The email manager has saved me a lot of time from manual configuration. You can quickly and easily set up email accounts, set up and remove POPs, create auto-responders, create aliases, and more. Virtualis has 21 tools in all--certainly more than I can cover in this article! One of best features of Virtualis hosting software suite is that it is totally web-based. This allows for instant accessibility, no matter where you are--certainly helpful if you travel frequently or have customers covering a wide geographical area.

SUPPORT

Even for experienced web developers, a primary consideration is Support. Questions always arise as you develop sites and add features and/or functionality. The ideal hosting company will be there to assist you along way, as well as talk you through any rough spots. Since support issues are rarely constrained to regular business hours, make sure that your chosen hosting company offers support 24/7 (just in case), and offers a variety of means to contact support, such as telephone, email, and web-based access.

SPACE

Finally, "Space," refers to how much server room you will need to store/manage your digital data. How much space you need can be determined by how much content you will post, how much data you will store, and how much traffic you are expecting. Ideally, you should find a company like Virtualis that offers both shared and dedicated servers--that way, you can start small, and expand as your online business grows.

Shared servers are simply servers that are shared with other businesses. Most small to medium-sized businesses prefer shared hosting because it is cost-effective and can be scaled to amount of space that your business needs. Virtualis offers shared "Virtual" servers that range from VS Mini, at 30 MB of space, all way up to VS Meta, which has 300MB of disk space. Of course, if you require more space, a dedicated server option is likely best for you. Virtualis offers five different dedicated servers that range in size from 4.2 gigs (the DEDA1) to huge DEDA5, which has 18 gigs of space.

I hope my experiences will aid you in your hosting selection

process. You need to look at reliability, service, software, support, and space. That way, you can wisely choose "silent partner," who will deliver steady uptime, sophisticated time-saving tools, and supreme customer support. After much personal research, and after consulting my good friend, Jim Daniels, I chose Virtualis. From getting my domain name to finding right hosting package for my needs, my silent partner-Virtualis-made getting my business online impossibly easy.

For more information on how Virtualis can be your silent partner, go to.....

http://www.virtualis.com/vr/lschmeck/orderform.html

ErrorDocument 404 http://www.yourdomain.com/404page.html

After you're done, save file as plain text and make sure that it is named ".htaccess", without quotes of course. The hard part is now over, all that is left is to create custom 404 page (404page.html) that loads when a 404 error occurs.

What should my 404 page look like? ==================================

Of course, you can put anything you want into it, but if your purpose is to encourage your visitors to click further into your site instead of leaving, page should obey some basic principles.

1. Don't give users a reason to panic. Including a large heading that screams "ERROR" is likely to make visitor feel that he/she has done something wrong or that your site is not working properly. A better approach is to first greet them with a warm welcome and then explain that URL they were looking for could not be found, but should they browse around your site, they will surely find information they need.

2. Make page to look and feel similar to rest of pages on your site. Include your site's menu on 404 page to give visitors a fast and easy way to continue exploring instead of clicking away. A well-designed 404 page with plenty of links is far more attractive than one that has just black text on a white background and a link to your homepage.

3. If you have skills, consider adding a search feature on page that allows people to search your site for matches. Often your navigation menu will provide a clue on how user might reach information he/she would like to see, but if it doesn't there is a great risk of losing visit. Placing a search utility on page increases likelihood of user finding desired page and thus remaining on your site.

After both .htaccess file and HTML page are ready, FTP to your server, upload pages and enjoy your new custom 404 error page!