Podcast 21 - Open Source Control Panel, Outsourced Hosting Support

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DATE : Mon, 18 Jul 2005 07:39:00 -0500
Entered in Database : 2005-07-18 08:39:00
length : 5990560
Link to the Show / Show Notes

This is the Web Hosting Show, the one and only Web hosting podcast out there today. On today's show we will be covering open source control panels out there, domain name registration help, my thoughts on WYSIWYG editors and why outsourcing Web hosting support is both good and evil. Get ready for the ride, because the Web Hosting Show is on the air!

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Runtime: 24 Minutes

Hello and welcome to the Web Hosting Show, the voice of the Web hosting world. This show is sponsored by the fine folks over atWeb Hosting Chat. Web Hosting Chat is your number one place for Web Hosting discussions. Who am I? I am the lovable yet freaky host, Mitch Keeler.

I have a few things I'd like to touch on before we get started with this week's show.

The Web Hosting Show is now on iTunes! It took about a week for them to get everything straight on the Apple end, but now everything shouldbe working as it should. If you have the iTunes software or an iPod, please feel free to download all the latest shows from the iTunes music store. All you have to do is search for "Web Hosting Show" in the podcast section. You can also click the iTunes button on the top of every page to get the Web Hosting Show in iTunes as well.

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If you are looking for a good way to organize, play and find new podcasts out there, I have been really impressed with the newOdeoservice. I would say it is one of the best out there so far.

The Web Hosting Show now has voice mail! If you'd like to leave a comment, suggestion, feedback or question in audio form, please do so viaSkype. My contact name on there is mitchkeeler. Just leave me a voice mail, and who knows? It might be played on the very next podcast for the Web Hosting Show.

For those of you who don't know me, or this is your first time listening to the show... let me do a little back tracking to get you caught up. The Web Hosting Show is all about helping everybody from Web hosts to Web hosting clients with the wild and wacky world of Web hosting. This show is for anybody who has a Web site, has dealt with Web hosting and is looking for a fun and informative outlet to learn more.

Please feel free to keep subscribing via the RSS feed, no mater how you decide to listen to the show. You can listen via your computer, your mp3 player, or right here on the Web site. How you listen doesn't matter to me. The only thing I care about is that you do listen and that I am being as helpful as I can be.

So now that I have that out of the way, let us all jump into some Web hosting headlines!

Web Hosting Headlines

The Web hosting news and headlines are brought to you byThe Web Host Industry Review. The Web Host Industry Review is the place to go to get all the latest Web hosting news from around the globe.

Walmart.com Web site Down 10 Hours
Web performance measurement provider AlertSite reported on Thursday that the WalMart.com Web site was done from 9:43pm on Wednesday evening till 7:58am Thursday morning – an outage that lasted over 10 hours.

That just goes to show you that you need a good Web host! No, I could probably guess that the problems over at WalMart.com were probably a little bigger than just the Web host. It does go to show you though that if you depend on Internet business though, not having your Web site up and running could be a death nail for you. Thankfully though, WalMart has a million stores out there, so I don't think they felt too much of a pinch here.

DNS4dummmies Launches Hosting Blog
Web hosting provider DNS4dummies.com announced on Monday it has launched a new blog for users who have little or no experience in setting up a Web site.

Yet another Web hosting blog! After finding today's Web Hosting Web Site for the Week last week (there is a hint there for those of you who listened to last week's podcast) I didn't think a new one would launch this week. Keep them coming! If there are any more out there I don't know of, be sure to let me know as well. Blogging plus Web hosting equals good business model.

TopSpeedWeb Offers Free Transfers, Trial
Web hosting provider TopSpeedWeb announced on Tuesday a new offering through which it will move new customer's current Web hosting accounts to TopSpeedWeb for free along with a free 30-day trial.

I have seen more Web hosts going after this type of deal lately. For the Web hosting clients out there it is a real life saver. For the Web hosts out there, it might be a headache, but I think it is well worth it. You have to do your best to sell your service in any means possible and nobody can doubt the power of the four letter word, "free".

Do you have some Web hosting news? Make sure you send it tomitch@mitchkeeler.comand I'll try to get it on the next episode of The Web Hosting Show.

Web Hosting Tip of the Week

Every so often you just need a quick nugget of knowledge. The Web hosting tip of the week is brought to you byMitchelaneous. Mitchelaneous is my own personal writing space where I go one on one with you everyday with some of my Web hosting articles, random postings and updates on my current projects.

This week's Web hosting tip of the week is to make sure you know who you are buying your domain name from. Now in most cases if you buy something in a store you would think you are buying it from the store, right? That is not always the case. Many Web hosts out there buy the right to resell other companies domain names. They get to brand a Web site and say that are selling it, but be very careful.

In most cases your Web hosting support team will not cover your domain name issues. They will direct you to the company that they bought the domain name selling services from. So before buying that new domain name, be very careful and do your homework before you give you money out to just anybody.

Do you have a Web hosting tip? Make sure you send it tomitch@mitchkeeler.comand I'll try to get it on the next episode of The Web Hosting Show.

Web Hosting Thoughts, Views and Ideas

All of my Web hosting thoughts, views and ideas are sponsored byData Center Talk. Data Center Talk is the best set of forums on the Earth about the world of Web hosting data centers.

Outsourced Web Hosting Support

Now a few shows back I mentioned the topic of Web hosts outsourcing their Web hosting support to other companies outside of the United States. Do you know who exactly is answering your help desk tickets? Most people really don't care, but I am here to tell you why you should care.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of Web hosting gurus out there that are going un-used or un-noticed because of this current trend of sending support requests out of the country. Why is it done? The reason is, is that it is a lot cheaper to have a guy in India answering your clients than it is having a guy in Texas doing the same job. Money shouldn't be such a big issue, but in the world we live in today, money is pretty much what makes the world go around.

In the Web host defense though, I do have to say that it is handy to have a guy in India answering your calls when nobody else is around. I doubt you would find too many people willing to work a 1:00 AM to 7:00 AM shift here in the states. Over in India or some other country, it is daytime when it is night here, so then it is a little easier to excuse Web hosts for these kinds of actions.

So is it good? bad? That is your call to make, not mine. I can see the good and bad sides from both points of view. I just wish we could find a better use for the unemployed Web hosting workers any system admins out there that don't have anything to do.

Open Source Control Panels

I recently got an e-mail from Mike, one of the loyal Web Hosting Show fans. He wanted to know if I knew of any free solutions in the Web hosting control panel world. Well Mike, I know of at least two!

Webmin
Zpanel

If you know of any more, make sure yousend me an e-mailor add them as a comment to the show notes for this episode of the Web Hosting Show.

Hosting News and Syndication

As a side note this week, I'd like to make mention of something I posted last week to the Web Hosting Show's Web site. Over and over again I get folks e-mailing me and asking me about Web hosting news sites, who has RSS feeds, where can I learn more information, ect..

Well, I have created a list of all my favorite Web hosting news resources (that have an RSS feed) and posted them Online. Want to check them out?

Web Hosting RSS Feeds

Notice that I saved the best one for last.

Do you have a Web hosting topic of discussion you'd like to hear me cover on The Web Hosting Show? Then make sure you send it tomitch@mitchkeeler.comand I'll try to get it on the next episode of The Web Hosting Show.

Web Site Design Help

All of The Web Hosting Show's design help is sponsored byBrowseHosts. BrowseHosts is the most comprehensive Web hosting directory out there today.

Instead of doing the standard Web site review today, I figured I would touch upon a design topic that has always bugged me, WYSIWYG editors. WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) Web page editors are pretty good these days. No mater if you are using FrontPage or Dreamweaver, you have a nice set of tools if you are willing to put down the money for them.

In my humble yet freaky opinion though, I think folks should know at least the basics of HTML before they jump into using one of these Web page editors. Why? Well, you don't let somebody drive a car till they have a drivers license right?

The fact of the matter is, if you don't know what is going on behind the editor's magic, it is going to be harder for you to figure out a problem, just in case you push the wrong button. It is the same reason we had to learn how to do basic math in school before the teacher would let us use a calculator. I like the fact that I know how to check my code for problems with or without the use of a Web page editor.

There are many Web sites out there to help you with the basic learning of HTML, CSS and other Web site editing practices out there:

Open Source Web Design
Webmonkey

Know of any more that might be helpful? Add a comment to the show notes!

So please, before you pick up that next short cut in your Web site development, make sure you know a little more about what is going on behind the magic. Who knows? Maybe you'll end up like me and enjoy writing everything by hand a lot more.

Do you need some help with your Web site design? Would you like me to just let you know what it is you could do to make your Web presence that much better? Make sure you send me an E-mail tomitch@mitchkeeler.comand I'll try to get your questions answered and your Web site reviewed on the next episode of The Web Hosting Show.

Web Hosting Web Site of the Week

The Web hosting Web site of the week is brought to you by Banners World.Banners Worldis the number one place to visit to get all your Web site graphics, banners and designs done.

This week's Web hosting Web site of the week isWeb Hosting Geek.

Now after mentioning him in last week's hosting headlines, I decided to contact the folks behind the Web Hosting Geek Web site. Although our conversation was short, it was a good one and I still am excited to see this new resource out there for the "web hosting geek" inside of us all to enjoy.

He's got lots of great tools, information and daily posts on all aspects of the Web hosting world. It reminds me of a lot of the early stuff I did onMitchelaneousbefore I decided to move all of my Web hosting content over to the Web Hosting Show's Web site.

As a mater of fact, he has even had a few good words about the Web Hosting Show as well.

Right now the man behind the magic is gone on vacation, but lets send a few Web Hosting Show listeners his way so he'll have an exciting return when he comes back. That's right, make sure you let them know that the Web Hosting Show sent you there.

Do you have a Web site that deserves to be the next Web hosting Web site of the week? Make sure you send it tomitch@mitchkeeler.comand I'll try to get it on the next episode of The Web Hosting Show.

Final Web Hosting Thoughts

That is it for this week's show! Make sure you send me your feedback, thoughts, suggestions and ideas tomitch@mitchkeeler.comor stop by The Web Hosting ShowFan Forums. Next week we will be doing more of the same! I am Mitch Keeler and you have been listening to The Web Hosting Show, the voice of the Web hosting world.

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