There has been an enormous amount of discussion over the past 2 years about new technologies that are going to set a new standard in the application hosting space. But what is fact and what is fiction, and more importantly, should you care?

Most pundits will say how inherently global and transparent the Internet is, allowing a server with a public IP address to be accessed from anywhere. While public-facing servers do have broad accessibility there are a number of dirty secrets that the sales staff at your favorite server provider fails to mention.

There are many pitfalls and failures waiting to happen when you outsource technology services. Find out some of the simple ways to save your team time.

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These days in the web hosting industry, it seems that one host is much the same as another. The same uptime guarantees, the same “friendly” support staff, 30 day money back guarantee, and often the same ridiculously high storage and bandwidth allowances. People need to start thinking outside the square they live in when it comes to choosing a host.
So what if a host has an uptime guarantee? Sure it’s important that your website is available all the time, but there’s another million and one web hosts who provide a similar uptime guarantee. So what if they provide XX/X support? So does everyone else. So what if they provide more storage than you know what to do with? So what if they provide enough bandwidth to serve 99% of the civilized world? It seems every other host has turned to mass overselling* these days. So what DO you look for? Look for all of the basics. A good uptime guarantee, fast, friendly support, and enough storage and bandwidth for your needs.
Then look for individuality. Look for things that set one particular host apart from another. What do they do differently? What do they do better? What value added services do they offer? Do they cater to your specific needs? Not sure? Contact them, talk to them and see what they can do for you. See how they can help your hosting work for you. Look for reasons why a host deserves your hard earned cash over the hordes of other hosts out there. By finding a distinction between hosts, you will not only become a more informed customer, but your hosting experience will be much more enjoyable.

* overselling: A tactic employed by web hosts whereby they sell more storage and bandwidth than they could provide if every single client used their entire allocation. Properly managed overselling doesn’t negatively impact clients – in fact quite the opposite. It can allow the host to provide cheaper services while more fully utilizing their resources. The problem is when hosts start going over the top with overselling – e.g. offering hundreds of GB’s of storage and almost unlimited bandwidth for prices that boggle the mind (e.g. prices under the $10 mark).

With the flurry of companies offering domain registration recently it is very easy to get lost in the maze of bikini-clad commercials and bottom-basement pricing. After all is said and done there is a handful of things that make a good Registrar. In this article we will show you what a Registrar is, what a Registrar’s responsibilities are and what you should look for when choosing one.

What does a Registrar do?

A Registrar is responsible for submitting a domain name for assignment. Typically a person or business will use a Registrar like Dotster or Nework Solutions to purchase a domain name. Once purchased, the Registrar is responsible for submitting the Domain, along with the person’s or business’s information(mailing address, phone numbers, etc.) to the organization[Sponsor] that manages the Top Level Domain[TLD]. For example, Network Solutions operates the .com gTLD[generic TLD] and NeuStar operates the .us ccTLD[country code TLD].

Cutting Through the hype
So besides submitting your information to a sponsor what does a Registrar do? Nothing. They should be available to answer any questions but have no impact on your domain once it is registered; your only contact with the Registrar from this point forward is to modify your personal information or if you decide to transfer the domain to another registrar. In reality people often get hosting service from the company they register their domain with, and may move their domain if they decide to cancel their hosting service with the Registrar.

Gimmicks to look for: Price
The most obvious gimmick is the flashy price that the Registrar will promote. The price for registering is different for most domains and can range from $7.99/yr to $199/yr depending on the TLD. The base price of the domain is set by the Sponsor and that cost is directly passed to the Registrar. You will also find that for a single TLD the prices can range widely – this is the direct result of the company selling you the domain. Many companies have recently began offering gTLDs at bargain-basement prices, sometimes free. The catch in these situations is that you must purchase other services from the Registrar or pay upfront for a long-term contract; these are all warning signs that something is not right. We have found the adage “If it is too good to be true it is” always holds true.
Selection

If a Registrar’s selection of TLDs is sparce(i.e. less than 15) then be sure to read the fine print of any agreements they provide. Registrars with few TLD selections often are relying on volume of customers, which could be a sign of poor customer service. Offering around 30 TLDs, including all the basics(.com, .net) shows the Registrar is has done additional effort to create partnerships with other groups or Sponsors. Because Sponsors have varying standards that Registrars must comply with finding a company that offers more then 15 TLDs often means the company has had their back-office scrutinized by several different organizations to ensure compliance.

Policies(esp. lockin)

The policies the Registrar provides are where 95% of the potential headaches hide. Many companies will put stipulations in their fine-print, such as automatically charging your credit card when your domain expires or preventing you from transferring your domain to another Registrar if you are unhappy. In one case, a Registrar decided to hold over 1300 domains “hostage” because of an internal decision by the Registrar. The owners of the domains had 2 options: pay $50 to transfer the domain to another Registrar or pay $199 to re-activate the domain.

Value Added Services

Your registrar should offer some basic services that have evolved over the years. One such service is masking the information in the Registration record of your domain. Since the owner information of a domain is publicly available, spammers and marketers use this information to add the email, mailing address, and other information to their marketing lists. This information is often sold to other companies by business whose only job is to gather such information.

Conclusion

It is easy to get lost in the marketing of domain registration companies. Whether it is low price they offer or bikini-clad women on motorcycles a gimmick is still a gimmick. You get what you pay for and the most important thing is to find a registrar that provides you with a balance between your budget and the quality you expect from a professional solutions company.

Sources:

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/06/17/1319233&from=rss

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=239

“Things To Look For” Series

We develop articles based on needs and concern our customers share with us. Our suite of services is a direct result of questions and business challenges we have helped our clients overcome.

Our goal is to make you knowledgeable about technology and make informed decisions for your business. If you have a suggestion for an article or would like to know more about a particular topic, feel free to contact us – we are always happy to help.

With so many choices for technology out there it’s easy to get lost in the hype. You should be spending your time making your business grow, not fixing problems with your email or wondering why your website is down. Our goal with this article is to cut through the hype and give you the information you need to make an informed decision.

Cutting through the Hype
After sifting through the Internet you will find that 90% of hosting providers offer the same service which we will call Domain Hosting. Domain Hosting includes hosting your domain, www.yourcompany.com, so that you can have a website and email addresses.
Transfer
Sometimes referred to as bandwidth, transfer is the amount of data you are allowed to move to and from your domain over a period of time – this includes email and website traffic. The amount of data you transfer is usually tracked monthly with the usage getting reset at the end of your billing cycle.
Disk Space
You may see it called storage, disk space is the amount of room you have to store data in your domain. Disk space is measured in either Megabytes(MB) or Gigabytes(GB) where one GB is equal to 1000 MB.
Common Ploys
That’s it. You now have the knowledge to choose a Hosting provider based on the two fundamental measures: transfer and disk space. But you should read on – there are several marketing ploys used to convince you to sign-up for service, only to leave you stuck when you realize you did not get what you expected.
1) Payment terms
The most blatant marketing gimmick is to offer a basement-bottom price, something in bright colors that is made to look attractive.(Some companies have even been known to have TV commercials with swimsuit models that advertise hosting and domain registration.) The fact that a price seems cheap is the first and most important warning flag. Often you must agree to pay the amount for an entire year to get the price that is advertised; some companies require you to sign a two-year contract! Though you typically get a short trial period in which you can get a refund, it takes months to realize the quality of a hosting provider. By the time you have your first outage or support issue your refund period has expired and you have no recourse.
2) Transfer as a Gimmick
Recently many hosting companies have begun offering extremely high amounts of transfer. With a complete website size of under 20 MB many businesses are drawn in by companies that offer 250 GB, or more, of transfer each month. What these companies will not tell you on the front page is that they limit the types of files you can transfer, specifically they must be files that compose the website. This does not include media files which many business and individuals like to include on websites. Limiting the type of files that you are allowed to transfer makes the amount of transfer irrelevent.
3) Bandwidth Throttling
Under times of heavy use many companies will limit the amount of bandwidth you have available by throttling, or reducing the speed at which your site can be viewed by visitors.
Overloading servers with accounts will also give the same effect. Network resources such as Servers and Bandwidth are fixed costs for many hosting companies; a company can increase margins by putting more websites on a single server. The more websites on a server the fewer resources available to each website. The sites will still work but your performance will drop as each website fights for the resources provided by the server.
4) Disk Space as a Gimmick
Many hosting companies will limit the types of data you can store on your website. Because you are restricted in the way you can use your disk space, you will be provided a ridiculously large amount of storage. As a background, premium disk space costs an IT company like IBM or EDS 4.00-20.00$ per GB of disk space. If you find a provider that gives you 1000 GB for 3.95$ per month, that is your warning sign that there are restrictions in the fine print. Also, some companies will limit the types of files you can store on your domain. All the disk space in the world is useless if you cannot use it without restriction.
Conclusion
The most important thing you can do is create a relationship with a service provider that will help you accomplish your goals. We built Utropicmedia Network Solutions to be up-front – whether it’s pricing, support or developing new tools, our goal is to keep things simple so you can get more done. Please visit us at http://utropicmedia.net for more information on the services we provide. Be sure to check out the hosting page to see a no-nonsense list of packages that give you the tools to help your business grow.
“Things To Look For” Series
We develop articles based on needs and concern our customers share with us. Our suite of services is a direct result of questions and business challenges we have helped our clients overcome.
Our goal is to make you knowledgeable about technology and make informed decisions for your business. If you have a suggestion for an article or would like to know more about a particular topic, feel free to contact us – we are always happy to help.