Should you really be hosting your Web site with the company you are with right now? I believe you should do your Web hosting with Web hosts. Then again, I don’t buy VCR and TV combo sets either. Episode two is twice as much fun as the first show, and hopefully twice as good as well.

+ Download The Web Hosting Show!

Be sure to listen to it, check out the links then give me your comments, suggestions, feedback and thoughts! You can leave them here in comment form or E-mail me at mitch@mitchkeeler.com. On with the show!

Web Hosting Show - Episode 2 Transcript

I am Mitch Keeler, the voice of the Web hosting world and this is the Web Hosting Show. This show is sponsored by the folks at Web Hosting Chat. Web Hosting Chat is your number one place for all of your Web hosting discussions.

Web Hosting Headlines

I’d like to thank everybody who listened to show number one, and hopefully show number two will blow that one away. Now lets get to the latest and greatest in Web hosting news. All of the Web hosting headlines are provided by The Web Host Industry Review. If you want to read more about any of these news stories, links can be found in the transcript for this episode of the Web Hosting Show.

Web hosting and managed services provider Hostway Corporation announced on Friday the launch of SiteBlog. SiteBlog is a blogging tool offered for free for all new and existing shared hosting and advantage dedicated server customers.

All I have to say is it is about damn time Web hosting companies started giving their customers what they want. Over the past few years we have seen a growth in the world of Web hosting. The reason? Blogging. Blogging gave the common guy on the street a reason to get a hosting account and start ranting about how much he hates his job, his girlfriend or his life.

Speaking of Web hosting providers, GoDaddy announced that it would be issuing its Turbo SSL certificates, valued at $29.95, free of charge to open source projects. “We are a big supporter of the open source community,” says Bob Parsons, president and founder of The Go Daddy Group, Inc. “Go Daddy offers numerous open source software applications in conjunction with our hosting plans, specifically, blogging, image galleries, content management and more.”

What do I say? I say, “Go Daddy, Go Daddy, Go Daddy, Go!”. Okay, I might not be the next Go Daddy Girl, but I do think this is a great idea. A lot of open source folks just can’t afford to pay for SSL certificates. I just wonder if they will make people jump through hoops to get them.

According to reports, hosters of criminal content are leaving the US and moving to Russian-based Web hosting providers in growing numbers. Data from The Internet Watch Foundation, a UK-based organization dedicated to eradicating illegal content on the Internet, shows that in 2003, the US hosted 55 percent of the world’s illegal Web sites. That number dropped to 40 percent last year.

Adios bad guys! Well, they aren’t leaving for good, just moving to a different country. The problem there is we can make all the rules we want here about Internet content, but if they go out of country, there is not a lot we can do. Also, apparently free hosting is pretty popular in Russia. Who knew?

Web Hosting Commentary and Thoughts

When you want your car fixed, you go to a mechanic right? Then how come so many people are going to oddball companies like Yahoo for their Web hosting?

I say if you want to get Web hosting, you go to a company that does nothing but Web hosting. I know the reason companies like Yahoo are so popular though. It is because it is a name people trust. Also many people start out on Yahoo’s GeoCities free hosting services, and it is a lot easier to “upgrade” than it is to go out and search for a company that only does Web hosting. It is convenience.

What people don’t notice though is that they are shutting themselves out a world that has so much to offer right now. Currently Web hosting packages, no mater where you go, are cheap. Get a domain name tossed into the package, and there you go! You will be FTPing and serving your Web page in no time. You also miss out on the sense of belonging to a community. I know back when I was working for TotalChoice Hosting I would love to go stop at the forums. Why? Because there was always somebody there talking, it was like we were all one big family. I know that sounds a little cheesy, but it is true!

So please, next time you are out searching for a Web hosting company, do your research. You might be missing out on many good deals!

While reading through a new book from O’Reilly that I have to review for Lockergnome I ran across a tool that I wish I would have had back when I was working in the Web hosting business. It is a small little program that will do Whois searches for you from your taskbar.

GeekTools Win32 Whois Client 5.4.1

Now the average person out there isn’t going to get too excited about this, but the hostamaniacs out there will. I know that Whois and trace routes searches are how I spent at least half of my day a few years ago. The tool comes from the folks at Geek Tools. I’ll be sure to leave a link for it in the transcript for today’s show. I promise you, it will save you a lot of time!

Let me know if you have run across any other programs that make life as a Web hosting support person a little easier. If they are really good, I’ll be sure to highlight them on a future episode of the Web Hosting Show.

I have done some updating to the Web Hosting Show’s Web site this past week. The most important thing that I added was an archives link to the navigation bar. Now you can go back and listen to past episodes with just a few simple clicks. Another thing people asked me to add was a list of the last few show’s mp3 files. You can see that on the Web Hosting Show’s Web site now as well on your left.

If there is anything else you’d like to see me add to the Web site or to the show’s format be sure to leave me a comment or drop me an E-mail at mitch@mitchkeeler.com.

Web Hosting Web Site of the Week

There is only so much room for great Web hosting Web sites. The best of the best, is something I like to call the Web hosting Web site of the Week!

The Web hosting Web site of the week for this week is BrowseHosts.com. Not only is it a great service for folks to find a good and reliable Web host. It also provides a good sense of community with their forums. Any Web Hosting provider who isn’t listed there, well.. what is wrong with you? It is all and all one of the top Web hosting comparison sites out there today. So check them out, and let them know the Web Hosting Show sent you!

If you have a Web hosting help, support or information Web site you’d like to see featured as the Web hosting Web site of the week, let me know! Send me an E-mail at mitch@mitchkeeler.com and I’ll have a look at your Web site and you could be featured on the next edition of the Web Hosting Show!

Web Hosting Questions and Answers

I got a lot of E-mail over the past week, mostly porn but some of it was about the first edition of the Web Hosting Show. Tim, from TimTech Technical Services didn’t like how I expressed my opinions about Web hosting resellers and how they are an alternative to their bigger Web hosting counterparts. Here is a part of his E-mail:

Dear Mitch,

I am a web hosting reseller and I assure you, I am “real”. Though you made some good points about the business of reselling Web hosting services, you totally miss the mark with your last statement, “I don’t think they should be thought of as an equal to an actual Web host, but they are an alternative.” I provide a service to my customers that goes far beyond what they would receive by dealing directly with the company whose servers their Web sites are on.

The actual E-mail went on a further, but I believe you can get what you need to get from that. Now I didn’t mean to insult any Web hosting resellers out there listening in any way. On the other hand though, I really can’t consider reseller Web hosting to be equal to the company you bought the Web hosting reseller space from.

I have worked for a big Web hosting company. So I can tell you that having to manage a Web hosting server yourself is a lot harder than having a company behind you doing all the dirty work for you. So perhaps on the outside Web hosting resellers and Web hosting companies are equal. With support, image and pricing you can fight with them head to head. On the server side of things though, that it a different story all together.

If there is anybody out there who wants to give the point of view from the Web hosts’ perspective, drop me an E-mail and I’ll put it in next week’s show. This is a debate though that will not be ended here. It is more along the lines of do you believe in god, and which operating system do you use. There are just some subjects you don’t bring up around the company water cooler.

Now some people have wanted to know why we are doing a transcript of the Web Hosting Show each week. The reason is, I wanted to make sure that anybody and everybody had a chance to get the information I’m providing to the Web hosting world out there. Some folks have slower speed connections, and might not like having to download the whole show to get the content. Others may be disabled, so adding a transcript is the easiest way to make sure all my bases are covered.

Remember that without you, there is no Web hosting show. So please keep sending me your E-mails and leaving your comments so I know that somebody is out there listening to me. The first week’s feedback was more than I could have ever expected. I want this week’s feedback to double that. Also, if you have any Web hosting or Web development questions you’d like to hear answered on the show please send me an E-mail at mitch@mitchkeeler.com.

Last Web Hosting Thoughts

Well that is it for episode number two of the Web Hosting Show. Make sure you go visit the Web site at www.webhostingshow.com and leave your thoughts and feedback for this show. That is also the place to check out to get all the latest news and information on the show’s production as well. On next week’s show we will be tackling even more of your toughest Web hosting questions. I am Mitch Keeler, and this has been the Web Hosting Show, the voice of the Web hosting world.

Credits for the Web Hosting Show:

Audio File Web Hosting by Web Hosting Chat

Web Hosting Headlines by The Web Host Industry Review

Introduction and Exit Music by Dezyne Records

Announcer Introduction by Meka

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