| By :
Dirik Hameed
When it comes to the question of webhosting, a lot of people will want to know the difference between certain key words. Whether this is to do with server maintenance or if they are buying a domain name, the right questions need to be asked. Uptime and availability are two words which, although in concept they seem to be similar, they are not synonymous. At its very basic level, uptime is known as the amount of time a machine can be left to keep running without experiencing downtime. Most of the time, the systems which it refers to are computers, operating systems and web servers. It can vary between different machine systems, but within computing it refers to how long one is able to keep a computer running unattended. After a certain period, it will eventually need to be rebooted or crash. The rebooting of the actual system is usually for maintenance purposes. In order to keep the entire thing running properly, aspects of it need to be checked in order to keep it running. This is why at certain times certain websites will not be available because their administrators need to have a look over everything keep it in top shape. In some cases there are even reports of uptime lasting for up to six years or so. The other term to keep an eye out for is high availability, or what is just known as availability. Confusion between these two is an easy mistake to make as well. They are, in essence, similar but different. The term essentially will refer to the access to the services of a machine that users can gain. Again, this is usually in the computing context however other machinery can also be included. The two terms themselves are incredibly easy to confuse, but availability is different in the sense that it literally only means the time that a particular system is available for the users to access. "Downtime" is when it is unavailable. It is probably this second word which is something that causes so much confusion amongst people and leads them into thinking they are the same in web hosting. For those running web services or any other kind of system, the likes of unavailability are normally used to repair problems and check over reports. Whilst this can be a pain and frustration for the users on the other end, usually they are done at times when there is a low frequency of usage. This is particularly important to do on popular servers. Clients and businesses alike are always going to be searching for the best. By nature people are impatient, and want to access their systems immediately and have them working all the time. Nobody likes it if they switch on a television and find that a channel is down for repairs. Normally if something like this happens, people will flick over and look for something else. In a consumerist society, instant gratification is a key point. For any kind of company or enterprise, it is important to have the highest level of productivity at all times. Around the clock advertising will allow for greater profits to be generated. The more people who can access webpages, the more money a firm is able to make.
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