1.Reliability (“uptime”) – Your host should be reliable, stable and fast, and should guarantee its uptime, the minimum figure for which should be 99%. A straight 99% is actually considered low these days, as 99.5% or higher is rapidly becoming the new standard. Global Gold Network Limited offer 99.99%.With how much business a company can lose any time their website is down this is a crucial aspect of web hosting.

2. Data transfer (traffic or “bandwidth”) – Data transfer means the number of bytes delivered from your site to its visitors as they browse. If a web host advertises “unlimited bandwidth,” find out how much traffic the particular deal you’re considering really allows.  Most new sites that are not archives, storage or “drop-send” sites normally use less than 3GB of bandwidth per month. If you expect your traffic requirements to increase over time, check the host’s policy for “overages.” If there is a charge (usually per additional GB) over the allowed bandwidth, you need to determine if it’s cheaper to pay it once in a while (if it will not be ongoing) or to upgrade your service level.

3. Disk space
– Be on guard against the “unlimited disk space” deals, too, and view them with the same scepticism as you just observed being applied to data transfer. The vast majority of sites need no more than 10-20MB of web space, so don’t fall prey to enticements like 500MB, or “unlimited space.” To get an idea of relative size, a site with about 200 pages and the usual assortment of text, pictures and motion graphics will use only about 10-15 MB for all of the pages and supporting files.

4. Technical support
–  A claim of “24/7 support” is not always true, so test the sales pitch by e-mailing or calling on a Friday night. Measure how long it takes for you to connect with a human being on the other end. In addition to the response time, ensure that the support personnel are technically proficient. Believe it or not, some tech support personnel are converted sales people “learning on the job,” which is not the kind of help you need in an emergency that threatens your business

5. Technical features (FTP, PHP, CGI-BIN access, SSI, etc.) –
What once were luxuries are now necessities. The fact is, you simply must have all of these. There are many commercial hosts that require getting their approval to install PHP or CGI scripts, which means that you cannot implement a feature on your site when you so desire. You need these functions if you want to customize error pages, maintain databases, set up additional security measures and so forth. Make sure you have full access to these tools, and find out about any restrictions on their use.

6. Server type
– The operating system and server can be very important, and there are good, practical reasons for choosing one server over another. If you intend to take advantage of ASP, for example, it is available only on a Windows NT/2000/XP server. However, it is often cheaper to go with a Unix system running the Apache server software, which is stable and dependable. Another advantage of Unix-based hosts –using Linux, FreeBSD, etc. – is that an Apache web server lets you create and manage error pages, block IP addresses, stop email harvesters and more, without needing your host to install or approve a thing. Finally, if you plan to do some e-commerce on your site, find out if you get SSL (Secure Socket Layer), and MySQL. At the very least, you will need SSL if you plan to get credit card information from your customers over the Internet.

7. Email services – You have your own domain now, so you probably want e-mail addresses with the domain name. Although the vast majority of plans include e-mail services, find out about the quality and level of auto-responders, mail forwarding and list management. Ensure that you also have web access to your mail (“webmail”) and investigate the spam tools that are provided.

8. Control panel
– It may be called this, it may be called your “Net Tool Kit,” but all hosts give you a set of utilities to manage the particulars of your web account, and a web page from which to do it, too. You need to be able to manage your e-mail, change passwords, block spammers and so on. These are all standard maintenance chores for webmasters and if you have to wait on your host’s tech support to take care of things, you will lose important control over your business.

9. Price and payment plans –
Naturally, price is always a consideration, but remember that the most expensive hosts are not necessarily the best. Factor in price, and be wary of great price differentials on similar plans. Most web hosts offer annual or even quarterly payment plans that discount the monthly rate, but if you are using a new or less-well-known host, you should consider paying monthly until you establish their reliability. When you are satisfied with the host, you can change your payment plan and grab that discount.

10. Reviews – What do others say about the hosts? Use Google to track down both complaints and congratulations, and consider the source of each comment.

In today’s society, with the Internet reaching almost every home and business, the number of people wanting to have a Website is dramtically increasing. The questions is - How do I get my site on the Internet? The answer is Web Hosting. Web Hosting by definition is a service that allows individuals and organisations to publish their website via the World Wide Web. There are many differnet types of Web Hosting, all with unique features and specifications. Shared Hosting is where your site resides on a section of a server that is conected to the Internet. This type of Hosting is most common amongst indivduals and Small to Medium Businesses (SME).

Virtual Private Servers (VPS) are partinitoned areas of a Dedicated Server that have similar capabilities as a Dedicated Server without the cost. This type of Hosting is more common for larger, more complex sites or where the customer needs a particular feature, such as a Control Panel. Finally there is Dedicated Servers. These are generally reserved for high traffic sites that require their own server to operate.

There are many options available to both individuals and organisations alike, and it can often be quite a daunting task to choose what type of Web Hosting is correct for you. If you are confused by the whole idea of Web Hosting, or would just like to discuss what options are available to you, Global Gold and their dedicated support team will be glad to assist.

The way people navigate the Internet is set to change as of 2009 now that ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has given the go-ahead in Paris to relax the strict rules guiding TLDs (Top Level domain names). TLDs are more commonly referred to by their suffix, such as a .com or .uk.

This decision means that companies will be able to turn their brands into web addresses and individuals can conceivably use their names as a domain name e.g John@Smithsons. Some believe there could be at least 5,000 new Top Level Domains, while others have reportedly said there could be billions of domains generated.

Peter Dengate Thrush, a member of ICANN, said the decision was of “historic importance”. The new system should come in next year, but ICANN admits there will be plenty of problems, and it may have to arbitrate between different organisations seeking the same name. 

Company spokesperson, Debra Hastings-Henry at Global Gold Network has been assessing the impact of this decision to “relax the existing modus operandi of the domain registration industry. 

“It has been clear for some time that the Internet domain name structure needs to change and evolve. In particular, it does need to accommodate the non-english speaking parts of world, not least because they are going to be some of the fastest growing economies in the next decade.  We think ICANNs decision to vote in favour of opening up Top Level domains (TLDs) is directionally correct. The implications for Marketers and Trademark owners will however be both wide-ranging and profound, and some serious thought needs to be given to how branded players can effectively protect their brands and maintain the competitive advantage they derive from their branded propositions from the likes of cybersquatters and speculators.”

She went on to say that “Online Marketing is another area that has experienced remarkable growth in recent years as companies have turned to SEO and PPC for example to improve their visibility and rankings on the search engines. There will be many questions relating to how new domains may affect such processes. What is clear is that there are now new opportunities and challenges ahead and branded operators will have to think before they leap to ensure they adopt the most cost-effective offensive possible”.

Global Gold’s Brand Protect service is already assessing this and will be giving regular updates on this situation. Global Gold is a UK based domain registration boutique with over 8500 customers and a customer-focused product and service offer. The company also provides domain consultancy and web hosting to SME business. 

A recent report, “A Government Perspective of the Worldwide Top 10 IT Security Vendors, Government Insights”, analysed the ten largest IT security software vendors across all industries and recognised Juniper’s range of certified network security solutions for businesses, service providers, and government entities.  

Noteworthy was the references to Juniper’s integrated firewall, IP security (IPSec) virtual private networks (VPN), and intrusion prevention systems and appliances, as well as secure sockets layer (SSL) VPNs and unified access control portfolios. Global Gold have long been an advocate of Juniper solutions because of the advances they continue to make to their products and Global Gold’s web hosting network, which must count one of the most secure for SME businesses worldwide.

Despite all the predictions of a slowdown in the UK economy , management accountancy specialist, BDO, is still predicting that the technology, media and telecom sectors will largely steer clear of the downturn as businesses attempt to claw back spending by investing in IT.

Global Gold, international web hosting provider, holds with this view of the downturn as well. Spokesperson, Debra Hastings-Henry was quoted as saying, “We live in a media-driven society and we’re in danger of talking ourselves prematurely into a slowdown or worse, a recession. Each business needs to look at what it has to offer its customers and make the changes to its poroducts, processes and people that are necessary to survive and prosper, as there will be winners and losers when we come through any slowdown. Forward-thinking management will recognise early on that they need to invest in areas such as IT, having the right staff and quality web hosting  will have a greater and longer term impact on the health (and wealth) of their business, than cutbacks. Some will realise that in areas such as web hosting, cheap does not always relate to reliable or surviving a downturn. The trick is to ensure that you are one of the winners and that you don’t talk yourself prematurely or unnecessarily into hanging up your gloves. 

This month Global Gold is replacing it’s Webmail with a new, improved version with a raft of new features.

Regular users of the current service will be happy to hear that the new Webmail will now:

- Keep a copy of sent messages;
- Save drafts;
- Store deleted messages in a trash folder.

Personal folders can be easily created along with the built-in ones for storing messages.

The layout of the new Webmail now feels much more like a standard email client and includes
features such as:

- a preview pane (optional),
- sortable columns
- a search facility
- the ability to drag and drop emails into folders.

Users will also be able to see how much of their space quota they are using with a handy graphical display.

We will be switching over to the new Webmail service in the coming days, so watch this space!

As part of Global Gold’s continual growth in the highly competitive Web Hosting sector, this Essex based web hosting and domains operator has recently acquired Tag4.com for an undisclosed sum. 

The acquisition of Tag4 is a clear statement of Global Gold’s intention to strengthen its web hosting capabilities. Since its inception the customer has placed great emphasis on the delivery of excellent customer service which is why it boasts an exceptional retention rate for its customers. 

Global Gold offers their clients highly reliable and sophisticated hosting solutions and the newly acquired customer base from Tag4 will have complete access to all of Global Gold’s services including its renowned:

-  TechSupport team

-  Linux and Windows-based Hosting

-  Virtual Private Servers (VPS) 

-  Citrix and Zen based Virtual Machines

In addition to this it also offers email services such as Barracuda Anti Spam and Email Marketing applications. 

The company continues to look for other interesting companies to work with.

Web hosting is a core component in the definition of an organisation’s “green” strategy and therefore must work to support the strategy of that business. In order to achieve this, IT and web departments alike, must be aware of the real issues facing their organisations at multiple levels, and must come up with measures that make sound business sense. 

Global Gold’s, Management Team have started the process of examining the risks facing it’s business and it’s customers because web hosting is at the forefront of rapidly rising energy costs, global warming and potential new regulations. Rather than rushing headlong into short term, poorly conceived solutions, the company is actively exploring how to develop and implement “green” strategies in web hosting in the coming weeks and months ahead.
This evaluation will cover greener web hosting packages and reducing our reliance on energy intensive servers, implementing advanced technologies which address the issues and so on. Expect to hear more from us on this matter.