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OKCwebhosting.com is the private hosting company for www.CameraGear.com and the related websites.  We do not offer hosting services to the public.

Web Hosting FAQ

Having the most spectacular Web site in the world isn't much good without a reliable, secure, and affordable way to get that site online. There are essentially two options in this respect. One is to set up your own server (technical, expensive, and certain to result in many sleepless nights of rebooting), the other is to have your site hosted on someone else's server (less technical, less expensive, but certain to result in many sleepless nights wondering why your host's server is down). Most people opt for the latter, so we decided to answer some of the most asked questions about Web hosting for reference purposes.

What's a Web host?
A Web host is a company or organization that runs a server connected to the Internet and offers space on that server to people who want to put a site online.

Isn't that the same as an ISP?
No. Many ISPs (Internet Service Providers) do offer Web hosting, just as some Web hosts offer Internet connection services. Many ISPs include free Web space with dial-up accounts, although it is often inadequate for business purposes, while other ISPs and Web hosts provide little or no services aside from billing your credit card regularly.

How much does hosting cost?
Web hosting ranges from free, for ad-based hosting like Geocities, to hundreds of dollars monthly for a dedicated server. Note that you do not need a dedicated server for the average pro wrestling fan site, although some hosting firms will tell you otherwise.

My host promised unlimited bandwidth, but they're now trying to charge me for excessive usage. What's going on?
You read the bold flashing text on their front page that says, "Unlimited Bandwidth," and not the fine print buried six levels deep in their navigation where it says, "Conditions Apply." The conditions are that bandwidth is only as unlimited as your line of credit, meaning that for the right price you can have all the bandwidth you want.

Why have I been suspended for excessive usage even though I haven't used half of the 40 Gig per month transfer limit that came with my hosting package?
They'll never admit it, but basically, they are trying to either get rid of you or get you to upgrade to a more expensive package. This typically happens when a hosting company realizes that they can't possibly afford to provide hosting at the rates they sold year-long packages for three months ago. In other words, they finally got around to doing the math and figured out that they're losing money.

My host was there one minute, then it suddenly disappeared. Where did it go?
There's a good chance that your host's parents found out that an Internet server was being operated on their premises against their explicit orders since the "chat room incident," and they unplugged it. Host's have also been known to go broke and close up shop without warning. If you don't hear from them within 72 hours, contact missing Web hosts and start looking for another place to put your site.

How come a voting site had my host listed as one of the top five hosts on the Internet, but they are actually aweful?
That's because voting sites are notoriously unreliable and are often set up by hosts themselves to promote their own services. Many quality hosts don't participate in voting sites, and the voting system is typically rigged, so these lists are frequently lists of the top hosts to be avoided at all costs.

My host lost all my documents. Now what?
Simply restore your site from the extensive collection of back-ups you have at home.

My current host is charging me almost $15.00 a month, but the competition is only charging $4.95 a month. Should I switch?
Absolutely not. You should never switch from a host you are happy with for a savings of less than $11.95 per month, especially if your site brings in revenues of over a thousand dollars an hour.

It takes 9 minutes and 27 seconds for my site to load. Could this be a problem with my host?
Yes, virtual servers, as opposed to dedicated servers, host many sites at the same time, sharing available computer and network resources. If the host puts too many sites on a single server, or one of the sites on the server gets particularly busy, all the sites on the server will become slow. This is referred to in the business as the principle of exponential lag, or "forking slowness." The proper course of action in these situations is to contact technical support.

Technical support has been ignoring my calls and emails for weeks. What should I do?
Find another Web host, or talk to their mom.

My host's email server has been down for six days. Shouldn't they have noticed this by now?
It depends. Some hosts are never aware of any problems until contacted by a user. Many continue to deny that there is a problem until you replicate it on their receptionist's computer. This ensures that they don't waste time fixing things that aren't absolutely critical.

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Once you have created a website you must choose how to get it on the internet. You have 3 main options:

1. Host the site on your computer
2. Host the site on a dedicated server
3. Get someone else to host the site

The first two are only realistic options for big businesses or people with fast dedicated lines. Keeping a web server running is difficult and needs constant monitoring. You will require a fast connection (multiply the number of simultaneous users by their average connection speed (usually 56Kbps and you will see how fast it should be.

Much easier is using a web hosting company. They will put your site on their server using their connection. You will have access via FTP to upload your files and will be able to change your website at any time. This is the way most people get their websites online. There are three main types of hosting: free, paid and dedicated.

Dedicated hosting is when your website is hosted by the company on their sever with their connection. It is expensive and is only really a good idea for big websites. The other options are free and paid hosting.

Free Or Paid?

A lot of people think, "Why should I pay for web hosting if I can get it free?" This is a very good question. Paying for you web hosting has several advantages over free hosting:

• You will probably get better features in your hosting package
• Technical support is usually faster and better
• They have better connections to the internet and your site will be more reliable
• They will try their best to please you as you are a paying customer
• They will not place a banner advertising their services on your page

Like most things, you get what you pay for. You will never get as good hosting from a free web host as from a paid one but if you are building a site for fun or a small commercial site, free hosting is the best option.

Features

Web hosts will offer you hundreds of different features. I will try to explain some of them so that you know what you need:

• URL/Address:- This is only important if you don't have your own domain name. Do you want http://www.okcwebhosting.com/bigword/longnumber/you/ or http://yourname.okcwebhosting.com (a subdomain).
• Space:- Most websites take up relatively little space. Even with all of the graphics, about 15MB is usually enough. If you are making a graphics intensive site or planning to have downloads you might need more than 15MB. Some hosts offer unlimited space but this is not really much use.
• Bandwidth/Transfer:- This is quoted monthly. It is the total amount of files which can be transferred in a month from your site. You should get at least (1GB/month) unless you have a very small site. Unlimited bandwidth is quite common here.
• CGI-BIN:- If you want to run interactive scripts (counters, form-to-mail, guestbooks etc.) you will need a CGI-BIN. You can get these scripts remotely hosted (like the ones from CGI For Me) but they will carry advertising for the site which provides them.
• SSI:- This is a special function which allows you to tell the server to include something on your page. It could be some text or some CGI generated code. It is not an option you should need for a small or medium site.
• MySQL/PHP/ASP Support:- These are database formats. If you are planning to include a database on your site you will need this. Major sites are often generated dynamically using ASP.
• Technical Support:- What happens if you have a problem? How quickly can you get help? You should get at least e-mail technical support. Phone and fax support is good and should be offered by a paid host.
• E-mail:- Most hosts will redirect e-mail for you (especially if you have a domain name). Watch out for ones offering POP3 mail. This will allow you to actually connect to their server to get your messages which is better than redirection.
• FrontPage Extensions:- If you use Microsoft FrontPage to make your site and want to make use of the FrontPage Components (like search) you will need these.
• SSL/Secure Server:- You will need this if you want to have secure ordering on your website.
• Statistics/Log Files:- These will give you information about your users. What files are downloaded? What pages are accessed? The server logs will tell you.
• FTP Accounts:- These allow you to access you website to upload files. If you have anonymous FTP, users can log into an area of your site to download files.

As you can see some sites will need all these features and some will need very few.

How Much?

As I stated before, free web hosting is free as long as you display their banners (although there are some exceptions). Luckily most will let you upgrade your hosting to ad-free hosting for a small monthly fee. This will let you find a good web host and then get rid of the banners on it. Some also offer better technical support etc. with your upgraded plan.

Paid hosting will usually cost between $5 and $75 per month. Dedicated servers will usually cost you over $150 per month.

What Should I Ask?

There are a few questions you should ask a web host, especially if you are going to pay them. You should always ask for a list of some of the sites hosted by them (if they don't have a list on their site). Visit some of these sites and e-mail the owners asking what they think of the hosting service. If you are not sure if something on your site will be supported or allowed by the host then ask them. They are there to help you.

The speed they answer your questions is important as well. If they can't reply quickly to a potential customer, what will their technical support be like?

Read The Terms and Conditions

This is just a quick reminder to always read the terms and conditions. It has been known for free web hosts to claim the ownership of the copyright of your pages or not allow you to put your own advertising on the site! There may be special restrictions on what you can or cannot have on your site.