In some cases, users will be required to make minor changes due to the IPs changing. Here are some examples:

• If your database connection string uses the server IP, please change it to use the hostname of the server instead.
• If your email form uses the mail server IP, please change it to the hostname.
• If you registered your own name server at your registrar, you will need to edit the IPs of each name server.
• If you use an external DNS service, you will be required to update your records with the new IPs.

The below PDF document will show each of our servers with the old IP and the new IP to be assigned to it.

http://www.royaltynetworks.com/migration.pdf

** Dedicated IP users: if you wish to know your new IP before the migration, please open a ticket.

There are many web hosting companies which will offer you 99.9% uptime, but have you ever wondered why they cannot guarantee you 100%? This is because, servers can and will go down occasionally, and even the best web host cannot guarantee perpetual uptime. Hosts are well aware of this and so, they have devised clustered hosting as a possible alternative to single-server hosting.

The problem with traditional hosting is that all the elements of your website are managed by one server. So, it has to handle website control panels, email servers and also file transfer protocol. This is obviously quite taxing for the server, which has to handle not only your website but hundreds of others as well. Moreover, when there is traffic surge, or a huge increase in the number of people trying to access websites on a server, there is an even greater load on it. This is why you find that your website is unavailable sometimes.

Clustered hosting aims to put this issue to bed. The burden of running several websites is spread across several servers. It works in the same way as, the multiple engines on a commercial plane. If one fails the others do the job and complete the journey safely. So, even if your website runs a heavy database, it can work smoothly and not affect the working of other sites being managed by the same host. High end websites can often hamper the running of other websites, in conventional single server setups.

One more way in which clustered hosting helps is your website is by handling traffic spikes smoothly. When a large amount of available bandwidth is used up due to the number of simultaneous hits on your website, it can easily go down, but clustered hosting ensures that nothing like this happens. So, you can be sure that even when you are running a once in a lifetime sale, the website will be running smoothly!

Website maintenance also becomes less intrusive when a clustered hosting system is being used. This is because; it is no longer necessary to take the site offline for upgrades and rebooting. Your site remains online on a server, while the maintenance jobs are rolled out across other servers.

If you are looking for a new web host or perhaps are looking to switch web hosts, maybe you can go for a company which offers clustered hosting. This is a really smart hosting solution and surely worth a try!

Here are some cool tips to make web hosting a more profitable activity for you, by cutting costs and increasing returns on every dollar you spend.

1. Whether you use Windows hosting or Linux hosting, do you know that you can usually save a lot of money by choosing an annual payment plan? No surprise if you don’t, because that’s the case with most website owners. Usually if the annual payment is divided into monthly installments on a pro-rata basis, you will find out how much more you actually pay by going for monthly payment plans.

If you are renewing the contract with your existing web host or are perhaps switching over to a new host, you can easily opt for an annual plan. Additionally some annual plans:

• Come with zero set-up costs and
• Also offer you discounts for signing a 1-year contract.

2. You should also consider choosing clustered web hosting, if you are concerned with the capabilities of your current server in dealing with surges in traffic. Clustered web hosting is not confined to a single server and so, high traffic will not cause your website to run slowly. This makes sure that visitors keep coming back for more and are not turned off by considerable loading times, particularly if your website is high-end. You can easily upgrade to a clustered hosting plan on a pay-as-you-go basis, to give your website a competitive edge without having to break bank!

3. Get a support domain, if you wish to really expand the scope of your e-business. This domain can be used specifically to provide customer service and tech support. It also helps to take a lot of load away from your main site.

Hope you find these tips useful enough to implement and then reap some fantastic rewards, same time next year!

Whether you are looking for your first host or even perhaps in the process of finding a new host, you can make use of the following criteria for selection:

• Which platform do you want to use? You have the choice to go for Windows hosting or Linux hosting, depending on the tech behind your website. There are several companies which offer both Linux and Windows hosting at competitive rates and you may take a look at their deals.
• What are the features you are looking for? Once you have settled on a particular hosting platform, you need to decide the features you want from your web host. While the list of features on offer keeps growing everyday, you must consider key features such as disk space, bandwidth, backups, number of domains allowed, number and types of databases, email accounts and money back policies for downtime. This will help you trim your list of web hosts even further.
• What is your budget? Needless to say, the host you choose must fit in your budget. But you should also calculate the total cost you have to incur over a longer period of time. This includes the opportunity cost of downtime and slow speeds. You should not be swayed by the lure of having to pay less upfront, because the hidden costs of bandwidth, set up and maintenance, can easily even it all up! A good web host should also allow you the freedom to switch between annual payment and monthly payment plans without any hassles.
• Customer service: whether it is Linux hosting, Windows hosting or clustered hosting you opt for, there are bound to be glitches and tech issues, sooner or later. If you do not consider the quality of after sales services as a determinant, you may lose money later on. Settle for no less than 24×7 services all year round. It may not be bright scenario to find that your web host does not work on holidays after you have already sealed the deal. So beware! Go through user reviews of the web host you intend to select, to find out whether they actually deliver their promised level of customer service.
• Reputation: you should know that most web hosts go out of business within a year! So, if you intend to select a host that has been there for less than a year, it may be an unwise gamble. The ones, who have stood firm in the face of stiff competition for several years, are probably better choices even if they charge you more.

So, select your web host keeping these factors in perspective and maybe you will make a good decision. There is really no, golden rule for web host selection and so, you are perhaps better off trying those hosts which offer clustered hosting, to lessen the operational risks just a bit.

Both Linux and Windows have their own merits and demerits, when it comes to web hosting. Choosing the right web host may ultimately depend on the type of website you want to run and your specific online needs. Nevertheless, here are some factors which may help you make your decision:

1. Accessing the server: both Windows and Linux allow you access to the server, through FTP or file transfer protocol. This is the feature which allows you to transfer files from your hard drive to the web server.
Linux steals a march over Windows here, because it allows you the use of SSH or Telnet. This helps you directly open a session while you are on the web server and use UNIX commands to chop and change your files, as required. There are very few Windows hosting services which offer you this time saving feature.

2. Linux offers you, the use PHP, MySQL and standard HTML while Windows servers generally offer the use of ASP.NET hosting, MSSQL Hosting and FrontPage extensions.

3. Performance: Linux is generally known to perform better than Windows servers when you are trying to operate multiple processes simultaneously. The performance of Windows servers tends to decrease when burdened with many processes at a time. But at the same time, you must remember that Server performance depends to a large extent on the hardware being used and so, Windows can perform as well, if not better, provided the hardware specs are high-end.

4. Security: Windows products are generally not reputed for their security features and Linux is usually the safer option you have, given the current levels of cyber crime. But if your web hosting company, manages Windows server with regular updates and patches, it may be as safe a Linux server.

5. Ease of use: both hosts offer you graphical web-based tools to manage your day to day website activities the functions of these tools are not related to the type of operating system in use and so you can work with a Linux hosting control panel as efficiently as on Windows hosting.

So, quite clearly it’s a neck in neck race between these hosting platforms. So, it is safe to say that your choice may ultimately be governed by the best deal you get from a hosting company and your specific hosting requirements. With both Linux and Windows, rapidly improving their hosting platforms by R&D, whichever host you choose, good times are ahead for sure!

MyLittleBackup is included for all new and existing clients with SQL Server 2005 within their plan. You can access the utility by going to Databases > MSSQL > Backup/Restore.

Royalty Networks, previously known as Royalty Hosting, has been offering quality Linux Hosting, Windows Hosting and Dual-Platform Reseller Hosting based on a state-of-the-art clustered hosting architecture.  These multi-platform clustered solutions are meant to cover the needs of many individuals searching for reliable web hosting.

Compared to traditional web hosting, “clustered hosting offers more scalability, better performance and higher availability by spreading the load of your website across multiple specialized nodes” said David Ohayon, Founder and CEO of Royalty Networks. This innovative type of web hosting is ideal for those looking for ultimate performance and uptime for their websites. With new competitive hosting plans, Royalty Networks makes an upgrade to a multi-server clustered hosting environment easy and affordable.

In addition, Royalty Networks has fully redesigned their website and introduced many key features, one of them being a new Network Status page to announce all scheduled and unscheduled maintenance notices in real-time via Twitter, RSS and email. Twitter integration with the company’s new website will open an additional communication stream to stay in touch with its client base by delivering exciting deals and up-to-the-minute information about Royalty Networks’ service status. You can follow Royalty Networks on Twitter here: http://www.twitter.com/royaltynetworks.

With its new name, new design and new clustered hosting plans, Royalty Networks is confident that it will gain the trust of many clients looking for affordable and reliable hosting solutions.

Founded in 2005, Royalty Networks specializes in clustered hosting solutions to cater the needs of both personal and corporate clients around the world. By staying on top of new technologies and offering fast and friendly customer support, Royalty Networks remains a leading provider of Linux and Windows clustered hosting solutions.

The New Year reserves some exciting changes! Expect to see a new design, new plans and tons of deals and promotions under our new company name Royalty Networks.

For the Twitter lovers, here’s a sneak peak of our Twitter channel. It may be empty now but will be used to post news, deals and most importantly keep you up-to-date with the status of our network.

http://twitter.com/royaltynetworks

Feel free to start following