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We're working with our uplink provider to resolve the issue.
Expect the worst (not being able to connect to some or all of our services) for the better part of this afternoon.
We're expecting all services to be restored to normal by midnight.
Stay tuned for updates.
Admin
Update: 7:30PM
ISP replaced faulty gateway unit. We're back online. All services should resume shortly.
Admin
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( 2.9 / 1075 )How do I choose my next web host? How do I choose a web host period? Should I go with the cheap web host just because of the price? What if I don't know anything about web hosting or websites in general?
These may be some of the questions you ask yourself. There are many, many more, I am sure.
I'll try to not get into too many details, but explain from a bird's eye view what you need, how and why.
First of all, in order to have a website, you need a web host. What's a web host?
Well, a web host is most likely a company that provides a place for your website to reside on the Internet. That being a special computer (we call a web server) that sits on the Internet, and serves up your website every time it is requested. This machine is always on, always online, and usually, it serves many, many websites along side your very own.
You may think to yourself... Wait a minute! My computer at home sits, on the Internet, I could just leave it on and place my website on it. Wouldn't that work?
Well, yes and no. The simple answer is yes if you know what you're doing, have an approval from your ISP to allow you to run such services, worry about security (hackers, intruders, script kiddies who want to deface your website just because they could...), and lastly, you need a unique (or static) IP (Internet Protocol) address assigned to your machine.
Most Internet service providers don't even offer one, and even if they did, they still reserve the right to change it on you whenever they feel like it.
Having said that, you don't want to be "hosting" your own website. It's not safe, it's not reliable and most likely if you need a website online, chances are you want to be found.
If you website goes offline every now and then (think of how often you need to restart your computer) you will never be found. Your website would be just like a ghost: cold, lonely, and far, far away from reality.
Now, if you read so far, I am guessing you're still interested in what's coming up.
Well, hopefully I have you convinced that you need a web host for your website.
Having said that, let's talk about what you need vs. what you need to pay.
If you just do your homework and look around, you'd find a variety of web hosting services with prices varying from FREE to $20/mo or so.
As always, free is free. It doesn't come with any goodies you'd get with a paid account, such as bandwidth, no advertising, no pop-ups, etc.
Let's say you just have a simple personal or corporate website and you need a domain such as yourname.com and a place to host it.
Etonic Networks offers custom tailored control panel, designed and developed in-house for the soul purpose of being easy to manage, extremely fast, very reliable and always there. It is so intuitive and simple, if one can work a mouse, they can manage their domain and website entirely from a few clicks.
You can register or transfer a domain (if you already have one), setup your website, load the website content, create email addresses sush as you@yourdomain.com, manage 1-click-install application such as WordPress, phpBB, Concrete5, and many more.
See unlike other web hosts out there, especially the large convoluted ones like Godaddy, 1and1, lunarpages, etc we are very small. In fact, we're so small we pay close attention to each and every one of our guests. We call our customers guests, because we host their website's, therefore they stay with us, therefore they are called guests!
Most people fall pray to "deals" from Godaddy that are intended to attract you with a cheap deal and then shove just down your throat down the line. Their control panel is loaded with ads intended to lure you into buying more of their services, stuff that you most likely don't need. We - on the other hand don't do that. You sign-up, you get your website up and running in no time, you pay a nominal fee and we take care of the rest.
Just because Godaddy is big and they can afford to offer you a domain name for $1 for the first year, trust me they're going to make up for it on the side, without you even noticing.
A domain name in general can cost upwards of $15, even $20 a year. That is a fair price for most domain names. Usually, much less - for instance, we averaged out our domain offer and we charge $12/year on any domain TLD that we offer. (TLD = top level domain such as .com .net .us .ca .org etc)
Are there any cheaper ones, sure. But when you consider the whole package you get with us, we can't but realize the overall value being offered.
Our web hosting start at $5.99/mo or $65.89/yr (you get 12 months of service for the price of 11 months) - and we don't ever increase our prices. That's our guarantee.
On top of that, you may cancel at any time and get a full refund*.
This blog will be your best friend. This is where we post how to's, network updates, scheduled down time for maintenance and such, policy amendments, etc.
With other hosts, when you website goes down you have no idea what happened. We let you know ahead of time. We post it right here, with details and frequent updates so that you are aware of the problem, and how we make progress to repair it.
Choosing a web host is no easy task, but choosing one that does it for the love of what they do, in true American spirit, as a small business, with local roots, and with young enthusiastic and friendly staff can only be considered a no-brainer.
Hell, we're so dedicated to what we do that I'll tell you what. If you have the right cause, and you tell us why we should host your site for free, we may even do it.
We started over a decade ago by hosting personal websites for anyone, for free. We still do, that's the spirit that drove us. We started with a Pentium machine hosted on a T1 line back in 1999 to where we are today.
If nothing else, take these facts from me:
- You always get what you paid for, but most of the time you get less.
- If it's too good to be true, it probably is.
- If it's free, make sure you ask how much it costs, no...really, I mean it!
- Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Phrases such as "you website is in the cloud", or "we make sure you website is wireless accessible", or "we'll make sure your website shows up on the front page on google" (and you get all the above for $1/mo) are just simply put and precisely summed up in to 2 word: BULL SHIT. Smell one when you see one.
EN Owner/Admin
* - Domains purchased/registered or transfered in are non refundable, however you may choose to transfer them away from us at any time.
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