Basic Guide to Internet Security

The internet is a wonderful place; many of us use it on a regular basis for a multitude of functions. Email helps us to keep in touch with family, and friends all over the world and most people have at least one email account. The growing use of digital cameras and camera phones means that we can send pictures at the click of a mouse. MP3 players have become increasingly popular, and we can download songs to play on them with extreme ease. All of this is great, and the internet is becoming a big part of our everyday lives.

Unfortunately, there is a downside to all of this increased use of the internet. That is the growth of the spread of viruses and other so-called ‘malware’. Originally, internet hackers were satisfied keeping their attentions focussed on government and business websites, and their viruses were intended to attack corporations. Most hackers saw this as a challenge. However, there is now an increasing trend towards home computer users being targeted by these attacks. The amount of damage that can be caused by a virus varies, but there are a number of easy steps that a person can take to help increase their internet security.

The first step to keeping your computer free from viruses is to have up-to-date antivirus software running on your computer. You need to make regular checks to ensure that your software is updated, and to scan your entire computer for viruses. There are a number of cheap, and free antivirus software programs available that provide excellent protection. You can find these by searching through your search engine for antivirus software.

The next step to maintain your internet security is to be extremely cautious about the type of files that you open, or download. The majority of viruses are actually spread through email attachments. Having these on your computer, in your inbox, is not the danger; the real danger is when you open the attachment. It may not be obvious that anything has happened when you first open the attachment containing the virus, quite often they appear blank. The damage is caused by the program that is activated within the attachment. If you do not know, and trust, the person who has sent you the attachment then delete the email.

Check Out Easy Ways Of Domain Name Registration

Check Out Easy Ways Of Domain Name Registration

Domain name registration is a significant, easy, and strategically important first to form an online presence, whether it is for business or otherwise. A domain name gives the first impression to your customers. A well-chosen domain name can set up your success in different ways; most importantly help generate search engine traffic for your website. 

You should consider a few important points while going for your domain name registration. You can easily get your domain name registered. You should choose a domain name that will help to make your site effective. Domain names are not only the web addresses or URLs, but they are far more than that. 

A domain name is the marketing brand and is the most important marketing tool that you possess, because it helps to draw traffic to your website. 

Anyone can easily register a domain name, and register as many domain names as possible. Even if you do not own any website, then also you can register a domain name. Anyone can register a domain name up to 67 characters long. Register up to 10 years in advance. 

There are many benefits of a good domain name. Owning a good domain name also gives you a decisive edge over the competitors. You can make your position strong in the industry with the help of a good domain name. 

Domain name allows making a site virtual, and also adds the credibility to the site. People mostly want to choose the business partners with the sites that have their own domain names. Domain names make an organization professional.   

The ownership of the domain name gives you the option of transferring the website to any web host while maintaining your address. It allows for the continuity of the business and also allows shopping for the hosting service. Domain names also promote the branding of your products. A descriptive domain name can work as an effective marketing tool. Bear in mind that a short domain name can be easily memorized.

Cheap Web Hosting - Wide Selection

Cheap Web Hosting - Wide Selection

In addition to the many conveniences and headaches brought on by our increasing reliance on the world wide web, this new form of communication, advertising and commerce has brought with it  an altered mindset for the new consumer; we want it fast, we want it now, we want it perfect.  From small ecommerce web sites to large organizations, reliable hosting is the key to ensure that customers and viewers see the same site at the same speed every time they visit their favorites.  Reliable web hosting services provide the space, along with support (often 24/7) and the all important bandwidth.  Reliable hosting is key to  success in that it gives the consumer a consistent experience while preventing down time,  that could cost the company in question hundreds, and maybe thousands in revenue.

There is a fine selection of reliable web-hosting services online.  Often these services host in a specific region.  There is a multitude of web sites on the internet advertising the services of one or another reliable hosting company.  Luckily, there are also a couple out there to help you choose what is right for your company.  Netcraft and Web hosting Inspector are two examples of such sites.  

Web hosting Inspector provides a comprehensive spreadsheet listing independent test results, awards, rankings services and prices for various reliable web hosters.  Though helpful, Web hosting Inspector feels a lot like paid advertising.  A better choice is Netcraft.  Netcraft supplies a lot of the same info as Web hosting Inspector, but also gives in depth analysis regarding down time, a fate worse than death to any e-commerce entrepreneur. Very often, these companies are run from private homes, a low cost, high return way for the internet savvy to make an income.  However, the very “under the radar” nature of some of these businesses makes it all the more crucial that sites such as Netcraft exist, providing checks and balances to an otherwise turbulent industry.

You cannot have a company on the internet without a reliable hosting provider, with a team of dependable customer service.  Their services are important to keep your e-commerce site consistent; visually consistent,  service oriented and most importantly, consistently lucrative.

As the use of the Internet increases every day, with more people than ever before utilizing the World Wide Web to find products and services they  need, reliable web site hosting becomes a bigger issue.  Consumers will not continue using companies who have web sites that are slow loading or are constantly having technical difficulties and down time.  It could be the death of a growing online company to have a site that’s unavailable for any legthy time frame because of a server problem.  The choice of a reliable web site hosting company is then imperative.

Online companies along with individuals will want to select a reliable web hosting company that also offers great customer service, fair and competitive pricing plus first class management. There are some suggestions you will want to remember when looking for a reliable web hosting company.  If you are seeking quality and reliability you will want to do a some research before you make your  final decision.  

When you are ready to start a web site either for business or personal needs,  you need to find a reliable hosting service.  The reason for this is because that will be the place you keep the web pages for viewing by consumers and possible business clients.  If you are just starting with an online presence either as an e-commerce venture or even as an individual you want to first understand the basics of web hosting.  A server is a computer that gets the requests for pages or files from the Internet.  When someone types in a domain name a server somewhere is accessed.  It then shows the requested pages or files to the computer requesting the information.  Another way to look at a reliable web host is, they are a landlord renting you space on their computer to others.  You then have a choice between shared hosting or dedicated hosting.  The difference is evident in the name.  A shared host shares it’s server with more than one client and a dedicated host has one client on it’s server.  Dedicated servers normally are used by e-commerce sites that require a large amount of space disk space and more personal management plus cost a little more. 

As the Internet is growing so is the number of companies offering hosting services and the more competitive the market is becoming.  Some offer inexpensive monthly prices, some even offer free hosting.  As a business free web hosting may sound like a great solution however; having a website that is also shows advertising that may or may not compete with your online business is not a very good idea.  In general a free web host does not have the quality of customer service a paid reliable web hosting company would have.  These servers are also normally crowded with personal web pages and have limited options.  Many have technical issues that may include down times which could have a negative effect on your new business.  These are all factors you need to consider.

Paying  more for a reliable web hosting company is a better option.  You want to make a good entrance into the web and if you are already established you want to keep your appearance and your clients experiences positive.  Another issue to think about is future expansion.  A reliable web hosting company can offer a multitude of services and packages to grow as you do.  When choosing a reliable web hosting company think of it as a long term business arrangement.

Before looking into reliable hosting options make a list of what is going to be important to you.  This not only in regards to the web site, but to other aspects such as budgets, what you want to accomplish, short and long term goals.  All these factors need to be considered.  Sit down with other companies about their relationships involving several different reliable web hosting companies.  This may give you a great place to start your search.

We mentioned budgets which most start up businesses need to deal with.  A word of caution here, a reliable web host may not necessarily be the cheapest but you will get what you pay for.  Reliable web hosting can be found at a price to fit just about every imaginable budget.

Cheap Domain Transfers

Cheap Domain Transfers

You may decide to transfer your domain for not getting adequate services for the money you are spending. A domain transfer is in effect a domain registrar transfer as it means the transfer of the name from one registrar to another. Nowadays you have got more than a hundred registrars to choose from.

For transfer of domain, you should apply to the gaining registrar, as it is responsible for the operation. It is the duty of the gaining registrar to ensure that the application for transfer by the domain owner is a valid one. The validation usually is in the form of an email sent to the admin contact that requires a reply. In some cases, however, signed faxes are used. Losing registrars these days may resort to 'double-checking.' In this case, they will perform additional security checks if you seek transfer from them. The losing registrars may ask you to reply to an email, or dispatch a notarized letter.

There are a large number of registrars that provide cheap rates for transfer of domain names. Most of them charge less than $10 for the first year and adds another additional year to your present registration term. Moreover, many of them have special prices for bulk domain transfers if you have more than one name to transfer.

Some of the registrars offer complete email for all new domain registrations, transfers and renewals. Get your own personalized email address and 25MB total storage. They are absolutely free. If the transfer fails for one reason or the other, they will refund your fee. The rate of discount sometimes depends on the domain you want to register because some domain extensions are costlier than others.

GoDaddy, TopBusinessDomains, LuckyRegister, IndiaInternets, Domain Names help4u, GoodlandDomains, 2CreateAWebsite, Namecheap, and RegisterFly are some of the places where you can look for cheap domain transfer.

Cheap and Reliable Web Hosting Companies

Cheap and Reliable Web Hosting Companies

Choosing a reliable web hosting company can become a daunting task if you are not sure of your expectations. There are some essentials to look for in a good web hosting company before making you’re your choice.  It is necessary to ask yourself the following questions before continuing to freeze on a web hosting provider.

1) How much money is involved in getting your site up and running? There are affordable and reliable hosting providers who can make your site function, usually in 24 hrs.. Website hosting may not be the only influential factor for your site expense though. Others might include: SEO, Marketing etc... 

2) How much space will your website need? It’s important to make sure if your site requires large database storage or simple static site with the use of less space. 

3) Bandwidth should also be a criteria.  If you run large files through your site every day, you may require more bandwidth. And for a static site, providing just the information about the company and contact details, you can go for lesser bandwidth.

4) Make sure, if your site requires any special software to run scripts correctly on your website. Check with the website hosting company before you make your choice.

5) Does your site require a database? It is wise to check with the hosting provider, if they can host a database and some providers host only certain types. If your website requires a database, check all the requirements with the web hosting provider.

Well, after you have asked yourself the questions above, visualize your site and its purposes.  Have a neat navigation chart with links from home page to all internal pages and so on. Write down the function of each link on the website. It is better to work on it twice even three times so that when it is actually set up on your system, you and your   hosting provider won't be surprised by any additional requirements which may arise that you have missed.

Its always wise to research multiple web hosting companies before you make your final decision. Go through their server software, technical requirements and hardware. Compare with other web hosting companies before you make up your mind.

Lastly, go through various forums pertaining to website hosting  providers, you will find an abundance of good information.

Changing Registered Domain Name Tips

Changing Registered Domain Name Tips

Sometimes when we register our domain names, we do some transformations on it, maybe on the Domain Name System information or even to the registered domain name hosting. Such case is so common for many people, and in fact, many experts have recommended that we really do some changes on the registered domain names.

Well, for that matter, I will be dealing mainly about how to change the registered Domain Name System information and some facts that go behind such transformations. It is just important to note some things about it since it is a common necessity for the domain name holders to change their registered domain name information.

According to some experts, when you register a domain name, you really need to specify your Domain Name Server or DNS information. However, there are some instances that you need to change such registered DNS information for certain purposes. Speaking of those purposes, one is noted that if you have a new web site or even an email account, your web hosting or the Internet Service Provider will ask you to change your registered Domain Name Server information in order to make your registered domain name to be connected to your web site and so your email account can be setup.

In changing registered Domain Name Server information for your registered domain name, you should note that in the first place the registered Domain Name Server information is provided by your host. Generally, such information is composed of a primary and a secondary name server. It is important to know then that you have both the primary and secondary name servers.

Giving much emphasis on the secondary name server, it is noted that the explanation for a secondary name server is not that it takes its information from the primary name server; instead it is its respective distinct Internet Protocol or IP address that do the process. As such, the primary and the secondary name server function to point the domain name that resolves to the Internet Protocol created by the host server. Therefore in changing registered Domain Name Server information, the domain name will resolve with the average of 50 percent of the period to the primary name server and also 50 percent of the period to the secondary name server.

There are further resources which state that if ever that you have an Internet Protocol address of your hosting server, it is better that in changing your registered domain name, you use the URL-forwarding service which is now offered by most domain name companies. Through the URL-forwarding, the registered domain name information then can be change smoothly for the reason that the URL-forwarding will resolve any hits on the registered domain name to the forwarding servers.

Today, there are so many companies that provide you to the opportunity to change you registered domain name, and some of those even offer the registered domain name change for free.  So now that you have a new registered domain name, you have the opportunity to build a web site for whatever purposes, whether it is for corporate or personal use. And aside from that, you have also the chance to do some email forwarding and you can even resell you registered domain name to whomever you like.

Changing Domain Name – The Best Way!

Changing Domain Name – The Best Way!

Accept the fact that there are really some times that you need to change your domain name. Changing domain names is not in fact a very rare situation, but the fact that is widely common today. Many were now changing domain names for certain purposes, and along with that, many people were also encountering problems.

The process of changing domain names, according to some veterans in the field of domain name, is somewhat very time-consuming and the potential for some mistakes is very huge. Well, every problem has its own solution, right? So a fairly simple solution and a safe alternative for a smooth and seamless switch in changing domain names is made possible through the application of the mod_rewrite and a .htaccess file.

Now, what is a mod_rewrite and .htaccess file?

According to certain studies, a mod_rewrite as it becomes important in changing domain names is an Apache module that grants the mode for the rewriting of the URL. Many considered this tool for changing domain names as transparent to the end-user and thus require no special software on the user’s end.

In an instance of changing domain names, the user who applies the mod_rewrite in changing domain names will still see the old domain name in their browser address bar on the first page that they visit, but then will typically be seeing the content under the new domain name. By using the mod_rewrite in changing domain names will also provide you with a very user friendly search engine.

On the other hand, the .htaccess file plays a role in changing domain names as containing particular Apache directives for specific requests, including security, redirection issues, and it also contains the answers on how to handle certain errors. Such function of the .htaccess file is very necessary in changing domain names for the reason that the Apache that it contains is a very common web server that helps a smooth and easy process of changing domain names.

Knowing the facts about those two important tools, it is therefore important to note that before you do anything, you should consider some issues that surround such the domain name change. These issues must be considered for these will help for a smoother transition. So according to some experts for changing domain names, the first important move is to check the web host to make sure that they support the mod_rewrite module, otherwise the attempt procedure will not work. Then it follows that you must activate your new domain name.  It is just necessary that you ensure that the file base construction and naming is accurately similar when it was under the old domain name.

After that, you create an .htaccess file.  It is interesting to know that the .htaccess file in changing domain names can be done with a simple text editor like the notepad, and it should be noted that the file has no tail extension; the name should then be just .htaccess. If done, the syntax should then be inserted. Just be aware that when changing domain names, the old domain name will still appear in the browser window but you are viewing the content of the new domain name. Of course there are still some rules behind these steps for changing domain names, but unfortunately, that is beyond the scope of this article.