One of the most frustrating parts of owning and operating an online business can be the occasional need to switch web hosting servers. Changing your web hosting provider may require that a new control panel be mastered. The most time consuming part of becoming acquainted with a new web hosting plan is mastering the new control panel with which you are provided to operate your site.

However, having a Plesk control panel can reduce greatly the amount of readjustment that may be required upon switching servers. Plesk offers the option to carry your previous control panel with you as many different providers offer Plesk as their default control option. If both the new and old hosting solution utilize Plesk, reducing the amount of downtime that your website experiences will be exponentially reduced and having your site up and running will come much sooner rather than later.

Switching Hosting Providers

One of the most commonly encountered issues with switching servers is the loss of data that can occur as a result of the move. The reason for this is simple and easily prevented. The TTL (Time to Live) of a website is not instant and during a transfer to a new server some data may be lost or possibly delayed for long periods of time. In order to prevent this from happening several settings must be changed twenty four hours prior to the move. To make the necessary changes you will need to log into your Plesk account with your current web hosting server and click on “Domains.”

After having accessed this option you will need to locate the name of the server you will be switching to if it is listed. After locating the information you need you will want to access the DNS settings. After doing this you will need to select the SOA record click. Once you have reached this point you will need to then change the default TTL to fifteen minutes or nine hundred seconds. Once all this has been done you will need to click on “Set” to ensure that your data is saved and the process is properly finalized. Doing this will ensure that any changes that occur will happen within fifteen minutes of the change, thereby minimizing on the amount of lagging data and data lost.

How to Restore your Site’s Backup

After a period of about a day or so it will be necessary to log in to your Plesk administrator desktop of your new domain and find the backup manager. After finding this option you will need to create a backup title and click “Personal FTP Repository.” Now you will need to click on “Domain Configuration and Content” and select “Backup.” All depending on the size and amount of data on your site the backup should finish in anywhere from five minutes to twenty four hours.

Finishing

All that will be left to do after backing up your web page is to contact the new host’s support company and notify them of your need to restore the backup of your old site. You will need to give pertinent information such as the name of the directory in the case of http docs. Asking for support in restoring your domain using the backup file you created can also be done and should provide a good amount of assistance in finishing the process with little to no problem.

The web hosting control panel is perhaps the most important interface you’ll have to deal with when building, operating and managing your online business. The control panel represents the entire back end of your web hosting account, which consist of a variety of modules that let you control the front end and administrative interface within a centralized user-friendly control center.

Most control panels are split into sections, to help you become acquainted with the various features as quickly as possible. If you have never dealt with a control before, then it would be best to go with a web hosting company that offers control panel video tutorials. Many web hosting providers give their clients access to a plethora of instructional video clips, so there is never a moment when you’re lost or don’t know what to do.

Email Accounts Module in Your Control Panel

Perhaps one of the most important parts of your online business is communication with your clients, which happens through the email module of your control panel. In the email module of your control panel you can create accounts at your domains, which creates a sense of credibility when establishing communications with prospective clients. You can also assign email addresses to members of your company, setting up individual passwords and and login credentials for each employee. The amount of email addresses you can create will depend entirely upon your web hosting plan and the limitations your web hosting provider has set.

Setting up Email Accounts

To set up email accounts in your control panel, simply go to the email accounts module and begin typing the credentials for the new email account. Some control panels are different, however the most popular control panel (cPanel) will let you begin creating the email account as soon as you enter the email accounts section of your control panel. If you’re hosting multiple domains on a single hosting account, then you’ll need to select which domain you’d like to install the email account for. Once the account is setup you can login and decide which email viewing application you would like to use.

Setting up Email Access

Once you have created your email accounts and logged in using the drop down menu to the right of your email account name, you can then choose which email processing application you’d like to use to view your email. The three most popular email viewing applications are SquirrelMail, Horde, and RoundCube. Out of these three, most people use SquirrelMail. You can setup your favorite email viewing application to open automatically when you check your mail, simply clicking on the enable autoload button below the name. You can also setup the appearance of your inbox, autoresponders, and other personalization features that help you increase your productivity with email. You can setup filters, folders, and even mail forwarding to several accounts for maximum control over your employee’s emails.

Conclusion

Having your own private email address is absolutely imperative if you own an online business, especially if you have several employees that receive support mails on behalf of the company. Any serious online business owner will need to learn how to use the email module in their web hosting control panel.

Without web hosting features, websites would go belly-up. The initial creation and continued maintenance are dependent on the features offered by the web hosting provider. Various helpful features ensure user security and allow the owner to easily alter the website’s appearance and add plug-ins.

There are currently many features available within different web hosting provider packages. Some are better than others offering more uses. The following is a list of the most useful web hosting features available:

• E-mail administration
• Easy to use control panel
• Security administration
• Online file management
• Reports and statistics

Each of these features is vital to running a successful website. E-mail administration helps with the maintenance of various emails addresses. Depending on the package, most web hosting providers offer several email addresses to the client. Control panels are becoming much easier to use with new services constantly being added.

Security administration allows the owner to monitor potential security threats as well as monitor the users on the website. Online file management is a helpful feature for organizing all files including uploading to the server. The reports and statistics are one of the most important attributes in assisting website owners with bandwidth usage, traffic spikes, amount of storage used and other areas related to server use.

These are a few of the most useful features for the basic website. As the site expands and accommodates more traffic, a few more features will become beneficial. These include:

• Autoresponders
• Virus and spam detection
• Automatic file backup
• Password protection options

Autoresponders are an extremely helpful piece of software. They allow the site owner to automatically respond back to emails sent by the users or simply automatically send emails to the users in mass form. If selling a product, this allows the webmaster to send a thank you email as well as updates and news.

Virus and spam detection simply detect and block virus attacks and email spam. Automatic file backup periodically copies files to another server in case of an issue. This is usually completed in the background and not noticed by the client. Finally, password protection options set permissions to different users to give them access only to specific areas of the site.

The use of these beneficial features can boost website efficiency during creation and maintenance. Most web hosting providers offer these services as a courtesy so it’s best to take full advantage as they’re geared toward the client’s success.

Employing multiple websites is the best way to expand an e-commerce business. This allows users access to more products and services ideally increasing profits with each website. Consequently it’s important to find the best hosting provider that can support these websites and minimize downtime. Most hosting providers offer multiple domain hosting packages for an extra fee.

What is Multiple Domain Hosting?

By definition, multiple domain hosting is the ability to host multiple websites (domains) on a single account with one provider. This way customer’s avoid having to continually purchase additional hosting plans and all domains can be accessed on the same server.

The 4s Advantage

Multiple domain hosting offers many advantages for both the single user as well as e-commerce business. These advantages include the 4S advantages; Speed, Space, Software, and Support. Of course, there is also the added benefit of Cost-efficiency.

The 4S (speed, space, software and support) advantages are vital attributes to successfully maintaining a website. Multiple domain hosting has the speed required for customers to enjoy a multitude of sites that can be set up. Since the sites would be housed on the same server, a customer can access them faster than if they were separated.

Space is another 4S advantage offered with multiple domain hosting. With many domains comes extra storage space for each site. This allows webmasters to update and expand each site as business grows.

The third 4S advantage is the software included in most hosting plans. The most important piece of software is undoubtedly the control panel (cPanel). This tool is the brain of the website. It allows the webmaster to upload, change, upgrade, delete and much more. The graphical user interface (GUI) makes it simple to point and click any changes needed. It’s a great website management tool offered by almost all hosting providers.

The final 4S advantage is support. With many domains assigned to a server, a team of support professionals will monitor the server. This is beneficial in two ways: they can answer any questions the webmaster has and any questions the customer has that the webmaster cannot answer. This is a vital resource to increase customer retention.

Another major benefit is the cost of multiple domain hosting. As previously stated, having multiple domains on a single account is much more economical than purchasing multiple hosting packages. It’s also much easier to pay a single bill for all sites than one bill per site.

Final Thoughts

Multiple domain hosting can help boost the visibility of a network of sites by offering efficient, reasonably priced services with extensive upgrade capabilities. This is extremely appealing to individuals and small businesses that cannot afford a dedicated service.

VPS(Virtual Private Server) hosting is a popular alternative to dedicated hosting, which is slightly more expensive than other hosting solutions. Choosing the right web host can be difficult if you are not aware of the various kinds of hosting and their benefits. If you have been doing the necessary research then I am sure you’ve already read about VPS hosting and it’s benefits.

VPS hosting lets you lease a private server that you can control from a remote location using the web hosting manager (WHM, or control panel that is given to you by the hosting company. Although VPS hosting is cheaper than dedicated hosting, it offers many of the same benefits, including increased bandwidth and disk space, as well as included access to dedicated IP addresses. Since VPS hosting is such a unique solution, it requires a unique control panel to effectively administrate. One of the most popular control panels used in VPS hosting is the HyperVM control panel.

What is HyperVM?

HyperVM is a very competent control panel that is specifically designed for the virtual private server hosting environment. With HyperVM, users can easily manage nearly all aspects of their server and website, without having direct access to the server. HyperVM is not as comprehensive as other control panels, such as cPanel, primarily because it is a compact yet fully capable solution that focuses on functionality combined with usability.

What is Special About HyperVM?

One of the aspects that sets HyperVM apart from other control panels is it’s ability to show server usage in neatly organized and easy-to-understand graphs. HyperVM effectively shows the amount of memory usage, disk usage, and bandwidth usage, accurately depicting the amount of load that is being place don the server. Users can also conduct tests on their server to see how their server is performing without having to risk site performance by pushing the limits of their web server. Using the test features within HyperVM, users can conduct boot tests, shutdown tests, and reboot tests. The IP address used in the test is also displayed and the rest of the control panel can easily be accessed from within the test module.

How Much Does HyperVM Cost?

Usually HyperVM is automatically integrated into your monthly web hosting expense, so there is no expensive startup cost involved with HyperVM. If your web host does not include HyperVM in your hosting package, then you can talk to them about switching from your current control panel to HyperVM. Some web hosts will not allow you to do this, so it is important that you contact your web hosting provider before making the decision to purchase HyperVM. If you do decide to purchase HyperVM for use on your server(s), then you’ll be relieved to know that the it only costs a few dollars per month extra.

Conclusion

Due to it’s unique user-interface, VPS-based functionality, and low cost, HyperVM is a suitable solution for anyone using a virtual private server to host their websites. Using HyperVM, you’ll be able to easily control nearly every aspect of your websites and your server without having any prior experience in server management. In fact, HyperVM even provides email support and remote server administration for a set hourly fee.