How to Choose Best Web Host for you?: ProPakistani

How to Choose Best Web Host for you?
Mobilink Launches Blackberry Torch 9800
Must Have Firefox Add-ons to Simplify Your Browsing
Pakistan’s Cellular Subscribers: What’s the Exact Number?
Tips for Buying Used Handset from Local Market!

Posted: 12 Jan 2011 06:40 AM PST

How to Choose Best Web Host for you? is a post from: ProPakistani

Note: This article is written keeping power webmasters in mind, having more than 10,000 visitors to their websites a day.

During past one week we, at ProPakistani, faced plenty of hosting issues.

We had downtimes; and plenty of them actually, where I felt in middle of no-where to decide anything on hosting. All this happened even I had experience of managing servers for over two years.

Only an online entrepreneur can understand the pain of downtimes and when there are repeated ones, we desperately need an answer to this question: Which hosting company is best in this world?

Before I answer to this question, we need to find out: What type of hosting do you really need?

Type of hosting available are:

Shared Hosting
Unmanaged VPS
Unmanaged Dedicated Server
Unmanaged Cloud Computing
Managed VPS
Managed Dedicated Server
Managed Cloud Computing

Shared hosting is obviously out of question for big websites. Let's look at other available options.

Unmanaged Hosting:

In unmanaged hosting, be it VPS, Dedicated server or cloud, you are given a blank layer with just operating system installed on it, not even apache, MySQL or PHP. You are at your own from here to get it configured the way you want.

You should go for unmanaged hosting only if you are system admin, and have good experience of managing web servers. Keep in mind that knowing PHP script, understanding what DNS is and knowing some linux commands doesn't entitle you as a system admin.

You can never optimize a web-server in any case if you haven't worked with an ISP or an off-shore hosting firm. I agree that there are tutorials available for everything, but the thing is that a live network with proven experience can't beat the knowledge gained from tutorials.

Unmanaged hosting comes at lower costs but with a compromise on managing it yourself.

Managed Hosting:

In managed hosting, web host (if it's a good one) is going to be responsible for all the odds happening to your online business. You can sleep tight and let your web host to worry about your websites and the downtimes.

If you are pro blogger and want to put all your energies in your core-work, go for managed hosting. It may cost you some extra bucks – but it gonna save you from pains of downtime.

Here's a reason for why I would prefer managed hosting over unmanaged one:

As you may know, ProPakistani was hosted on SliceHost with an un-managed VPS. It was going all good, with zero second of downtime in two years, until one day (in last week of December 2010) I upgraded my OS (sudo aptitude full-upgrade). This command upgrades kernel files and all the applications installed on the server.
Upgrade caused a serious conflict between eAccelerator (an acceleration engine) and the Apache's latest version (web server). I was not a system admin and hence didn't knew of possible conflict earlier.
This conflict halted WP-Super-Cache to work properly, leaving nothing good but sudden spike in server load and ultimately the crashes every other minute.
Our server was earlier configured by Sohaib Athar, who was not available this time to un-install eAccelerator to make server work properly.
As it was an un-managed server, so web host couldn't do much except for giving out some useful tips.

This one scenario, where you did nothing wrong but simply upgraded your kernel and applications through a prescribed manner, can end up ugly.

One more thing, with our unmanaged server system RAM used to hit 3GB level during peak hours. But with managed hosting and optimized server our memory usage hasn't crossed 1 GB level so far.

Initial Optimization with managed hosting:

Here is a thing you need to understand: In managed hosting, your web host is not going to do anything – until you ask them to do. You must tell them tasks until you are satisfied.

A good webhost will configure following things to optimize your managed server:

Tell them to optimize Apache, PHP and MySQL or any other application, specifically for the type of website you gonna host. For instance: a wordpress application has lots of Select Table query for MySQL as compared to Write Table queries. They will configure your MySQL accordingly for best performance.
They will disable un-used tools, mods and applications.
They will harden your server by installing firewalls, making your server DDoS, spam and hack proof.

Best thing I like about managed hosting is that host gonna reboot your server in case of any downtimes – and this is done automatically. For the purpose they keep on checking the status of services, and if anything collapses server is rebooted automatically.

Cloud Computing:

Cloud computing is next level of hosting, which promises you the scalability on demand. For instance, you are running a news website which gets 500,000 hits a day. But on one good day, you break some news which gets top rank on google – there are good chances for a traffic spike with 500,000 hits every minute, in this case cloud hosting is what you should go for.

The good thing about cloud computing is that you only pay for the amount of resources you use. For instance, you get 100,000 hits in a month – then you will have to pay for the processing power and bandwidth used to serve 100,000 visitors. On other hands, very next month you serve 1 million visitors – you will be charged 10 times of the previous month.

In simple words: Pay for services that have used.

Just as an example, the day Salman Taseer got killed, due to huge traffic Geo, Jang and Dawn websites went down but Express Tribune didn't. Reason: Geo, Jang and Dawn are hosted on dedicated servers which couldn't hold the traffic spike, while Express Tribune is powered by Amazon's EC2 cloud.

Issues with Cloud Hosting: You must keep this thing in mind that managing a cloud hosting isn't a piece of cake. You either get a managed cloud solution, or hire a company for shifting your website to cloud computing.

Recommendations, based on your Traffic:

Having said all this, here are my recommendations for VPS, Dedicated Server and Cloud – based on your traffic:

10,000 hits a day or less: Go for managed VPS with 1 GB ram
10,000 hits a day or less: Go for unmanaged VPS with 2 GB ram
More than 10,000 and less than 30,000 hits a day: Go for managed hosting with 2 GB ram
More than 10,000 and less than 30,000 hits a day: Go for unmanaged hosting with 4 GB ram
More than 30,000 and less than 70,000 hits a day: Go for managed hosting with 4 GB ram, 8 GB ideal
More than 100,000 hits a day: Go for managed hosting with 16 GB ram
Go for Cloud computing if you want to get it all with a single solution.

Note: These recommendations are made for those getting traffic on hundreds of pages from search engines. Those with digg traffic, on a single page, can go for lesser RAM – with wp-super-cache locked down.

Okay, now you must have known the answer of What Type of Hosting you need. It's time to move to next question, what webhost should I go for?

Selecting a Web Host

Now here's the point: All webhosts are good as far as they are up. Webhosts are considered down only if network goes down, or in case of hardware failure. So check out their downtimes and hardware failure record.

Just to mention: if there is an application glitch on your particular server and your website goes down, this won't be credited to web host downtime.

Downtime: To check downtimes of a web host during previous couple of years, visit this website: http://www.webhostingstuff.com/

Support: Ask your friends, read forums, webhosting review websites to know what others are saying about a particular webhost.

Tools: If you are going for un-managed hosting, check out tools they are offering (for free) with the servers. These tools (such as ISP manager in case of VPS.net) can be very handy in controlling and maintaining your server.

Price: Probably the most important thing you need to consider before deciding your webhost.

Recommended Web Hosts:

Managed Hosting: WiredTree.com, KnownHost
Unmanaged hosting: Slicehost, VPS.NET
Cloud: EC2, Rackspace

This is it for now. I am sure there would be questions in your mind, which were not answered above. Feel free to ask them or if you got any further tips, go ahead and share them with us.

Mobilink Launches Blackberry Torch 9800

Posted: 12 Jan 2011 04:26 AM PST

Mobilink Launches Blackberry Torch 9800 is a post from: ProPakistani

Mobilink indigo has introduced another BlackBerry smartphone – the BlackBerry® Torch™ 9800!

Ufone and Telenor have already launched Blackberry Torch priced at Rs. 55,000.

However, Mobilink is offering Blackberry Torch at Rs. 52,000, which is to date, the lowest offering by any telecom operator in Pakistan.

Just in case if you don't know, BlackBerry Torch is a high-resolution touchscreen that comes with a sleek design and slider QWERTY keyboard to meet all telecommunications needs.

The Torch also features the all-powerful BlackBerry® 6 operating system, a 5 MP camera, along with the usual amazing features we expect from BlackBerry such as WiFi, GPS, brilliant color display, and long lasting battery.

Features:

Superior technical expertise
Dedicated Helpline on 120
Largest Nationwide Connectivity
Customized Mobilink Applications
360 degrees After Sales Service and Support
Comprehensive Voice and Data International

Must Have Firefox Add-ons to Simplify Your Browsing

Posted: 12 Jan 2011 02:21 AM PST

Must Have Firefox Add-ons to Simplify Your Browsing is a post from: ProPakistani

Firefox addon Must Have Firefox Add ons to Simplify Your Browsing Firefox holds around 43.5% share of the browser market. Its fast, reliable and works like a charm. But everyone who uses Firefox knows that its power and perhaps advantage lies in the vast array of addons one can install. Following are the best and essential firefox addons in my opinion.

Web of Trust:

Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3456/

This addon uses a traffic light style to rate websites. All the websites are rated by millions of users so that every page has a safety rating. It adds an icon next to the address so that you know the rating even before you click to open it. Very handy to avoid those malicious sites.

Tab Scope:

Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4882/

This addon gives you a preview of any tab in a small pop-up. You can scroll the webpage through the pop-up as well as interact with buttons etc. Opera users will recognize this feature as its a default one in that browser.

Speed Dial:

Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4810/

Speed dial is a massive time saver. What it does is it replaces your default homepage with blank thumbnails, in which you can add your favourite sites. So it provides 1-click access to your choice of websites. The latest version allows you to add multiple groups of blank thumbnails which you can access like tabs.

Screengrab:

Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1146/

Many times one needs to copy a specific portion of a webpage. Screengrab was designed for just that purpose. It lets you save any portion of the webpage as an image. In addition it can also save the frame and the whole page as well.

Video DownloadHelper:

Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3006/

This addon takes care of all the videos you want to download. Anytime a flash video starts playing in your browser, the downloadhelper button gets animated and a menu helps you download it. It can also download images and audio from any webpage.

Fastest Fox:

Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9825/

Fastest Fox adds functionality and speed to your browser by auto-reloading webpages, providing a small "Google it" box whenever you copy something and improving searching capabilities. It also enables you to download all images from a webpage through the right click menu. Very handy.

Cool Iris:

Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5579/

This addon helps you view search results from Google, Youtube, Facebook and other sites as an infinite 3D wall. It works for both videos and images. Recommended for the sheer eye candy it provides.

Stumble Upon:

Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/138/

This is my single most used addon of all time. Basically you select your preferred topics, then it recommends interesting sites based on other users likes. There’s a "I like it!" button to help you keep track of all the sites you like. Another great thing is that it keeps track of your interests and provides you with relevant suggestions so with more usage, the recommendations get better.

AutoCopy:

Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/383/

It copies any text you select automatically to the clipboard, and lets you paste it using the middle mouse button to save you that Ctrl+C – Ctrl+V routine.

Bonus:

MozBackup:

Link: http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/

The software is the easier alternative to remembering and installing all your addons and extensions again after a new installation of your OS. It backs up everything like your passwords, history, addons, toolbars, and bookmarks and restores them with ease.

You can search a huge array of FireFox addons by visiting this link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/

Pakistan’s Cellular Subscribers: What’s the Exact Number?

Posted: 11 Jan 2011 11:29 PM PST

Pakistan’s Cellular Subscribers: What’s the Exact Number? is a post from: ProPakistani

The PTA has continued its upbeat promotion of Pakistan's cellular base into 2011, with another declaration of the crossing of 100 million subscribers in the country. A mighty achievement, no doubt! However, the underlying criterion for determining a cellular subscriber has become a hot debate in the recent period.

A December 2010 article in the DAWN provided the following definition as the current practice for the counting of subscribers:

"A subscription has a valid balance. A subscription would be counted as `Active Subscription` if the subscription that is registered in the internal subscriber system of mobile service provider (i.e. HLR) makes any revenue generating activity including Outgoing (Voice Calls, SMS, MMS), Incoming (Voices calls) and Others (Recharge activity, Roaming services, Data transmissions including GPRS/internet access, data transfers, receipt sessions), during last 90 days."

The definition above is a segmented one. The first line provides the synopsis for a subscription, which is primarily a connection with balance. However, the industry has another segment under 'Active Subscription' which works around a 90-day cycle. Provided that a subscription is being used in any revenue-generating form for the operator within that cycle, it will remain active on the network. In this case, balance becomes irrelevant, as it is usage which will keep the subscription active. So, the figure that is quoted and promoted must be based on the former.

An interesting scenario that comes into play is at the conclusion of the 90-day cycle. If the definition is to be followed, a subscription would be suspended should no revenue-generating activity be performed in the period.

However, the subscription would still remain counted in the overall numbers for the operator, as business rules normally created by the companies have another 90 to 180-day cycle before a suspended subscription is cancelled and recycled.

Also, it remains within the realm of being a subscription as it is likely to hold valid balance. Even at the cancellation phase, the subscription having balance would still be counted in the overall numbers, despite being segmented as a churned subscription.

The subscription model used by cellular companies in Pakistan is resonant of international ones. Where the difference lies is the ability of regulatory bodies to be more in control of the defining criterion, as well as having an in-depth and segmented view of the numbers.

In some of the developed countries, operators look at two levels of revenue generation; by subscriber and by unit. One subscriber could have multiple services at any given time and be counted separately for each service. A unit, on the other hand, is counted once for all the services being utilized. In this case, if subscriber A has 7 connections on AT&T, it would be counted as 7 subscriptions but only one revenue generating unit. This helps in removing duplication of subscribers from a particular operator and providing a broader look at the consumer numbers.

For the PTA, there are several unique identifiers that could be utilized to allow for a similar model. The CNIC, which is a mandatory requirement for acquiring a connection, remains the pivotal form of identification, but is not being applied for report segregation by any operator in Pakistan.

Among the inner circles of the industry, the subject of subscribers is often suppressed the consensus on unique cellular subscribers in Pakistan is around the 30 to 35 million, or possibly lower.

There is no doubt that the PTA has made in-roads in becoming a strong authority on assessing and regulating the telecommunication industry in Pakistan, but it has remained hostage to the proposals of the large service providers, especially in terms of data gathering.

With the market entering a new decade, it is time for the authority to ascertain a model more suited towards the local consumer trends, as well as acquire detailed data on the subscriber numbers.

Tips for Buying Used Handset from Local Market!

Posted: 11 Jan 2011 10:47 PM PST

Tips for Buying Used Handset from Local Market! is a post from: ProPakistani

By Dr. Muhammad Faraz Younus

It's not an easy task to buy a good used handset from a local market. During second hand purchase of handset, there remains plenty of unfound glitches, which can cause you problems after the purchase.

I made a quick guide by which you can check essential things before purchasing a used handset. I hope it will help in your future purchases.

All of us want good handset at a lowest price so first of all check the price of new handset which you want to buy because sometimes shopkeepers misguide you by telling higher prices of new handset for bargaining. Compare market price of the handset from different shops. When you find your perfect handset check following things quickly:

Examine physical appearance of the handset.
Manufacturer warranty must be reliable and check the date when warranty will expire if it's under warranty.
Compare IMEI # by dialing *#06# on handset and it should match with the box and warranty card. Remember that warranty goes void if IMEI number is not matched.
Check accessories available with the handset including battery.
Now its time to check handset functionality – first of all make a call to someone and ask whether he or she can hear you clearly – simultaneously check volume keys which are located at the side of the phone.
Check all the buttons (including power button). Also assess the track pad or joystick integrated in your handset or otherwise the touch screen if your desire handset has touch screen.
Check both cameras: front and rear by taking picture and making video and keep an eye on flash light it should work.
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi both is essential to check
See memory card status from settings to make that card is working properly.
Now its time to check loudspeaker – play a song and listen it from speakers.
Check Radio if it's integrated with your handset.
Plug AC adapter and check handset charging.
Now last but not the least, find out the security code of the phone, which should be 12345 in Nokia phones. If you find out that security code has been changed or is unknown to you then ask shop keeper to do this work for you before paying him money.