Author Archives: DJ Montauk

About DJ Montauk

DJ Montauk is a fictitious character. Posts written by DJ Montauk are provided by 3rd parties not necessarily endorsed by GlowHost. Because DJ's posts appear from user-generated content, are ghostwritten or republished via RSS syndication, certain formatting, spelling or other inaccuracies may occur. Please report any errors to GlowHost's helpdesk.

Redundant Cloud Servers Are Amazing!

If you have ever lost data due to a crashed server or a fried hard drive, then you know that it can feel like the world is coming to an end – all that work for nothing! Luckily, when data or files are saved in a “true” cloud server from GlowHost, the data should always be retrievable due to the data being replicated no less than four times on no less than four different drives. Redundant cloud servers not only mean that your data is stored in more than one location, it also means that your site and databases run on multiple dedicated servers at the same time which creates even more of a safety net.  If one server goes offline, the others pick up where it left off, resulting in 100% to five-nines uptime (99.999% – which is 5 minutes or less per year!)

GlowHost’s redundant cloud services offer a huge amount of protection for your website. If you go with Enterprise Cloud Hosting, you can be assured of some pretty nifty benefits.

Benefits of Cloud Hosting

Have you ever logged onto a website only to receive the “server down” error message? With GlowHost’s redundant cloud servers, this is virtually impossible. There are a huge number of safety nets in place, involving two different power grids as well as backup generators. What this means for you is that no matter what, your website will keep going strong.

Not only will your site keep going, but it will go fast. Unlike other so-called “cloud” hosting options which typically rely on just one machine, cloud hosting at GlowHost means that a bunch of different machines are working in tandem to power your site. With so many resources, you are guaranteed greater speed and better performance. This model also means that it’s really simple to add more space, allowing your website to grow and expand with ease. With traditional servers, if you wanted to add more space, you would have to power down the physical machine and add larger hard drives to it. With our cloud you can add space to your cloud server in real time, without so much as a reboot in most cases.

Choosing the Right Cloud Server Option

If you have a smaller business or website, GlowHost offers a Cloud Virtual Dedicated Server, which is one of the best web hosting options for those users who want to be able to grow their website with ease while keeping all data safely stored in multiple locations. This option allows for the fastest, most flexible hosting at a reasonable price point, perfect for those who are looking to expand in the future. Meanwhile, GlowHost’s management experts will take care of everything complicated behind the scenes.

For larger companies or websites that have their own IT staff to help manage things, Enterprise Cloud Hosting may be the best web hosting option, exactly what many have been looking for. Not only does it include all the benefits of standard cloud hosting, but it gives you the power to customize it in all aspects. GlowHost’s management team can be considered an extension of your in-house team and are available 24/7/365 in real time.  This option is for those who have already made it to the big leagues, who absolutely cannot have their site go down for any reason. For the peace of mind and ease of usability that come with it, it’s totally worth it.

The Difference Between Shared, Dedicated, VPS and Cloud Hosting

So, you know you need a web host provider for your business website, but you’ve just realized there are a lot of different options. Or maybe you’ve had a web host, but you’ve just discovered that there may be a better fit for your website. Let’s discuss the difference between shared, dedicated, VPS and cloud hosting

Shared web hosting

Shared web hosting is exactly what it sounds like. Several different users share space on one web server. This option can usually be considered the cheap web hosting option because all the users sharing the server help with maintenance costs. Shared web hosting includes a sysadmin, or systems administrator, to maintain the server – which is great if you’re looking for something cheap, but it can be a big drawback for those who want to have control over their website. If your website requires intricate software beyond the standard options, or if you consider yourself a power user, this is probably not the best option for you.

Dedicated web hosting

A dedicated hosting service is one where a user rents an entire server for his or her own use. It’s a wonderful option for the user who wants to be in full control – everything can be customized to your website’s needs. With dedicated hosting, sysadmins can and generally should be added on. At GlowHost this is called a “Managed Dedicated Server.”  The are others who use dedicated web hosting that prefer to do their own server maintenance. Usually, clients who select more expensive dedicated web hosting options like a dedicated server do so because their websites draw a large amount of traffic, or their business depends on the reliability of their web site and email service. If you expect to have an extremely popular website, or your web site is critical to how you earn your income, and want the ability to add customizations beyond the basics, then dedicated web hosting is one of the best ways to go.

Also, a major bonus that comes with dedicated web hosting is extreme security. Because you’re the only client on your server, you can make it as secure as you want. On the other hand, if you do not know what you are doing, it is often better to opt for a managed server where securing and ongoing maintenance of the server is handled for you. New hacks come out every day and one of a good web host’s primary job functions is to know about and patch the server for these potential issues before they become issues.  GlowHost’s managed dedicated server service handles all aspects of security for you from installation security tweaks, kernel updates, managed firewall configuration, and ongoing patching.

VPS web hosting

VPS stands for virtual private server and runs its own copy of an operating system within the main server’s operating system. This means one physical machine (or “node”) can have many virtual machines all running the same, or different operating systems than the physical server that houses them. One huge benefit of VPS hosting is that the user gets administrator or root access to that operating system. Typically, a VPS has little, to no redundancy and can be a very inexpensive way to have your own private server on the Internet. VPS can easily be scaled up or down in regards to resources like CPU, RAM and disk space. Usually, VPS hosting is offered in addition to shared or dedicated hosting. VPS hosting can add a layer of security because individual servers are kept separate from one another, and each can run its own operating system. On the other hand, VPS can suffer the same security issues as an unmanaged dedicated server.  If you are not a talented sysadmin and not making regular security checks, it is highly likely that your VPS will become compromised at some stage in it’s life.  You may want to consider a managed VPS if playing sysadmin is not your thing.

Cloud web hosting

The newest form of hosting is known as cloud hosting.  While the word ‘cloud’ is thrown around in many circles to simply mean ‘The Internet’ that is not really what a cloud is. True cloud servers are groups of dedicated servers (or “nodes”) which have been connected to each other so that they can share resources from a common resource pool.  Once the cloud is communicating with itself, then it can begin creating Virtual Machines, or VM for short.  Virtual Machines are similar to VPS in the sense that you have administrator or root access and are easy to scale, but they primary difference is redundancy.  When you have a traditional VPS, if the primary node goes down, so do all the VPS! With a true cloud server, if one of the dedicated nodes goes down, all the other nodes in the cloud will carry it’s weight until it can be repaired and put back into service again. This means the Virtual Machines will keep on running just as if nothing ever happened. Another benefit is that resources like RAM, CPU and disk space can often be added or removed from a Virtual Machine without the need for a reboot, further increasing overall uptime.  Virtual Machines are the same as VPS and dedicated servers when it comes to security; it’s best to go with a managed solution if you are not a sysadmin, but need the power and flexibility offered by a cloud-based VM.

Ultimately, you have to decide how much power, stability and control you want over your website and data in order to decide which type of web hosting is right for you. There is a lot of difference between shared, dedicated, VPS and cloud hosting, and with that, the capability to customize the type of hosting you need.