Web Hosting Technology: PHP Scripts

Most of the internet business owners have heard of PHP but only a few understand the meaning and importance of a PHP website. While starting a website, you must ensure that you are aware about the critical elements involved in creating and running it successfully. Otherwise, it will be difficult to choose the right service provider for your online business.

Today, any good web hosting package will feature the terms FTP, Perl CGI BIN, PHP, SSI, Telnet, etc. All these are instruments to create an impressive website. Either you can get it designed and upgraded yourself or hire a professional web host that can handle the various tasks on your behalf.

A reliable web hosting company will provide all these facilities to keep their reputation as a quality web host. They count on the PHP scripts as an important feature of their packages. Basically, this is a server side scripting language that can fulfill all your website requirements if backed by database like MySQL. Moreover, it meets the standards of W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative and is compatible with XHTML 1.0.

The main features of the PHP websites are listed below:

#1: Universal suitability
As a content management system, this is the best solution for both amateur websites as well as sophisticated ecommerce websites. It has customizable features and the ability to provide effective framework for the addition of new applications and functionalities through modules. If you want high quality, dynamic content for your website, using a PHP system is a good idea.

#2: Advantages for E-commerce sites
The requirements of an ecommerce website differ from that of a personal interests or informative website. a PHP website has applications like shopping cart, login, checkout and secure transaction systems. All these features make it highly suitable for making and operating ecommerce websites.

#3: Compatibility
Many web hosting companies prefer PHP web systems due to its compatibility with various operating systems, database interfaces and other modules. It can be loaded into Roxen, IIS, Apache, AOL server and can even be run as a CGI module. You can get support for a variety of database interfaces like Oracle, MySQL and MS SQL too.

#4: Easy
The main attraction of PHP is that it is a sophisticated and professional scripting system that is easy to use and effective in performance. It includes high level programming language commands like C++, high level database connectivity and simple functionality.

According to web hosting experts and industry giants like Google, RedHat and NASA, PHP is a first rate scripting language. So, it is considered a crucial part of web hosting packages by most web hosts. Whatever the purpose of your website, you must ensure the use of PHP scripts while creating and operating it. Definitely, PHP websites are more effective in insuring a rewarding online experience.

Cheap Web Hosting For Small Businesses

The Internet is not the turf of the large organizations alone. Even smaller firms and businesses can cater to a wider audience and earn more by establishing an online presence. The trick is not to go online but to do so in the most effective manner. Your time and money should be invested wisely so that it pays off in a suitable way after a certain period of time.

Making a website is not a difficult task any more. With so many web designers offering their services at very cheap prices, you can get your website designed in a very small budget. However, the website’s success is not determined by its design. Rather, it is the web hosting service which enables a website to fail or succeed in meeting user needs.

As the prices of web hosting packages fall, small businesses will be able to construct sophisticated websites as well as enjoy quality hosting support. It is essential to choose a superior quality web hosting company on whose server your website will be housed.

To begin with, you can opt for a shared web hosting plan that allows you to share server space along with hundreds of other websites. There may be restrictions on the flexibility of your website in terms of bandwidth and data transfer and even the security may not be upto mark. The cost of a shared web hosting package will be usually range from $10-$50 per month.

A better alternative will be to go for a dedicated web hosting server. However, this may be quite expensive for small companies as the monthly cost will be about $100-$200. If you want higher bandwidth and data transfer limits, email accounts, additional applications and sound security systems, this option will be a good choice. Even the response time is better for websites supported with dedicated web hosting.

However, you may face the challenge of managing a dedicated server as most web hosts are not adequately trained for it. A dedicated server allows you to add the required tools and applications according to your website requirements. Handling a dedicated server is a complicated task which may discourage many small businesses from using this type of web hosting for their website.

As the prices of dedicated web hosting declines, small businesses will be able to afford such packages and gain access to high-end tools like Microsoft Exchange, Lotus notes, group email, calendaring, etc. larger enterprises have such features within the organizations that are managed by the internal IT staff.

If you feel that your website has scope for exponential growth and business expansion over a period of time, it will be better to purchase a dedicated and affordable web hosting plan. This will allow you to have flexibility in operations as well as avoid the nuisance of shifting from a shared web host later on.

Web hosting IQ: Understanding POP3

Web hosting packages often contain many features which may not be understood, yet used, by website owners. There are many people who are unaware of the importance of different factors for the success of their online business. In this article, we will discuss one such feature called POP3.

POP3 is the short form of Post Office Protocol (version 3). It consists of mailboxes for email systems to help a user to reclaim email from the storage files on a central location i.e. the web server. A POP3 account allows you to have mailbox on a disk server provided by the web hosting company with your domain name.

This in turn enables you to receive and send email at yourname@yourdomain.com. With POP3, you can get an easy, standardized way to gain access to mailboxes and download important email messages to their own computer. If this feature is not provided by a web hosting plan, it is not worth spending your money on. You can find a good package at affordable price that includes this feature as well.

Commonly, you will find that most of the email applications use the POP protocol while some may also use the upgraded protocol IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol). To setup a POP3 email account, make sure that your domain name is hosted by a web hosting company that has name servers.

The most important thing is that POP3 allows clients to retrieve email from the server through a temporary connection. It is best suited for computers without a permanent network connection and no stationary location this includes home or mobile computers that require a POP server to store the email messages until they can reclaim it.

The main features/characteristics of POP3 include the following:

• Mail retrieval is only possible. For sending email, you will need to use SMTP protocol.
• It provides support for identification of messages during disconnected usage.
• Mail delivery is handled by a web hosting mail server that is usually shared.
• Implementations are freely available with POP3 accounts.
• Email can be reclaimed from different types of client platforms.
• Client implementations are available for Macs, PCs and UNIX.
• Availability of Commercial implementations
• There is full support for the offline access model.
• There is no need for mail gateways as POP3 is a native Internet protocol.

Web Hosting Features: Pros And Cons Of POP3

A POP3 email account is an essential part of a good web hosting package. You can communicate with your clients through email for marketing, feedback and important information about their orders. This makes it imperative to be able to retrieve email messages from any network or client platform easily.
An email reader is required to send and receive email through a POP3 email account. Usually, the following applications serve as email readers.

•    Outlook Express
•    Netscape Messenger
•    Eudora
•    Juno
•    Outlook
•    AOL email
•    Pegasys

There are various advantages and shortcomings of POP3 as listed below
Pros

a) It is very easy to create new messages without being logged on the Internet. Editing of messages can be done while it is still in the “hold folder” and you also have an option for modifying the message priority and time and date of sending it.
b) Emails can be read even when you are offline. This is due to the fact that your email I stored on your computer and not in the mailbox alone.
c) You can avoid the annoying advertising and promotions while reading your emails in a POP3 account.
d) There is no need to wait for a long time while your attachments open. It is much faster due to the presence of email on your PC.
e) Usually, there is no size limit on the sent or received mail. Your hard drive determines the size of your mailbox as the emails are stored on your computer.
Cons
a) You may be targeted by email containing virus if you have JavaScript enabled in your email reader. This may allow rogue JavaScript to be embedded in the emails.
b) As all email messages are stored on the computer, there may be less hard disk space left for other important information.
c) Sometimes, email folders may become corrupted and it may be very difficult to recover valuable information.
d) There are privacy issues attached with POP3 accounts. Sometimes, your email messages can be read using other applications even if you have not disclosed your password.

Web Hosting And Credit Card Transactions

Credit cards are the most common way of making online payments. Almost every business accepts credit cards and if yours does not, it may be a potential problem. To get this facility for your website, you will need to open a credit card merchant account. Read on to know how and what is to be done for this.

A customer using a credit card usually buys more than any other payment forms. If you are a small online enterprise, you may not have realized the importance of credit cards facility but your business will need it as it grows.

Basically, a credit card transaction involves 3 steps:

#1: The customer sees the desired product, checks details regarding features and price and then clicks to go to the webpage containing the order form. There is need for an order processing software for collecting details about the client and billing. This information should be accepted by a payment gateway. So, store it accordingly.

#2: Also called the virtual terminal, the payment gateway transfers the order information to the merchant account provider. This is done in real time when the customer enters his credit card number in the computer. You will receive an email to confirm the sale as soon as the transaction is completed. This should not take more than 10 seconds per transaction.

#3: When the transaction is completed, the merchant account will receive a transmission from the payment gateway. It includes the billing information received from the customers.
When you choose a web hosting merchant account, make sure that you know about all the fees to be paid and there are no hidden costs. There may be various fees charged by the provider, such as:

• Application fees (ranging from free to $10-$25)
• Setup fees based on the services or products sold by your website (ranging from free upto $200)
• Virtual terminal fees (ranging from free to $10-$20 per month)
• Statement fees that are fixed charges to be paid every month (upto $10)
• Discount rate which is the commission earned by the merchant account provider on each sale (2-4%)

If you read the service agreement carefully, you may find a termination fee as well. This occurs in case of cancellation of merchant account within a certain time period. This period may vary from 1-2 years.

All these may seem like a lot of money to pay for enabling credit card transactions. However, the benefits of this account are diverse. You can offer secure payment options to customers, get excellent customer support, shopping carts and web payment forms. Once you have located a good web hosting merchant account provider, there will be no time to waste. Get started with your online business and maximize sales and profitability within no time!