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* VERY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS * |
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A Good Question |
A Good Answer |
Explanation |
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1 |
Do you allow SMTP POP3 email to be sent AND received from
mydomain.com? |
Yes |
Some
hosting companies force you to send SMTP POP3 email from
isp.yourdomain.com rather than yourdomain.com. They do this
because they claim 1) it keeps the servers fast. However, a
dedicated SMTP POP3 server won't have any problems 2) it minimizes
spam (however, spammers can still use web mail from their account,
and CGI scripts from their account - so it really doesn't minimize
spam).
The biggest problem is that some
Internet Service Providers (like AOL®)
won't allow the use of isp.yourdomain.com. It probably
wouldn't make for a good day if you discover you had to change ISPs
just to send email via your domain.
ActiveWebHost.com does
allow you to send email from your domain. |
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2 |
If I go over the monthly allotted bandwidth, what are the charges
for each gig? |
$1 to $4 a gig
(as of 2005) |
Watch this one as we have seen hosts indicate "purchase additional
bandwidth for $0.07 per MB." That translates into $70 per gig!
Be careful to not fall into a trap like this!
As of
2005, we charge $1 for each extra gig purchased in 10 gig packs. |
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3 |
Are there any restrictions regarding the gigs of monthly transfer?
For example, must it be a percentage of text versus binary? Or does
it that not matter? |
No, there is no restriction on your site traffic distribution. |
Don't get caught in the trap of a hosting company that monitors your
traffic and charges you for different types of traffic (text versus
binary).
You may think hosting companies
don't do this, but you'd be surprised.
ActiveWebHost.com does not restrict the type of bandwidth.
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4 |
Must the files that someone wishes to access via httpS be sent to
you (the hosting company)
OR
Do I FTP the files to a "secure"
folder on my account that is accessed via httpS
OR
Can any file on the hosted account be
accessed via httpS? |
The second option or the third option. The third option is
best (and easiest).
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You may laugh at having to ask this question, but take our word for
it, many hosting companies still exist that are set up where you
must manually send them the files you want to access via https.
Don't get caught having to
manually send your files that you wish to access securely, and
then have to wait for "someone" at the hosting company to place
them on the server.
This is a "red flag" question as it
can cause you a lot of headaches.
ActiveWebHost.com
provides the third option as any file on your site can be accessed
by https. |
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* IMPORTANT QUESTIONS * |
| |
A Good Question |
A Good Answer |
Explanation |
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1 |
What if my website goes over the monthly transfer amount? Does my
site shut down or are we automatically charged? |
When your site reaches 80% of your allowance, we will contact you
for instructions on how to proceed. You will be given options such
as...
-
buying more
bandwidth,
-
upgrading to a
larger hosting plan, or
-
letting the site run
its course and use its allowance up at
which point the server will stop taking requests for it.
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It's
not a 100% necessity to have all three options available to you, but
it certainly does make life a lot easier.
Most hosting companies will send you
an email and charge the extra bandwidth or allow you to upgrade.
Some hosting companies will charge
you
after the fact, without any prior notice that you were going
over your bandwidth, and then they typically charge well above
market rate for the extra transfer of data. Watch out!
Any ActiveWebHost.com
account that reaches 80% of the total monthly bandwidth
automatically receives an email so that you can plan in advance if
you need to temporarily add more bandwidth or upgrade to another
account. |
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2 |
Do you have any upgrades for each account, and if so, what are the
costs? |
Varies |
Most web hosts publish this information along with each hosting
plan. It's good to ask if you can't find this information.
We
provide account add-ons that can be reviewed by clicking here. |
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3 |
Will my account have access to folders below the root folder (such
as below the www or public-www) to store data files that can't be
accessed via http? |
Yes |
This is good for those files you don't want others to be able to
access via http.
This is highly useful for an order
log, mailing list data, web stat logs, even the Excel
spreadsheet you want to download when you get home.
ActiveWebHost.com provides folders below the publicly accessed
folder.
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4 |
Regarding POP3s, can the username "webmaster" be available on each
separate domain? Or does it have to be "webmaster_11" on one domain
because "webmaster" has already been used by someone on another
domain?
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Pop accounts are assigned in a manner that allows each site to use
any name it needs, regardless if that name is already used on a
server. If you create an email for "webmaster" on one of your
domains, "webmaster" will also be available on any other domain you
have hosted with us. |
This lets all the hosted web sites on one server create their own
"webmaster" user. The "webmaster" is only an example
Some web hosts are setup where each
email username must be unique on the server. If someone
else on the server uses "Jamie" you would be forced to use a
different name.
It's easy to get around this with
software like MS Outlook, but it is something to ask about.
ActiveWebHost.com servers are setup so that you can use any email
address name you wish, even if webmaster@somesite.com is already
used on another account on the server. |
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5 |
Does the account come with a control panel? |
Yes |
Most hosting companies seem to include a control panel. The
control panel makes your life easier.
Your account at
ActiveWebHost.com includes a robust
Control Panel
that allows you point-and-click ease and convenience.
Click here for a
demonstration. |
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6 |
Does the account include web based email that can be checked OUTSIDE
the control panel? |
Yes |
Most hosting companies seem to be setup to allow this.
Make sure the web mail will support
the same number of POP3s the account comes with as we discovered
some hosts have a limit on the number of accounts that can use
the webmail software even though you could have many POP3
accounts.
Your ActiveWebHost.com
account includes multiple web mail software, some basic and easier
to use, others with more advanced features that include online
calendars, memos, and more. |
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7 |
Does the account come with a "Catch All" email account and does this
count toward the total emails? |
Yes to the first part and No to the second part. |
Most hosting companies seem to include this feature.
If someone accidentally sends an email to billy@yourdomain.com, but
they meant to send it to bill@yourdomain.com a "Catch All" account
will receive all misdirected email to your domain.
Your
ActiveWebHost.com account includes a catch all (system) account.
Another benefit is that your system email account does not count as
one of your email accounts for your account total. |
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THINGS TO CONSIDER... |
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1 |
The " BAD" web host companies usually lack "professional polish" in
their emails, some even taking days to respond. Worse yet, you
may find some that won't reply, forcing you to have to send another
email. It pays to find out any problems in advance BEFORE
signing up. |
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2 |
The GOOD web host companies reply to your email within 12 hours, if
not by then, you should have at least received a courtesy email to
let you know they are reviewing your questions. |
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3 |
Keep in mind that there's much more to hosting than gigabytes and
HTML, as without the professional support you need, your online
business will suffer the consequences. |
