How to Choose a Dedicated Server For WordPress?

Your WordPress website has become pretty popular, and you consider switching to a dedicated server? Or you’re sure your new blog is doomed to success, and want to start up with a powerful hosting option? In both cases, that’s the right choice, but now you have a challenging task ahead: selection of dedicated servers for WordPress. How to choose the right dedicated server?

Hard drive matters

Generally, dedicated servers of popular brands like SuperMicro and Dell are equally reliable, but what matters is the type of hard drive. Today, there are two main options available:

1. HDD (hard disk drives) are used in most computers and laptops. They contain a rotating element, which is why they produce noise. One HDD can provide up to 4 Tb of storage, reliability and redundancy during the process of writing and reading data. However, it consumes more power, and the speed of data processing is slower. It should be used for operations that don’t require frequent reading or writing of data.

2. SSD (solid-state drives) don’t have rotating elements, which is why they are completely silent. They accelerate the operations of reading and writing data (in HDD, IOPS reaches 80-100, while in SSD it can be more than 8,000 operations per second). Their service life is shorter, and they can be more expensive, but still SSD is a perfect option for a website developed on any modern CMS.

If you host a traffic-heavy website on an HDD WordPress dedicated server, choose SAS interface, if on SSD server – SATA interface will be more appropriate (it may transfer data at the rate up to 6 Gb/sec).

Managed vs Unmanaged

Users with profound technical knowledge can save on server maintenance buying unmanaged dedicated servers. In this case, you will be responsible for backups, fixing technical issues and monitoring performance. If you face technical problems you cannot solve, you will have to ask for provider’s help: be ready to pay support team on an hourly basis for their assistance.

You’re not a tech-savvy user? Opt for a managed dedicated server, because in this case you will be provided with:

• 24/7 monitoring;
• competent technical support;
• regular backups;
• security features.

Although such option is more costly than the first one, you will sleep soundly knowing your WordPress website is always available, and data on the server is safe and secure.

Location

To ensure fast website loading you need to shorten the distance between end users and the source of data (the original server). This is why you should order a dedicated server that’s located as close to your target audience as possible. However, even the most advanced dedicated server will not ensure rapid loading for users from all over the world.

If your website is popular geographically spread regions, or the entire globe, consider charging its speed with CDN for WordPress. CDN (content delivery network) is a system of servers that cache website assets and deliver them to visitors much quicker. That’s a cheaper and easier option than leasing several dedicated servers in multiple regions.

When selecting a dedicated server, you should take into consideration requirements of your project, not its price only. Keep in mind that an ideal server is the one that suits your exact needs.

5 Most common SEO mistakes

If you’re new in website hosting, most likely you make some widespread mistakes that hurt SEO considerably. Find out what changes can be made to the website to increase the number of readers and boost ranking.

No permalink optimization

Permalinks show users what your pages are about, and also let search engines to define their relevancy. Therefore you should shape up a correct structure of your permalinks in settings. It’s recommended to post permalinks to page titles only. Don’t forget to include keywords in the links.

Ignoring fields about keywords and title

If you don’t fill up all fields in your post, it can have negative impact on SEO. Keywords allow search engines to understand how well a webpage is optimized for targeted keywords. SEO title helps to customize the title and make it understandable for search engines. Besides, if you dedicate a few minutes to writing a meta description, a post will have better click rates.

Poor interlinking

Why having links between blog posts? First, it increases user engagement making people surf the website continuously. Secondly, bounce rates become much lower. SEO benefits are also clear: when Google sees that contextually relevant pages are linked, the relevance of website in some certain topic increases. Use links actively and include different keywords.

Not much external linking

External linking also boosts search ranking, if they connect users with authoritative web-sites. That happens due to the above-mentioned relevancy factor. Furthermore, Google approves of this strategy, because it shows the relevancy of the project. So if you don’t have external links, or use them rarely, Google will assume your website is not interesting and invaluable.  

No image optimization

Although some developers don’t care about writing alt text, this is very important. It’s useful for mobile visitors and visually impaired people. Alt text should also be added to logos and navigational images, because it provides wider context for search engines.

Learn how to improve SEO with CDN: https://inxy.hosting/blog/how-cdn-improves-3-google-ranking-factors

Why using a Dedicated Server in Your Business?

Modern IT market is highly competitive, and it gets harder to outperform the rivals. To be ahead of the competitors, a business needs to use every opportunity to succeed. With a dedicated server, an organization can give its website a huge boost, attract more customers and have complete control over hosting. What are the reasons to implement this technology?

Brilliant user experience

If a visitor tries to open a website in vain, and it takes too long to load, he or she is more likely to abandon the slow page and go to a competitor’s website to find the necessary product or service. If you want to avoid such situations, order a dedicated server right now. This way, you will be able to improve overall performance of your website and prevent downtime.

Overall control and customization

When shared hosting is used, a business has nowhere to grow further – limit of resources is a serious obstacle. Besides, developers can’t adjust the website and bandwidth whenever needed. With a dedicated server you can have as many resources at your disposal as necessary. When there’s a low volume of traffic, you can scale down and reduce expenses. When the traffic flow grows, you will be able to scale up instantly and give customers a quick access to your website.

Security Improvement

During the recent years the number of hacker attacks and data leaks has increased considerably, so we’re in dire need of additional security measures. Shared hosting can’t provide your business with a consistent level of security: your website will be under permanent threat because of other users’ actions and resource consumption. If you have precious information, taking measures for super-security is obligatory. Data breach can rupture your image and reputation, but with a dedicated server, you will have every opportunity to adjust every aspect of protection. Use a firewall, important backups and SSH, and you will be able to repel all attacks.

Absence of limits

Every business should have space to grow and develop. Most entrepreneurs start with cheap shared hosting, but this choice can take its toll in the future. To avoid problems with switching (loss of data, website lags), simply start from dedicated server hosting. You will be able to add up more bandwidth and disc space as your business is developing.

Dedicated IP Address

Using a separate IP address is crucial just like having a unique brandname. With a dedicated server, you have a separate IP and your website can’t be blacklisted because of other users.

Use of a dedicated server is a must for those who need overall control over hosting and sufficient amount of resources. To get more info about advantages of dedicated servers, read https://inxyhost.com/blog/3-key-qualities-of-dedicated-servers

Why eCommerce sites need low latency CDN?

So you have launched an eCommerce store and have ordered services of a decent hosting provider. Shoppers are satisfied with your goods, social media praises you store, and everything seems to be perfect. Why would one need a CDN then?

Purchasers are highly demanding. If in 1999, people were ready to wait 8 seconds for a website to load, today, their patience allows waiting for 3 seconds only. So if your website is too slow, you can lose up to 79% of potential shoppers who would not return to make a purchase. Furthermore, about 40% of them will tell a friend they had negative online experience. Thus, low latency CDN is crucial as Internet users are very demanding (Read about speed importance in 2017: https://www.spacecdn.com/blog/content-delivery-network/the-importance-of-page-load-speed-in-2017/).

Another problem users have is slow speed when using mobile devices. This is why eCommerce websites should use responsive design and do their best to boost web performance. 73% of mobile users claim that websites are slow, and 38% reckon that there are sites totally unavailable via mobile devices.

Accessibility has become very important for online stores, because half of content goes from mobile devices. In situations when bandwidth is limited, low latency CDN becomes crucial for user experience: it improves the speed of website, no matter what gadget is used. That particularly concerns emerging markets where access outside the country is poor, and PoPs can improve the situation.

Statistics show that eCommerce sites with daily revenue of $100.000 per day may lose up to $2.5 mln in a year, if they have 1 second delay in loading. On the contrary, even 0,1 second improvement in loading can increase revenue by 1%. Thus, low latency CDN is very important for developing eCommerce sites. Using it, you boost speed, improve customer experience and maximize revenue paying just a few dollars a month.

Why PoP count is not always crucial for CDN?

The choice of CDN depends on many factors, and the number of PoPs is one of them. Being the link between users and CDN, PoPs are located in mission-critical places to bring content to users effectively. Quite often, companies regard the number of PoPs as indicator of hosting quality. But while PoP itself makes up for faster loading, its excess is also no good.

When the more PoPs is the better?

Being the link between users and content, PoPs reduce the distance, make up for load balancing and better redundancy. As a rule, a large number of PoPs is beneficial for companies that want to reach global coverage and host bandwidth-intensive files like videos. If you are going to expand your presence in new regions, choose CDNs that offers PoPs there. This way, content won’t have to travel too long

When More PoPs Doesn’t Matter?

Not every company needs an expensive CDN with hundreds of PoPs and customization options. If you need presence in a few regions, you only need to choose a network that has points of presence in these very regions. The closer to visitors – the better. Extra PoPs in regions you don’t serve won’t make the difference. A third party CDN, or their combination will be a cost-effective and reliable option.

These two factors should be taken into account when evaluating CDN infrastructure. What matters is the relation to users, not the number of PoPs.

Cash and cache issues

Prior to ordering a CDN, make sure that it features PoPs only where you need. In most cases, users overpay for extra servers, because providers usually have them everywhere. Find a CDN solution that is relevant to your target audience. This way, you will make sure that every dollar spend is worth: you build up a reliable and effective network that works for YOUR company.

Most CDNs are tailored to deliver static files, while dynamic content is hard to cache, so users are often redirected to the origin server. That limits the advantages of CDN and causes waste of efforts when CDN always tries to replicate data over PoPs. Therefore, if you have need acceleration of dynamic content delivery, choose CDN solutions created especially for that.

Read more about CDN and PoPs: https://www.jodihost.com/blog/news/is-the-number-of-pops-in-cdn-is-so-important/

When should I move from shared hosting to dedicated server?

Most sites and blogs are hosted on shared hosting servers: it becomes the first step in their development. But while shared hosting is less costly, easy to set up and provides some great features, it has a lot of limitations. While your business is growing, hosting plan should also grow with it to meet all demands. How can one know that it’s high time to move hosting to the next level? 

There are several signs that the move from shared hosting is inevitable:

1. Your website deals with high traffic pretty often

If your website traffic volume constantly increases, present shared hosting plan may be not enough to sustain it, and you should switch to a VPS or a dedicated server. It will provide you with sufficient amount of resources and bandwidth.

2. Your website’s load time increases

Shared hosting distributes resources over several websites, and when one of them starts demanding extra bandwidths, other websites start run slower, or even crash. If you have noticed downtime on your website, it’s time to get independent from your neighbors. Besides, if it takes much time to load for a website with several plugins that make several PHP and SQL database requests, it’s time to switch and maintain your server environment.

3. You need more security

Although shared hosting servers are protected with firewalls and other security applications, the risk appears because of other users. If one website causes vulnerability, other websites on the server can be hacked, as well.

With VPS and dedicated server, your site is separated from the others. You get your own IP address and mail server, so your projects won’t be blacklisted, and email letters won’t be marked as spam because of others’ actions.

4. Your project requires more resources

When using shared hosting, all available resources like bandwidth, CPU, memory, and disk space are shared among sites not equally. If some websites consume extra traffic and bandwidth, it will affect your usage limits. With dedicated server hosting, you will get a defined amount of resources in your virtual environment. Besides, VPS and dedicated servers provide far more disk space, bandwidth and more scalability, so you can define certain amount of bandwidth and change it.

5. You want overall control

If you need more control over web hosting account and the opportunity to install any software, to manage cPanel accounts and setting permissions, the switch to a VPS or a dedicated server is necessity.

Now when you’ve made a decision, you only need to find a suitable provider who has the desired product and configuration. To choose between VPS and dedicated servers, read this article: https://inxyhost.com/blog/5-reasons-to-upgrade-from-vps-to-a-dedicated-server

Technologies that will become popular in 2017

After discussing information technology trends in 2017, many specialists agree that artificial intelligence is one of the most actively evolving spheres. Find out why, and what IT directions are as relevant in 2017 as never.

AI(artificial intelligence)

As many other technologies, artificial intelligence can be implemented in a large number of spheres starting from automation of manufacturing finishing by self-driving cars. IoT devices use it, as well. AL is the future of our work, because it makes up for automation of processes around saving time and efforts. Probably, smart agents with AI will soon replace mobile applications and behavioral algorithms. A self-learning app may serve as personal assistant. However, rapid development of AI can lead to job loss, too.

Specialists also claim that in some cases AI is just a refresh of an old product and a marketing hype. For instance, you don’t need a toaster with Internet connection and self-learning when a usual $30 model will be enough. Another debatable issue is security: when all personal devices, homes and cars get technical, you can’t really feel safe. Anyway, machine learning can accelerate the development of AI, making robots and devices learn on their own.

New mobile competitors

The market of smartphones can become different with new players emerging. A lot of Chinese smartphone producers offer top-notch quality products, and HP Elite x3 and the Kodak Ektra have recently caught attention of publicity.

Blockchain

Blockchain technology has caused a lot of buzz. This is a secure transaction tracking technology that can be used in many industries, not financial services. If it expands the presence to cover all transactions, it may become the new standard of purchases.

Hyperconvergence

Hyperconvergence is another sphere that grows considerably: it is predicted that this market will double every year in the future. Security is one of the main features today, and not for the reason of hacking and DDoS attacks. What companies focus on is control over pipes and content, as well as storage options (that are likely to become cheaper).

CDN

 Again, security makes companies implement this technology. While accelerating websites, content delivery networks make up for higher safety and provide DDoS protection on layer level. Besides, load balancing protects the origin server from break. More info about the benefits of CDN is here: https://inxy.hosting/blog/why-you-should-start-using-cdn-right-now

Preparing to Live Streaming: 5 Tips

Some CDN companies have solutions created especially for live streaming. If you want to launch a website that focuses on video streaming, you should take into consideration five important things.

Define Your Target Audience

When preparing for streaming, you should first decide who your target audience is. Find out where the majority of users are located, what are the peculiarities of connection and speed of Internet. For example, if your audience is located in regions with high speed of connection, you can choose high bit rate for your videos. It is also important to have a CDN streaming server located as close to users’ location as possible.

Select the right encoder

There are many different encoders starting from free simple ones and finishing by professional variants. Choose the one that meets your requirements. Beginners are recommended Flash Media Live Encoder since it is free, and users don’t have to be tech savvy to navigate it.

Specify appropriate video/audio settings

Settings should be chosen so that to reach maximum quality of your audio or video. Usually, upload speed is the factor that defines the settings. It is recommended to choose video format H.264 with bit rate speed 500-600 kbps.

As for audio files, their settings should be as follows:

•         AAC format (it is supported by different platforms).
•         Mono channel (Select Stereo only if it is supported by your audio capture device).
•      Sample rate: 11025
•       Average bit rate: about 20 Kpbs

Define Location

At the moment, there are numerous CDN streaming data centers in Asia, the USA and Central Europe. Choose the location that is close to your users. Before publishing live stream, try showing it online to several people to text the quality of video and adjust settings in time.

Test The Network

Prior to finally publishing live streaming, prepare several different devices (smartphone, tablet and PC). Then release a file on a test page of your site and generate embed code in control panel. Watch the video from several devices to make sure that everything runs without problems.

Origin: https://inxyhost.com/blog/5-aspects-to-consider-when-trying-live-streaming

How to Increase Server Efficiency?

Even if you have a top-notch server, one day you may realize its efficiency is not enough to complete tasks. Data-centers take care of cooling, power consumption and performance, but you can also do a few things to improve work of your server. Let’s observe three main methods of improvement of server efficiency.

Virtualization

Don’t want to buy extra servers and invest into infrastructure? Then get the most from the existing one. This is possible with the help of virtualization. Virtual server is a computer that performs functions of several machines. Special software virtually divides one hard disk into several parts each of which can act like a separate hard drive. Thanks to that, you can use several OS on one machine saving space and reducing expenses.

Management Tools

Management tools help optimizing performance relatively to power consumption and increase uptime. Different tools serve for different purposes, for instance, some of them help with power management policies while others help to maximize available resources. Some tools allow monitoring server characteristics and state in data center. Taking into account the workload of other servers you can distribute the resources to that to achieve maximum capacity.

Choose the newest models

If your server is not powerful enough, maybe it’s high time to order a more advanced solution? Refreshment of server is a nice way to boost efficiency. Invest into the newest models that provide better CPU and higher energy efficiency. Professionals recommend renewing servers every three years to make sure that your organization has enough resources. Even if characteristics and resources exceed your requirements, with fresh models of servers you will be prepared for the future. But before opting for this or that solution, make sure that you invest into servers tailored to your needs and optimized for your applications. If you work with a well established company, don’t hesitate to ask whether it has some newer solutions and servers.

Be proactive and choose servers that will be useful both now and in a couple of years. The above mentioned methods will help you to get maximum out of your hardware.

Origin: https://www.inxy.com/blog/how-to-boost-server-efficiency

Do I need CDN?

Content delivery network (CDN) consists of servers that duplicate content and deliver it to end users. Such technology makes page loading faster and improves user experience regardless of their location and time of day.

While your website gets bigger and audience grows, traffic gets higher, as well. Without CDN, data loading may be too slow, which causes discontent among users and repels them. At the moment, lots of companies use CDNs. Although this solution may cost a lot (but not always), it is beneficial in the long run. Besides, even small companies can afford CDN by simply opting for cheap networks.

When it comes to expenses, CDN can be a wiser solution than switching to another hosting plan. Besides, it will provide better coverage and improve higher speed of connection. In many cases, CDN together with simple tricks can boost the speed of connection better than other hosting plans. As soon as you start using a CDN you will notice that bandwidth consumption decreased considerably.

Why do I need a content delivery network?

Some companies have no idea what CDN services are, and think they don’t need such technology. But the truth is that no matter how great content/design/service is – if your website is too slow for visitors, they are likely to switch to the competitors. Instead of waiting for the pages to load, they will just abandon website and search for other solutions.

When CDN should be used?

How can one know that it is the right time to order CDN for his organization?

1. When too much content is created and uploaded on the website. Increasing volume of content puts load on website infrastructure, and if too much bandwidth is used (means the amount that is not supported by server configuration), performance will be impacted. CDN balances loading and always provides sufficient speed of data loading. Besides, its implementation and setup are not complicated.

2. When traffic is too high. Appearance of new content means attraction of more users, which can result into slow loading and poor performance. Besides, overloading can affect overall functionality of website. CDN prevents negative impact of traffic spikes.

3. When the number of mobile visitors grows. If your website pages are not mobile optimized, CDN can help to deliver them better.

Origin: https://www.spacecdn.com/blog/content-delivery-network/still-unsure-whether-you-need-cdn/

Does the number of PoPs matter for CDN quality?

 Users choose CDN (Content Delivery Network) basing on different factors including the number of PoPs (points of presence). Though this aspect is crucial, it is not the most important thing about CDNs. Find out why proximity of PoPs is of more importance than their number.

Some companies think that the more PoPs they have at their disposal, the better. However, excessive amount of PoPs may have negative impact on content delivery, especially, when servers are placed in wrong locations.

When more PoPs is better?

Points of presence have several functions:

- They make content geographically closer to the visitors.

- They balance loading over edge servers and offload the origin server.

- They ensure 100% redundancy.

A huge number of PoPs is important for companies with worldwide coverage and audience spread over the globe. Thanks to them, a company may store a lot of resource-hungry content and deliver it without problems. Besides, if a company want to expand its presence in several regions, it will definitely benefit from extra PoPs in its CDN network.

When the number of PoPs does not matter?

If CDN network is too large and too robust for your demands, turns out you overpay for unnecessary resources and facilities. What really matters is not the number of PoPs, but their relevance for your audience. You should take into consideration where PoPs are located relatively to your visitors.

When comparing CDN solutions, you should consider the location of PoPs and their density. It means that if your target audience is located in India and China, PoPs should be concentrated in Asia, not other regions. A correctly chosen CDN will totally pay off, because you have an infrastructure that works for your exact business.

Static content vs Dynamic content

Although most companies need delivery of static contents (images, scripts, regularly video files), there is a minor number of PoPs created especially for delivering dynamic content, and some enterprises want this kind of solution. The problem is that dynamic content is hard to cache, and most often has to be transferred directly from the origin server. Thus, companies that focus on delivery of dynamic content should opt for higher quality of the origin server – CDN with usual PoPs won’t be of much use.

Original: https://www.jodihost.com/blog/news/is-the-number-of-pops-in-cdn-is-so-important/

When should I upgrade from VPS to a dedicated server?

Every kind of web hosting has its own advantages, but nor all of them are equally good for your online business on this or that stage of development. When choosing the right solution you should always remember about your requirements. When VPS hosting is not enough, you can switch to a dedicated server. Learn what the main reasons to upgrade your hosting are:

1. Better speed, reliability and uptime. The best hosting provides ensure 99.999% uptime, so your website will be always available for users. So if you want your business to be more stable and reliable, a dedicated server is definitely worth buying.

2. Opportunity to run heavy software and applications. If you are going to build up your website, add new pages and a lot of content (especially videos and images), a dedicated server will be the most optimal solution. It provides enough resources and makes you independent from other users and their websites.

3. Better control over your server. Root access is not available for all VPS solutions. If you want to fully customize your server and hosting, you can order a dedicated server and specify its settings as you wish. Besides, you will be able to install and run any software you need for achieving your goals.

4. Hosting of several websites. Theoretically, dedicated server allows hosting as many websites as you want (although some companies still limit the amount of domains, its number will be high). Using Web Host Manager, you can give clients access via their own cPanels, but the account of your dedicated server will be under your control.

5. Success of your project is the main reason to upgrade. The more your business develops, the more traffic your need to handle. To meet the requirements of your visitors and expand space for development, you need to have a flexible and powerful solution. This is why a dedicated server is a must for advanced website creators. If you are going to launch a marketing campaign and expand your audience, it’s high time to switch to a dedicated server!

Original: https://inxyhost.com/blog/5-reasons-to-upgrade-from-vps-to-a-dedicated-server

How to clean your web-site to improve performance?

If you focus on developing a web-site, you should organize its space so that nothing obstructed and affected its work. Learn how to declutter a web-site to boost its speed and performance.

Get rid of useless plugins

Although they help in functioning of web-sites, some of plugins may slow down the speed of page loading. Some can appear to be useless, or just poorly coded. If you don’t need a plugin, remove it. You can also replace several plugins with one multifunctional.

Improve navigation

Check the navigation of your web-site from a user’s point of view. Make sure that the panel has only necessary categories for each search. Widgets and tags may also improve access to web-site resources. If there are many pages on the web-site, you a mega menu – it makes surfing more comprehensible.

Make the structure of content comprehensible

If there is a lot of content on your web-site, you should take care of its structure. Remember to insert H1 and H2, H3 headings into your articles so that they were more readable. Lists, quotes and links also make content better – they help to comprehend and memorize the information.

Check web-site relevancy

Don’t hesitate to use media that is connected with the subject. Add new content and update the old one from time to time. Ensure that you don’t have broken links.

Don’t forget about updates

Keep tabs on the latest updates of themes and plugins and check their compatibility. Before updating everything, you can make a backup copy of your web-site (it is highly recommended). If something goes wrong during update, you will be always ready to restore the site.

Check web-site speed

If users start complaining about slow loading of your web-site, you should find and eliminate the cause of it. If the server deals with more traffic than it is supposed to, you can switch to another hosting plan. Check your themes and active plugins and get rid of ones that slow down web-site speed considerably. It is advised to test the plugins before and after installing them.

Renew the admin panel

Remove of themes that are no longer in use. Don’t hesitate to delete all spammy and obscene comments – they may also spoil the image of your web-site. If you have some posts in your trash bin, it’s time to erase them forever. Fix broken links (it can be done manually and with the help of plugins). Check your database and get rid of elements you don’t need.

Origin: https://www.inxy.com/blog/decluttering-a-web-site-for-better-performance

Why do you also need online back-up?

Although most web hosting technologies ensure 99,99% uptime, back-up services serve as a great addition to it and allow saving all mission-critical data forever. Find out why both enterprises and individual Internet users need it.

Online back-up is copying of files and data from user’s hardware or server to a remote computer or server using Internet connection. Everything is simple: you upload your files (of any size and format) from your hard drive to the cloud storage via browser interface. Some services require additional applications or software to simplify access to your data. Theoretically, a user may store as much data as needed, having stable access to it from any point on Earth. You only need Internet connection to open the resource with your files. The information is stored on a remote server for as long as you need (usually, monthly payment is required), and data is automatically renewed if you make changes on the cloud server.

Mostly, such services are subscription-based and require monthly fee. The cost is defined by storage space required. To reduce the size of your files and save on storage, you may use such technologies as deduplication or incremental backups.

Cloud storage for back-up is quite popular among many enterprises, being deployed by their IT departments. Back-up is an affordable option that may save you from loss of mission-critical information (database or entre infrastructure) or just important personal files (photo, video, etc). This is a wise solution for those who care about digital safety.

Learn more about back-up options in CDN technology: https://spacecdn.com/blog/

How to prepare for live streaming?

 If you have decided to order a CDN for live streaming, you should take into consideration many important things. Learn which aspects are crucial for the right choice of CDN solutions.

Your target audience

Probably, this is the most important point in our list. Knowing your target audience you will find out what your needs are. First, you should identify the location of your visitors and get information about its peculiarities. For example, if your users are located in Europe and USA where connection speed is higher than average, you should use higher bit rate during delivery. Secondly, it is better to choose nodes located closer to the visitors.

Select the appropriate encoder

There are hundreds of encoders on the market. Choose the one that meets your demands, considering costs of production, your budget and potential revenue. Beginners are recommended Flash Media Live Encoder: it is free of charge, and does not require specific technical knowledge.

Specify video and audio settings

You should choose the settings that will allow reaching the best quality of your audio and video content. It is recommended to keep the bit rate speed 500-600 kbps under maximum and use H.264 video format. Audio settings may be as follows:

- Format: AAC (supported by most OS)

- Channels: Mono

- Sample rate: 11025

- Bit rate: about 20 Kpbs

Define the location

The biggest streaming CDNs have datacenters located in the USA, Southeast Asia and Central Europe. Choose a network that covers all regions with your target audience. Before publishing a video, try streaming it online to several people – you will test the quality and make adjustments, if necessary.

Perform your own tests

Prior to publishing online streaming prepare several devices: a tablet, a PC and a smartphone. Release a test version of your stream, and try accessing it from your devices. Perform some kind of troubleshooting and make sure that everything runs smoothly.

There is one more way to improve video streaming: https://www.jodihost.com/blog/news/how-cdn-helps-with-video-delivery/