What do I need to
make my web site available
on the Internet?
Internet web sites
are simply a collection of
files stored on a computer
that has a continuous
connection to the Internet.
The files are written in
code that can be read by web
browsers. The web page files
can contain any information,
including written text,
images, and links to other
web pages. Internet web
sites are most commonly
operated on web servers,
which are computers designed
to host web sites.
Once you have your web site
on a web server, the web
site must be assigned a
domain name so that visitors
on the Internet can access
your web site.
How much disk space
do I need for my web site?
The amount of space your web
site will need depends on
its complexity. An average
informational web site will
use less than 100 MB of disk
storage space. Web pages
themselves do not generally
take up a lot of disk space.
If the web site has a large
collection of images or a
large database, more space
may be required.
What is the monthly data
transfer amount and how much do
I need for my web site?
Monthly data transfer refers
to the amount of data
transferred between the web
server and a visitor's
computer during one month.
Each time you access a web
site on the Internet, there
is a transfer of data
between your computer and
the web server that hosts
the web site. The
transferred data consists of
requests sent by your web
browser and web page data
sent to your web browser. If
a web page is 3 kilobytes in
size, then you would use 3
KB of transferred data to
view that single web page.
Visitors who look at a
single web page several
times may not be receiving
the whole web page each
time. Most web browsers use
a cache to save web page
information that has already
been viewed. If the web
browser determines that a
web page has not changed
since the last time it was
viewed, it may use the web
page data in its cache
instead of downloading the
same information again.
An average web site will use
less than 1 GB of data
transfer per month. Web
sites that are very active
with several thousand hits
per day would likely use no
more than 5 GB of data
transfer per month.
There is a web hosting account for
$2.99 per month with another
host. Why use CDavis
Emterprises?
The best thing to remember
for this question is "you
get what you pay for."
A price like $2.99 per month
is available from 2 types of
businesses.
The business may be a huge
company and, with the volume
of business they conduct,
they can offer the service
at that price.
However, if you have a
problem with your account,
be prepared for a lot of
frustration. This type
of company will likely not
respond to e-mail inquiries
(if you can find a contact
address) or you will get a
never-ending phone tree when
you try a telephone call.
The other type of business
is likely one that is trying
to look big. However,
if you "look under the
covers," you may find that
the web server you are
getting has actually be
resold several times before
you get to use it.
Reliability is the key for
your web content. You
should know where your
service is coming from and
know that a customer service
representative can be
reached if something isn't
working right.
Having a reliable web server
is the key to having a
successful web site.
Only the huge companies can
afford to have a
multi-million dollar server
network for web site
hosting. You need to
be sure that the server is
reliable and that there is
direct access to technical
support if a problem occurs.
The multi-million dollar
server facility used by
CDavis Enterprises is
operated by
RackForce in British
Columbia, Canada. We
have direct access to our
server at this facility and
24-hour access to
technicians at the facility.
Additionally, we operate
hardware at our office in
Templeton, California, which
monitors the server's
operation 24-hours a day.
If you have a problem, you
can contact us 24-hours a
day, 7 days a week. It
is unlikely you would
receive this level of
service and customer care
for $2.99 per month.
There are a lot of companies
that offer unlimited data
transfer. Why does
CDavis Enterprises have
limits?
There is a simple reason why
companies offer unlimited
data transfer. Simply
put, it is a great marketing
ploy. Obviously it is
better have no limits on
your web site data transfer
than to have limits on your
data transfer. Right?
Here is the truth about
unlimited data transfer.
Companies offer unlimited
data transfers because they
are betting that your web
site will not use more that
what normal web sites use.
Every web server has a limit
to the amount of data it can
transfer at any given
moment. If useage of
the web sites on a server
exceeds the maximum
bandwidth of the Internet
connection for that server,
you will have slow response
from the web sites, or
possibly no response.
It is highly likely that a
web site overusing bandwidth
on a web server, even though
the account has unlimited
data transfer, would not be
allowed to continue
operation. In short,
there is no such thing as
unlimited data transfer
other than a marketing tool
to make sales.
The vast majority of web
sites on the Internet are
operated from shared web
servers. Unless you
have a lot of money to
purchase a web server for
the exclusive use of a web
site, your web site is
likely sharing a server with
other web sites. As
long as each web site on the
server does not overuse the
Internet connection, all web
sites can operate.
Having a limit on each web
site ensures all web sites
of a fast Internet
connection.
If you have a web site that
goes beyond the plan limit
for monthly data transfer,
we will work with you to
ensure your web site can
continue to operate at your
useage level.
What is the best way to learn
how to make or manage a web
site?
If you do not have any
experience authoring or
managing a web site, it is
unlikely that you will be
able to learn in a day or
two. Like any other skill,
it requires some basic
knowledge of how web sites
work and some hands-on
experience.
There are many books written
about how to make web sites.
For the green web site
author, finding a book on
the subject is a good place
to start. The vast majority
of web site authors use some
kind of program to produce
and manage web pages. There
are a number of programs
available, from inexpensive
shareware to application
packages costing several
hundred dollars.
It is not difficult to learn
how to manage a personal web
site. If you are interested
in a web site for your
business, it may be more
time and cost effective to
have a professional do your
web site work.
What is the difference between a
web hosting account and domain
name registration?
The web hosting account
includes the physical
location of the server that
stores the web site data. A
web site must have a domain
name, which is like an
address, so that visitors
can access the web site. The
web site host stores your
web site and a domain
registrar keeps the
registration information for
the domain name of your web
site.
CDavis Enterprises offers
both web site hosting and
domain name registration.
You are free to use our
services or the services of
other providers. By using
CDavis Enterprises, we
guarantee you direct control
of your domain name and web
site. When dealing with some
of the large "discount"
providers, it is not
uncommon to have a problem
left unresolved for sometime
because e-mail inquiries are
unanswered or telephone
calls go to computerized
menus.
What are the differences between
services provided for the Basic
Plan and the Basic Managed Plan?
CDavis Enterprises offers 3
web hosting plans based on
the complexity of the web
site. Each of the hosting
plans has 2 different levels
of service, non-managed and
managed.
The non-managed hosting
plans are intended for
customers with at least a
basic knowledge of web site
operation. You should know
about web site data and know
how to upload the data to a
web server.
The managed plans are for
customers with no expertise
in the operation of web
sites or with no time to
manage the operation of the
web site. Managed plans cost
$15 more per month than the
non-managed plans. Service
includes uploading of web
site data, set-up of e-mail
accounts and any other
management not related to
web page authoring.
What can I do if I start
building a web site, but don't
have the technical skill to get
it done?
If your web site will need
few changes, but you don't
have the technical skill to
manage it, we can help. Web
sites that stay mostly the
same can be set up as
non-managed accounts. We can
provide any technical
assistance needed at a
nominal rate of $60 per
hour. Tell us what you need
and we will provide you a
quote for the needed
services.
Can I have a Basic Plan web
hosting account and still have
help setting up the web site?
Yes, you can. Tell us what
you want to do with your web
site and we will give you a
quote to get you going.
Which web server directories
are
used for web site files?
/CGI-BIN
Custom cgi scripts should be
placed in this directory.
Note: although this
directory is located at the
same level as your "htdocs"
directory it is accessible
through the web as:
http://www.yoursite.com/cgi-bin/
.
/HTTPDOCS
All html and graphics
accessible through the web
should be placed in this
directory. Your first file
should be index.html Make
sure to use all lower case.
Please note that FrontPage
users will find files and
directories that start with
"." and "_" plus an images
directory which are all
required by FrontPage and
should not be removed.
/HTTPSDOCS
Files placed in this
directory will be accessible
by using
"https://www.yoursite.com".
/SUBDOMAINS
Subdomain files are kept in
this directory, with web
site pages being stored in
the httpdocs subdirectory.
All other directories should
be left as they are.
What can I do
if I have several users with
information on my web site?
All accounts include the
option of designating
directories for the use of
individual web users. This
is useful if you have a
primary organization
responsible for the domain
web site and groups within
the organization in need of
their own web space. You can
assign sub-directories to
different groups and their
web space would be accessed
using an address such as
http://www.yourdomain.com/~group1/.
Each group sub-directory can
have its own FTP user ID and
password.
What if
I have other questions that
are not addressed here?
If you have other questions
that are not answered here,
you can contact
Customer Support or call
1-877-810-0250.
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