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Q.
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What is web hosting?
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A.
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Web hosting is the storage, management and execution of websites on the Internet,
also known as the World Wide Web.
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Q.
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What is Shared web hosting?
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A.
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Shared hosting is where multiple websites are hosted from a single server. Each
of the websites shares the resources (disk space, data transfer, etc.) available
on that server. Users are provided Control Panel access to their web hosting account,
but do not have root level access to the server their account is on. This means
that multiple customers can be hosted securely on a single server, but each retains
control of their own account. Overall management and maintenance of the server –
sometimes referred to as server management or System Administration – is the responsibility
of the web host.
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Q.
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Who should use Shared hosting?
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A.
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Shared hosting is particularly useful for small to moderate sized websites that
don’t require extensive server resources. With the lowest cost and basic functionality,
Shared hosting is ideal for informational, ecommerce, personal and blog sites, staging
environments, or any website with low-to-medium traffic volume. Sites that are "mission
critical" (commercial and deep ecommerce or database-driven sites) may benefit from
VPS or Dedicated hosting.
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Q.
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What are the advantages of Shared hosting?
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A.
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The key advantage of Shared hosting is economy. Since multiple websites share a
server, the cost of maintenance is amortized over a number of accounts, which brings
end user costs down considerably. Another advantage is that as the web host is responsible
for managing a server, support is available if issues occur with the server. This
means that people with relatively few IT skills can still set up a hosting account
and a website.
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Q.
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What are the disadvantages of Shared hosting?
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A.
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Server resources are shared between a number of accounts, so if traffic to a particular
website spikes, it will utilize more of the resources available than the other sites
hosted on that server. This means that the performance of your website is often
at the mercy of other more demanding sites on the same server. In addition, being
shared, hacker activity, malware, viruses, and any disruptive activity (DOS attacks,
etc.) directed at a particular website could impact all the accounts on a server.
Furthermore, because of users’ lack of control of server resources, they are wholly
dependent on the support provided by a host. If support is under par, this can lead
to tremendous frustration on behalf of the user. The quality of support is key to
most people’s decision regarding which web host to use, which is why Applied Innovations
makes Total Customer Satisfaction its top priority.
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Q.
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What types of Shared hosting are available?
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A.
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Although many different types of Shared hosting are available, Windows and Linux
hosting dominate. Applied Innovations offers exclusively Windows hosting because
of its proven reliability. As a long time Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and a
Windows Hosting Provider since 1999, we are intimately familiar with the platform
and have extensive experience integrating all popular applications and current technologies.
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Q.
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Does it matter which operating system is used in my computer?
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A.
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No, the operating system used in your computer is completely independent of your
web hosting service. Your web hosting server uses its own operating system so it
doesn’t matter what you or your visitors use. Applied Innovations offers hosting
exclusively on the Windows Platform, but you can access the full-featured Control
Panel from any Internet browser, including Safari, Opera, Chrome, Firefox, you name
it.
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Q.
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Do I need any special software to manage my hosting account?
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A.
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With the exception of an Internet browser, no special software is required. Applied
Innovations will provide you the necessary tools to create websites and access your
account. You are of course free to use your own tools whenever you choose.
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Q.
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Do you offer 24-hour support?
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A.
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Yes, our Technical Support team is available 24/7/365 by phone, email and live chat
to assist you with any problems or questions regarding your Applied Innovations
hosting account.
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Q.
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Can I access my site at any time to make changes?
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A.
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Yes. You can access your website Control Panel at any time to upload files or make
changes. You can use Applied Innovations web-based FTP to access your files, or
you can use a third-party FTP client or web development tool such as FrontPage.
Any changes you make to your site will take effect immediately.
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Q.
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How do I manage my account and access Applied Innovations tools?
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A.
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Applied Innovations provides a web-based Control Panel for you to manage all aspects
of your web hosting account and access Applied Innovations’ suite of tools. Because
both of these tools are web-based, you can access them at any time and from any
location as long as you have a browser and a connection to the Internet.
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Q.
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Does Applied Innovations support Microsoft FrontPage?
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A.
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Yes, all Applied Innovations hosting plans support FrontPage. Microsoft FrontPage
provides users with a What You See is What You Get (WYSIWYG) HTML editor and includes
a publish feature that enables users to transfer files to and from the web server.
FrontPage also supports advanced features such guest books and hit counters.
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Q.
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What database solutions does Applied Innovations offer?
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A.
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Applied Innovations offers several options. You can use your own Microsoft SQL license,
or access our shared MS SQL. We also support MySQL, an open source relational database
management system that utilizes the SQL database language. It is a multi-user, multi-threaded
database server that provides speed, robustness and ease-of-use. Our MySQL databases
are hosted on a dedicated MySQL server to ensure better database processing and
faster performance.
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Q.
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Will Applied Innovations help me design my website?
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A.
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While Applied Innovations doesn’t offer web design services, we do provide a web-based
site building tool FREE with all hosting accounts. SiteBuilder enables you to create
your own site quickly and easily, even if you don’t know HTML. You can use any number
of templates to build your site, or create a custom site from scratch. It also includes
a gallery of photos and images you can add to your site.
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Q.
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How do I set my home, or default, page?
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A.
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Your home (default) page is the page that first displays when someone types your
domain name in a browser. Your default page should be named one of the following:
- index.htm
- index.html
- default.htm
- default.html
For example, when a visitor types http://www.sampledomain.com
the page that actually displays may be http://www.sampledomain.com/index.htm
The default page must be located in the /www, or “web,” directory.
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Q.
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How do I know which hosting plan I need?
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A.
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Here are the things you need to ask yourself:
What is your website for?
Is your site going to be a graphical catalog with lots of graphics or photographs?
Or will your website be mostly text-based? These considerations all can influence
the amount of disk space you should get, since graphics and images are memory-intensive.
Do you need a shopping cart integrated with your site for ecommerce? Ecommerce has
some additional specific requirements that will dictate which plans are appropriate.
How many pages do you need?
Though each web page can be any length, the number of pages you plan to have on
your site can help determine how much disk space you need.
How many email accounts do you need?
Each hosting package comes with a fixed number of POP3 email accounts for free.
Usually, extra ones may be added for additional fees.
How much bandwidth will you need?
Bandwidth is impacted by two things: the size of the files that are viewed from
your website, and the number of visitors coming to your site. Traffic to a newer
site is likely to be low, so this might not be a concern for you. On the other hand,
if you expect to drive traffic through advertising or promotion, or if you have
extensive “resources” or images on your site, you may need a hosting plan with a
higher bandwidth limit.
After answering these questions, you can contact Applied Innovations’ support team.
We will help you to identify your needs and recommend a package that is just right
for you.
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Q.
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What contract term should I sign up for?
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A.
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We recommend all our customers sign up for a one-year term, which allows us to offer
the best price and include a free domain registration. However, you’re never locked
in with Applied Innovations hosting plans. If you ever need to adjust your plan
– downsize or upgrade – we’ll help you make the transition painlessly and seamlessly.
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