CHMOD - Undertanding File Permissions on a Unix-Based Server
June 29, 2008
The basic command for changing file permissions in unix based operating systems is the ‘chmod’ command. This command is executed with a set of parameters after it. With most FTP clients, you can simply select the filename you want to change the permissions of, right click, and choose the chmod command.
There are three main groups of permissions when dealing with the chmod command. The three groups are yourself or owner, your unix group, and everyone else. A typical chmod command would look like this - ‘chmod 755′ This allows you to add, remove or rename files as well as read or edit a file. It also specifies that your unix group and everyone else can only read and edit the file in question. They can’t add, delete, or rename the file.
How the numbers in the chmod command work
Web Hosting Bandwidth — How Much Bandwidth Is Enough?
June 4, 2008
Bandwidth in its simplest terms refers to the amount of data that flows across a network wire in a given time period. For most web hosting providers, that time period is measured in a month. Web hosting providers are charged a certain amount per month or per year for an allocated amount of bandwidth from backbone providers and wholesale data centers. That cost is then passed on to the consumer in the form of web hosting plans.
How much bandwidth will your website use?
With so much variation among web hosting companies, it can sometimes be difficult to know how much bandwidth your website will need. So, how much is a gigabyte of bandwidth anyway? Let’s put it in perspective. If an average web page, images and all is 50 kilobytes in size, your website could be viewed 20,000 times! For the average hobby website, that is more than enough. Let’s further put that 20,000 in perspective. If each visitor to your website viewed an average of 4 pages per month, it would still represent over 5,000 unique visitors to your website every month. Now if your website has lots of pictures on it though, then one gigabyte of bandwidth will allow for fewer visitors.
Sender Policy Framework (SPF) ? How to use it to Fight Email Forgery
May 13, 2008
Spam is a real problem today. Forged email is a big part of the spam problem. Have you ever received a spam email from yourself? How many times have you received an email you know to be spam from someone only to find out it came from an invalid email address? When you try to block the email by choosing block sender, the spammer simply changes the email address to another variation and gets through the block. Until recently, there wasn’t much you could do about it. Now there is.
What is Sender Policy Framework (SPF)?
SPF makes it easy for a domain, whether it’s an ISP, a business, or a school to say that they only send mail from certain machines. If any other machine is claiming to send mail, they are lying. SPF aims to prevent spammers from ruining other people’s reputation. When your machine receives an email from another server that has implemented SPF, your machine can easily tell if the incoming email really comes from the server it says it belongs to. More information about SPF can be found at http://spf.pobox.com/
Web Hosting Service ? What you Need to Know to Change Web Hosting Providers
April 18, 2008
When service at your web hosting company is lacking, or your web site grows in traffic so much that you outgrow your current account, you may find yourself needing to change hosting providers. It can be scary to think about everything you need to do. Here are some things you should keep in mind that will help make the transition to the new host much easier.
1. Backup all of your files and databases
Before you decide to transfer anything over, you need to create a backup of every file and database you have on the current hosting provider’s server. FTP into your current hosting account and copy all of the files from your public_html directory into a directory on your local hard drive that you’ll find easy to remember later.
As for the database, backup methods will vary according to the database vendor, the control panel being used by the host if any, and the operating system of the server. Most providers provide a backup utility that allows you to save a copy of the contents of all of your database tables. If there isn’t a simple backup utility available, you will need to export the contents of your database in a comma delimited file or the standard file format for the particular database you use. Most backup utilities will convert the database into one long SQL file that is then easy for any compatible database engine to reconstruct.
Finding a Home for Your Internet Enterprise - A Point by Point List
March 25, 2008
After much Net surfing and looking at all the offers you’ve decided to take the plunge! You’ve investigated a good name for your idea. You’ve decided it’s time to start searching for a home for your Internet vision. By golly, it’s time to start your own enterprise! You’re tired of all the reading and research! You’re ready to go mano-a-mano!
But,there are a million and one providers available! How do you choose? What should a first time entrepreneur get? Thankfully, there is a way to come upon a good choice! Read on and I’ll explain what you should examine when making your selection.
The main thing to consider is what kind and how many different services are you going to need. What do you think are the most basic things you want your website to do? Those are practical considerations since you don’t want to leave out some essential service; all the same, you don’t want to buy more than what you really have to.
The general trend appears to be in favor of providers that offer many integrated services (built-in); it makes perfect sense getting all the services you’ll need from one location. As an added bonus, it does make administration easier since you don’t have separate accounts to deal with. You’ll also save money because the packages are less expensive than buying extra services piecemeal.
Web Hosting and Development
March 1, 2008
If you’ve ever browsed the World Wide Web and wondered how you could stake your claim on the Internet, like the millions of others that have done so already, then web hosting can provide you with the services to do just that. The Internet is a great way of sharing information and it is possible for you to take a portion of the web and make it your own. This article introduces the term "web hosting" and provides some useful tips for web development once you’ve obtained some web space.
What is the World Wide Web? The "World Wide Web" is the network of computers from all over the world that communicate with each other using the HTTP protocol, a language that allows the transmission of web documents. Be careful as this term is not synonymous with the "Internet" because it is defined as a network of networks, where the computers communicate with protocols other than HTTP. The web is what you see on your Internet browser, the web pages complete with graphics, sound and other information. All this has got to come from somewhere, and this is where web hosting comes in.
Effectiveness of Web Hosting Directories (WHDs)
February 4, 2008
John is very happy today, for the first time in his life he has created his very own website. Now he is looking for a web host so that he can put his identity on the net. Casually he asks his friend Mac about it. Mac tells him that web-hosting directories are the best place to look for a web host. Getting curious John then asks Mac what exactly a Web Hosting Directory is. Mac responds that web hosting directories are a web hosting marketplace where prospective hosts list their products, plans, prices and other important information so that according to their requirements, customers can choose a suitable plan. Along with the details, it also contains web hosts’ rankings. John is now extremely happy as his dream is finally going to come to fruition. Like John, there are many beginners who are in search of a reliable web host and come across web hosting directories. Here a new question arises: Are these web hosting directories really trustworthy sources for novices like John? To find an answer it’s very important to understand the working of WHDs.
Web Hosting: Which Is The Host With The Most?
January 10, 2008
So you want to publish a web site do you? Welcome to the club. These days it seems that almost everyone has a web site of some kind, and thousands more continue to be launched every day. It’s challenging enough to design a site and fill it with interesting content, but when all is said and done another challenge still remains - where to host it?
A popular choice for newbie webmasters, and even experienced ones, is to secure a free hosting plan with a company such as Yahoo! Geocities, Tripod or Angelfire. While these are easy to setup and free of charge, they do have limitations. Most free hosts don’t offer all the nice features that paid hosts do such as FTP access, CGI-BIN, or your own personal domain name. Instead you’re stuck with minimal features and a generic URL such as www.freewebhost.com/marcswebsite. This somewhat limits your web site’s potential. Most free hosts also require you to run banners or pop-up ads on your web site to make it worth their while - these banners and pop-ups can obstruct the view of your web page and ultimately annoy visitors and drive them away. Lastly, most free hosts have a daily bandwidth limit that is very small, so if you do get a lot of traffic you’ll most likely exceed the allotted bandwidth and your site will be temporarily disabled. Overall I would recommend free web hosts for people that are new to web hosting and want to get a feel for how it works. I’d also recommend them for web sites that are personal in nature (such as an online journal) as well as web sites that don’t plan to generate any revenue. Free web hosts are a great stepping stone to paid web hosts - I myself starting building web sites 4 years ago using free hosts, and today I run several high traffic web sites that are hosted on paid web hosting plans.
A Simple Guide to Web Hosting
December 18, 2007
Personal Computers, Servers Or ISP?
You need a server to host your site so that it can be viewed over the internet. This server can either be an Internet Service Provider or of your own. Most websites are hosted by an Internet Service Provider because they can provide powerful server hardware, high speed connections and reliable server support.
Most providers have very fast connections to the Internet such as a full T3 fiber-optic (45 Megabytes per second) connections which is about 1000 high speed (56 Kilobytes per second) modems combined.
For those who are looking to set up their own servers and host their own websites, a personal computer is often not powerful enough to do the job. As the name suggests, a personal computer can hardly handle multiple visitors to your website- servers are needed to handle these visitors simultaneously.
Getting Your Web Hosting
There are thousands of companies that offer web hosting for your website. Which to choose and what to look out for? With the multitude of features and terms in each hosting plan, it can be puzzling for those who are just starting out. The golden rule in choosing your website: Nothing beats reliable web hosting. Many web hosting plans offer more space, more benefits than others. The decision to your web hosting should be based on reliability. We have seen too many disappointed website owners who chose benefits and space over reliability.
Criteria of Choosing an Ideal Web Hosting Company
November 23, 2007
Before we talk about what it takes to be a cheap and good quality web host, let’s get to the fundamental first.
What is a Web Host? A web host is a service provider that places your web site on a computer which is connected to the internet. The term for this ‘computer’ is called a server.
A web hosting provider will typically have a fast connection to the Internet and they may host thousands of web sites on many servers. The web host essentially rents out space to you so that you can get your website up on the world wide web.
With a well-managed web host, you can free yourself from worrying the up-keep of complicated server technology and proper technical maintenance. That’s the whole purpose of the web hosting companies. You should leave the technical work to web hosting professional while you focus on your own internet business.
