Network marketing is hard. Don't kid yourself and truthfully don't even attempt a network marketing venture unless you either have or plan to put into place a highly potent and highly duplicatable network marketing system
geared for 2005 and beyond.
Before I tell you what a perfect network
marketing system
should look like let's talk about what doesn't
work for most
network marketers. As I'm sure you probably
know, network
marketing is notorious for having a 95% failure
rate. Let's
talk about why.
Have you ever heard of Occam's razor?
Basically it states that the simplest
explanation for a
phenomenon is usually the best. We'll use this
theory to
explain why more than 95% of network marketers
fail.
Ready?
Most network marketers fail because the
marketing methods
that they are taught don't work 95% of the time.
Pretty
simple right?
So we're led to ask the logical next question,
what are most
fledgling network marketers taught?
Well, I can only speak from my experience, but
what I was
taught was to buy and cold call leads.
Now, I'm not going to say this doesn't work, but
I will say
is that after six months of cold calling leads
for 3 hours a
day with very little success this tactic doesn't
work for
me. Don't get me wrong some people are very good
at cold
calling leads, but most people aren't.
What happens to most people after they've spend
thousands of
dollars on leads with very little success after
months of
effort?
They give up.
Another factor contributing to why most network
marketers
fail is the type of leads they use. Why does the
type of
leads make a difference?
Business opportunity leads, the leads most new
network
marketers are told to use, are generic. These
leads answer
an ad that just asks them if they want to be
financially
free, or make money from home or something like
that.
Well . . . of course they do!
But that doesn't mean they want anything to do
with YOUR
network marketing program. When the average
network marketer
calls these generic bizz opp leads the leads
don't know
anything about the network marketer's business
and for the
most part honestly don't care. This leads to
the fledgling
network marketer hearing a lot of "NOs".
Hearing NO all the time leads to quite a bit of
self doubt,
both about the network marketers own ability and
the
validity of their association with their network
marketing
company. Negative feelings begin to harbor and
as I said
before eventually the network marketer gives up,
usually
with 3-6 months.
The fledgling network marketer's perception of
their
business goes from one of opportunity to one of
complete
doubt and negativity. Reality follows
perception, so because
the fledgling network marketer believes both
themselves and
their business as having little hope this
becomes TRUE.
That's basically why 95% of network marketers
fail if you
asked me.
So how do we change this paradigm?
We build a Perfect Network Marketing System!
Now we get to the good stuff! What does a
perfect network
marketing system look like?
For the average home based network marketer to
be successful
certain thing MUST be in place. I will list them
here:
o Lead capture page designed specifically for
specific
Network Marketing Company:
This page must contain strong sales copy that
tells the
prospect why he wants to opt in for more
information. The
best way to do this is to offer a High Value
Free Report in
exchange for there contact information.
o Free Report specifically designed for Network
Marketing
Companies Opportunity:
The free report must be highly informative. It
must explain
all of the features and benefits of joining the
network
marketing organization as an independent
distributor and
must focus on the support and resources
available to the new
recruit should they choose to purchase a
distributorship.
The company's products and compensation plan
must be clearly
explained here as well. If possible,
testimonials should be
used, as they are extremely powerful sales
conversion tools
in this portion of the sale process.
o Follow up Email System:
Attached to the Free Report there must also be a
follow up
system that continually markets through email
the program to
the lead. Most leads don't act immediately and
must be
marketed to at least 7 times before they take
action. The
email follow up system must have strongly worded
sales copy
and must have a system for getting through spam
filters.
o A Continual Feed Back System that uses the
Fear of Loss:
Along the with email follow up system there must
be a
feedback system that will alert the prospect by
email when
new prospects opt into the system and invoke the
fear of
loss during this process by telling the prospect
that if the
next prospect in line upgrades to a paid
position before he
does then he will forever loose commission on
that prospect.
This is an extremely powerful psychological tool.
o Strong Support:
It's one thing to get someone to buy a
distributorship, but
it's a totally different thing get them to work
the business
effectively. There must be an email follow up
system once a
new distributor signs on to ensure that he
receive adequate
training on how to market successfully. There
must also be
human support at this point. So, there must be
strong
relationships built between upline and new
distributors.
o A Good Product or Service:
In order for this entire marketing process to
work, the
system must be back by a strong and ethical
network
marketing organization that sells a high demand
product that
people need and would purchase even if there
were no
compensation plans attached to it.
o You:
You must be an active part of your business. You
must be
willing and open to learn new ideas and tactics
at all
times. You must have a passion for your business
and truly
believe in the product that you plan to build your
organization around.
In Conclusion:
I've listed the basic component's a of a perfect
network
marketing system. This system will involve NO
cold calling
because the prospect will opt in to request more
information
specifically about your business before you even
talk to
them.
Cold calling generic bizz opp leads and hearing
a lot of
NO's is what causes most network marketers to
fail. We want
to avoid this at all cost. This is what this
system is
designed to do!
By having your prospects opt in specifically for
more
information about your product and business plan
and then by
giving them a detailed report explaining all of
the above
before you even speak to them your chances of a
successful
sales conversion will greatly be increased. The
email
follow-up and fear of loss systems will increase
your
chances successful sales conversion even
further. These
factors will cut down on the number of NO's that
the you
must endure before success. This will increase
your home
business's duplicability vastly.
Further, having uniform training and exceptional
support are
the basics and must be present.
So,
Before you spend another dollar on your network
marketing
efforts ask yourself if you're using a perfect
network
marketing system. If your answer is no and you
aren't having
any success then ask yourself what you can do to
change your
system to one that will work for you and your
future
distributors using the principles that I have
detailed
above.
I struggled with network marketing myself using
the old
fashion methods, but as soon as I studied
internet marketing
and how to apply it to network marketing things
got a lot
easier. I was able to spot network marketing
organizations
that were specifically positioned for internet
marketing and
earmark what I thought to be the best of the
bunch. After
that, it was simple a matter of choosing the one
that with
what I though had the "best product".
You can view my choice here:
http://www.the1andonly.biz. As
a result of making this choice I recruited new
members my
very first day without having to call anyone or
hear
thousands of NOs. All I do is get traffic to my
website and
I make money.
Network marketing can certainly make you rich,
that is... if
you have the perfect system in place!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10589

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First in a series of three articles
Regardless of your law firm's focus - criminal, civil, corporate, family, business, etc. - the greatest challenge most small to mid-size firms face is the lack of a strategic and disciplined approach to business development. Relying on referrals does not a strategy make! And waiting to get serious about marketing until that major case is wrapped up is way too late.
Whether you're frustrated with past marketing efforts that have been expensive, time-consuming, and haven't paid off...or you think you can't afford to take a sophisticated, results-driven approach to business development like the big firms do, guess again. While your firm may not have its own in-house marketing expert on staff or the generous marketing budgets that the larger firms enjoy, you can systematically and affordably attract more clients than you ever thought possible. It just takes a thoughtful strategy that leverages the laws of marketing, and an ordered approach to stay on track.
Laws of Marketing
First and foremost, marketing is NOT about brochures, websites, advertising or cold calls. These things may or may not be tools that make sense for your firm, once you've leveraged the laws of marketing.
There are two basic laws of marketing1 that must be mastered by professional service providers who want to stop wasting time and money on ineffective marketing efforts. They are:
1. Build your base (carefully craft your message)
2. Reach out to your market (build and nurture relationships)
Here's a quick look at what each of these laws requires...
Build Your Base. This law means spending thoughtful time defining your firm's niche, developing language that grabs your prospects' attention, articulating what makes your firm stand out from other firms offering the same services, demonstrating your value, and illustrating your firm's authority to deliver better than all other choices.
Unfortunately, 90% of professional service firms ignore the law of "build your base" and rush to communicate about their firm without a carefully articulated message. This leaves your target audience unconvinced or, at best, confused about how your firm can serve them better than all others vying for their attention. Invest a little time in building your firm's base, and you'll be ahead of most of your competitors.
Reach Out to Your Market. This law involves developing and implementing a system of strategies to build and sustain relationships with your target market and current clients. They are executed both offline and online. They are done systematically and repeatedly. They work in synergy to create an unstoppable buzz and attraction to your firm that takes on a desirable life of its own, once you've put them in place.
These strategies include things like networking, direct outreach (personal or mass mail), PR, articles and speaking, keep-in-touch systems, using technology to attract, develop, and retain relationships; tapping centers of influence, developing joint ventures, launching a client relationship strategy, using a customer creation system, pursuing a relationship selling strategy, introducing a win-win fee strategy, and developing next-level strategies for current clients.
Orderly Conduct
This is the hard part for most law firms...making marketing happen is a function of carving out the time from precious billable hours - not an easy task! However, you can do it, especially if you take a disciplined and orderly approach to staying on track. This means you have to...
Get focused. Schedule a meeting with key decision-makers in your firm to discuss making a commitment to marketing. You don't have to make any major decisions at this first meeting, except determine how much time you can commit weekly to your firm's marketing efforts. Start small (2 hours per person) and put it in your schedules. Then schedule your next marketing meeting to discuss the results of your homework, the attached Are You Ready for a TurningPointe? marketing assessment!
Get organized. Use the results of the marketing assessment to stimulate discussion about where to start. At this point, if you've not done market strategy and planning before, call in an expert. It'll save you lots of time in the end, since you'll START with a strategic marketing plan that makes sense for your firm and is realistic to implement.
Some basics to consider when developing your plan include:
o Keep it simple; don't take on too much at once. Spread out your deadlines.
o Identify a mix of short-term, easily implemented goals and longer-term, harder-to-implement goals. Build in some quick "wins" for an immediate return on your investment.
o Prioritize but be flexible; be willing to change dates or put things on hold when other marketing priorities make sense (which means you don't stop, you just shift).
o Identify the obstacles (people, time, money, lack of expertise, etc.) that could derail you and plan tasks for how to overcome them.
o Plan for how to make marketing a reward, not a punishment. Build in rewards for people who take time from billable hours to market.
Stay on track. At a minimum, guard one hour every week for a status check on your marketing plan - even if you're a solo practitioner, that means making an appointment with yourself! The mere act of focused thinking or discussion about marketing every week will make an enormous difference in your ability to attract more clients.
Once you have a smart plan in place that's realistic (see Get Organized, above), all you have to do is focus on taking one step at a time, then another, and another. Each small marketing task builds momentum and before you know it, you've implemented a major goal. The key is to keep moving...or if you stop, get restarted. It also helps to have "accountability" to an outside party, who keeps you on track through regular telephone and in-person coaching sessions.
The Defense Rests
So your practice has a stellar track record of client victories, you do good work that you care about, and you know your contribution makes a positive difference in the lives of your clients. What if you could reach more clients than you ever thought possible with all that you offer?
Apply the laws of marketing through an ordered plan of action that keeps you on track, and you will. Case closed.
References

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7158

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Small business marketers love the chase. Love the new fangled way to make the phone ring. They love to think of a marketing promotion as a single event. But it's precisely this view of marketing that holds most small businesses back. They fall prey to the "marketing idea of the week" and never fully explore what it takes to create and build a completely functioning, consistently performing, marketing system.
In this article I am going to outline the basic steps that any business can follow on the way to creating their very own marketing system. But first let's explore this word system in the context of marketing. Small business owners have no problem thinking systems when it comes to say, accounting or hiring. When it comes to marketing though, all bets are off. It's as if they are waiting for magic fairy dust to fall upon them with the next great marketing innovation.
Look, effective marketing is little more than creating and operating an effective marketing system. Now, when I use the word system I mean several things. 1) The system is documented - You can't have a system or a step in a system unless you write it down. 2) The system is built on sound marketing principals and 3) You constantly measure, innovate, and refine the system.
Okay, so on to the system building steps.
1) Narrow and define a target market - Small business owners love to say yes. "Sure we can do that." The next thing you know the target market is roughly anyone they think will pay them. You must commit to a narrowly defined target market and you must focus all of your attention upon serving that market like no one ever dreamed of. A narrow marketing focus might be - Estate Attorneys - as opposed to Law Firms.
2) Discover and communicate a core message for that market - Until you can show how your firm is different and offers something unique, you will always compete on price. You must find a way to tell your newly defined narrow target market why you have something to offer that they value. Your core message might be - We show estate attorneys how gain all of the business they can handle - as opposed to: We help law firms.
3) Develop multiple forms of permission based lead generation - No one like to be sold to and more and more advertising is falling on numb ears and eyes. Your lead generation system must be built on several fronts, such as public relations, referral marketing, strategic partnerships, and targeted advertising. Your lead generation message must offer the target market a reason to want to know more. Forget about the sale, look for ways to build trust.
4) Construct a lead conversion and customer reselling process - No amount of leads in the world will help your business if you don't efficiently turn those leads into clients. You must have a plan that maps out what you will do when phone rings, when you make the sales call and when it's time to do more business with the clients you already have. Most small businesses completely ignore this aspect of their marketing, but this is where the real success in marketing lies.
5) Create educational based marketing and presentation materials - Forget about the glossy sales brochure, use your marketing materials to teach how your firm is different, how you solve real problems, how you work, why you work, what you believe and your marketing will be much more successful. Your web site must come from this point of view as well.
6) Define the most important marketing success indicators - Setting marketing goals for such things as leads, appointments, sales, phone calls, referrals, impressions, mentions and anything else you can think to measure is how you turn marketing into a game and how you keep score of the game. Everyone loves and game and the only way to improve something is to measure how well you are doing in the first place.
7) Build an annual marketing calendar and budget and stick to it - Once you have spent the time and energy to think through steps 1-6 you need to commit your plan to a marketing calendar and then allocate (or at least think about) the money it will take to implement your plan. Once you create a calendar it is much more likely that you will look at the tasks assigned to each month like a "to-do" list. So, instead of whining that you should do more marketing, you simply scratch each item off your list and plan for the next. It's an amazingly simple but effective device.
Okay...now the last bit of advice.
Every system needs a champion. Either find someone in your organization who does little else but operate the system or hire a marketing professional and charge them with helping you develop, implement and run the system.
Properly fed and maintained, this little marketing system can become the engine that drives your firm's climb to the top.
Copyright 2004 John Jantsch

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3024

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"Dig your well before you're thirsty" is the title of a wonderful book by Harvey Mackay.
It is smart advice for investing your money, "Save your money before you need it", or growing your business, "Market today for tomorrow".
When times are tough some businesses stop marketing. They reason, 'No one is buying so why should I advertise?' The other time some businesses stop marketing is when they are selling like crazy. Again they figure - 'I can't handle any more business right now so why promote?'
Two key points here. Advertising is only one narrow form of marketing. Marketing is about sending messages. You send messages in a plethora of avenues; advertising, customer service, by association, quality, public relations, sponsorship, awards, etc... And the second point; marketing is a long-term investment.
Selling is immediate. When times are slow you need to crank-up the selling efforts. How do you escape from a sales crisis? Improve selling skills, search out new markets, offer more value and most importantly be systematic. When there is a fire, put out the fire.
That's sales.
Preventing the fires of tomorrow is marketing. That is why marketing is so difficult to justify or measure. The good marketing you do today will pay off in a few weeks, months or even years. Is it worth it? Only if you want to be in business in a few years.
Invest wisely in your marketing. Many of the principles of investing money apply to marketing. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Your message must reach your prospect along several avenues. That conveys more credibility. For example; you might advertise in a magazine, sponsor a community event, send out news releases and offer extras on your website. Your investment portfolio should be diversified, so should your marketing. Warren Buffet's long-term strategy to 'make smart investments and hold' can apply to your marketing. Make a long term marketing commitment to yourself. Stick to it. Be consistent and persistent. That is smart investing and smart marketing.
Consider the different forms of currency in your business. Cash is the most obvious. A signed order is another. Receivables are currency - you can even use them for collateral - or sell them. But some forms of currency look better than others. If cash is best then you might be tempted never to give credit to customers. But you might lose sales because of that. So you may decide to give credit to approved customers - knowing that you can likely convert the receivable to cash. Even signed orders are currency - you can factor them to obtain financing.
Marketing is another form of currency in your business. Good marketing creates customer awareness, goodwill, education, credibility, even desire. All of that can be converted into signed orders, receivables and hence cash.
All forms of currency are convertible. But the conversion rate is not 1 to 1 nor is it totally predictable. Some receivables become bad debt. Some signed orders get cancelled. Some marketing efforts just spin off into the universe like a lost asteroid. For that reason do not expect that every dollar spent on marketing pays off the same. For example if you do a mass mailing some of those envelopes go undelivered, some never get opened, a few get read - and even fewer acted upon. But you need to mail to the whole list to reach the ones that read it.
You might believe that cash is a better currency than marketing. Marketing can be better than cash because a creative marketing campaign can pay back many times over. If you realize that when you market you are creating currency - you can view your marketing in a more productive light. The more creative you are in your marketing - the greater leverage you get.
Marketing like currency is synergistic. When you have money the banks will loan you more - but when you have none and want some, what do they say? 'You got none so we can't give you any.'
Marketing works the same way. When you generate lots of exposure - you get more. When you are hot everyone wants you. When you are cold - you get the freezer. Keep sending your marketing messages regularly. Some businesses get busy with business and forget to market. And then the feast runs out and they start marketing again.
Because marketing is currency there are times when instead of cash you might accept payment in marketing currency. This might be a straight barter deal. I give you $1,000 of my product for $1,000 of your product. This is one way to get 'free' advertising. Trade your product for ad space or media time. This only works if the media company needs your product and don't have budget, (cash), to buy.
My financial planner gave me some good advice when I left the corporate world to start my business. I showed him the corporate package I received and asked how I should invest this money - stocks, funds, or pay down my mortgage? He asked a few questions about my business. He then advised me to invest my money in the business because that is where I would obtain the best return over the next few years - then gradually as business growth levels or slows to invest in other long-term investments. It was smart advice because growing my business was another form of investment. I continue to make both short term and long investments in my business. You might examine your business in the same light.

©George Torok is co-author of the national bestseller, "Secrets of Power Marketing", the first guide to personal marketing for the non-marketer. Order your copy of this book from http://www.PowerMarketing.ca
He delivers training programs and inspirational speeches to corporations and associations. To arrange for your speech or training program call 905-335-1997. To receive your free copy of the special guide, "50 Power Marketing® Ideas" and subscribe to free marketing tips visit PowerMarketing.ca

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2830

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Big websites must opt for dedicated hosting services.
Let's just recap on the different types of hosting services that are available:
1. Free web hosting - these are normally sponsored through advertising. A no-no if you are serious about hosting your website for business purposes
2. Shared hosting - shared hosting is the most common type of hosting available today. This is most commonly used if you are running a small website or are just starting out.
3. VPS hosting (Virtual Private Servers) - this is the poor man's dedicated server. With VPS hosting the hosting provider partitions one server into multiple private spaces. You are therefore still sharing a server with other clients, but you get your own private 'slice' of this server. This means that your website performance will not be affected by the other clients sharing the same server since each client has his own virtual private space in which they run. Clients that host on VPS servers therefore has access to the same type of services normally only afforded by dedicated hosting technology
4. Dedicated hosting services are needed by clients with large websites that generate high volumes of traffic. There are also some companies which need huge storage space, and are not willing to share space with smaller companies but with the price of hardware and hard disks coming down in recent years, the more common reason to require a dedicated server these days are more to do with bandwidth usage and performance.
In both these cases, dedicated hosting providers the solution. Instead of sharing space on a shared server or even with a Virtual Private Server, you will lease an entire dedicated machine that is pre-configured for your requirements. Hosting companies that offer dedicated hosting are often larger and more established than companies that only offer shared hosting. Small web hosts often do not have the financial or technical muscle to provide dedicated hosting.
Web hosting companies that make provision for dedicated servers need to make a considerable investment in hardware and software, and because the client has full control over what type of software should be run on these machines, the hosting company also requires more investment in training and skills development of their staff. The hosting company also needs to make provision to stay up to date with the latest developments in hardware and software. The web host therefore needs to upgrade technology regularly to be able to provide state-of-the-art equipment.
Remember that the advantages of dedicated hosting is that the client does not control the hardware and basic software that is required to run the server, nor does the client have to employ any technical resources to maintain the hardware and software - this is completely the responsibility of the dedicated hosting provider.
This is why dedicated hosting costs considerably more than shared hosting or even VPS hosting. The cost can range between $99 to $2500 per month depending on which hosting company you deal with and depending on the client requirements. The cost will also be determined by the type of service contract that will be put in place between the client and the hosting company. Such a contract is commonly called a Service Level Agreement and it spells out the requirements of the client to a low level of detail. These requirements normally cover issues such as bandwidth usage, the required up-time of the server, scheduled maintenance slots and so on. The higher the required level of support from the hosing provider, the more expensive the monthly rental contract will be.
In some cases the client would do some of the management of the server himself (this is called un-managed hosting). In this case the hosting provider will only provide the physical server and infrastructure (e.g. network connectivity, storage space etc). In this case the actual management and monitoring of the servers are the responsibility of the client and this type of dedicated hosting should be on the cheaper side of dedicated hosting costs. It must be remembered then though that the client must make provision for employing technical staff to maintain the servers

Christine Anderssen is the owner of Tailormade4you, offering Web Hosting and Joomla Hosting services to small businesses in South Africa. We also specialize in Web Design and Web Development in PHP and MySQL to build websites quickly and efficiently. Visit our websites for free tutorials or read the original article on http://www.internet-web-hosting.co.za/webhosting-info/dedicated-hosting-and-vps-hosting.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/417100

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Dedicated Hosting: A Comparison Between Physical, VPS and Virtualised/VMware Based Hosting
Dedicated hosting has been around since web hosting pulled itself out of the primordial sludge in the 90s, maturing through the start of the millennium and finally commoditising in the last few years.
The biggest change to dedicated hosting has come in only the last year with the introduction of virtualised hosting, but most importantly, the introduction of VMware based virtualised dedicated hosting.
The essential point to note here is that, in order of effectiveness and features, the following order is the case.
Best: VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting
Next Best: Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting
Least Good: VPS (Virtual Private Servers)
Before people leap off their chair and start wailing and gnashing their teeth, let me explain and enlighten.
This table allows you to easily and quickly compare your requirements against the pros and cons of virtualised and physical dedicated hosting infrastructure.
High Availability
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Yes. High platform availability with automatic hardware failover is built into the VMware-based virtualised environment
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Only available in clustered farms
Managed Infrastructure
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Yes. The hardware underlying the virtualised infrastructure is monitored and managed by skilled engineers 24x7x365
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Optional and costly
VPS: Yes
Fast Deployment
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Yes. Hours to Days
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Weeks to Months. Physical infrastructure needs to be specified, ordered and delivered
VPS: Yes. Hours to Days
Dedicated Resources (CPU, RAM)
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Yes. VMware Infrastructure 3 allows precise and accurate control over resource allocation, ensuring you receive what you pay for as a minimum.
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Yes.
VPS: No.
Dedicated Performance
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Yes. VMware Infrastructure 3's precise resource control guarantees your performance cannot be impacted by other customers
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Yes.
VPS: No. Resources are shared and customers can affect each other's performance.
Independence from underlying OS
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Yes. Only the true virtualisation of VMware Infrastructure 3 allows complete independence from an underlying OS
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: No.
VPS: No. There is always a relationship between the underlying OS and the virtual machine.
Fast and Painless Migration from existing hosting environment
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Fast & Efficient. P2V (Physical to Virtualised) tools can be used to smooth the migration path
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Possible using cloning, not P2V, tools.
VPS: Possible with the same P2V tools, but not widely included in the services offered.
Upgrading Processor Speed
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Fast & Efficient.
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Non-trivial. Parts need to be ordered and installed.
VPS: No. Upgrading cannot be performed if there is not tight resource control in the first place.
Upgrading RAM
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Fast & Efficient.
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Non-trivial. Parts need to be ordered and installed.
VPS: No. Upgrading cannot be performed if there is not tight resource control in the first place.
Upgrading HDD
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Fast & Efficient.
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Non-trivial. Parts need to be ordered and installed.
VPS: Yes
Cloning
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Fast & Efficient.
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Yes, but requires third part tools.
VPS: Yes.

* VPS providers offer differing service levels
Food for thought rather than F.U.D...
Copyright Notice This article is free for reproduction but must be reproduced in its entirety, including live links & this copyright statement must be included.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/657877

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Dedicated Hosting: A Comparison Between Physical, VPS and Virtualised/VMware Based Hosting
Dedicated hosting has been around since web hosting pulled itself out of the primordial sludge in the 90s, maturing through the start of the millennium and finally commoditising in the last few years.
The biggest change to dedicated hosting has come in only the last year with the introduction of virtualised hosting, but most importantly, the introduction of VMware based virtualised dedicated hosting.
The essential point to note here is that, in order of effectiveness and features, the following order is the case.
Best: VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting
Next Best: Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting
Least Good: VPS (Virtual Private Servers)
Before people leap off their chair and start wailing and gnashing their teeth, let me explain and enlighten.
This table allows you to easily and quickly compare your requirements against the pros and cons of virtualised and physical dedicated hosting infrastructure.
High Availability
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Yes. High platform availability with automatic hardware failover is built into the VMware-based virtualised environment
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Only available in clustered farms
Managed Infrastructure
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Yes. The hardware underlying the virtualised infrastructure is monitored and managed by skilled engineers 24x7x365
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Optional and costly
VPS: Yes
Fast Deployment
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Yes. Hours to Days
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Weeks to Months. Physical infrastructure needs to be specified, ordered and delivered
VPS: Yes. Hours to Days
Dedicated Resources (CPU, RAM)
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Yes. VMware Infrastructure 3 allows precise and accurate control over resource allocation, ensuring you receive what you pay for as a minimum.
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Yes.
VPS: No.
Dedicated Performance
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Yes. VMware Infrastructure 3's precise resource control guarantees your performance cannot be impacted by other customers
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Yes.
VPS: No. Resources are shared and customers can affect each other's performance.
Independence from underlying OS
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Yes. Only the true virtualisation of VMware Infrastructure 3 allows complete independence from an underlying OS
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: No.
VPS: No. There is always a relationship between the underlying OS and the virtual machine.
Fast and Painless Migration from existing hosting environment
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Fast & Efficient. P2V (Physical to Virtualised) tools can be used to smooth the migration path
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Possible using cloning, not P2V, tools.
VPS: Possible with the same P2V tools, but not widely included in the services offered.
Upgrading Processor Speed
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Fast & Efficient.
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Non-trivial. Parts need to be ordered and installed.
VPS: No. Upgrading cannot be performed if there is not tight resource control in the first place.
Upgrading RAM
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Fast & Efficient.
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Non-trivial. Parts need to be ordered and installed.
VPS: No. Upgrading cannot be performed if there is not tight resource control in the first place.
Upgrading HDD
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Fast & Efficient.
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Non-trivial. Parts need to be ordered and installed.
VPS: Yes
Cloning
VMware Based Virtualised Dedicated Hosting: Fast & Efficient.
Old-style Physical Dedicated Hosting: Yes, but requires third part tools.
VPS: Yes.

* VPS providers offer differing service levels
Food for thought rather than F.U.D...
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In order to appreciate the beauty of Virtual Dedicated Hosting, it helps to understand the alternatives - "shared" web hosting and "real" dedicated hosting.
Shared Hosting - Cheap But Potentially Unreliable
Shared web hosting makes it possible for hundreds or even thousands of users to host their sites very cost-effectively. However, there are a few drawbacks.
Because many web sites are hosted on the same physical server each site must share that server's resources. These resources include bandwidth, disk space, memory, and CPU usage to name a few. The need to share resources is rarely a problem for small and medium size web sites.
The biggest limitation with shared hosting, therefore, is that you cannot control any of the system-level software such as mail servers, http servers, etc. You also are not able to choose your own operating system, compile programs, or perform other administrative activities such as installing firewalls and spam filters.
Real Dedicated Hosting
Real dedicated web hosting, on the other hand, solves all the problems with shared web hosting, but at a significant cost. With real dedicated hosting you have exclusive use of an entire server: all the memory, all the disk space, all the CPU horsepower.
Therefore, no other web sites' problems, glitches, or whatever, will have any effect on your web site. You have total control over the server, its resources, and its administrative functions.
This is the ideal web hosting solution but it isn't cheap. You have to pay for an entire server with no one else to share common expenses. So, typically, a "real" dedicated hosting plan will cost a minimum of $100 per month and goes up from there. And, unless you opt for managed hosting which is even more expensive, you have to do all the technical server administration yourself.
You run your business. I'll run mine.
The fact is that most web site owners don't need total control of their servers as they simply want to run their businesses. They have neither the interest nor the ability to perform all the technical tasks associated with a fully dedicated server and are more than happy to let their shared web hosting provider handle them.
However, when an online business begins to ramp up its transaction volumes, expand its product line to a large number of online offerings, or simply needs more control over its environment, there is a very cost effective alternative to a fully dedicated server.
Virtual dedicated hosting, also known as virtual dedicated server, or VDS, hosting, is the term for a physical server which, by means of software, has been partitioned into a number of virtual machines operating independently of each other as if they were standalone dedicated servers.
Virtual Dedicated Hosting - Advantages
The big advantage of VDS over a fully dedicated server is cost. Typically priced at less than one fourth the cost of full dedicated hosting, VDS hosting provides nearly all the same advantages. And compared to a shared web hosting plan, VDS is only slightly more expensive providing an excellent balance of economy and control.
With a VDS all physical resources such as memory, disk space, and the CPU continue to be shared, but each virtual server operates in a fully independent manner. For example, each VDS can run its own unique operating system and can be set up in any configuration imaginable.
The main advantage of a VDS is that each administrator maintains control at the root directory level of his or her own virtual server. Access at this level permits the web site owners to do a lot of neat things:

• Administer their own file directories
• Assign domain names that resolve to a primary domain
• without having to go through the web host
• Create and add e-mail accounts
• Assign email addresses
• Manage their own log files
• Maintain passwords
• Set permissions
• Delete and install software
• VDS administrators effectively have the ability to do whatever an administrator can do on a real, physical server.

SecurityBesides providing significantly greater control over the web hosting environment, the virtual dedicated server hosting is inherently more secure than any shared hosting server can be. Because web sites hosted on a shared server have to use the same operating system, a hacker who gets access to the server's root directory could damage all the websites residing on that server.
On the other hand, a VDS is compartmentalized such that a hacker gaining entry via one account could in no way access any of the others. Each VDS is totally invisible to each other and it's impossible to transfer root-level access capability from one account to another.
Virtual Dedicated Servers can be configured by the hosting company in a variety of ways so it's important that you understand how your web host has allocated the server's resources.
Typically the host would distribute the physical server resources evenly based on how many accounts and/or web sites are being hosted. Thus, with ten virtual servers on one physical server, each would be allocated ten percent of the storage, bandwidth, memory, and CPU time.
Virtual Dedicated Hosting - Disadvantages
Interestingly, the disadvantages of hosting on a VDS are pretty much the same as what the advantages are. If you're not sure what you are doing, having the full control that virtual dedicated hosting allows can be very risky.
For example, you can accidentally delete files, or set permissions inappropriately, or allow viruses and other malware to enter the system and, overall, just make a real mess of things. So if you lack the technical skills to administer a web server, and are unable or unwilling to learn them, virtual dedicated hosting may not be a good choice for you.
However, if your site has reached a size where shared web hosting no longer accommodate the demands of your business, virtual dedicated hosting can provide a highly cost-effective alternative to "real" dedicated server hosting.
The Bottom Line
When selecting a virtual dedicated hosting plan, make it your business to understand how all the server resources are allocated, what the available options are for operating systems, how many VDS accounts will reside on each server, as well as the terms and conditions for upgrading and downgrading to a different plan.
Virtual dedicated hosting is the real deal when you need a robust yet economical home for your web site.

Anthony Hamill is the founder of Web-Host-Watch.Com [http://www.web-host-watch.com] which helps online business owners understand the basics of web hosting. There you'll find affordable web hosting [http://www.web-host-watch.com] plans, tutorials, tips on avoiding common mistakes, a glossary of web hosting terms, and a web hosting review [http://www.web-host-watch.com/webhostingreview.html] that profiles the top hosts in each hosting category.

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