XDnet are pleased to announce that our CentovaCast panel on our SHOUTcast servers now support cities using the GeoIP database.

This means our users can drill down even further into their listener statistics and easily see who and where their listeners are listening from!

XDnet has recently changed the control panel on our main shoutcast server from WHMsonic to CentovaCast which provides more features to end users and will hopefully prove to be a much better streaming experience!

Because of this change we have had to recreate users account which has meant a temporary downtime on streams, this was unavoidable and we are sorry for any users affected, all users who should be are now back online.

Over the coming weeks we will be publishing the new shoutcast plans and also hope to get some in depth tutorials of shoutcasts features and how to get the most out of your stream.

XDnet, and web hosting in general has a lot of different types of hosting and finding whats right for you can be hard, hopefully this guide should help to break down the different types of hosting which XDnet offers, examples of it’s usage and what might suit you.

No Choice…
While there are many choices sometimes, sometimes you simply don’t have that luxury. If your site is getting thousands of hits, or if XDnet has advised you need to upgrade to dedicated, also if you run large amounts of dynamic PHP/MySQL sites which requires lots of memory (RAM) and processing power (CPU). Then you need dedicated, there are a couple of different types of dedicated servers which are explained below.

Fully Dedicated Server:

A fully dedicated server, as the name suggests is when you have ful control over the entire server computer, you can do anything you like to it and it won’t effect anyone else other than you.

With dedicated you not only have all the choices of which server specifications will best suit you, which you can consult XDnet and we can advise you which is best for your situation, but there is also the choice for managed and unmanaged servers.

Managed:

A managed server is one in which XDnet gives you a helping hand with, we will help keep your server up-to-date, patched up and online. This is the default server type, and all our advertised plans (unless otherwise stated) are managed.

Unmanaged:

An unmanaged server is one which you, the client, are fully responsible for, you update it and it is solely your responsibility to keep it running smoothly and in working order.

But don’t worry, this decision isn’t as important as selecting the right specs for your server, as you can easily switch to and from the different types so, if you dive in with unmanaged and find it all a bit too confusing, we can help, and vice versa, if you start off like most with a managed server and after a while start getting your teeth into the nitty gritty feel free to ask to be changed to unmanged

XDnet offers many differenet Dedicated server packages, ranging from basic set ups to advanced systems, as well as custom builds on request – Just Ask for details!

Take a look at XDnet’s Dedicated Servers.

Virtual Private Server (VPS):

A Virtual Private Server (VPS), AKA Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS), appears to be identical to a fully dedicated server. VPS provides the same features, but without the cost. XDnet’s VPS’s usually have around 2-6 other users sharing the same physical server, but each is virtually divided, so Bob can run Cent OS, shutdown, restart and do a whole lot more to his VPS without effecting Fred’s VPS, even though they are on the same physical server.

The only situation where one user can effect the other is through hogging the RAM, each user is given a portion of the total RAM they may use, and sometimes users whose sites run intensive scripts and get an unexpected spike of users can cause excessive usage, but don’t worry, it shouldn’t effect you too long and we actively monitor servers to ensure users are on the appropriate package.

The VPS alternative is often chosen by small businesses that wants full control over their website(s) but cannot afford a dedicated server. Some advanced users may like to run multiple VPS servers so they can run multiple configurations for testing purposes for instance they might use one server for the development-level site, another for testing seeing how a new idea works without putting it live and another for the live site.

XDnet offers both Windows and Linux VPS hosting, in both the UK and the US, however Windows hosting is currently only available on UK servers.

Take a look at XDnet’s varied VPS plans.

Shared Hosting:

Shared Hosting is by far the most popular choice and the large majority of websites function perfectly fine, shared hosting is great for websites from small to medium.

Shared hosting or derive host is when multiple websites are hosted on the same server, each website (account) has its own partition, and is assigned different permissions and features depending on the package the user has signed up for. This is generally the best option because server maintenance costs are shared, administration, including updates, patches and module installation etc is taken care of by XDnet (the host) and users can focus on their website.

Power hungry users who need or want the extra control over their account and hosting, firsly may wish to consider reseller hosting, which is the same as shared hosting except you have the ability to create, delete and modify accounts and have greater control, and then the next step is VPS hosting (details above).

Take a look at XDnet’s Shared Hosting Plans.

Media / Streaming Hosting:

Sometimes you need something special, like Streaming. We offer excellent SHOUTcast packages, which include additional features and software which isn’t included with shared or even dedicated hosting, such as WHMsonic Admin Pro to manage your stream or Web Cast, these packages are designed for streaming media, the servers are specifically built with it in mind and you have much larger bandwidth to disk space ratios compared to other packages.

Take a look at XDnet’s streaming packages.

Not only do we offer streaming packages but for those which need the extra resources dedicated maybe the only option, we can equip your server with everything you need to be streaming an array of media and can suit almost any requirment – Just Ask and we will do our best to accomodate your need for as cheap as possible.

Weighing the differences:

Sometimes the choice is clear cut, if money is the issue shared is your answer, cheap reliable and hassle free. However if power is your driving need you will need a variety of dedicated or VPS but the cost will be much higher when compared to shared, but remember you pay for the power, you pay for more, you will get a lot more.

Still not sure, don’t worry – Just Ask…

XDnet is more than happy to help you find the package which suits your needs, just drop us an email to sales@xdnet.co.uk

XDnet has started providing high quality, SHOUTcast servers for user for more info check out our shoutcast page.

Other users: Don’t worry all shoutcasts are on a totally seperate server to everyone else so it will not affect your hosting experience in anyway! No Chance of draining your high quality web hosting!