When looking for a VPS Hosting provider there are a few things that we believe you should look for;

1. Quality of hardware used
2. Reliability and uptime
3. Quality of bandwidth
4. Service and support
5. Availability of burstable ram

Quality of Hardware used

Multiple VPS platforms run on partitioned hardware nodes so the quality of the hardware it runs on is imperative. It is always good to check the quality of the processors and hard disks since the hardware will be more heavily used then in a normal dedicated hosted environment as their will be 10’s of instances concurrently running. This should be the first thing you check.

Reliability and Uptime

If your hosting provider is using good reliable hardware this should be a given.  You should look for hosting provider that provides more than 99.9% uptime especially if you are running a Windows VPS platform where the chance of downtime is increased.

Quality of bandwidth

There is no point in having excellent hardware and reliable uptime if your datacentre or hosting provider’s connections are down.  Look for multi tier 1 BGP routed bandwidth to reduce the risk of any one ISP connections being down.

Service and Support

Sooner or later you’ll need the help and support of your hosting provider, make sure that the staff are knowledgeable and helpful. Like all insurance policies this is something you may never need but if and when you do, it is best to make sure that it is the best you can find.

Availability of Burstable RAM

If you are running a Linux VPS, this may prove to be a life saver as Burstable RAM is a temporary fix that kicks in in emergencies when you have a spike in traffic to your site, for example if someone has dugg, or stumbleuponed your site.  Although this is great news in that it will bring more patronage to your site, it can also overload and possibly crash your site. If your Linux VPS has burstable RAM until you increase your dedicated RAM or your traffic eases back.

We hope you find these useful, feel free to leave some comments and any additional ideas that we may have overlooked.

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We often here from clients who say something along the lines of; “My site is currently running on a shared hosting package running Wordpress and we are starting to get over 3000 visitors and slowing down my site should we move over to VPS Hosting and if so what should we host on?”

First things first, before upgrading your hosting package and/ or moving your site we would suggest first checking to see that your wordPress is fully optimised as it can be a bit of resource hog.  Make sure that you’ve optimised your MySQL configuration and your plugins.

But as your site grows sooner or later you will need to move over to a more powerful system, and for the blogging community the VPS platform is an excellent half way house between the dedicated world and the shared hosting world.

We would always suggest using a Linux VPS platform rather than a windows one as you would save both on licensing fees and because the Linux kernel is more memory efficient and you would need less memory.

As a first step we would suggest you host on a 256MB Linux VPS system, if you are new to managing your own platforms then I would suggest getting a control panel, and the Plesk Power pack.  With the Plesk power pack you would be able to easily install and configure your WordPress platform with having to troll the forums for help, and thus save your self the managed VPS hosting fees, well worth the small price charged by most hosting providers for it.

Once you are on the VPS platform you are able to scale up or down your platform to correspond with growth and any seasonal variations in your site traffic. Perfect for all those bloggers who are slowly growing their site.

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For some people this may be the best solution, but for others who may only be using 5 or at most 10% of their peak server needs it may not be the most cost effective solution for them.

As the cost of processing power, and storage come down, and the costs of power keep rising the benefits of a VPS hosting solution is proving to be a better and better option for more and more people and should always be looked into.

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The event was billed as a chance for businesses and developers to meet and debate the future implications and potential power of the cloud. Talks were held by many featured guests, including author Geoffrey Moore and Morgan Stanley MD Mary Meeker.

Scientist Janine Benyus was also on hand to discuss the outside implications of virtual hosting in a talk titled ‘Beyond IT‘.

The day was rounded off with a joint speech and chat with Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Forbes National editor Quentin Hardy. See their talk here along with the other Atmosphere speeches at Google Events’ YouTube page.

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IT decision makers are planning on extending their cloud or virualised presence, according to reports.

Interestingly, the fears that many executives had over adopting cloud services for their online backup and hosting needs are beginning to wane, with 62% of respondents who did not already use SaaS (software as a service) or virtualised hosting solutions having considered taking the plunge.

Analysts have argued that, as well due to increased media coverage of the business, time-management and green credentials of adopting virtualised hosting, that the reason behind the change of heart is that several of the IT big boys (Google, Amazon, Microsoft) were embracing the cloud openly.

However, despite the security concerns and wishes for better integration with existing systems that many firms seemed to have, a report (http://www.mimecast.com/events-press/press-releases/article/view/70-percent-of-companies-using-cloud-based-services-plan-to-move-additional-applications-to-the-cloud/396/) from US email management service Mimecast found that, of the ones who did take the plunge, 70% were planning on extending their SaaS usage, moving additional data and information onto the cloud and virualised environements.

As the representatives from Mimecast put it: “This shows that respondents that have used cloud-based solutions have seen their business and operational value and want to expand that success to other application areas.”

The top three sectors that the study found were embracing virtualised computing were also interesting, as they were also among those most sceptical about the merits of hosted solutions.

The report found that 76% of firms in financial services were wary of SaaS due to security fears, but the industry was the second biggest adopter of the cloud, with 40% having moved data onto online backup services.

In addition, 68% of those financial firms who had already adopted hosted solutions were among those who were planning on migrating additional data to the service.

The legal sector represented the third biggest investment in SaaS, with 37% of companies utilising the technology.

However, while this represented a lower overall stake in moving data online, a whopping 81% of those legal firms who took up cloud solutions were increasing their budgets for it.

Interestingly, the biggest adoption rate for cloud computing solutions came from the IT sector, with 53% of techies jumping onto the hosted bandwagon and three quarters of those increasing their connections to SaaS.

Host in the most secure data centre in the UK with <a href=”http://www.bytehouse.co.uk/about_us/our-hosting-facility.php”>ByteHouse’s high standard physical and network security</a>

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We find that VPS web hosting provides an ideal framework for the majority of growing client’s hosting needs and rapid scalability before switching over to a dedicated environment.  Of course there are occasional times when VPS hosting is not the ideal hosting environment but on the whole this is an ideal hosting platform for most clients.

The medical screening company, a medical insurance screening provider was a client that started off life on a Linux VPS platform and migrated on to ever more powerful VPS hosting platforms until finally migrated over to a dedicated system as their marketing, brand awareness and traffic numbers rapidly increased.

At the appropriate time we were able to quickly and seemlessly migrate them over to their own dedicated envrionment.

Arsenal Insider, an Arsenal online fan blog, was another similar client who initially started off on our VPS hosting platform, moved to another provider when they came up against the VPS constraints to reduce their costs, but came back to host with us on our dedicated servers thanks to our attention to detail excellent infrastructure and connectivity and award winning customer service.

We find that Virtual Private Servers are an excellent way for clients to move away from shared hosting and grow their business before migrating over to the costlier dedicated hosting needs.

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Burstable memory
The amount of memory that can be used by your virtual machine should you run out of your “guaranteed memory”.  Burstable memory is only available if there is available free memory on the virtual private server node.

Control panel
A control panel is a web based interface that allows you to administor your server through a GUI (Graphic User Interface) rather than through the command line.

Command line
This is a blank screen with a prompt similar to DOS or a command line interpreter or shell that allows the administrator to directly type in line commands to allow the system to run.  Most users user and prefer GUI Control panels like Plesk and cPanel as there is less chance of an error.

File System
A system for storing files on the hard drive in such a way that only your hosting package(s) can utilise/ have access to your files.  This is superior and more secure than shared hosting where everyone is on the same file system and theoretically go into areas where they should not.

Apache
Apache or Appache HTTP Server is an open source web server program that in 2009 was the first powers in excess of 100 million, and serves almost half of all websites and the majority of linux servers. Apache is often used because of its excellent performance, reliability, security features and that it is free.

Plesk Control Panel
Plesk is both a Linux and Windows GUI web hosting contrl panel that provides you the control and responsibility of managing your web site and all aspects of your email, backups, files, FTP, and a raft of other Plesk specific applications such as the web application vault.

cPanel Control Panel
cPanel is a linux based web hosting GUI control panel that provides you most of the control and responsibility of managing your web site and all aspects of your email, CGI scripts, backups, files, FTP and web site statistics.

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After you have transfered your domain sucessfuly to your hosting providers servers it will take between 15 minutes and 24 hours to propagate around the world (may take upto 48 hours in same extreme instances). During the propagation period your newly transferred domain is being updated by the various Internet providers around the world.

Whilst waiting for your site to proporgate you can log in to your Plesk account through the log in details you received from your hosting provider and begin creating your POP3 accounts. Even though you may have setup your mail service, your new accounts will not be detected until your domain has been fully propegated. Mail servers sometimes take up to 24 hours longer than HTTP services. So even if your website’s domain name is visible on the web, your mail server may not be fully propegated.

Creating your POP3 email accounts?

1. Log in to your Plesk Control Panel using the details provided through email by your hosting provider
2. Click on your domain name.
3. Click the Mail icon
4. Click the Add New Mail Name icon
5. Enter the account name and password, then click the
   OK

How do I setup my POP3 email accounts in my Mail client such as Outlook?

Once you’ve created your POP3 account within Plesk, you can then set up the account in your preferred Mail Client, or you can read your Mail using the WebMail service provided by most hosting providers. To set up your account in a Mail client like Outlook, use the following settings:

1. usernameYour Username is the full email address, including the domain name, of the account you created. E.g. info@yourdomainname.com
2. passwordYour Password is the password you entered when you created the account in Plesk
3. Incoming Mail server (POP3)Your Incoming Mail server (POP3)is mail.domainname.com where domainname.com is your actual website domain name
4. Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)

Your Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) is the same as your ISP’s outgoing mail server. Use the same setting provided by your Internet service provider to avoid problems delivering email. Most Virus and SPAM conscious ISPs now require you to use their outgoing Mail server to help reduce the proliferation of viruses and eliminate SPAM.

Using WebMail to read and send email online

You must make sure WebMail is enabled within your Plesk Mail Preferences. To enable WebMail :

1. Log in to your Plesk Control Panel using the details provided in the receipt sent to you via email.
2. Click on your domain name.
3. Click the Mail icon
4. Click the Preferences icon
5. Ensure WebMail is checked, then click the
   OK

To send or read email using WebMail :

1. Log in to your Plesk Control Panel using the details provided in the receipt sent to you via email.
2. Click on your domain name.
3. Click the Mail icon
4. Click the icon and log in using the POP3 email account’s Username and Password.If you see a icon instead, you must enable WebMail

You have now created a seperate email administration panel within Plesk to enter it, visit the URL https://your-domain.com:8443 type the email address into the login box, and the password for that particular mail box in the password box and click login. You now are able to utilise your webmail.

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Not only did Gordon Brown save the world, but he managed to give every blogger out there the mother of all reasons to publish Brown’s blunder and faux pas!

But, one must not complain, our erstwhile leader provides great cannon fodder and ammunition! Thanks Gordon!

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You’re out there on the blogosphere and have outgrown a shared hosting environment for your blog and want to move onto your very own server but are not sure whether to spec your dedicated sever for today’s needs or at the rate your growing where you think you should be.

Writing a blog is now a growing popular pursuit whether it is the blog attached to your corporate or personal site, or one that is more personal to you and your interests. By hosting your own blog it allows you to create your very own professional customised look, and we’ve outlined some useful tips to be aware of when hosting your blog on a VPS platform.

Plesk control panel

By using a Plesk control panel you have an icon based user friendly GUI interface that requires no prior knowledge about the working of hosting control panels. You have an inbuilt regional web statistics as well as an easy to use backup facility.

Use WordPress for your blog

WordPress is an easy to use powerful Linux based open source blogging software that is easy to install and has a wide and extensive open source online community that provide free applications, addons, plugins and general software.

Some of the more sophisticated control panels (Plesk included) and web hosting companies (bytehouse included) provide a preinstalled WordPress scripts and addons package on their blog hosting packages.

Look for good uptime and equipment

Your blog is an interactive 24/7/365 slice of the world wide web, you’ve spent time energy and effort in finding that niche where you are interacting and exchanging ideas with the wider community, it is articulate, thoughtful and providing information that is of interest to the wider community; in short your reaching that elusive holy grail a sticky blog.

So while you are thinking of expanding your hosting space and moving onto a more powerful hosting environment then it is worth bearing in mind that you want reliable connections (preferably BGP routing where there are multiple concurrent tier 1 connections), good reliable equipment with minimal downtime, and compassionate, knowledgeable and helpful support for when you need it.

Why host your blog on a VPS platform

VPS hosting environments provide scalable web space that is easy to use and offers most of the advantages of a dedicated server but at a fraction of the cost. By hosting on a VPS platform, you can benefit from using dedicated resources that are scalable when you need to grow without committing in advance to a dedicated hosting contract. You have your own secure and separate hosting space that can grow with your needs.

Click here to learn about the advantages of VPS hosting

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