Web HostingWeb Hosting Services
|
|
Along with web design and development services, Element Engage offers web site hosting. Fully managed for piece of mind with a variety of plans for different sizes of web sites.
Fully Managed - If you're not the technical type, fully managed hosting allows you to have a web site, and all that goes with it, without having to worry about setting things up properly, maintaining backups or pulling traffic reports. Element Engage does that for you.
All web hosting plans run on high performance Linux web servers located in major data centers in the United States. On top of this solid system runs two of the most popular technologies available; PHP, a common scripting language, and MySQL, a popular database platform. Element Engage's web hosting plans are also very affordable. To learn more about them, please inquire.
All About Web Sites, Hosting and Domain Names
Domain Names - The first, and most important part of the whole web site system is the domain name, such as google.com or cnn.com. This domain name is your on-line identity. It is obtained from an official internet domain name registering company, such as Network Solutions, Register.com, or GoDaddy. You can change your web site, move to different web servers all you want and people can still get to you the same way they always have. This is because the domain name is configured to point to the current web server. Besides your web identity, it also serves as your email identity.
The domain name needs to be legally owned and ultimately controlled by the person or business it is for. It is common to delegate tasks related to the name (like making sure it points to your web server and making sure the renewal fee gets paid) but you, the owner, have the final say in who get these jobs. When Element Engage does a web site for someone just getting an on-line presence, we often obtain the name for them. But make sure the ownership is in the client's name and that they understand how to take care of it.
Cost is around $35 per year per name. You can find much cheaper prices around, but keep in mind the extreme importance of the domain name. It's very important that you trust the registering company and have the ability to control the name yourself. Loosing control of your domain name means losing control of your web site.
Web Hosting - The second part is the web host. This is the physical computer server on which your web site lives. Basically, the domain name is set to point to this server. It can be located anywhere in the world. The server is always on and always connected to the net. There are different types of servers with different features, but they all serve the same basic purpose of sending out your pages to people who ask for them.
Cost generally depends on the size of your web site, the amount of traffic you get and the features you require. However, cost for very similar services range from one provider to the other quite a bit.
Element Engage utilizes high performance web servers located in reliable data centers within the United States. These servers run Unix, or Linux, operating system with Apache web server software. This type of web server is the most secure, most reliable, and most common available today.
Web Sites - The third part is the web site. This is the group of files that are located on the web server. This is what you see on your screen, so not too much explanation is required. There are mainly two different types of sites; static and dynamic.
Static sites are traditional sites that simply show pages with information on them. There may also be simple animations and forms to fill out. The content on static sites needs to be put in place by someone with a fair amount of technical ability, like a webmaster.
Dynamic sites are sites where the pages are assembled on the server depending on what the user requests. They are typically used for sites where company staff members frequently change content or for sites that offer interactivity, like blogs and forums, where the visitors themselves can make content appear on the pages. For many dynamic sites, once the webmaster puts the web site into action, changes may be made by delegated people via a Content Management System. This allows a non-technical person to do most of the web site maintenance, thus saving on webmaster costs. Predictably, static sites are cheaper than dynamic sites to implement. But, depending on how often the site will be updated, dynamic sites may be cheaper in the long run.
Either type of site can be very effective in getting your message across to the visitor. Static sites are generally more search engine friendly, faster and more reliable. However, they lack the ability to offer much more than an on-line brochure with some basic forms for visitor feedback. Dynamic sites allow a world of opportunity.