Perhaps you have encountered problems with launching your websites, such as lack of access to hosting space, excessive downtime, and poor quality service. When faced with these challenges, you might be inclined to conclude that the hosting company was unhelpful or incompetent or don't meet your needs for whatever reason. And if you do decide to move your site, you might find that it is impossible to migrate all the settings into the new hosting package. If any of these issues sound familiar, you are not alone. Many factors can lead to problems with website hosting companies. We explore some of the reasons why websites fail here and offer solutions - although there is never a single reason why any website fails.
What does it mean to host a website?
A site is hosted on a network of computers (called servers) usually stored in one or more data centers. The website itself consists of a collection of files, including HTML text files and image files. These files are kept in folders on the server with access granted to anyone who knows where they are. All these computers communicate with each other through a special router which ensures that any requests for information or action from your particular site will be routed to the proper server. The data center houses servers for many websites, each with its IP address which allows users to specifically visit each site.
The physical components are only part of the equation, however. Each hosting company has its own rules and regulations under which you operate as well as a different set of services offered to subscribers who host their sites with them. Part of your decision about which company to use for hosting should depend on the degree to which you are satisfied with their rules and services, but this is not always possible since many hosting companies do not provide enough details about their policies.
Reasons why websites fail
Insufficient bandwidth
Although it may sound like a mysterious technical term, bandwidth is quite simple to explain. Bandwidth refers to the maximum volume of information that can be transferred through the network within a specific time frame. For example, there may be 1 gigabyte (GB) of data that you would like to be able to transfer out of one hosting company's server in any given hour. If another site has a total of 50 GB which they would like to be able to transfer over the same network, then the bandwidth of that network is 100GB.
Many hosting plans are described as being suitable for small businesses or individuals who have expectations about their website traffic that are higher than this average number of visitors. Frequent spikes in site usage may lead to problems with lag or downtime which can lead to serious difficulty in maintaining a business site, especially when you are trying to maintain client relationships.
Insufficient storage space
Sites often need more file storage than is initially anticipated. If your site is one of the few which doesn't grow, then it may be that your needs are being met by the present storage space. Most sites, however, will quickly outgrow a fixed amount of space and need more room to accommodate additional images or video files or databases which store content from site visitors. If you do not have enough storage space on your current plan, then you might find yourself transferring data back and forth between servers and causing confusion in the network and the eyes of users.
Data loss or corruption
Loss of data is often a silent killer which comes to unsuspecting website owners when they are not looking for it. Files can become corrupted, especially if they contain images that have been scanned in from another source but do not have the correct header information or if they are encoded using an uncommon encoding scheme. If you use databases that require periodic updates to maintenance tables, then these can also lead to problems with data corruption since each update only records the version number of the last change. The same process won't work later on because it will not recognize that other fields were added or changed.
There are several ways to avoid data loss, but the simplest is to have regular backups of your site. If you are not sure which files need to be backed up, then get in touch with your hosting provider for advice on this topic. Make sure that your backups are stored off-site so that you won't lose everything if someone kicks in your front door or you are hit by a meteor.
Reasons why websites fail - security considerations
One of the most important factors which should be considered when choosing a hosting provider is the degree to which they protect their users' data from unauthorized access. The first level of protection is provided by firewalls between servers and routers. If a router somewhere along the line is compromised, then an attacker can access the information which you have sent to or received from a particular server.
The next level of protection takes things one step further so that any attempt to access your data must be either authorized by you or prohibited by you. This type of service is provided through mechanisms such as username and password combinations, SSL certificates, or by imposing restrictions on certain types of information that can be sent or received to your server.
Server security is the final step that you might consider taking when trying to protect data from unauthorized access. At this level, there are many options for creating encrypted tunnels between servers so that only authorized users can gain access to certain areas. If you need this level of security, then you should go ahead and ask your hosting provider if that is an option on their end or whether it will cost extra.
Now, these are just some of the reasons why websites fail, but since it got too technical we'll just let these sink in for now and look at the other ones some other time. With that said, if you want solutions to your problem and launch a successful website, look no further than We Love Digital Marketing. We're a digital marketing agency in India that has been helping businesses achieve success through their website for more than a decade. If you're interested, contact us today!
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