Web Site 101 - Already have a web site but need a host?
So you already have a web site designed and ready to go. The problem is that you are not sure what you need to do to get that web site on the Internet.

What you need to do is find a Hosting Provider. A Hosting Provider, a “host”, is a company that provides space on their servers for your web site. Their servers are connected to the Internet on a high-speed connection, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.

Service offerings can vary from each provider to the next but the most common services a host will offer in addition to the web site hosting are:

• Pop3 Email Accounts
• URL Forwards
• Web Mail Access (web based email access)
• Hardware Redundancy
• Regular Backups
• Site Traffic Statistics
• Databases and optional Programming components
• 24/7 FTP Access

Most hosts will offer a variety of service levels which will be based on the following criteria. Choose a host that suits your needs in the price range you can afford.

• Storage: Storage is how much space your web site, databases and images can occupy on their servers
• Traffic: This is how files, images and vistors your web site can accept eachy month. Everytime someone downloads an image, accesses a web page or clicks a link, this is counted against the amount of traffic you are allocated per month.
• Price: How much it will cost per month to host your site.

Use these factors to determine which host is right for you.

3xdHosting provides hosting packages starting at $4.99 per month. Check us out and get started hosting your web site today.

Types of Hosting Platforms
Hosting providers may only offer one or more types of operating systems to choose from depending on the needs of your web site. The two most common types of operating systems are Microsoft Windows based or Unix based types of servers. This is an important aspect to consider. If you or your designer based your web site on ASP or .NET technology, then you will most likely want to go with a Windows based server. Or, if your web site uses MySQL and PHP then you most likely will want to go Unix based. This is not a hard and fast rule though, you can find hosting providers that offer these technologies on either platforms so make sure you ask and be sure that your host supports the technology your site requires. If your web site is only HTML and images and contains no programming or data-driven code, you will be fine with either platform.

The Process of Moving Your Web Site To A New Host
There are a couple of steps involved to move your web site to a new hosting provider or transfer your site from one host to another.

Before you begin: Make sure you have a current copy of your web site. You can use an FTP client to download your site from your current hosting providers servers. Once you initiate the changes in the following paragraphs, you may not have access to your web site.

1. Change your Name Servers at the Registrar
• Your new host will provide you with the new Name Servers that you must add to your Domain’s record. Your Domain record will be available for changes at your Registrar or the company you registered the domain name through. There will most likely be a web based administration tool for you to make the changes.
• Some Hosting providers will manage this process for you. Even if you don’t host with them, they may provide you the service of managing your domain.

2. If you need to transfer your domain to a new Registrar
• At some point you may find it necessary to transfer your domain to a new registrar. Most registrars make this option available to transfer your domain to them. You will need to choose your new registrar and initiate the transfer, which usually requires registering your domain for another year with the new registrar. Once the transfer is initiated, you will need to confirm the change by email and it can take up to 10 days for the transfer to be complete.

WARNING: Make sure you have a current and accessible email address in the administrative contact information for the domain. You will need this to authorize the transfer or any changes to the domain.

3. Once you have acknowledged the request by email it may take up to 72 hours for all Name Servers on the Internet to recognize the change.

4. At this point, you can upload a copy of your web site to your new host using an FTP Client Like WS_FTP based on the information provided to you by your new host. You will need an FTP site address, login and password.

5. Move your new files to the new host and test it! Make sure all components of your web site are working like forms, emails, databases etc.

Then welcome your web site to it’s new home!

Michael J. Klug
Technology Editor
3xdPress
Design: Studio3xd.com
Hosting: 3xdHosting