What Cloud Hosting Can Offer Small Businesses

There are many different kinds of hosting for your business to choose from, and the one that’s right for you will depend largely on your business model. After all, a blog will not have the same hosting requirements as an online retailer.

Technology start-ups, however, must walk a fine line between affordable hosting and reliable hosting. For younger, newer companies that are still in their start-up phase (first 5 years), cloud hosting offers the ability to scale hosting according to their business needs and budget. This means that companies don’t have to commit to or invest more than they need from their hosting provider at any given moment.

Cloud Hosting for Start-Ups

Essentially, cloud hosting is ideal for tech start-ups that (1) rely on their web-based technology, (2) don’t yet have the resources to invest heavily into their infrastructure, but (3) plan to experience several significant growth spurts in the coming years. These are primarily web-based businesses that can't experience any significant down-time, but still have to be prudent with their budgets because they’re start-ups.

What cloud hosting lets these businesses do is rent a kind of virtual server that can be scaled as their business needs fluctuate. So as their traffic and user-base fluctuates, their hosting package can be adjusted on an as-needed basis. Many cloud hosting providers also offer a choice of operating system (Windows or Linux), as well as server configuration controls via APIs, control panels, or a web-based interface.

The benefit of a cloud server, then, is that (1) businesses save money by not spending more than they need at any given moment, but (2) can still harness all the full potential of cloud computing technology -- such as scalable bandwidth and enhanced server performance. Such features are ideal for a company that's tech- and web-reliant, but doesn't yet have the revenue, resources or need to commit to something as comprehensive as a dedicated hosting package.

Of course, getting the most out of a cloud hosting package also means having an in-house IT team to configure servers and manage resources on an ongoing basis. After all, as your traffic and user-base fluctuate, so will your server configuration and hosting package. As much as this sounds like a cost-intensive activity, it is not. First of all, if you're a web-based start-up, managing and optimizing resources is most of what your IT team does anyway. Secondly, you’ve saved on having to buy the actual hardware and all the supporting infrastructure that goes with it – e.g. redundancy switches, physical space, etc.

Choosing a Business Hosting Provider

Once you’ve decided that cloud hosting is the kind of hosting your business needs, choosing the right cloud hosting provider can be tricky. After all, while some hosting providers have built a reputable brand, that doesn't mean that they excel at providing all kinds of hosting.

So start by looking for reviews not about web hosting in general, but about cloud hosting in particular. Then, after you have a shortlist of potential cloud hosting providers, involve your IT team in the decision making process. Because they will be managing and configuring your cloud servers, they'll also be in the best position to evaluate a hosting provider's technology and help you choose a hosting package that makes the most sense for your business.

This is a guest post written by Steven Rosen

Steven Rosen is a Montreal-based computer science student and information junkie. When he is not busy studying, he enjoys reading about web design, Photoshop and internet marketing practices. He also has a part-time job giving computer courses to young students in the community.

20 Awesome and Very Creative Online Portfolio Designs for Inspiration

If you are you going to design your own online portfolio then this post going to help you. Designing a own portfolio is not easy as we think. After viewing number of sites you have an idea how to initiate.

In this post I'm sharing some very creative online portfolio to boost your creativity. This list includes some well known portfolio like Oliver James Gosling, Jord, Martin Balhar, Yodabaz, Adhemas Batista, Dab Tobolic, Cobus Bester etc.

I hope you'll really enjoy.

Elliot Jay Stocks



João Andrade



Bianca Yvonne



Oliver James Gosling



Sean Baker



Philippdoms



Julian Wilson



Jord



Doug Menezes



Martin Balhar



Dab Tobolic



Mukesh Marwah



Yodabaz



Cobus Bester



Adhemas Batista



Ricardo Gimenes



Jeroen Homan



Patrick Monkel



Axel



Marc Thomas



Do you have any opinion, please leave a comment.

10 Really Useful and Fresh Resources for Web Developers

From last one month I was busy very with some projects so I couldn't write any post. I have done projects in Cold Fusion (first time) and Dot net. I have learned a lot about Cold Fusion during the project and I'll share it later with all of you.

In this post I'm sharing some very useful resources to help web developers and designers. This interesting list includes Pure CSS3 Vignette, Five jQuery Cheats Sheets to Download, 10 great iPad applications for creative people etc.

I hope you'll really enjoy.

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10 great iPad applications for creative people

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Five jQuery Cheats Sheets to Download

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List of Really Useful Tools For CSS3 Developers

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Pure CSS Vignette

Vignettes! The technique involves a few divs, a bit of simple CSS, and a whole lot of fun with CSS3 technique.



10 Really Outstanding and Useful CSS Grid Systems

Grids are an invisible foundation that structure the websites we develop and design. This invisible foundation makes it possible for rapid development, concise code, and a much more organized layout.



Carbon Fiber Signup Form With PHP, jQuery and CSS3

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Fresh jQuery Tools and Resources for Web Designers

A showcase of fresh web tools and resources made on top of jQuery javascript library. List includes detailed tutorials and useful plugins you can use for you next design.



Do you have any opinion, please leave a comment.