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We get a lot of email from people asking us about various aspects of the industry, from Web Hosts to Host Finders to Domain Registrars to people in the business. We try to handle each one personally.
So if you want you need information on the hosting industry, past, present, its very bright future, or our takes on emerging technologies or have a problem and need an answer or (last one promise) just want to chew the fat a bit then drop us a line.
Here are some of our more recent letters:
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| Dear Editor, I noticed that you make references to a
blog. Is this your blog or is it a join blog? What type of stuff do you
talk about it? Is there anyway for others to talk on it as well? Thanks.
-Anonymous |
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Hello,
Yes we have our own blog at WebHostBlog.com. It is owned by us and
contains various writings from several of our top editors and staff
writers. We talk about everything that is Web hosting related. We have
several sections such as news, humor, interviews, etc. If you would like
to contribute drop us a line
here.
If you wish to comment on Web Host Blog, you will of course need to
register.
See you there! |
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| Dear Editor, If you have multiple testers in your
review panel testing a web host, how come we only see one review for a
host per community.
-Doug |
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Hi Doug,
My name is David I am the Reviews and Content Editor. We do
indeed have multiple reviewers in our Independent Review Panel. Their
findings are combined to make one review. It is my job to make sure the
reviewers are fair in their evaluation and as such I too review the Host
as well so I have the background information necessary to make an
informed decisions. I go over the Host in question with each member of
the panel both individually and as a whole. From this data our review is
written.
It's a long process, but it has served us well over the
years.
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| Dear Editor, I want to leave my Host. I have already
searched and found my next Host. My question is what's the best way for
me to move my stuff from the old Host to the new Host with as little
down time as possible?
-Matti |
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Hi Matti,
Moving from one Host to another can be done in four steps.
I'll say the steps then explain them. First purchase your new plan,
then move your site files to your new host, make sure everything
works on the new site (databases, email boxes are correct, etc.) ,
and lastly change your domain name DNS records over to the new host.
When you do all of this keep in mind you want the two plans to
overlap so make sure everything is ready for the DNS change over
three days prior to your original plan's end date, at the least.
This insures that when the DNS records update to the new site, you
will have 0 downtime.
First step is pretty self explanatory. You have your next
Host already so simply purchase the plan. If you have not done so
now would be a good time to tell your Host to cancel your current
plan. You will have coverage until your next billing cycle. This
coverage should be about a week or two incase you end up having
problems with the next few steps.
When moving site files makes sure EVERYTHING is copied. Your
site files, database, email, etc. If you use a control panel like
cPanel there are options available to migrate your information from
one host to the next. Your new host should have given you a
temporary Web site and/or IP address to upload your files. So backup
all your data and then upload it to the new Host.
Making sure everything works is simple enough. Again your Host
should have given you a temporary area to access for ftp as well as
viewing your site. Most Hosts do, if you are in doubt ask you new
Host. View your site and make sure everything is working correctly.
Some things you might not be able to test, ie forms that use email
accounts (though you can setup a Yahoo, Gmail, or Hotmail email for
these temporarily) and chances are you won't be able to test your
email until the step four is completed. Personally I just double
check the preferences of the new email accounts to make sure they
are exactly the same as my previous settings.
Last change the DNS settings of your domain name. Your new
Host should have given you the information for your new DNS server
(normally given in an email along with your temporary FTP and
website settings, your password, and your billing and support
information). Go to the registrar your Domain Name is with such as
GoDaddy, Enom, Bulkregister, etc. Change the settings and wait. In a
few hours to a few days everything on the Internet that is linked to
your site should now point to your new Host. A good way to test this
is out is to put something on the index/home page of your new host
site such as "....." If you see the dots you know this is from the
site that is located with your new provider.
Hope this helps Matti. Good Luck with your new Host. |
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| Dear Editor, What's with the hosting "communities?"
Seems to me that a lot of these communities overlap, like Unix and
Windows hosting. Those are pretty much all encompassing, why have them
in the first place?
-Rob |
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Hi Rob,
In many ways buying a Web Host is like buying a car. If you want some cheap and
usable you get yourself a compact car or in Web hosting you would get a Budget
host plan. If you wanted something heavy duty that can carry a lot of stuff you
would buy a truck or in hosting a Dedicated Server plan. These categories help
the user to group like plans and make better decisions about what to buy.
Hosting plans found in these communities share like attributes
and features. Unix and Windows Hosting are fairly all
encompassing, but going back to our car analogy, sedans are
pretty much all encompassing. Or saying this is a car and that
is a truck, those are all encompassing, but we still categorize
things in that manner.
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