load balanced system will contain 1 or more load balancers, 2 or more web/application servers and then 2 or more database servers (if required). The load balanced system can be much more complex depending on the nature of the service it is designed to provide, however the benefits are the same no matter how complex it is. Having multiple servers to do the same job means that you can share the load your application generates across more hardware then you would get with 1 server. If you allocate enough resources, it also means should you suffer individual hardware failure; the other parts of the system can take over seamlessly, thus resulting in zero downtime due to hardware problems, in theory. As you usually allow for this, the amount of servers in the system tends to mean you have more resources between them then you would require for the application so the speed tends to be improved as well.

Clustered systems also allow for greater data integrity, as fast connections between data servers means replication of data can often occur in near real time so individual hard drive failure usually does not result in major data loss.

Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on our latest news, special offers and useful tips - http://twitter.com/cwcs_hosting.

How Secure Is Your Website?

2010-01-11T10:00:00.001Z

Building an online business is a time of hard work whilst you are building your website, perhaps learning as you go along, and also about you trying to build an online reputation as someone that can be trusted by potential customers. Keeping your website free from harmful viruses and protecting customers' data is a very serious practice. The Data Protection Act is there to protect a person’s identity and all details should be kept confidential. The leaking of any personal details could not only result in trouble for you but also lose the trust of your customers.

When you sign up for a contract with a web hosting company you should ask questions about the security provided and ensure that you are protected. If you are going to be taking payments on your website you will need to double check security against the possibility of unscrupulous hackers. When a weakness or loophole has been found, hackers could take advantage and obtain your customers' credit card details and therefore, money. Even though you are not personally responsible for the theft of personal details, your customers will understandably blame you as you should have made sure your website hosting was secure.

The web hosting company's server should be housed in a secure environment free from all security risks so that you are able to concentrate on building your online business knowing that you are safe from security issues. Here at CWCS, we believe that web hosting security should always be a number one priority and house our servers in totally secure web site hosting environments.

Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on our latest news, special offers and useful tips - http://twitter.com/cwcs_hosting.

Mirrored failover systems

2010-01-11T09:35:00.002Z

In an ideal world, your applications will be load balanced over several dedicated servers to prevent any load issues and downtime due to server crashes and have a failover system identical to the main system which can take over should your main system completely fail or become unreachable. This is usually very expensive and many companies have to make a choice between having a load balanced system or employing a failover mirrored system.

With a failover mirrored system, you would usually have 2 identical systems in 2 different physical locations with no common factor connecting them, so if the main system goes down, the backup system would take over.

Having a failover system is the best method for having a disaster recovery plan and is used widely in the Financial Services industry, indeed the FSA require many organisations to have a Diaster Recovery (DR) plan in case their data is damaged or lost. It allows for almost 0 loss of data and fairly high availability as well

The pitfalls of failover systems are that the speed of failover can be fairly slow depending on the method used, as its hard to divert web traffic from one server to the other in different physical locations and on different networks, it does not tend to be recommended for high availability web sites, however for office based applications where manual domain names resolution isn’t crucial it can result in much better availability. The cost is also a major issue as having an equivalent redundant system does mean you are paying for two systems but only using one at any one time.

Its recommended that failover systems are best for those who disaster recovery is the largest priority and where the retention and duplication of data is business critical.

Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on our latest news, special offers and useful tips - http://twitter.com/cwcs_hosting.

The Price You Pay For Web Hosting

2010-01-08T10:00:00.002Z

Selecting a reputable web hosting company can be a complex task, especially if you are learning how to build a website and the technology that accompanies it. Even if you are an expert in the world of online business it is important to know what to look for in a web hosting company. There are many different prices on offer from low cost to expensive, but how do you know what you are paying for?

It is always necessary to do some research into different web hosting companies and what they are offering you before signing any contract with them. If you are not familiar with technology and online business, perhaps because you are only just building a business, it may a good idea to obtain advice from someone who is familiar with the necessities of hosting.

Here at CWCS, we advise you to contact us with your website hosting requirements and we will be able to help you choose the hosting package that will best suit your needs. We have a range of different web site hosting packages at different prices so we are confident that you will find what you need without paying more than you have to.

Sometimes you will see price plans that are much cheaper if you sign up to a contract of a year or more. These can be very good value but you should never sign up to a long contract in order to save money unless you are sure the package will be satisfactory for the life of the contract or you could end up out of pocket.

Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on our latest news, special offers and useful tips - http://twitter.com/cwcs_hosting.

Benefits Of Managed Hosting

2010-01-06T10:00:00.001Z

Managed hosting can be beneficial to websites of all sizes, from the small online business to a large company with several websites. Choosing managed hosting will give you peace of mind and security as your website will be managed by a team of professionals around the clock to make sure that there are no problems. This leaves you free to concentrate on actually running your business without having to worry about problems with the maintenance of your website.

If you are new to internet business and you have little or no knowledge of the technology then this would be a cost-effective option for you. Basically the company who provide your managed hosting take care of all the running of the actual website on your behalf. When you initially build a website you really have to spend time learning about the intricacies of how web site hosting works, about the security aspects and about all the other factors relevant to a website.

Choosing managed website hosting with a company such as us at CWCS will mean that you are receiving affordable hosting with someone to run your website far more efficiently than if you had to gain technical knowledge from scratch. We also provide twenty-four hour support by email or telephone seven days a week with someone to answer your queries.

Select a company that has a guarantee of almost total operational time as this is an important factor in the smooth running of your business. The company that supplies your managed hosting should be maximising your return on your investment.

Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date on our latest news, special offers and useful tips - http://twitter.com/cwcs_hosting.

Getting the most out of MySQL

2010-01-06T09:30:00.002Z

For users with dedicated servers or VDS servers which use MySQL quite heavily, there can be ways to improve the performance without having to increase the specification and cost of the service.

Setting the memory limits correctly in the my.cnf file can help optimise a slow running server by limiting or expanding the amount of memory MySQL has to play with. This is usually stored for linux users in /etc/my.cnf or /etc/mysql/my.cnf. For most windows users it can be in the MySQL directory or etc directory within the mysql install directory.

Pay special attention to the [mysqld] command and those directly below it. Here are some useful limits which may already be set on your server:

set-variable = max_connections = 300

This variable will help limit the effects of any attacks or badly written code, but if you set this too low then users will start getting MySQL errors as soon as the limit is hit. We recommend somewhere between 100 and 500, depending on your server spec and the complexity of your MySQL code.

set-variable = max_allowed_packet=32M

This is the size of any individual packet sent from or to the SQL server, it can be a statement or one returned row. Try to keep this at 32M or below unless you know you are storing huge amounts of data (like a BLOB) in your databases, although for better speed try to keep the databases as small as possible and do not store large data chunks which could easily be stored as files and just referenced in the DB.

If you change these values, ensure to restart MySQL afterwards.

Special attention should be paid to the “query cache”. This is especially useful for sites which have a lot of SELECT statements running often. The query cache allows you to cache in memory the most common select queries, this reduces the load on the hard disk and can speed up MySQL processing quite considerably.

Log onto MySQL command line or a PHPMyAdmin (as the admin or root user) and type:

SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'have_query_cache';

You should get a response similar to this:

+------------------+-------+

| Variable_name | Value |

+------------------+-------+

| have_query_cache | NO |

+------------------+-------+

You might get a YES response, however it is important to set the cache size. This is the size in Bytes of the query cache (minimum 40000). We recommend you calculate this as a proportion of your overall available RAM on your server, avoid any more than 25% for a normal web server. It can sometimes be worth adjusting this to see how results change.

More details for this can be found here (if you use version 5.0 of MySQL) http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/query-cache-configuration.html

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How Much Bandwidth Is Enough?

2010-01-04T10:00:00.007Z

Choosing a web hosting company is a complicated task which can easily end up with you paying excess money out each month for a poor service. There is so much competition on the internet that finding a cheap web hosting company isn't difficult, in fact you can easily find companies that offer unlimited services at a reasonable price. However, before signing a contract with a web site hosting company it is important to look a little bit deeper into what you actually receive for your money.

Bandwidth and storage are the two main factors when selecting your web hosting company. It is difficult to work out how much bandwidth and storage you will use, especially if you are new to the Internet but it is essential that you try to decide on an estimate. You can work out a rough estimate of required bandwidth by calculating the average page views multiplied by the average page size, multiply this by the average number of daily visitors and then again by the number of days in a month. You should multiply this total by an emergency amount of bandwidth, for example 1.5. This will give you a rough idea of your requirements on a monthly basis.

However, what happens if your website traffic goes up and you need more bandwidth? You may find that you are charged extra money for going over a certain amount, even with unlimited plans. Here at CWCS we believe that you should be totally aware of what you are paying for and we can advise you of the website hosting that will best suit your specific needs.

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Virtually The Answer

2009-12-30T10:00:00.001Z

Most operating servers have to be available 24/7. If they are running for such a period but not always being utilised, then it's a waste of computing resources and operational costs. A possible solution could be to own a virtual server environment to reduce the amount of physical servers actually needed, thus greatly reducing overall costs.

Virtual dedicated server hosting is a product that is designed to allow the creation of multiple virtual servers on a single Windows server. Each of these virtual servers is stored as a hard drive image file and functions as an independent computer running its own operating system and individual set of applications. Virtual dedicated server hosting can be ideal for numerous reasons. Primarily, though, they are used in development environments and are used for server consolidation. The reason why the virtual dedicated server works so well in development environments is because it allows developers to test potentially ‘buggy’ software on a variety of different operating systems without having to worry about crashing the system.

Imagine an old Windows NT Server running an application that won't run under any other version of Windows. If the hardware the application is running on stops running, a possible solution might be to create a Windows NT virtual machine on an existing dedicated server and run the application from there.

Should a crash occur and, heaven forbid, a virtual machine destroyed then it would be a matter of recovering a single file. Virtualisation ultimately saves money and space.

CWCS provides a selection of virtual dedicated servers at highly competitive prices.