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  • The Best Places to Buy a Domain Name

    If you already got the ideal domain name for your website, it’s time to register it! 

    The process is easy, but you have to pick a registrar company to do it. Which one to choose is the first decision to be taken.

    How to pick a domain name registrar? Tips

    • Check carefully TLDs prices (.com, .org, .net, .de). TLDs have different costs among them, and registrars also charge them differently.
    • Verify the initial price but also renewals. 
    • Understand the prices and conditions in case you want to take your domain to a different company.
    • Most web hosting companies also register domains. If you have thought already about a specific hosting provider, take a look at its prices and plans. Sometimes if you host your website, the register goes for free, at least the first year.
    • Check what kind of support the registrar offers. 

    Best Places to Buy a Domain Name

    The following registrars are accredited by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

    Domain.com

    It is a trustable company with 20 years in the business. It started as a domain name registrar. Later it became a web hosting provider too. 

    You can pick between popular TLDs and more than 25 country code TLDs. Costs are a bit higher than average. For example, “.com” domain first year (registration) costs $9.99. Renewal price goes to $13.99 per year. “.net” initial price is $12.99. Its renewal, $15.99. TLD cost list is openly available for users.

    There is 24/7 phone, email, and chat support.

    Dynadot

    Created in 2002, it’s a well-known domain registrar. It’s also a hosting provider.

    Wide variety of TLDs. Average costs. TLD price list is openly shown. “.com” can be purchased by an initial price (registration first year) of $7.99 and its renewal, by $8.99 per year. “.net” initial price is $5.99, the renewal goes to $10.99.

    Its search of domain name choices has extra tools like bulk and internationalized domain name (IDN), useful advanced options. You can get also results from auctions or domains that people no longer use. You can grab a domain used by someone and get it if it doesn’t get renewed. 

    There’s grace deletion and free domain forwarding if you want to redirect users.

    Support is available via chat, email, and phone. There’s an active forum with answers to common users’ questions. 

    Namecheap

    Founded in 2000, it is another reliable registrar that provides web hosting too.

    It has a variety of TLDs to choose from. Competitive prices. The popular “.com” is rated at $8.88 the first year (registration) and $12.98 for renewal. “.net” is $10.98 for the first year and $14.98, the renewal.

    Search for one or up to 50 domains every time. Results appear organized by new, popular, discounted, and international criteria. Get WHOIS for free.

    Support is reachable through a live chat, and FAQ pages are at their disposal.

    Hover

    Created in 2008, it’s a younger and trustable registrar.

    Many different choices of TLDs. “.com” costs $12.99 first year and $14.99, the renewal. “.net”, $15.49 registering price and $17.49, the renewal. Clear costs published. 

    Search is easy thanks to its filters (different categories like food and drink, video and audio, businesses, etc.). WHOIS privacy is included for free, the time you stay with Hover.

    There’s customer support via chat and email, but it’s not 24/7.

    Conclusion

    There are lots of registrar choices. Pick one with a positive reputation, and that can offer the best for your budget. 

    It’s worthy of checking extras and special deals every registrar offers. 

  • Shared hosting – pros and cons

    A server hosts every website you visit daily to be available to you and people around the world. Without a web hosting service, sites can’t be viewed on the Internet.

    If you want to start a website, choosing the type of hosting, provider, and plan that fits your needs will be a critical decision to be taken. Shared web hosting is a popular service that providers will offer you for sure.

    What is web hosting?

    All the files that websites are built of (themes, text, images, videos, different codes, etc.) must be saved on a server connected to the Internet to be displayed online.

    Web hosting is the service that offers you the storage space on a server needed for your website to be available on the Internet.

    What is shared hosting?

    This is the most popular, accessible, and basic type of web hosting service. It means your website will be stored in a server, together with more websites, so yours will live there, sharing space and the resources of the server (storage, bandwidth, processor, RAM, etc.) with others. 

    In simple words, your site will live with roomies around.

    Every site can use a certain limit of server’s resources. Such a limit is defined by the plan you choose.

    Shared hosting pros

    Easy configuration

    Most providers offer one-click features for users to install easily what they need. 

    Built-in features

    To make it simple for users, built-in features like DNS management and c-Panel (interface) are included to manage the site. No expert tech skills are required to do it. 

    Recommended article: Anycast DNS vs Unicast DNS

    Technical maintenance is not required from you

    The company you hire is in charge of server maintenance, not you. Issues will be fixed by them. 

    Customer support

    You won’t be alone in this adventure. But since shared web hosting is a basic service, users will have almost nothing to modify or troubles to face in theory. How high or basic guidance you can get depends on the provider and specific plan you get. 

    Cheap rates

    Being the basic type of web hosting, it’s also the cheapest. Rounding numbers, starting rates can range from 3 to 10 monthly dollars. Providers offer initial discounts but always check the regular ones not to be surprised, once the discount period gets over.

    Shared hosting cons

    Sharing server’s resources

    Resources divided among hundreds of clients definitely can affect websites’ performance. Websites with a heavy design or having traffic peaks can use a lot of processor’s power and RAM from the server. This can make your site’s loading time really sluggish.

    Security issues

    Sharing a server with many sites brings vulnerabilities. If a site gets compromised, potentially all the websites on that server could be hacked. If the attack goes directly to take over the server, all websites in it will be compromised.

    Besides, all websites on a server share the IP address. In case another site does something wrong, it can be banned. Then, all sites using such an IP address can suffer the same consequences. 

    No root access

    Since it’s a service thought for beginners, you won’t have root access in case you want to modify settings for adding, removing, customizing, etc. 

    Conclusion

    Shared web hosting is a good beginning, especially if you own a site without much on-site interaction, a static site, a start-up, a blog, a corporative site, etc. It is an affordable, easy to manage choice.

    Choose shared web hosting just if it really suits your website needs. If your site requires more resources and you pick shared hosting, for sure, you will face problems.

  • Error 502 – How to fix it?

    Maybe it has happened to you while browsing, or users have reported they can’t access your website. The only thing they see is an Error 502 message. How can you fix error 502?

    What is Error 502?

    It is a HTTP status code that points to a server communication problem. A server (acting as a proxy) got not response or got an invalid response from another server (origin or upstream server).

    To visit a site on the Internet, the browser sends the request to a server connected to the web. The server gets that request and processes it in order to send back the resources you requested, together with an HTTP status code and HTTP header. 

    When things work, the HTTP status code is not visible to the users. It’s the way servers communicate with each other. When something fails, the server informs you of the problem through this code.

    Error 502 can be displayed also like:

    • HTTP 502
    • 502 Proxy Error
    • 502 Service Temporarily Overloaded
    • 502 Bad Gateway
    • Temporary Error (502)
    • 502 Bad Gateway Cloudflare
    • Bad Gateway: The proxy server received an invalid response from an upstream server.
    • 502 Server Error: The server encountered a temporary error and could not complete your request.

    What causes Error 502?

    • The origin server can be down, so it can’t be reached.
    • The domain name doesn’t match correctly to the IP address of the host. It can happen due to DNS changes. 
    • Something like CMS security plugins, a firewall, or a DDoS protection system, could block the communication between the origin server and the server, acting as a proxy.
    • It is mostly a network issue. The error occurs on Internet servers. There is a big chance this is not an issue website owners or users have to fix. It must be fixed on the web servers/proxies level.

    How to fix Error 502?

    First, let’s delete the slight possibilities that the issue is on the user-side:

    • Reload the URL. Connectivity server problems regularly get fixed fast. Just wait a few minutes.
    • Restart your device and network hardware. If Error 502 appears in more websites, temporary conflicts in network devices could be the problem. 
    • Remove browser cache and cookies. Old, corrupted files or cookies stored by the browser could cause Error 502.
    • Restart the browser. There could be a conflict device-browser. Close it perfectly and open a new session.
    • Use browser’s safe mode. This means getting back to default settings, free of add-ons that can be the problem.
    • Use another browser. If the page loads correctly, the problem is on your browser. Just reinstall it.
    • Flush DNS settings. It could be that the IP address you have is not current. Once all the DNS A records are removed, when you require the domain, the browser will search for the DNS A record again, and it will get the newest one with the newest IP address.

    Website owner:

    • Test your server. Try a ping test with the IP of the server to see if it responds or not. 
    • Look over server logs. The details about server’s performance will show the problem.
    • Check firewall configurations. The firewall protects your site. But not properly configured, it can directly reject all requests of a content delivery network, considering them an attack to the server.
    • Examine website’s code. Bugs affect the proper answer to content delivery network requests.
    • Wait for DNS modifications to propagate. If you recently changed something, you moved to another hosting server or transferred your site to a different IP address. This can cause Error 502.

    DNS propagation explained

    • Ask your hosting provider. Normally, when a server is down or under maintenance, providers fix the problem fast or look for alternatives for you not to lose visitors. But to ask is good in the rare case, they hadn’t realized the problem.