cPanel Shared Hosting Features
and Their Meanings
There are so many features in the shared
cPanel hosting accounts, that whether you are a novice or
expert, you might have trouble working out what these features
do or what their meanings are in general. So, when you look
around for a new web host or website hosting package, then
knowing the meanings of these features becomes very important.
Now, if you know about certain features,
then you could benefit yourself in the future when trying
to carry out a task. The names of some features are abbreviated;
like File Transfer Protocol is shortened down to FTP; knowing
these different abbreviations can also help when trying to
fix a certain problem or when searching around for a web hosting
package since you are able to apply your knowledge without
the need for a search engine.
cPanel
cPanel is the web hosting control panel which
is used by many website hosting providers, including creativewebsols,
to provide Linux based hosting to the customers. cPanel also
has a reseller client built which allows reseller clients
to host multiple domains which have their own dedicated client
account. Reseller clients are also able to allocate their
specified resources amongst their clients in the form of web
hosting packages.
Add-On Domain
It attaches another domain to your existing
website hosting package. You are able to maximize the use
of your website hosting package by attaching a number of domains
to it, by using the add-on domain feature.
Now, you can cut down costs, if you host
several different websites on the same shared hosting package,
since you won’t have to buy a new hosting package every
time you want to host or start another website.
With the add-on domains, you can’t
create separate client accounts for each domain. If you want
a separate client account for each domain then you should
opt for a reseller hosting package.
Sub Domain
A sub domain is a domain which is created
under an existing domain. Sub domains are a good way of giving
different sections of your website their own identity since
they have their own top level address; the company or personal
identity of the website is still kept.
Fantastico
Fantastico is an auto-script installer which
allows you to install certain scripts within your website
without the need for any technical knowledge. It is an optional
premium plugin of creativewebsols. Some hosting companies
provide it with their shared and reseller website hosting
packages; others also provide it with their dedicated and
Virtual Private Server (VPS) server packages for free, although
some companies do charge for it.
Server Side Scripting Languages
Server side scripting languages require a
certain program to be installed on the server to allow them
to run. They normally carry out complex tasks such as adding,
removing and updating database data as well as sending emails
automatically and displaying the current time and date on
a website.
MySQL Databases
MySQL is an open source database program
which is normally used in conjunction with the PHP scripting
language. It is supported on nearly any shared cPanel web
hosting plan. There are quite a few PHP based applications
which utilize MySQL, since it is an open source. There are
also quite a few free tools which you can utilize to manage
your MySQL databases.
POP3/SMTP Email Accounts
Email accounts are what you use to send and
receive email. You are able to create email accounts within
your shared hosting package. You can create email accounts
with any name under your domain.
POP3 stands for ‘Post Office Protocol
Version 3′ and is the technology which is used by most
email servers and clients to retrieve email.
SMTP stands for ‘Simple Mail Transfer Protocol’
and is the technology which is used by email servers and clients
to send email.
Mailing List
A mailing list is used to send an email or
message to a group of people, without the need to enter all
their email addresses. If you use a web page front end mailing
list, then you can let your clients or members of the general
public subscribe to your mailing list. This can be helpful
if you are aiming to message a large customer base or if you
want your mailing list to grow.
Spam Assassin
Spam Assassin is a spam filtering server
which is built in most Linux email server installs. With cPanel
installs, it has a web age front end within the cPanel client
for each email account so that clients can customize the Spam
Assassin settings.
Auto Responders
Within any shared cPanel hosting package
you are able to setup auto responders for any email address.
An auto responder is a message which you can choose to be
sent on receipt of an email. Auto responders can be helpful,
for example you might want to setup an out-of-office one which
can be sent to anyone who sends you an email whilst you are
on a business trip or are away from a computer meaning that
you can’t check your emails.
Email Forwarder
An email forwarder is an email account which
doesn’t physically exist since any email messages which
are sent to it’s address are always forwarded to another
specified email address. Email forwarders can be helpful if
you don’t want the hassle of having multiple email in
boxes to check, or if you are running multiple companies within
the same industry and want certain issues such as billing
and support to be centralized to one or two email in boxes.
IMAP
IMAP is used by email clients to retrieve
email from email servers. IMAP stands for ‘Internet
Message Access Protocol’. It is different to POP3 since
the message is actually still held on the email server when
being read at first, once you have read the message you can
then choose to download the email or not. Unlike POP3, IMAP
requires a continuous connection to the server to allow you
to read your emails.
File Manager
cPanel’s web front end comes with a
file manager to allow you to manage the files in your website
remotely without the need for direct FTP access. It can be
useful to use if you are in an Internet Cafe or using a computer
where you are unable to access your website for a reason such
as port 21 (the port used by FTP) being blocked by the router
or firewall on the connection that you are using.
FTP Access
FTP stands for ‘File Transfer Protocol’
and is the standard which is used by website designers and
developers to transfer files to and from their assigned website
space. In most cases you require a user name and password
to be able to gain access to the space which is normally protected.
In shared cPanel web hosting you are able to create and managed
multiple FTP accounts and restrain their access to a certain
part of your web space or FTP space.
PHPMyAdmin
PHPMyAdmin is a web frontend for the management
of MySQL databases which are contained within your shared
cPanel website hosting account. This utility can be helpful
if you travel a lot and need instant or quick access to the
administration of your database.
SSL Certificates
SSL stands for ‘Secure Socket Layer’
and are certificates which encrypt the data which is transferred
between your website and the client which is browsing your
website. With shared hosting packages, SSL certificates come
in two forms -
Shared SSL certificates are applied to one
address, which is normally the host name of the server.
Dedicated SSL certificates are completely different since
they can be applied to your own domain, and should be used
if you want to keep your corporate identity when having visitors
buy products off your website.
Server Side Includes
Server Side Includes are pages which are
included into other pages within a website. The code is processed
on the server and the website visitor is unaware that there
might be other pages merged into the one which they are viewing.
This technology can be helpful, for example
if you want to use one header and footer around your whole
website, all you have to do is create 2 files and then ‘include’
them in the chosen places on the main pages on your website.
If you want to change the header or footer at a later date,
then the changes will be applied to every page on your website
since they will still be getting the header and the footer
from the same location.
GD Image Library
The GD Image Library generates images on
the fly. It is best known for it’s compatibility with
PHP. The core application is written in C, and is mainly used
for the generation of image thumbnails, graphs as well as
other types of graphics.
Custom Error Pages
cPanel allows you to create your own error
pages which will be shown when an error occurs with your website.
The error pages can occur anytime without any warning and
so it is important that if there is a problem with your website,
a page which still boasts the graphical identity or your websites.
cPanel can be configured to show custom error pages for most
errors.
Zend Optimizer
Zend Optimizer is a program which is installed
on the hosting server to decode Zend encrypted PHP files.
They have been encoded so that their source code can’t
be rebranded and sold on. It also ensures that items such
as licensing routines are not cracked which would allow people
to run the application without a license key.
Password Protected Directories
cPanel is able to create password protected
directories for you via the use of the .hta and .htpassword
files. The .hta file is used to store the user names of people
who are allowed to access the protected area of the website,
and the .htpassword file is used to store the password of
those users who are authorized to enter the protected area.
JSP Support / Apache Tomcat
Java Server Pages (JSP) is a type of server
side scripting. Tomcat is the engine which most shared cPanel
web hosts use to provide and process JSP pages through Apache.
Most web hosts do not host JSP pages because they can be very
resource intensive, and many hosts would rather loose a customer
or a whole server after JSP hosting because the server is
too slow to load their websites.
So, many web hosts advise people wanting to host JSP web pages
or Java based applications to go with either VPS or dedicated
servers, as this can benefit both them and their website since
it will most certainly load their website quicker.
Multimedia Support
It is very important to have any type of
multimedia when you are looking for hosting. The most common
type of multimedia that is used on websites is known as ‘Flash’.
Flash is supported by the client machine which is accessing
your website. Adobe flash player is free, and available for
most operating systems, so it is a good choice and can work
for most of your visitors.
Site Builder
Site builder is a web based application which
you can use to build your website if you are unable to afford
the high costs of desktop website design software or if you
have little or no experience of building a website. The application
comes in the form of a wizard which leads you through the
different steps of building a website from choosing a layout
to entering in the text that you want to be displayed.
FTP Manager
FTP manager is built into cPanel allows you
as the web hosting customer to control all the FTP accounts
that have access to your FTP / web space. This utility can
be handy if you have multiple FTP accounts accessing your
website space.
Choosing a Site Building Application
In the beginning stages of building a website,
you will always come across the decision of what application
you should use to build and code your website. Many website
design applications contain many features. You should also
take into consideration the type of support that is available
for the applications that you are looking at, since most are
very complicated and will take you a while to adjust. While
adjusting to the application you have chosen, you might also
require knowledgeable support if there is a certain feature
which you are confused about or are trying to find but are
having difficulty doing so.
Code Editor
If you choose to go with a code editor, then
it is important that you choose an application which has additional
features which allow you to specify certain settings, which
the application processes into certain code which it then
inserts into your website.
Applications such as Adobe Dreamweaver lets
you specify certain settings and able to process the Javascript
code. Dreamweaver is also able to process code for functionalities
such as database interaction in most of the different programming
languages which it supports as an application.
In some applications, you are able to view
your website in design view and code view. If you are going
to be building your website using your own code, then you
needn’t look for an application, since you could just
use a simple text-based editor.
Server Side Languages
If you are building a ‘dynamic’
website which utilizes a server-side scripting language such
as PHP or ASP, then you should consider an application which
supports your chosen language, as it will most likely have
additional support for the chosen language which can be of
advantage to you when building your website. Examples of this
type of application include Microsoft Visual Studio and Adobe
Dreamweaver.
Visual Studio has been specifically built to allow ASP.NET
developers make the most of the language.
Dreamweaver has support for many different server side languages
including PHP, ASP.NET and Java Server Pages. Dreamweaver’s
support of these languages extends as far as allowing people
who are new to these languages make the most of them by just
entering details into the application.
Web Based Site Building Applications
If you go with a shared or reseller hosting
plan, you will most likely have access to a web based application
which you can use to build your website with. They allow you
to choose a template that suites your needs. In some cases,
you are able to modify or insert HTML code into the template
so that the website looks exactly the way you want it to.
Conclusion
So, if you are able to identify your needs
and search around the Internet, you should be able to find
an application that supports your needs. If you are a high
end web developer who is utilizing many different applications
within your work, then you should consider an application
such as Adobe Dreamweaver since it supports many different
languages and is able to provide you with help when coding
in the supported languages.
If you are only utilizing one language within your work then
you should consider a language dependent application, an example
of which is Microsoft Visual Studio.
Getting Started With Shared Hosting
Shared web hosting is the ideal starting
point when entering the web hosting world, for people with
little or no experience of web hosting. It is because these
peoples are always assigned a control panel which they can
use to control their website.
If your website is critical for your business,
then you should never have it hosted within a shared environment,
as shared web hosting servers can be easily bought down by
outside attackers. So, you should always consider purchasing
a Virtual Private Server (VPS) or a dedicated server since
dedicated resources will be assigned to you within these environments,
and the dedicated environment itself is not shared with anybody
else.
Where to Start
If you have bought your package to just mess
around with it, then you could try out the auto-script installer
that should be included in your control panel. These types
of installers install many different applications within your
web environment which you can have a play about with.
If you might have signed up, but not have
a website ready to host yet, then you could try out the different
email functions on your control panel and setup emails for
your website domain to get you going. But if you are completely
new, and are waiting for the completion of your website and
don’t know what email accounts you need to setup yet,
you could simply just have a browse around the control panel
itself so that you know where everything is enabling you to
carry out future tasks with ease.
Making the Most of Your Resources
Although you might have a good amount of
resources within your account, it is highly unlikely that
you’ll ever use them effectively. You should always
consider hosting multiple domains under your account, and
spreading the resources evenly across each domain; this would
ensure that each site is getting a fair amount of bandwidth
and disk space.
Now, if you have a hosting account which
has both a large amount of disk space and bandwidth, then
you could consider hosting a website such as an image sharing
website; this is because you could easily use up all of the
disk space by hosting visitor’s images and photos, and
then use up a good amount of the bandwidth assigned to your
account by streaming them.
For a package with a small amount of resources,
you could host a small HTML based website which makes minimal
use of images.
Choosing the Appropriate Shared Hosting
Package
When choosing a shared hosting package, you
should only consider packages which suit your needs and which
are within your price range. Web hosts which offer these types
of packages are known as ‘overselling hosts’.
If you choose a package with not enough resources,
then you could end up using your resources too quickly and
having your website suspended because it has no bandwidth.
If you go for a package with too many resources then you could
end up paying for what you don’t really need.
If you run a small site which doesn’t
receive many visitors, then you can easily go with a low end
shared hosting package. However, if your website doesn’t
receive many visitors but is very ‘image heavy’
then you should always go with a mid-range package for the
reason that images can take up both a lot of bandwidth and
disk space.
Your website might not be image heavy, but
might receive a lot of users and might be based on a database.
In this case, you should choose a high end package because
the more visitors you receive, the more bandwidth you will
need. Databases can also use up a lot of disk space.
The Benefits of Shared Hosting
Shared hosting package is perfect for you,
if you are new to the concept of web hosting. Most of the
packages, such as those provided by creativewebsols, are feature
packed allowing beginners to become extremely knowledgeable
of everything related to their hosting account. Your account
is normally hosted within a secure and controlled environment.
The server maintenance and support is normally taken care
of by your host.
Conclusion
By making the most of the resources which
are assigned to your shared hosting account, you are able
to maximize the possibilities open to you. You are even able
to make a return on the purchase of your package. Shared hosting
is perfect for you if you are new to the concept of web hosting
since you are in a shared and controlled environment.
PHP vs ASP.NET
PHP and ASP.NET are the two main scripting
languages used by web developers.
PHP is a multi-platform open-source language whilst ASP.NET
is a single platform language built and owned by Microsoft.
Both of these languages are packed full of features and add-ons
are available for both of these languages, so that you are
able to extend their framework to build feature rich applications.
PHP
PHP is a language which has been around since
1984 and powers many of the world’s websites. It is
free and is known as ‘open source’ software meaning
that its source code is available for download, at no cost.
It widely used in conjunction with the MySQL database engine.
PHP is a dynamic language since there are
several different types of database that you are able to connect
to. You are also able to edit the source of the language if
you wish to speed it up or install custom modifications so
that it is able to run as per your requirements.
ASP.NET
ASP.NET is a language based on the ASP -
both languages are owned and were created by Microsoft. Although
it is a free language, it isn’t open source meaning
that you are unable to view or edit the source code of it.
Also, it is very limited in what database types you can use
with it.
ASP, ASP.NET’s forefather, was created
back in the mid-1990s and is the base which ASP.NET has been
built on. One thing which annoys many ASP.NET developers is
the fact that Microsoft is forever releasing updates to the
system, and in its course, changing things along the way meaning
that in some cases, developers have to keep on learning the
changes as well as the new components and functions which
are being added.
Choosing a CMS
With Content Management System (CMS), you
are able to create and modify web pages on the fly since they
are database driven applications. By using a Content Management
System (CMS), you are able to create and edit the content
on your website with ease from any Internet connected location.
You should only use a Content Management System (CMS), if
the content on your website needs regular updates, or if your
site is a rather large one with a lot of content.
Choosing a CMS
Decision of whether choosing a CMS is easy
or hard, is based upon your requirements.
If you have fairly simple requirements, then you could be
in for an easy search since there are Content Management System
(CMS) solutions available which will run on any operating
system. However, if your requirements are much more strict
then you could end up having to pay for a premium Content
Management System (CMS), or face a hard search for an open
source Content Management System (CMS) that fits your requirements.
There are universal factors which you should
also take into consideration, such as whether the systems
you are looking at are Search Engine Optimization (SEO) friendly
and how secure they are. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
friendly Content Management System (CMS) systems will convert
your pages to friendly URLs.
Security is also a big factor concerning
the Content Management System (CMS) systems. Open source systems
are remarkably insecure since they are available to anyone.
Installing a CMS
Installing a Content Management System (CMS)
can be a very easy task; all you have to do is download the
system, upload it to your web space via FTP, setup a blank
database and then set permissions on some files to ‘777′
- thats the technical part done.
Most systems have specially built setup wizards
ready made to make the installation as easy as possible. There
is also a range of open source Content Management System (CMS)
available for instant installation from the Content Management
System (CMS) category within Fantastico, if you are on cPanel
based website hosting. |
