The Gazette ... Issue: 200 (07-07-2003)

Topics in this issue Forum Watch Hosting Hotsheet

Welcome Back To the Gazette After a long leave (nearly 16 months), we're back. As you may have heard by now, Jim Wilson: the originator of The Gazette and founder of Jimworld, passed away in early May, 2003, following an 18 month battle with heart disease. We publish this issue of the gazette in his memory, and with his blessings. (More About Jim Wilson)

Forum Watch

We have two very major changes going on the forums over the next month or so. The first change you'll see will be another realignment. With the forums being spread across four domains, some forums have been harder to find, and others simply don't "fit" where they are. We're going to combine some of the forums into bigger forums, for example a new forum, called "Search Optimization 101 will be created, combined from the Help, New Member forum, Doorway Pages forum, Help Me, I'm Falling Forum, and the Dynamic Pages, Frames and Stuff Forums. It makes more sense to have a forum with a name that actually means something, and to combine like-minded forums into a central one. By combining forums, we'll have room to create new ones that cover topic areas such as "SEO Technology and Tools". We'll be rolling out the new forum set next week, along with a new forum in the Lounge, specifically devoted to your input on the forums... they are yours after all. It's important to point out that we now have 5 forum domains. For those of you that do not know, all of our forums live at one central domain (webmasterforums.com). The other domains exist to help segment the various forum topics into logical mini-websites for ease. If you prefer to work from the master, then please feel free to do so. http://www.webmasterforums.com (The complete forums) http://www.searchengineforums.com (SEO and Search Engines) http://www.gethighforums.com (Internet/Web Site Marketing) http://www.web-programming.com (Programming and Coding for the WWW) http://www.jimworldlounge.com (The Water Cooler) Comments (1)

Hosting Hotsheet

The well-connected website. A network perspective. To evaluate the merit of a web hosting provider, whether it be for a new site or an existing site, you must often read between the lines. It is a good idea to inquire about aspects of the providers service that aren't typically listed on its marketing pages. Once you've discovered a provider who meets your first criteria, that of necessary features, then you should look deeper into your second most necessities, those of site availability and performance. It may sound like a no-brainer, but having your site connected to the Internet is the whole reason for having a web site. Failures that cause your site to lose connection can, and will, happen. Therefore, it's crucial to find a provider whose architecture provides the least-risk of failure. Redundancy is key. Single points of failure are very bad. It is crucial that your provider have multiple connections to the Internet. Fiber never gets cut, right? Wrong. It gets cut everytime that you are involved in a mission critical venture. Construction, telecom projects and equipment failure can cause your site to go offline for an extended amount of time. This can be avoided if your provider has other connections to the Internet that will reroute traffic that would have normally been carried on the failed circuit. Yes, this means your provider must also have extra capacity on hand to handle normal traffic levels when one connection is lost. Your web site performance is not just a measure of your web server's speed. The ability of your provider to route traffic through the cleanest Internet connections is also of great importance. Much like when driving your car, there are several streets that you can take to get to your desired destination. Sometimes you will encounter construction or an accident that will require you to take an alternative street. The Internet works the same way. There are several routes that traffic can take to a destination. Your provider should be able to choose the cleanest, or most efficient, route to your web site visitor. In fact, your provider should be able to continually tune these routes so that they know the best path to your visitors. Another way to achieve this is by minimizing the number of different networks traffic will pass through before reaching its destination. It is extremely important for your provider to have direct connections to networks that have lots of customers. In other words, your web site will be served better if your provider is using connections with networks that facilitate Internet access to large volumes of subscribers. Finally, avoid providers who only have "peering" relationships with networks. Peering is a relationship between two or more ISPs whereby they agree to create a link between each other instead of using the standard Internet backbone. Those that have a customer relationship will always get better service than those who are peering. At SimpleNet, we've created an architecture that will provide you with the cleanest and most effective path to your web site. Couple that with our incredible products and you'll find that SimpleNet is the only choice for your web site's success. Visit SimpleNet now and take advantage of our waived setup fees for all JimWorld Members: http://www.simplenet.com/jimworld.html Comments (1)

Payment Due Notice

The Gazette is not free. It is 'Helpware.' This means that you are granted the right to participate, read, and learn from us, if you agree to contribute. Learn something, from here or anywhere else, and pass it on. If you see a Webmaster who's struggling, help them up. If you see someone making a mistake, offer some fix-it advice. In short, you get out of JimWorld, and the Internet, what you put into it. The more you give, the more you get. Even if you get nothing in return, it's important that you share. Karma always comes back around. Trust me, this will make you feel better, and will help a lot of people get their sites running better. OK, you're on your honor.

Summing It All Up

The opinions expressed here are purely those of the editor, John Cokos. All other small print clauses apply. Such as: Use at your own risk. Nothing in life is guaranteed. Let the buyer beware. A stitch in time gathers no moss. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole, or in part, without the express written consent of the author. Feel free to send this document in its entirety to as many of your friends as you want. We appreciate that and thank you. Our sites are generously hosted by the Hosting Experts at SimpleNet: http://jimworld.com/go/to.cgi?l=simplenet For information on advertising in the Gazette or any of the JimWorld properties, please refer to our advertiser information page: http://jimworld.com/go/to.cgi?l=advertise ** This publication is registered with the Library of Congress, Washington DC - ISSN: 1099-8438 To unsubscribe, simply click this link: Gazette Subscription Manager You will be removed and will not ever be resubscribed again.