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With your website hosting account you have many tools using which you cam mange your website easily just using few clicks. Your hosting provider will offer you control panel using which you can play with your server/hosting account. Also if you have good knowledge of hosting then you also have a file called .htaccess using which you can easily set different setting for your website. Its very important file which should be used in extreme cases and should be used if required. Make sure not all web host offer direct access to this file hence you should check with your web host about its accessibility.

Inside your web hosting space, the .htaccess file usually sits inside your root directory, such as “/public_html/” and has more than a few good uses. You might already have a .htaccess file in your root directory. If so, all you need to do is edit that one. Just remember that if it is in your root directory, that it will affect all folders and documents inside that directory. If you want to over ride that, then you will have to make a new .htaccess file inside the directory in question.

For an example, if you want what is in the .htaccess file to affect everything but your “photos” folder then you would have to create a new .htaccess file inside your “photos” folder.

How can you create one? Well, depending on the FTP program you are using it should be as easy as creating a new document, then renaming it .htaccess. Note that it has nothing coming before the dot. If you have anything in front of the dot, then it will not be read by the web hosting server as a .htaccess file. The server will not know what to do with it.

If you want to create the file on your computer first, you should be able to right-click your desktop and select “New” then “Text Document”. Then right-click that document on your desktop and go to “Rename”. Type in the new name as “.htaccess”. Some programs might put the .txt extension on it automatically. All you have to do is go in to rename it again, and take that part off.

Another thing to remember is if you are creating the file on your own computer or uploading it from your own computer, make sure you are uploading it in ASCII mode, not binary. Most FTP programs do a pretty good job at auto-detecting how it should be uploaded, but if you run into a problem that is the first place I would check.

Also, .htaccess files can only be created on a Linux based server running Apache. If you are not sure if you fall into that category login to your control panel your Web host provided you and snoop around in there. If you are still not sure, feel free to ask your Web host. That is what they are there for! You may need to CHMOD the htaccess file to 644 so the sever can execute the commands inside it.

Now you know how to create an empty .htaccess file. Now it is time to start filling it up with some easy to learn and useful commands. Think of each line you put into the .htaccess file as a command for the web hosting server to do something. Here is an example of what I mean. Think of this as the content of your .htaccess file:

• Take out the trash
• Clean the sink
• Mow the yard
• Rake the leaves

Each are short commands you might do during your own day. A .htaccess file is much like giving the web hosting server a to do list. Most commands in the .htaccess file are suppose to be on one line only. This is just the way that the server reads the information.

Another warning you might take in consideration is the ability to use the .htaccess file at all. Some Web hosts have banned it or banned it for certain uses because it causes stress and strain on the web hosting server itself. Make sure you read through your Web host’s frequently asked questions and acceptable use policy before moving forward. If they have something against it, then it should be in one of those two places.

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Windows and Linux are the two operating systems mostly used for hosting web servers. While each has its advantages, the so called LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) combination is preferred for new installations that don’t have to worry about integration with existing or legacy systems.

Why is Linux hosting always a preferred alternative?

The advantages that Linux hosting offers in combination with other open source software like PHP and MySQL partly accounts for its popularity. Linux itself is open source and Linux hosting offers all the advantages associated with open source software. Open source software allows constant improvements to be made by any person who is interested to do so. This automatically adds a large number of people who work on problems to make the software better.

It is also likely that these programmers work on problems that they have faced and are therefore coming out with relevant solutions. The fixation of problems and bugs is also faster in open source software, being a continuous process.

One of the biggest advantages is that you can post any problem that you face and somebody might come up with a solution. You can even engage your own programmer to do this. Another advantage of open source software is that you are not tied to any particular vendor. All these advantages are automatically passed on to Linux hosting.

Being open source is not the only advantage that Linux and Linux hosting offer. Linux hosting supports more cross platform applications, and offers a higher portability than most proprietary operating systems. Linux runs on a variety of hardware platforms, which means that you have the freedom to select the hardware or even migrate to a different hardware later without any hassles.

Linux hosting is more stable since Linux is an extremely stable operating system. Some of the other popular operating systems slow down after running for a while, necessitating a reboot after comparatively long periods of running, to ensure performance.

Linux can go on for months at a time without any problems such as memory leaks that plague other systems. Apart from this Linux provides a number of system-based safeguards, including better security, safety against attacks, and recovery procedures, these make Linux hosting a robust and secure alternative.

Linux can communicate with most other systems without any problem. Interoperability and communication are two important requirements in today’s computers, both of which are met by Linux. There are a number of third party tools that have been made available under Linux over the years, enabling you to perform many common tasks with ease. Linux hosting can offer these advantages to you in turn.

Linux hosting is cost effective. Theoretically, Linux is available free of cost. However, you pay for many commercial versions that you can use on your computer. Since there is no cost to the commercial provider on account of the effort put in for original development that the seller has to recover, this cost is lower than comparable costs for other operating systems.

Moreover, unlike other operating systems, you generally don’t pay for multiple installations of the same software. This means that even if you pay the same amount for the original copy of the software, you don’t incur additional cost for a number of installations, bringing the real cost further down. The cost advantage does not end there. Because of its stability and the availability of a range of tools, the ongoing cost of operation of Linux Hosting is quite low.

The performance of Linux systems is quite good and you can get good speeds even with some of the older computers under Linux. Linux has the capability to handle a large number of simultaneous users.

This makes Linux hosting an ideal choice for servers, particularly web servers, where the traffic may be large with a large number of users simultaneously accessing the server. The ability of Linux to run without deterioration over long periods of time, handling a large number of customers with a high level of performance becomes a great advantage for web servers.

One of the major advantages of Linux is that it was originally developed over the Internet and hence is automatically suited for working in a networked environment both as a client and as a server. This makes Linux hosting an ideal choice for network-based applications such as the Internet.

If you are wondering what all this has got to do with you, if you are using a shared web hosting service, the answer is simple. In a competitive world, the advantages that the provider of the Linux hosting service enjoys are automatically passed on to you.

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