Web Hosting With Free Fantastico

Fantastico Deluxe makes new website creation quick and easy. With over 50 pre-installed scripts to choose from webmasters are only limited by their imagination and creativity.
What Is Fantastico
Netenberg the inventor of Fantastico Deluxe, formerly Cpanelthemes.com is a division of kosmopolis Inc. LLC located in Wilmington Delaware.
They have succeeded in creating one of the most widely used auto installers on the web with over one million users worldwide.
Fantastico Deluxe is a web application included free by many web hosting providers. It contains a collection/library of scripts. Fantastico will auto install the script of your choice on demand.
The task of Installing Content Managers like Word press, Joomla, Drupal, Mambo, and Xoops can be reduced to a few minutes. Furthermore, it is no longer necessary to upload 100's of files through an ftp client taking 20 Minutes or more.
If you use picture galleries then you will quickly take advantage of Coppermine a full feature photo gallery written in PHP and included with Fantastico.
The Fantastico dashboard is divided into sections with each section having its own category and collection of scripts.
The Primary categories are:
1. Blogs
2. Content Management
3. Customer Relationship (support services, chat and help services)
4. Ecommerce (shopping carts)
5. Discussion Boards
6. Frequently asked questions
7. Billing
8. Image Galleries
9. Polls and Surveys
10. Project Management
11. Wiki
12. Other Scripts
Multiple scripts can be installed to different directories. It is possible to Host one or many websites simultaneously on one account. You are only limited by the amount of web space and bandwidth purchased.
Selecting a web hosting service that provides free Fantastico can save you time and money especially if you plan to host multiple sites on one account. It is not uncommon for some providers to charge a yearly fee of $9 or more to access just one of these pre-installed scripts. Installing all of these scripts without Fantastico can run upwards of $360 year on top of hosting fees.
But one word of caution, some web host do not properly upgrade scripts with current versions, which can be a security risk. With programs like Wordpress this may not be a problem if you add the automatic upgrade plug-in when installing the sortware.So before buying make sure scripts are updated frequently.
Fantastico Deluxe provides endless opportunities to get website feedback through live chat, surveys and polls. Develop free website content through discussion boards that help to improve ranking and increase search engine traffic.
Hosts that offer free Fantastico De Luxe

• Hostmonster
• BlueHost
• LunarPages
• Hostgator
• FastDomain

Features
Hostmonster

• $4.95-$6.95 per month
• Quad Processor Performance Servers
• Linux operating system
• Apache Server
• UPS Power Backup/Back-p generator
• OC-48 Backbone connection
• Courtesy Site Backups
• Free Domain
• Unlimited Domain Hosting
• Multimedia Support
• CronJobs
• Ruby On Rails
• Founded 1996
• Location Utah

BlueHost

• $6.95 per month
• Quad Processor Performance Servers
• Linux operating system
• Apache Server
• UPS Power Backup
• Diesel Generator Backup Power
• OC-48 Backbone connection
• Courtesy Site Backups
• Multimedia Features
• Host Unlimited Domains
• Location Utah

LunarPages

• $4.95 per month
• 2000 Mbit Connectivity
• Ddos Protection
• Tape Backup
• Power Generator
• Multimedia Features
• Ruby On Rails
• Dreamweaver Compatible
• MySql Databases Unlimited
• Email Accounts Unlimited
• Email Auto Responders Unlimited
• 4 Data Centers
• Location California
• 100+ Staff Members

HostGator

• $4.95 per month
• Unlimited Disk Space
• Unlimited Bandwidth
• Free Setup
• CronJobs
• Ruby On Rails
• Unlimited Disk Space
• Unlimited Bandwidth
• Host 1 Domain
• Location Texas and Brazil

FastDomain

• $5.95 per month
• Quad Processor Performance Servers
• Linux operating system
• Apache Server
• UPS Power Backup/Back-p generator
• OC-48 Backbone connection
• Courtesy Site Backups
• CronJobs
• Multimedia Features
• Free Domain
• Founded In 2005
• Unlimited Hosting Space
• Unlimited File Transfer
• Unlimited Domains

Glossary
Linux- like Windows XP, 95 is an operating system. Created by Linus Torvalds from the University of Helsinki in Finland 1991. Unlike Windows Linux is free open source software created under the GNU (General Public License).
Apache- is a web server used to display web pages on the World Wide Web.
UPS- called an uninterrupted power supply better known as a battery back-up.
CronJobs- is an automated program allowing the user to repeatedly run a scheduled task on a specific date and time.
OC-48- A fiber optic backbone used in large networks OC stands for optical carrier. The speed of an OC-48 is equivalent to 1344 T1 lines or 43 T3's.
Ddos Attack- stands for distributed denial of service.
Ddos- Attacks are can be initiated by Trojans that search out and install themselves on computers with outdated virus protection and patches. These computers collectively form a network of systems that can execute an attack on an a website by sending massive amounts of traffic which overload bandwith rendering the site unusable to visitors who try to access the site or service.
Ddos- attacks can also be exploited by software bugs.
Hosts with Ddos Protection
1. Lunar Pages
2. HostICan
3. Host Department
In Summary
This list of features is by no means exhaustive. It is recommended that you visit each webhost for a complete list of products included with each web hosting account and any reduce pricing associated with special offers.

Review - Just Host Web Hosting

Just Host is among the top web hosting providers in the industry and offer a wide variety of unlimited features and tools including unlimited disk space, bandwidth, email accounts, ability to host unlimited domains as well as free domains. The website features a clean and straightforward interface that makes manoeuvring fairly simple and the sign-up process a breeze. The company has been providing hosting products and services for over 10 years at affordable pricing.
They hosting plans come packed with free domain names as well, a feature that is much in demand. So if you sign up for their "Just Plan" hosting package, then would get a free domain name for life and their Premium plan offers 3 domain names completely free of cost! Furthermore, you need not worry about renewing your domain. Just Host takes the responsibility of renewing your domain name so that you can retain the identity of your website. You can be assured of quality services and affordable pricing. All their plans are backed with a "no questions asked" 30 day money back guarantee.
The company utilizes the latest load balancing technology and speedy backbone connections. With the load balancing technology, the chances of a considerable downtime is virtually eliminated because the website is made available from multiple servers. So in case one server goes down, the other server takes over.
Customers can also be assured of quality and prompt customer support that is offered through various methods. Moreover, customers get access to the award winning and highly user-friendly cPanel. Through the control panel interface (cPanel); users can manage and control various aspects of their hosting account like management of domains, configuring email accounts, database administration and monitoring website stats among other things. There is still ore that the company offers to its valued customers. Every Just Host hosting plan comes with an access to an entire script library. With Fantastico, the user can easily install a wide range of scripts including osCommerce, WordPress, Joomla, phpBB any many more.
For further information on the company and its related services, potential customers can contact them by phone or email. It is always advisable to have your queries addressed and only then sign up for a hosting package as you need to evaluate the level of hosting services required by your website. Just Host may just be your one-stop-shop for all your hosting requirements.

 

Understanding Web Hosting

You've got your new business all established now and you're ready to take the next step and set up a website to tell the online world that you're here and you've got something to offer. You've found a catchy domain name to call your own and now... what next? Well, the answer is that you need to find web hosting for the website you're going to build. So what does that mean and how do you figure out what kind of web hosting you need? First let's start with the basics.
Just what is web hosting anyway?
In simple terms, web hosting is renting space on a web server. A website is not simply a domain name, it is a collection of files linked together by HTML code to display text and graphics on a computer. In order for anybody to see this collection of files you've created, it has to be housed on a computer somewhere that has access to the internet. Not just any computer will do, of course. A web server is a computer set up with special software that allows it to receive requests from the internet for the website files it has stored on it and to send those files out over the internet so that the requesting computer can display them. It is very much like a waiter in a restaurant taking your order and bringing the food that you ask for from the kitchen, hence the name "server."
Along with making sure your files can be seen by internet users around the world, a web server provides other important services as well. First and foremost is the ability to create email addresses based on your domain name and to send and receive email with them. The web server also has various types of software installed on it that allow your website to run programs, create and manage databases, display video, and many other functions you might find useful. Almost any type of computer can function as a web server, but it's the software that's on it that makes it a server.
When you buy webhosting, the monthly fee you pay goes to the continued maintenance and upgrading of the server's hardware and software, the cost of keeping it online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in a secure data center with a fast and powerful internet connection, and to pay for the expertise of the people who do all that work. It is completely possible to turn your own home or office computer into a web server if you really want to, but in most cases it is far more economical to pay someone else who is dedicated to providing this service in a properly reliable manner than it is to try and do it yourself.
What kinds of web hosting are there?
Shared Hosting - Most websites are not huge affairs with hundreds of pages and thousands of files and graphics, and they are targeted toward a particular audience, so they will not get as many visitors as the large general sites like Yahoo! that are targeted at everybody who uses the internet. As such, the average website therefore is not going to require the full resources of an entire web server to run it. Web servers are designed to be able to handle dozens, even hundreds of websites at once because they are powerful machines.
Shared hosting is simply the concept of hosting more than one website on a particular server. Over 95% of all websites on the internet are being run in a shared hosting environment. Since the resources of the server can be split among the clients hosted on it, so can the costs of operating the server, so shared hosting is universally cheaper than any other type. Shared hosting packages are generally designed so that each client is allotted a certain amount of each resource, with different payment levels representing different amounts of resources such as disk space, bandwidth, email addresses, and so on. Shared hosting is also known as virtual hosting.
Dedicated Hosting - If you do have a big, powerful website that gets lots of visitors and has a tendency to hog resources, then you might want to have a web server all to yourself. Some companies also prefer the extra security of not having to share the server with anyone else who could do something accidentally or on purpose to crash it. Renting the use of an entire server is known as dedicated hosting. The web hosting company still owns the machine and takes responsibility for maintaining the hardware and the web hosting software, but you have greater control over the configuration and use of the server. There is also such a thing as semi-dedicated hosting, in which a web server is only split between a very small number of clients, such as 2 to 4, with strong partitions between each to prevent them from interfering with one another. Since the hosting company is still responsible for the upkeep of the server, this type of hosting is also known as managed hosting. For obvious reasons, dedicated hosting always costs significantly more than shared hosting.
Server Co-Location - If you really want complete control over every aspect of your web server, you might very well choose to buy one and maintain it yourself if you have sufficient knowledge. However, chances are that you still don't have the resources to keep your server completely safe from power outages, roof leaks, thieves, unwary employees and other hazards and keep it on the internet on a fast, high-bandwidth connection at all times. You need a data center to provide those services for you. Co-location is the rental of physical security, continuous electrical power and a fast, reliable internet connection for a server that you own. The data center is not responsible for any of the hardware or software maintenance of a co-located server, you are. This can be a cheaper alternative to dedicated hosting if you have the necessary expertise and time to run a web server yourself.
Some web hosts are offering UNIX hosting and Windows hosting. What's the difference?
The terms UNIX hosting and Windows hosting refer to the operating system (OS) that is running on the server. The operating system, of course, is the software that allows the computer to function and manage all of the other hardware and software that is installed on it. Chances are good that you are reading this on a computer running a version of the Windows operating system, the most popular operating system in the world for personal and business computers. Other operating systems that are growing in popularity are Macintosh and various versions of Linux. However, the operating system you use on your computer is irrelevant to which type of hosting you choose. Here are some of the main features of UNIX and Windows:
UNIX Hosting
Most of the web servers in the world today run on one of the many variants of UNIX. The UNIX operating system was originally developed by universities for servers and networking, and many different versions have been written by programmers around the world under the open-source protocol, which means that the code for the operating system is openly available for programmers to customize and make improvements. Linux and BSD are the most popular forms of UNIX and come in many varieties, such as Red Hat Linux, Debian, SuSE, and FreeBSD. Most of these different versions (and much of the software that runs on them) can be obtained for free, which makes UNIX hosting cheaper for a web host than other operating systems and allows them to offer lower prices. UNIX hosting platforms are generally considered to be stable, secure, powerful and fast. Most web programming applications can be performed by software that is available for a UNIX platform. "UNIX hosting" has become a generic term to refer to any platform that is derived from the original UNIX.
Windows Hosting
Microsoft has developed its own operating system for servers as a special version of its Windows operating system, Windows Server 2003. It is a commercial product which requires the operator to purchase a license, which increases the cost of operation for the web host and usually results in higher hosting prices. Windows is designed to be user friendly, but it is generally considered to be less powerful and secure than UNIX for operating in a network environment. ASP, ASP.NET, and ColdFusion are scripting languages which will only run on a Windows server, as will the Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Access database programs. These are popular for certain web programming applications, and if you are planning on using them to build your website, you will need to find a Windows host.
What are some of the terms I need to know when I choose a web host?
Disk Space or Storage - Because your website is a collection of files being offered on the internet for viewing, they have to be stored somewhere for retrieval and take up space. Each web server has a finite amount of hard disk memory to divide up and offer to hosting customers. Typically that space is divided up by different package levels so that the more you pay, the more space you are allowed to store pictures, web pages, videos and whatever other files you like on the web server's hard drive. If your website gets bigger than the space you are given, you will need to purchase more disk space from the web host.
Bandwidth or Data Transfer - Whenever you visit a website and view a page, you are transfering a copy of the files that make up that page over the internet from the web server to your computer. If the page you are viewing consists of an HTML file that is 3KB in size and three pictures of 47KB, 100KB and 250 KB, then you have just used 400KB of bandwidth or data transfer, because that is the total amount of data you just downloaded from the web server to view that page. Bandwidth is a commodity like disk space that the web host has to buy from its internet service provider, so it too is divided up and offered to the customers in specific amounts. Bandwidth amounts are usually measured in gigabytes (GB), because while only one copy of your files needs to be stored on the server, thousands or even millions of copies may be downloaded for viewing. If your website is viewed more times than the amount of bandwidth you are allowed can handle, your website may be turned off until the next billing period starts, or you may simply be billed for the excess amount used, depending on your host's policies. You can always purchase more bandwidth as your site's traffic increases.
Uptime - In an ideal world, every web server would be up and running and offering your web pages to the world 24 hours a day, 7 days a week forever. However, web servers are computers, and like any other computer, things happen to make them fail, or they get old and out of date and require maintenance and repair. When a web host gives you a 99% uptime guarantee, they are saying that the web server will be up and running for 99% of the billing period. If they fail to meet this guarantee, most web hosts will refund a certain portion of your money depending on the amount of excess downtime they experienced.
Traffic Statistics - Website traffic statistics programs try to track visitors to your website. They can track how many times your site was visited, how many visitors were unique and how many returned more than once, which pages were most popular, where the visitors came to your site from, what search terms they used in the search engines, and many other types of information which could be useful to you in marketing your website to a target audience. These statistics can be displayed in tables, graphs and charts by hour, day, week, month or year. Some statistics programs are better than others and offer more types of data, better displays, easier navigation or other useful features. Most web hosts today offer some sort of traffic statistics software with their hosting packages.
CGI Scripts - Many web hosts offer a variety of free CGI scripts with their packages. These are things like hit counters, guestbooks, form mail programs, message boards, and other programs that allow your website to perform commonly desired functions. You can use the ones your host provides you with or you can upload and run custom CGI scripts written by yourself or somebody else to perform different tasks like conducting a survey or processing customer information to produce an automatic price quote. Most CGI scripts are written in common programming languages like Perl, PHP or ASP.
You could spend a long time trying to learn everything there is to know about web hosting, but if you've read this far then you should be armed with the basic knowledge you need to understand what different web hosts are offering you. Your next task is to figure out what you need and go out and find a host that wants to give it to you at a great price.

Assessing the Web Hosting Requirements Perfectly

Basic Requirements
Basic requirements for web hosting include space management, bandwidth management, and may be a couple of advanced features like the scripting and database management as well. Of course those who are in the rank of experts or have gained some knowledge about hosting preferences may not require knowing all over again the requirements but for the novice and first timers they are essential.
About Space
Web or disk space is the most vital part in the considerations relating to the determination of the hosting provider. Space in respect of such hosting services refers to the quantum of data that can be stored on the disk area offered by the provider for the client. While the usual market trend is web space provisions in the range of 50 MB to 1000 MB, it could be different depending on the requirements and budget of the client.
Space Utilization
Usually the amount of web space required would depend on the size and type of the website. Normally most of the websites are composed with HTML texts and few flash animations. Text is extremely economic in nature and the reverse is graphics and naturally they are expensive requiring much greater space. A small image could require 1 MB while 5 pages of text may require only 50 Kb. One should never consider it great having a lot of colorful images to make the website beautiful. More than anything else, the utility of the website is determined by most on the basis of the relevance of the contents it provides.
Combining Need with Economy
Webmasters can have best out of their website hosting only when they combine the requirements with economic considerations. On the one hand they must realize perfectly what their own needs are and on the other hand they must also assess near accurately the needs of the visitors to the website.
Download Time
Basic objective of web promotion is generating greater traffic and higher revenue. It won't be possible when the viewer finds downloading time too extended for their comforts. Since downloading a page of 30 KB will take only 4 seconds even with a dial up connection that should be the ideal page size for web hosting..