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Uptime and Downtime is one of the key issues that many website owners face. If you’re thinking to setup a mission critical website or an e-commerce site then uptime and downtime is the thing you should consider while looking for a web host. You may have heard about it lot of time, but those who haven’t, this article will explain you the exact meaning and importance of uptime and downtime in web hosting.

Definition of Uptime and Downtime

What is Uptime?

Uptime, put simply in the context of web hosting, is the time during which your site is fully operational (viewable and usable).

What is Downtime?

Downtime, conversely, is used to refer to the duration of time when a system is unavailable. These figures are usually given in percentages.

For e-commerce sites uptime and downtime is highly relevant because downtime could translate to lost revenues, and in this highly competitive world, it could very well mean your business’ survival.

Hence, it is important that you choose a web host that has a high uptime guarantee (the higher, the better). An uptime guarantee of 99.5 – 99.99% is realistic and considered to be very good in most cases.

Tips to make sure that the host you choose offers the finest deal:

• Research your (potential) host’s uptime record and READ the fine print of their uptime guarantee (if they have, which you find in their Service Level Agreements).
• Ask about your host (-to-be)’s disaster plans, redundancy and backups.
• Re-check and make sure you get an uptime guarantee before signing and how reliable they are when it comes to refunding for and crediting downtimes.

Once you’ve found your host, it is necessary that you also monitor your site’s uptimes and downtimes to ensure you get what you pay for and also to see if they’re living up to their promise (so you can change hosts if they aren’t).

Quick Tips:

• Finding 100% (or 99.99%) uptime is not easy nor is it cheap
• Focus on quality of service and not on quantity. Don’t just look for hosts that offer you a refund for downtimes, instead, look for ones that actually live up to their ‘uptime guarantee’
• Look for providers with good hardware (as it goes to redundancy)
• SLA’s and ‘uptime guarantees’ could just be marketing trick
• Third party uptime measures are valuable resources
• Forums, although good sources of information, may not necessarily be ‘accurate,’ particularly when it comes to host recommendations
• To prevent downtimes, find providers that offer hosting on two separate machines and whose servers have automatic switchable mechanisms

Posted under Webhosting

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.

Posted under Webhosting