Hi, I'm Russ, your friendly neighborhood webmaster. I'm the behind-the-scenes guy, and figured I'd just bust out and introduce myself by giving some hints on setting up your own web site. I'll be adding additional articles in the future, so check back whenever you get a chance.
So, you just found a killer opportunity and now want to set up a web presence to advance your business. What do you do now?
Your first step is a business name, your identity on the web. Get a .com name if at all possible. It's pretty much true that "all of the good names are taken", but if you immerse yourself in thought, or brainstorm with your spouse or business partner, you'll either come up with a really clever name (like Nimdex.com), or you can just use a name that describes your business (mykillerbusinessopportunity.com).
A few things to keep in mind:
- Choose a .com name as .com pretty much "defines" an Internet presence. Avoid .biz as it will pigeonhole your business. After all, you don't see companies such as IBM, Microsoft, or eBay using .biz - do you?
- You shouldn't pay any more than $10 for a domain name. There are a number of quality domain registrars to choose from. Try to get a recommendation from a friend who's happy with their domain registrar's prices and service.
- You can get free domain names for "casual" or forwarding purposes from www.dot.tk.
- Never take advantage of offers of a free domain with web hosting. If you ever have a disagreement with your web host, they can hold your domain name hostage. Just pay the ten bucks and get it over with.
So, now you've got a name - what next? Well, you need someone to host your site. What are your options?
- Shared hosting: This is where a web host will supply you with a place on his server. You get a certain amount of disk space and an Internet bandwidth quota. You share the rest of the server's resources with other web sites. This is often a good way to start as the cost is usually low, and the host [usually] takes care of all of the technical details, and also keeps backups of your site and your data.
- Dedicated server: OK, so you have the next Amazon or eBay. You'll need a dedicated server. You can get anything from a simple 1.2 GHz Celeron budget server to a honkin' monster dual quad core CPU with chrome and white side-wall tires. You can get technical support that ranges from unmanaged (that is, you do everything, and I mean everything, yourself), to fully managed (where if you sneeze they wipe your nose).
- VPS or a Virual Private Server (sometimes also called a Virual Dedicated Server): This is a cheap way to have your own server, without paying for an entire box. Using a technique called virtualization, a server is "divided" up into several servers, each called a VPS. It looks and feels like a real server, and you get full root access (for those of you who are geeks or wanna-be geeks). The advantage here is that the cost is much less, you don't have as much to worry about, and backups of your entire VPS are often included in the cost.
- Cloud hosting: This is the new thing. It's sort of like a VPS, but without the well-defined physicality - that is, it doesn't just exist on one server. Rather, a whole bunch of servers are connected together, resources are shared and allocated as needed. This provides exceptional reliability, as well as intriguing technical possibilities - such as (for those of you who are technically minded) making .NET available together with Linux based resources.
You now have your site up and running. What happens if your site gets hacked and your database is wiped out, or your site defaced by radical group on a mission to save the North Pacific purple seal? Backup your data and your site. And don't just rely on your web host or server provider. What happens if your web host goes bankrupt? Make sure you have off-site backups, and that you have unrestricted access to them. Be prepared for all contingencies.
I hope you found the above information helpful. Feel free to send comments, or suggestions for future articles, from the Contact Us page.
See you around,
Russ
NimdX Webmaster
