Fun with Flickr!

It is time once again to get your weekly dose of the goodness that the Web Hosting Show has to offer you. I promise you it won’t fill you up, and you will have plenty of room for desserts. This week I wanted to do something a little different, so instead of the regular format, we are doing an all news episode. Ten hosting headlines to get your Web hosting week started right.

AuctionServices.com, a Web hosting provider for auction firms, announced it was recently recognized by the Virginia Auctioneers Association for outstanding contributions and support in 2005. The award was presented at the organization’s annual convention held in Richmond, Virginia last Saturday.

Nobody out there can say that getting awards is ever a bad thing. However I know nothing really about auctions so let me stick the Web hosting side of things. This just goes to show you what I have been saying for a while now. Specialized Web hosting solutions get attention. If I had my way, I’d like to see more specialized services roll out. It would also be nice to see the big players in the Web hosting industry branch off into specialized hosting services.

Managed Web hosting and security services provider DataPipe announced on Monday it has joined PBS.org to help deliver the online TV series, NerdTV.

For those of you who might not know about NerdTV, it has weekly one-hour interviews with a well-known movers and shakers from the tech world. I am happy to see a Web host get behind some of this new programing available out there today. Podcasts and Videocasts are not going away anytime soon. These are great new ways of finding specialized content you want to hear for little to no price at all.

Wisconsin based Web hosting provider SJR Hosting announced on Monday it has revamped its entire hosting structure, taking steps that include increasing the resources provided in its Web hosting plans, remodeling its support department and enhancing its server technology and hardware.

I know a few Web hosts who could do with a little spring cleaning on their Web hosting services. Some of the stuff SJR is doing includes free marketing credits, Web site and security monitoring, Web site load balancing and an increase to the number of domains allowed per hosting package.

Download the Web Hosting Show! (MP3) | Read the Show Notes!

Running Time: 15 minutes | File Size: 3.29 MB

I got some time to kill, so I thought I’d spill on a few topics I have floating around my head. Well, having random things in my head isn’t exactly a new thing, but at least this way they are let out to play for a while.

SBC Yahoo! DSL has done me wrong for too long now. I am currently in my third process of getting my hiccuping DSL connection fixed. It seems like when I get a problem, nobody knows what the heck is going on. Not even the folks at SBC. I do have to give them credit though, at least they are trying to hunt it down.

I have been addicted to playing Burnout Legends on my PSP lately. It is an awesome game.

I’m watching the Royal Rumble tonight, because I am a wrestling mark.

I did some messing around with my MySpace.com profile today, check it out and let me know what you think. (Also, feel free to add my as a friend!) With MySpace and LinkedIn, I have been enjoying making contacts with folks I’ve known for a while but haven’t seen. I’m also enjoying meeting new people as well.

Over the past month or so we have tackled just about everything there is to tackle when it comes to domain names. I told you my thoughts on how to pick one, how to shop for one, and how to get it up and going. What is left to talk about? Well, I might have a few more domain name tricks and tips up my Web Hosting Show sleave.

Subdomains

So, what is a subdomain? It is a second level domain, some might say. You have probably seen one before. Think of mail.yahoo.com. That would be a subdomain of yahoo.com. They are used to break up your Web hosting account into different parts. Now, if you want one it shouldn’t be too hard to get one. Just about every domain name register and Web host out there offer them. It is just one more thing to keep in mind. One more screwdriver in your tool belt when it comes to planning the layout of your Web site.

Domain Name Acronyms

Now I am sure everybody knows what an acronym is. Just in case you don’t though, an acronym is a word that is formed by combining parts of other words. Web Hosting Show Fans’s Acronym would be WHSF. It takes the first letter of each word in the phrase and makes a word out of it. Now do you want to use acronyms when you pick your domain name? I would say maybe. I would rather you get the whole phrase first, and then pick up the acronym later on down the road. For example, www.ilovemashedpotatosandcheese.com might be a little too long of a domain name. In that case, it might be better to direct people towards www.ilmpac.com.

Price Comparisons on Domains

There are a lot of different prices and deals out there when it comes to domain name shopping. Maybe even more than you would get when shopping for a Web hosting account. You have to remember to be a smart consumer and comparison shop between multiple places. You won’t find the deal of your dreams your first time out. It is always a good idea to weigh the advantages and the disadvantages of multiple places before making your final choice. Decide which price and features is the best for you, then pick your domain name register.

Own Your Domain Name

The last tip I have for you today was suggested to me by a Web Hosting Show fan named David. You should always make sure that the domain name is registered in your name and not the name of the Web host or the domain name register. That way if you want to move to a different Web host or domain name register, the process isn’t such a pain in the rear. Want to find out who’s name your domain name is under? Just do a simple Whois search and you should be given all the details there are. Make sure you always read the fine print.

Download the Web Hosting Show! (MP3) | Read the Show Notes!

Running Time: 5 minutes | File Size: 1.27 MB

IPOWER just relaunched it’s all-in-one Web site solution package. I would like to see more Web hosts do this. Make the Web hosting experience easier for clients and customers. Bundling everything under one roof just makes sense.

Leading website hosting provider for small businesses, IPOWER, Inc., has released iPage V2 – a product targeted to small businesses wanting an easy-to-use, all-in-one solution for purchasing, creating, hosting, marketing and managing their website.

The new version of iPage is completely reloaded with hundreds of the best website designs, and features such as email, webmail, newsletter manager and eBay integration tools for quick and easy ecommerce abilities.

You can try it out for free for 30 days, so why not give it a shot?

Everybody is raising a stink about Yahoo! being content with not being the number one search engine out there today. This shouldn’t be any surprise really. I mean, as time has rolled by Yahoo! looks like it want to be more than just a search engine. Why fight to be the best in just one category, when you could be number one in several other areas? I think they could really expand a lot with the Web hosting (both free and paid for) that they offer for one. Then again, I’m just a Web hosting kind of guy.

I’m always happy to hear feedback from folks after I have mentioned them on the Web Hosting Show. I have to say I really like the folks behind iNetpublication. They have the same ideas as I do as far as what the Web hosting industry should do more of in the future. It is a great resource as well for both Web hosts and Web hosting clients.

There’s a lot of hosting news in the wire reports this morning, but that can wait for a few minutes – I’ve got some shameless self-promotion to do. iNetpublication was featured on the Web Hosting Show with Mitch Keeler this morning.

Mitch is a hosting industry veteran turned podcast show rock star, and I’ve been tuning in to his show for a while now. Not only is he on top of the news, but he has a flair for sifting through the bull that comes in off the wire and offering the digested truth.

Check them out, and be sure you let them know that I sent you there. I don’t know if it will get you any special deals, but if anything can be learned dropping names is a great way of making friends.

The number one Web hosting podcast across the nation is back on the air, for podcast number 47. After doing nearly 50 shows, what else can be said that the Web Hosting Show hasn’t said before? There are entire continents of the Web hosting world that haven’t even been charted out yet.

HostMySite.com, a leading Web hosting provider announced they doubled the disk space and bandwidth included with shared Web hosting plans free of charge for customers. The increase is the first in a series of feature enhancements and product updates HostMySite.com has planned throughout the year.

There is nothing at all wrong with getting double of what you paid for. As I said a few shows back, you aren’t going to see price drops in 2006, you are going to see hosting plans growing in size and shape. I wonder what else HostMySite.com has planned for the rest of 2006 though?

Web hosting automation solution developer Biztology said on Friday that it had launched its new server control panel Cube Panel.

It has been a while since I have heard about a new control panel out there in the market today. Not much is really happening as far as new features go, so I am excited to see what this Cube Panel will be bringing to the dance.

A vulnerability has been found in the Helm Web hosting control panel, according to a report by security organization Secunia. Helm is the flagship hosting automation solution of UK-based software developer WebHost Automation.

According to the reports, input passed to the “txtEmailAddress” parameter in forgotPassword.asp isn’t properly sanitized before being returned to the user. It is also being said that this is a “less critical” security problem as well, but could then be exploited to carry out cross-site scripting attacks.

Download the Web Hosting Show! (MP3) | Read the Show Notes!

Running Time: 20 minutes | File Size: 4.37 MB

I’ve told you about picking the perfect domain name and how to shop for that same domain name. What is next? We have to get that domain name and your Web hosting account talking to each other. We have to set up your new domain name so that when you go to it, it will lead to your Web hosting account.

There are usually two ways this is handled. One is way is when your domain name and Web host are the same and the other is when they are different.

When your Web host and domain name register are the same company, your job is usually a little easier. The reason this is an easier set up is because the domain name registrations and hosting are usually connected in one way or another.

For an example, lets say that you bought your domain name first, then your Web hosting. When you start putting in your information about your account while setting up the Web hosting, they will ask you for your domain name. When you do that, you are connecting the two accounts. Then when the Web hosting account is set up, the Web host has everything they need to get you up and running. Your domain name is already pointing towards your Web host’s DNS settings, so you have no more work here to do.

Now when your Web host and domain name register are different, then you might have a little harder time. When you sign up for your Web hosting, your Web host will give you some DNS numbers that you’ll have to give to your domain name register. These numbers tell your domain name to point towards the Web host’s servers. Once you have those numbers, you can usually sign into your domain name register’s Web site and change the settings from there. It is a little more work, but you can still get to the same destination no matter which way you go.

So there you have it, two of the most popular ways of setting up your domain name to work with your Web hosting account. Next week we will cover a few more domain name tips and tricks I might have left out in the past three weeks. Remember to check out WebHostingShow.com to catch the other domain name specials!

Download the Web Hosting Show! (MP3) | Read the Show Notes!

Running Time: 4 minutes | File Size: 905 KB

I’ve been rather disappointed with a number of the Web hosting resource lists. It seems like most generally aren’t that great. They have horrible Web sites listed or hardly any Web sites at all. Well, since I didn’t like the selection of choices out there, I decided to make one of my own. This is where the Web Hosting Show’s new Web Hosting Resources Web page comes into play.

Along with your regular categories, I have also listed RSS feeds for each of the Web sites that have one. I know better than anybody it isn’t easy finding Web hosting-related Web sites with RSS syndication. There are a few though you can drop into your favorite feed reader of choice.