Speed of Light - Sixty Symbols Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The little "c" representing the speed of light is perhaps the most famous symbol in physics and astronomy. More at www.sixtysymbols.com



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_DenvIA9gQ&hl=en

High CPU Usage - Learn How to Identify the Root Causes and Reduce Your Web Hosting Bandwidth Usage Sunday, August 29, 2010

What exactly is CPU Usage and What does it mean to your hosting account? CPU time (or CPU usage, processing time) is the amount of time for which a central processing unit (CPU) was used for processing instructions of a computer program, as opposed to, for example, waiting for input/output operations.

The web server's CPU is used to obtain and serve your web pages to your visitors, whether these pages are static or dynamic is totally irrelevant. More CPU cycles or resources are used when your web pages are served dynamically from a database or script, since the database has to do some fair amount of processing to construct and serve these web pages to the visitors. It has to load the web template, obtain data for that particular page from the database, execute any plugins or modules that you have installed, and finally package the page to be served to your website visitors.

CPU time is a finite resource shared by all websites hosted on a particular web server, if any one website uses the CPU excessively; other websites on the same server will be deprived the opportunity to serve their pages in a timely manner, and will often appear either appear to be sluggish or in a worst situation non-responsive causing the user's pc to crash.

As a result of this, web hosts usually monitor the amount of CPU your site uses on shared web hosting plans, to curb problems when a single website uses too much of the CPU time, adversely affecting other websites on the same server. Each hosting account has a CPU usage limit, which, when reached, may result in the account being suspended.

When this sort of situation happens with your website, the web host will typically ask you to upgrade to a higher plan more expensive plan or to get a dedicated server, where your website will reside on its own on the server.

Most web hosts will provide you with the facility to monitor your CPU usage. You can go to the Live Stats > Load Stats section of your Web Hosting Control Panel to see daily statistics for your account's CPU usage. This step is totally different depending on who your web host is, and the type of control panel they are using. Please check with your web host to establish exactly how to perform this important task.

To reduce the CPU usage of your account, there are several general rules that you should follow:

• Upgrade all third-party web applications to the latest stable release available (Drupal, Joomla, Word Press and any other content management or blog systems, forums, galleries or any other scripts that you have installed on your account)


• Check to see if any of the web applications that you use have add-ons or plugins, and make sure they are upgraded to the latest available versions


• Perform a general house-keeping and remove any unused web applications and/or plugins/add-ons that you have installed


• Any web applications that allow caching should have this feature enabled or activated.


• If you have developed your own script(s), try reducing the number of MySQL/MSSQL/ PostgreSQL queries and optimize your scripts to use less processing time.

To deal with and reduce a high CPU usage on your hosting account, you must in the first instance identify the reasons for the high CPU usage. Identifying these reasons can be quite difficult, most especially if you are using third-party web applications such as forums, content management or blog systems, which you have not developed yourself, and have little or no knowledge about how they use system resources.

There are, however, several things that you could check that would give you head start:

1. Troubleshoot and identify the website that is most likely to be responsible for the high CPU usage.If you host more than one website (domain/sub domain) in your account, you should start by identifying which one is most visited and which one generates the most traffic - this is probably the one that's responsible for the high CPU usage. Concurrent hits to any of your website can have an effect on the CPU. Go to the Live Stats > Bandwidth Stats section and find out which of your websites (domains or sub domains) has generated the most traffic for the past day and for the current month. Again, I must say that, this step may differ depending on who your web host is and the type of control panel they use.


2. Drill down deeper to identify the file that is most likely responsible for the high CPU usage.Once you have established which website has generated the most traffic by looking at the Bandwidth Stats, go to the Live Stats Traffic Stats section of your Web Hosting Control Panel and view the traffic stats for this domain/sub domain for the current period. Look for the file(s) that have generated most traffic - this can normally in the report by looking at the Top 10 apps, Total URLs by KBytes table. Look particularly for any PHP/CGI script files in this list that have generated unusually high amounts of traffic. This file(s) is most likely the reason for the high CPU usage and you should consider optimizing it.


3. Identify the visitor/host that is most likely responsible for the high CPU usage.Like in step 2, look at the monthly traffic stats for your domain/sub domain and look for the visitor/host that has generated most traffic this month. You will find the list under Top 10 of XX Total Sites by KBytes - look for any hosts that have generated unusually large amounts of traffic (when compared to others in the same period) - this will either be an IP address or a hostname of some sort, somedomain.com. Once you have identified this host or IP address that is zapping up CPU time, you may want to consider blocking access for this host(s) or at least restrict it to reduce the CPU usage of your account.

In conclusion, if you are still unable to reduce the CPU usage of your account after following the advices given in this article, you should either look for the help of a professional developer or simply consider the fact that you need either a dedicated server or at least a VPS or a semi-dedicated server.

About the author:
Dr. Jatau, D.K. is Technical Director/Solutions Architect Webxcell Media & Hosting Group, an award-winning web hosting and web Development Company located in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. To find out more about our Web hosting with unlimited subdomains, you can visit us at http://www.webxcellhosting.com or call us direct at: 44 (0) 8450 52 35 44.

Copyright © 2010 by Dr. Dan K Jatau and Webxcell Hosting

Run Multiple Websites - Letting Subdomains Work For You Wednesday, August 25, 2010

A subdomain is described as domain in the Domain Name System, which is underneath another domain name in the hierarchy, for example

• Domain name: mydomainname.com


• Subdomain: articles.mydomainname.com

Subdomains can be used to establish branding and focus on separate products or services for your business. In the URL support.companyxyz.com/, 'support' is a subdomain of companyxyz.com. There is no extra work or cost involved in using subdomains, as you do not need to register each subdomain, since they are based on your main domain name. You do however need to create the subdomain via the hosting control panel.

Possible Uses of Subdomains:

1. Online shops or portals

You can use subdomains to provide an online shop or portal under the (second level) domain of your corporate or personal website. The distribution of domain and subdomains could be something as follows:

• Top Level Domain (TLD): companyxyz.com


• Subdomain: shopname.companyxyz.com


• Subdomain: auction.companyxyz.com

2. Multilingual Websites:

You can take advantage of subdomains to setup your corporate or personal website with multiple languages. If your domain is companyxyz.com for example, you can strategically deploy your website using subdomains. This could be in a division of domain and subdomains as follows:

• Top Level Domain (TLD): companyxyz.com


• Subdomain: en.companyxyz.com


• Subdomain: fr.companyxyz.com


• Subdomain: de.companyxyz.com

Subdomains are by default included free of charge with all business/personal web hosting plans, and you can create and configure them in real-time through your dedicated hosting control panel.

Most businesses dislike the use of subdomains because they feel that they give them a disadvantage in some areas. Some of the worries held by some businesses are having a prefix name before their main web-site, being ignored by spiders in search engines and for other business reasons. Subdomains just don't look right for some businesses. So, consider the following facts on subdomains.

Subdomains no doubt rank efficiently well on search engines. Search engine spiders and bots do not discriminate when ranking subdomains and regular domains. You need not worry about search engines, as long as your site keep to the rules of the search engines, have the right set of keywords and your website has been optimized correctly. Its rest assured that, whether you have a subdomain or regular domain name you can still rank very well in search engines.

Let's assume that your website has a lot of content categories in it. If your website is submitted to a search engine, you could submit each subdomain as a separate category in its own right and still get a good ranking. Achieving good search engine ranking depends on many factors. In this scenario, each subdomain you submit to the search engine will be looked at by search engines as a new site in its own right with its own index or home page. Another good SEO technique to use to get over the subdomain hurdle is to create subfolders on your subdomain, so that search engines can read them as one set of information.

Businesses worry about their subdomains getting banned by search engines if their main domain name is banned. If the main domain is banned, it will have a cascading effect on the subdomain. Domains are banned if they are in flagrant violation of rules that govern website content and practices. Keep to ethical standards, and you will never have to worry about getting banned by search engines or even your ISP or web hosting company.

With all the fears and doubts surrounding subdomains, I can say that the benefits far outweigh the fears held by some businesses.

Business Benefits of Setting up and Developing Content on Subdomains

Cost savings: You may or may not save money, so don't get too excited yet. Some Web hosts require you to purchase a separate hosting account for each subdomain. You should take your time to shop around for a web host who can allow you to set up multiple subdomains at no extra costs. This is great; it's like getting different Web sites for the price of one.

Higher search engine ranking: You get a boost in most search engines when you use your important keywords in your domain name. But if you're targeting a lot of keywords, they're hard to cram into a single domain name. Subdomains give you more opportunity to include keywords with your domain.

Easier domain maintenance: With a single domain name, you only have one annual payment, login, and expiration date to remember. The same ease goes with your hosting account if your host allows multiple subdomains on the same account.

There is nothing wrong with using a subdomain, and you should not hesitate to take advantage of the benefits that comes with doing so.

Considering Subdomains?

If you are considering using sub domains, bear in mind that the proper use will help you organize and promote your site effectively. You should be able to set up and manage add-on domains, parked domains and subdirectories from your hosting account or domain hosting control panel. If in any doubt, please consult your web host before proceeding. Doing your homework and gathering the correct information prior to entering into any contract will save you a lot of pains in future.

About the author:
Dr. Jatau, D.K. is Technical Director/Solutions Architect Webxcell Media & Hosting Group, an award-winning web hosting and web Development Company located in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. To find out more about Web hosting with multiple subdomains, you can visit us at: http://www.webxcellhosting.com or call us direct at: 44 (0) 8450 52 35 44.

Copyright © 2010 by Dr. Dan K Jatau and Webxcell Hosting

Finding Office Space - Serviced Vs Non-Serviced Offices

So you have a business and you're wondering where to find an office. Maybe you are just starting out, or maybe you've been working from home for a while and would like to make the step out into the world and get your own dedicated office space. Most UK cities will have a wealth of companies offering office space, so just finding your premises shouldn't be difficult, but balancing location, price and all the other considerations may be more of a minefield. This is where the fully serviced office package really comes in useful, as many small businesses have found.

Serviced offices take all of the hassle out of managing your workspace. Often you'll be able to find a package that covers rent, business rates, utilities and other basics, and also offers packages for your telephone, internet and other business essentials. Dependent on the provider, you may also have access to city-centre parking spaces, on-site meeting rooms and other amenities. Most serviced offices provide a manned reception and on-site personnel to deal with any day-to-day maintenance or problems, so the hassle really is completely taken out of your hands.

Serviced office buildings can also offer cost effective solutions to the small business that doesn't necessarily need office space full time. Virtual offices provide a very economical way to give your business an official address for correspondence, and provide access to meeting rooms as and when you might need them. Hot desking or nomad working is also an option, whereby a desk, with telephone and internet connection, can be rented by the day or even half-day, providing a dedicated workspace when it is needed most.

So consider the serviced office option if you are looking to move out of a home office, or if you are looking to expand your business. It's the easy, economical way to do things.

No Strings Attached, a division of CHC Land, offers serviced offices in Nottingham's fashionable Lace Market business district. Visit the website at http://www.nostringsattached.biz to find out what they can provide. Services include office space, meeting room hire, parking spaces, hot desking, virtual offices and more.

things to do in ningbo No.4

my journey from the centre of ningbo to unversity of nottingham ningbo china, a journey of about 25 minutes reduced to 4 mins



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0oNIZcKXZU&hl=en

Nottingham University Business School - World Top Ranking Performance

Founded in 1798, The University of Nottingham is a world class university with international reputation for excellent research and teaching performance. Today the university has more than 33000 students studying across its four major campuses in the UK and two international campuses in Malaysia and China.

Nottingham University Business School (NUBS) offers one of the world class leading MBA programs which are fully accredited by the Association of MBA (AMBA). The school is a world renowned centre of excellence in research, actively involved in major research areas such as Marketing, Industrial Economics, Human Resource Management, Accounting and Finance. Different types of MBA programs are offered such as the Financial MBA, General MBA, Executive MBA and International MBA.

University Ranking Information:

NUBS is one of the largest business school in Europe. It is ranked 6th by the 2008 Times Good University Guide (UK).

The school has outstanding record in teaching and research. It received a Grade 5 rating in the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2001. Its teaching was rated 'excellent' by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

Ranked as one of the world top 100 MBA programs by the Financial Times global top 100 MBA 2008 and the Economist Intelligence Unit 2007.

The university is ranked 19th in the Guardian University Ranking 2009 and 13th in the Sunday Times University Guide 2008.

It was named the 'UK University of the Year' by the Times Higher Education in 2006.

It is ranked in the World top 100 universities by the Academic Ranking of World Universities 2007 and THES-QS World University Rankings 2007.

Please visit the relevant guides for Best MBA Programs and Business School Ranking.

The author, Loke Yuen Wong, holds an MBA from Heriot-Watt University (UK) and a BCom degree from The University of Adelaide (Australia).

SB.TV - Fangol *NOTTINGHAM TALENT*

www.sbtv.co.uk



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIT3N2bsPzY&hl=en