All tricks computer and internet

There is nothing more frustrating as a webmaster then waking up in the morning, firing up your browser to check your website only to find a message saying “This site has exceeded it’s bandwidth limits for the month”

It’s embarrassing, time consuming and not to mention costly if you are missing out on sales.


On the other side of the scale, it can be very costly to be on a larger web hosting plan or dedicated server and hardly even use the services it offers.


Good quality web hosting is not cheap, but you need to balance your business needs with what you can really afford to pay.

So what web hosting service should you be using? Good question!

In this article I’m going to be talking about the pro’s and con’s of both shared web hosting and dedicated web hosting packages. By the end of the article you should have some idea what your online business needs now and what it will need when it expands.

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is what most small online businesses use. Shared hosting means that your site is on one server that also holds other peoples websites as well. Your website will not be the only one on that server. Very few small online businesses need the power of a dedicated server.

Most companies offer a few different types of shared web hosting services. The only difference usually being how much disk space you want or how much transfer allowance you need.

The major differences between each package really is how many domain names you can host, how much transfer (how many megabytes that are downloading from your website) you can have and how much disk space (how many files you can store) you need.

If you’re just starting out online and haven’t got a website up yet and not sure what you are doing exactly, start off with the small plan. That’s more then enough for a small site or blog for that matter.

Now if you run a larger website and you offer a lot of downloads, say for example you’re selling a rather large ebook, you might need the large service. Let’s say you have a 10mb ebook for sale, the large service this company offers would allow you to have roughly 2000 downloads of that package before you ran out of bandwidth (transfer).

Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated hosting is for the big boys. It’s for medium to big business looking to do a lot of work online. A dedicated server is just that, you’re own server. You get your own server just for your website which is unlike shared hosting as you have to share a server.

There are many different packages available with dedicated hosting depending on how much you want to spend. The more resources a server has, IE, RAM, Hard drive space, processor speed, the more it will cost.

You can see that a dedicated server allows you a lot more disk space and transfer allowance. It also allows you unlimited domain names. Dedicated servers are also known to be a lot more stable and allow you more control over your website and are perfect for a professional image.

There are two types of dedicated servers….

Managed hosting

Managed hosting offers you the support of a technical team looking after your server. They do all the updates and technical side of things for you. They will perform routine maintenance without you even asking. Managed hosting how ever does cost quite a lot more then un-managed usually.

Un-managed hosting

Un-managed hosting isn’t as support less as it sounds. Most dedicated servers do come with technical assistance and routine maintenance, but any support questions will more then likely cost you extra. If you need something added to your server, it will cost you a in maintenance fee’s. Rebooting your server should also come free with un-managed dedicated hosting.

Multiple Domain Name Hosting

Another thing you should look at is whether or not you want to host multiple domain names with your one hosting package. Both shared hosting and dedicated hosting can allow you to do this. A lot of share hosting services now allow this.

I recommend always using a web host that allows you to have multiple domain names with your one account. It really does solve the problem of having multiple hosting accounts for different domain names.

Other Things To Look For

Other things to think about when searching for a web hosting company is what you intend to do with your website.

Do you need a lot of technical assistance? If so, look for a hosting company with live 24/7 support. Do you want to create a blog, or lot’s of blogs? Then you will need to see if your web hosting company allows you to setup multiple MYSQL databases.

Security is a hot topic in today’s networks, and will continue to be for a long time to come. With that in mind, you must consider adding a Cisco security certification to your resume and firewall skills to your skill set.

It’s quite a jump from the CCNA to the CCSP (Cisco Certified Security Professional), and Cisco has made that leap more manageable by adding Specialist certifications. These certifications can give quite a boost to both your resume and your skill set, and act as a great “stepping stone” to the CCSP.

At present, Cisco offers four VPN/Security certifications, those being Cisco Firewall Specialist, Cisco IPS Specialist, Cisco VPN Specialist, and Cisco VPN/Security Sales Specialist. Since every WAN engineer has contact with Cisco firewalls on a regular basis, we’ll take a closer look at this popular certification first. (And those who want to be WAN engineers had better learn something about firewalls, too!)

At the writing of this article (October 21, 2005), Cisco is offering an option for each of the two exams you’ll need to pass to earn this certification. For the first exam, you can take either the 642-551 SND (Securing Cisco Network Devices) or 642-501 SECUR (Securing Cisco IOS Networks). The final day to register for the SECUR exam is December 19, 2005.

For either, you’ll need to be able to answer questions regarding the proper use of Cisco security devices; how to configure security on a Cisco switch and on a router, including syslog logging, AAA, ACLs, and security for router services and interfaces.

The choices for the second exam are the 642-522 SNPA (Securing Network with PIX and ASA) and 642-521 CSPFA. Topics for these exams include , IPSec, NAT, firewalls, AAA, and policy mapping. (As always, you should check for the latest exam blueprints at Cisco’s website. Click “Learning And Events” on the main page, www.cisco.com).

The only prerequisite for this certification is that you must hold a valid CCNA certification.

As always, getting some hands-on experience is the best way to prepare for your Cisco exams. (Your employer is going to get a little upset if you practice your configs on his or her PIX. It would be a good idea to have a good lawyer, too.) There are online rack rental services that include Cisco security devices in their pods.

Cisco certifications are a great way to help protect your career as well as your network. The more you know, and the more varied your skills, the more valuable you are to your present and future employers. Use your CCNA as a foundation, and keep building on your skills!

CCNA and CCNP candidates hear it all the time: “Get some hands-on experience”. From my personal experience climbing the Cisco certification ladder, I can tell you firsthand that there is no learning like hands-on learning. No simulator in the world is going to give you the experience you will get cabling and configuring your own routers.

Whenever I mention this to one of my students, they always say it costs too much. The truth is, it is cheaper now to build your own CCNA and CCNP lab than it has ever been. The secret? Used routers.



The word “used” turns off a lot of people not many of us buy used computers or used servers. Cisco routers, though, are robust. I personally own a Cisco 4000 router that I use as a Frame Relay switch in my lab that I’ve had for about four years, and I’ve never had a problem with it.



The good news for current CCNA and CCNP candidates interested in building their own labs is that used Cisco equipment has never been more plentiful or cheaper. eBay is a good way to get an idea of what’s out there and what the prices are, but you don’t have to assemble your lab one piece at a time. Many eBay vendors who sell used Cisco equipment sell ready-made CCNA and CCNP labs for one price, including cables.



I asked one major vendor of CCNA and CCNP labs, www.ciscokits.com, what the most common questions are regarding building your own home lab. Here’s what they had to say:



Why do I need real routers instead of a simulator?



You need a physical router,as the simulators just don’t have the ability to give you the “hands on” you need to see what happens when you disconnect a cable or put a cable in the wrong location. You will come to find quickly that mistakes you make on Router 1 are affecting Router 5 all because you did not screw in a cable properly. No simulator can simulate that.




How many routers do I need?



Two routers really are required to see if anything works. If you have a very limited budget, you can receive value from only purchasing a single router over working with a simulator. However, you will not be able to see the main thing we are trying to accomplish. The propagation of route tables!

The only way you can see if your configurations work, is to have at least two routers. Therefore, I strongly recommend that you purchase a dual router kit that comes with all the accessories you need. Otherwise you can spend days trying to find all the little extra pieces you need to get your lab up and running.



Do I need a switch?



Well, it is nice to have. However, with only about 2 questions on the test dedicated to “hands on” switch knowledge, if you have to skimp on something, skimp on the switch.



What routers and switches should I buy?



Choices, choices, choices! Which 2500/2600 router do I pick? I will list some pros and cons of each router below, along with current prices (note that prices are generally lower if you buy a dual router kit instead of a single router). Please note that prices are approximations.



1) Cisco 2501 Router with 16 MB Flash/16MB DRAM $94.99. The cheapest introduction router, and it can support a vast majority of the commands that you will need to learn for your CCNA test. All 2500 routers that we will discuss come with a minimum of two serial ports and an Ethernet port.

You will need to add a transceiver to this unit to convert the Ethernet AUI port to an RJ-45 style Ethernet port.



2) Cisco 2503 Router with 16 MB Flash/16MB DRAM $119.99. This is the same as a Cisco 2501, except it adds an ISDN port so you can complete all your ISDN commands for the CCNA test. You will need to add a transceiver to convert the Ethernet AUI port to an RJ-45 style Ethernet port.



3) Cisco 2505/2507 with 16 MB Flash/16MB DRAM $109.99. The same as a Cisco 2501 except it has a built-in 8 or 16 port hub so you do not have to purchase a transceiver.



4) Cisco 2514 Router with 16 MB Flash/16MB DRAM $149.99. This router is the same as a Cisco 2501 except instead of one Ethernet port you have two. You may ask, what is the big deal? Well, you can use this as your Cable Modem/DSL Modem router. Now you can test your ability to setup a firewall and router in a live environment on the Internet. Lots of fun! You will need to add two transceivers to convert the Ethernet AUI ports to an RJ-45 style Ethernet ports.



5) Cisco 2520 Router with 16 MB Flash/16MB DRAM $119.99. This is the same as a 2503 but it also adds two more serial ports so you can use this as a frame relay switch later in your CCNA studies. It costs the same as a 2503, so this is a great money saving tip.



6) Cisco 2612 Router with 32 DRAM and 8 MB Flash $199.99. This is a modular router unlike any of the 2500 series routers. So the big benefit of this is you can buy extra modules to add functionality such as more serial ports, ISDN ports, Ethernet ports, WICs and such. However, due to the flexibility you will pay a bit more. One day it is a frame relay switch, the next it is your ISDN router. In the long run it will be cheaper than purchasing a bunch of dedicated routers for each

discipline you want to learn.


7) Cisco 1912 or 1924 Switch with Enterprise Software $109.99. This is a good low cost switch. The only drawback is it is a 10 MB switch except for the two 100 MB uplink ports. Not a big deal since you have 10 MB routers.

Cisco 2912 or 2924 Switch with Enterprise Software $249.99. This switch will run all the current commands needed for the test and is a full 100 MB switch.

And should you desire to sell your lab after you complete your certification, you can either negotiate a price with the vendor who sold it to you, or you can sell it yourself on ebay. It’s my experience that 95% of candidates who earn their CCNA go on to pursue their CCNP within one year, though, so don’t sell it too quickly.


In the end, you spend only a few hundred dollars, and you gain invaluable experience and knowledge that will help you both in your certification quest and your job performance. Having worked my way from the CCNA to the CCIE, I can tell you that you will learn much more from actually configuring and cabling your own equipment than you ever will from any simulation of the real thing.