Looking to host something that’s more than a little risqué? Then perhaps adult web hosting is what you need. Unlike your typical blog or fan website, many hosts will not host adult sites. So how do you know if your host allows mature content?

Thankfully, every provider will tell you what type of sites are allowed up front. Sometimes the information will be on the sign-up page, but usually it will be listed in the terms of service. If in doubt, you can always ask a sales representative.

While adult sites can be profitable, a good many web hosts don’t want to deal with them for a variety of reasons. Some don’t want to be associated with the content while others have found that adult sites use up a lot of resources and are thus not profitable to host. Look around, however, and you’ll find that there is a decent number of hosts that don’t give a damn.

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Many website owners need photo galleries for their content. There are essentially three options for someone who wants an online photo gallery:

1. Use one of the gallery scripts supplied and installed by your web hosting provider (if available)
2. Download a free or commercial gallery application and install it on your server
3. Use a third-party photo sharing or gallery hosting site.

The advantage of a locally hosted gallery on your own server is that you can usually easily export your gallery and take it to another host. You also have full control over customization and features (especially if you are using an open source product). With option #1 the biggest disadvantage is that you are limited to whatever your web host provides, which may or may not be available if you switch to another host. The disadvantage of #2 is that you are responsible for updates and maintaining the security and stability of the gallery.

Option #3 eliminates the disadvantages of #1 and #2. Your gallery is maintained by another company and hosted on a remote server. You never have to worry about upgrades. The big disadvantage is that you do not have control over your own content and may not be able to easily export it and take it to another host or gallery.

Photo: Flickr

Continue reading: Control panel gallery scripts vs. third-party photo services

Even if you did not pay attention to them, you have probably seen privacy policies and terms of service statements on multiple websites, especially those owned by major businesses. If you are just starting out with a new web hosting account, do you really need to worry about such things?

One strand of thinking would say that there is really no reason to bother with such formalities on a small website and that only big businesses that collect a lot of user data need to be concerned with it. On the other hand, many small websites still collect user data, particularly small online stores, and those stores are as vulnerable to lawsuits as any major corporation.

There are many websites and free services that offer privacy policy generators and terms of service templates. If for no other reason, having those statements on your website provides clarify if a user is ever unsure about your purpose and what you do with their information.

Photo: Flickr

Continue reading: Privacy policies and terms of service agreements

cPanel is best known as a graphical web hosting control panel. Since it is web based, however, there may be times when a system administrator may prefer or may need to execute commands from the Linux shell, either locally or remotely via SSH. Fortunately, cPanel comes with a host of scripts found in the /scripts directory. Here are just some of the scripts offered:

easyapache - upgrades and reinstalls Apache
addpop - adds a POP mail account
wwwacct - adds a cPanel account
suspendacct - suspends an account
runweblogs - updates statistics for a user
makecpphp - reinstalls cPanel’s internal PHP
cpbackup - backs up all accounts

Other scripts are documented on the cPanel website as well as more specific documentation about updating services. As a warning, cPanel recommends against using any other scripts not listed on their website, although your web hosting provider might install some. If you find a suspicious script, contact your web host.

Source: cPanel Documentation
Photo: Flickr

Continue reading: cPanel shell scripts for Linux

Many web hosting companies offer free script and CMS installation. In most cases, the installation is automatic and done through the host’s control panel system. For example, users of cPanel might have an option for Fantasico De Luxe, which installs a number of web applications, such as Joomla, Wordpress, and OS Commerce.

There are a few things you should consider when using such services:

1. Does the provider’s service provide updates for the scripts?
2. Are they standard installs that can be modified the same way a manual install would?
3. Is the software open and common so that if the user decides to leave that host, they can take their data and design elsewhere?
4. What type of the support does the host offer for these third-party packages?

Depending on the answers to these and other questions, you may decide to use your web host’s services or install the applications you need on your own.

Continue reading: Web hosting provider script and CMS installation

Is there such a thing as anonymous web hosting? For those looking to host website content that is controversial or possibly illegal in their respective jurisdictions, many “anonymous web hosts” have popped up. Often located in far-flung reaches of the world, these companies promise to keep your identity secret– for a price. Are they worth the extra money?

Assuming you’re hosting something controversial but legal, no. Any reputable host will keep your contact information safe from prying eyes. What you want to look for is an established, reputable company that complies with freedom of speech and expression laws. Such a host should only reveal your private information by court order.

If you trust your money with a fly-by-night operation overseas, good luck. Such a company is not as legally obligated to keep your identity secure and may be more vulnerable to hackers. Finally, such a firm is much more likely to close its doors without notice, taking your site with it.

Continue reading: Anonymous web hosting

While most hosting companies bill on a month-to-month basis, some may require a long-term commitment. This is especially true with low-cost providers or customers requiring a special configuration. Should you make a commitment?

If a commitment is required to get a discounted price, ask the provider if you can pay the regular price for one month and then opt for a long-term contract after 30 days. It makes sense for hosting companies to give you a lower price if you give them a large sum of cash up front, but as a customer, you need to make sure you’re making the right choice.

As far as dedicated servers go, expect to put money down if you rent a very expensive server or have a complex configuration that takes a long time to set up. Providers don’t want to spend many expensive man-hours installing a specific setup only to have you jump ship a month later. Then again, if you just want an ordinary server with no special needs, a commitment usually isn’t necessary. The majority of hosting customers should not have to agree to a long-term contract to get a fair price.

Photo | Flickr

Continue reading: The commitment conundrum

Several months ago, rumours abounded that Yahoo wanted to refocus its business model and get out of the web hosting business. It reportedly wanted between $350 million and $500 million for its small business hosting.

Because of a lack of buyers, Yahoo has announced it will keep its web hosting division, which hosts 2.2 million websites worldwide. Last year, the company also shut down its free hosting service, Geocities.

Personally, I would not pick a host that was so intent on selling out. While Yahoo has reaffirmed its commitment to stay in the hosting business, I honestly think the company is just waiting for the right price.

Photo | Flickr

Continue reading: Yahoo to keep web hosting division

Question: Is there any way to configure a dedicated Linux server without having local access and without logging in to the command line through SSH?

Answer: The short answer is that it is highly unlikely you will never need to use the command line interface on a Linux server, and if you don’t have physical access to the server, you will most likely not have a graphical interface at all.

The exception, however, is Webmin, a very powerful web-based Unix system administration tool. Webmin can be used to replace many of the common command-line tasks, such as creating users, configuring Apache, DNS, passwords, databases, and can even be used to reboot the server. It functions just like most other web-based control panels and comes with a customizable interface (using themes).

Webmin also includes sub-components such as Cloudmin for virtualization and Virtualmin for web hosting. Webmin is free and open source software released under a BSD-style license and is available for download and installation on numerous platforms and Unix-like operating systems.

Source: Webmin.com

Continue reading: Using Webmin for Linux commands and tasks

A web hosting forum user asks this question:

I’m looking for changing to a new Linux VPS Hosting company. My website is running oscommerce shopping cart now is like 3.5G with Mysql and I get 4000 visits per day. What i concern the most is their service then goes to the performance. I need my web up all the time even it is down. The hosting needs to repair the problem in fast reaction and really look into what cause the problem.

My budget is $200 per month, I know for that price I can get a dedicated server but my problem is I don’t know about tuning the Linux plus I have experience using the dedicated server that if the hardware goes wrong and I will need to spend lot of time to find out what is the problem….

Do you think using VPS is right way for me to go?

This person is in a unique situation because he is out of the budget range where most people would consider a VPS, but at the lower end of the dedicated server market. Here’s my take on what he should do.

Continue reading: Is a VPS the way to go for a $200 budget?

Many shared web hosts like to advertise their server hardware, and the most popular thing to brag about these days is the brand of CPU used. Nearly all web hosts use processors made by AMD or Intel. Does it matter which one your host prefers? Is one faster over the other?

In short, it isn’t important what brand processor your host chooses. While one particular processor model might be faster than another, the more important factor is how heavily loaded a provider’s servers are. Will you be sharing a server with 10 other customers, 100, or 1,000?

Continue reading: AMD vs. Intel

Setting up a radio broadcast requires two main components: 1. server-side streaming software and 2. some type of streaming software on your local computer that sends streaming music through the server.

There are many popular audio streaming solutions, but two of the most common free solutions are Shoutcast and Icecast. The difference between the two is that Shoutcast is proprietary while Icecast is free and open source. If you have your own dedicated server, you can usually install icecast from your Linux distribution’s repository.

If, however, you plan to get a shared hosting account, you should do some investigating to find a web hosting provider that offers pre-existing shoutcast or icecast setups. Many of them have different packages that vary depending on how many simultaneous listeners you will have. Each listener has a unique connection to the server, so bandwidth consideration is a factor. Once you have Shoutcast or Icecast ready to go, you will need to set it up and test it. We will learn about that later this week.

Photo: Flickr

Continue reading: Radio broadcasting from a web server