Detailed instructions for using z.com hosting

Z.com   is a Japanese hosting company but has a data center in Vietnam. So it is not surprising that the speed of z.com is very good for Vietnamese sites. 

Currently, the price of Z.com is very competitive compared to many domestic hosting companies. 

Experience with hosting service here, I feel satisfied compared to the money I spent.  

So I decided to create a review of this z.com web hosting service over 3000 words.

This article of mine is not merely a review, general information introduction…

… but it is also a detailed guide to using z.com’s hosting. So if you decide to buy hosting here, you’ll have a complete guide from AZ right away. 

Read more : Evaluate A2Hosting host with high stability and good security

Are you ready?

Let’s explore z.com’s hosting service.​

About z.com

Z.com is a trademark of GMO Corporation, a company specializing in providing Internet services including domain name, hosting, cloud, SSL and StoreApp

With the acquisition of z.com brand from Nissan, GMO Internet has expressed its ambition to expand the market globally.

GMO Internet Goup officially entered the Vietnamese market on October 20, 2015.

Standing behind is a corporation with abundant financial potential, it is not difficult for z.com to launch a massive marketing campaign in the Vietnamese market. This hosting discount program is no exception.

Cheap SSD Hosting

The hosting service at z.com uses the entire SSD hard drive to replace the HDD. The company claims SSD for 2 times faster processing speed than HDD.

Definitely go for faster SSDs than HDDs, it’s just a matter of price. SSD price is more expensive than HDD. Therefore, cheap hosting packages in Vietnam most companies only dare to use HDD.

As for hosting packages using SSD, the price is quite expensive, if the price is cheap, the hard drive limit is also very low. Low hard drive space means you have to use it sparingly. But if the limit is only a few hundred MB, I don’t know how to save anymore.

In such a context, z.com has made a breakthrough in the web hosting market using SSD. Based on the configuration parameters, I think the price of z.com may be the lowest on the market right now. This is also the main attraction for hosting services here.

Currently z.com offers 3 hosting packages as below:

Looking through the configuration parameters, you will be impressed by the capacity of the SSD hard drive. The lowest Start package you can also get up to 10GB. You just need to spend some time surveying a few hosting companies in the country and you will know how large this capacity is.

This capacity is quite comfortable for those of you starting with web hosting.

The Start package that I am using is only suitable for beginners. The server parameters show that this package is only suitable for small sites. 

Instructions to register for hosting at z.com

First you go to z.com .

Choose the hosting package and registration time you want. Then click the Sign Up button

On the next screen, you can change the hosting registration time again. If you are ok with everything click on Continue button :

On the next screen, if you already have an account here click on the login button. If you are a new customer, enter the address and password. Once done, click on the Create New Account button.

A popup will pop up asking for the email address you want to use to log into cPanel. Click the Sign Up button with an email address.

Next, you enter your personal information. After entering, scroll down, click the button Go to payment confirmation page.

On the payment confirmation page you choose the payment method that is right for you. Here I choose to trade online. Then I made a transfer to Z.com’s Bao Kim account

Unlike many other hosting services, z.com’s hosting service requires you to have an installation step before you can access cPanel.

You log in to the admin page . Next select Web Hosting and select Default Server Settings.

On the next screen, enter your domain name as well as the password to log into cPanel. Once done, click the Setup button

At this point, you will see the server running status. Click on the server you just installed.

Here you will see server related items. 

Click on cPanel, you will see the familiar cPanel interface. If you’re new, be sure to read my cPanel tutorial . 

Adding a domain name in Z.com’s hosting service

As you can see in the registration step, we do not need to provide a domain name like when registering for a hosting service elsewhere.

They will now officially add the domain you want to use. In the cPanel interface, you scroll down to the domain name section. Click on the other domain button

You will switch to another domain creation interface. You enter the domain name. The remaining fields will be self-generated. You keep the default as is. Click on the Add Domain button to complete the process of adding the domain name

Connect domain name to z.com’s hosting service

Read more : Guide to pointing domain names for newbies.

Here I will connect the domain name with Z.com’s hosting service using the IP address.

First you need to get the IP address for the domain you just added to z.com’s hosting. At the Dashboard screen of z.com (the screen after you log in at z.com). You click on the DNS section at the top. Below you will see the IP address of the domain you just added. 

I bought this domain at Godaddy and used CloudFlare as an intermediate DNS. So I went to CloudFlare and updated the IP address in the DNS section

How to create an email account in cPanel

For the Start plan that I am using, Z.com will allow you to create up to 20 email accounts. Now I will show you how to create an email account. Finally, I will show you how to configure Outlook as an email client so that you can get email from the server and read it on your computer. This will also help keep customer mail when switching hosts. But remember to use POP 3 protocol to get email. 

​First, to create an email account you need to go to the Email section in cPanel. Click on Email Account to continue

In the email creation interface, enter the email address. In the Domain section , enter the domain name. Next, enter your password. ​The limit section you can set an email account limit or no limit. 

Once completed, click on the Create Account button . Now below you will see the email account you just created. Click on ​Setup Mail Client to view email client setup configuration:

​With manual installation, you will see configuration information for the email client. You pay attention to the SSL/TLS settings. We will use this information to configure Outlook as the email client.

​Now open Outlook. Go to  File -> Add Account

A dialog box appears. You choose Manual setup or additional server types . Click Next to continue. 

In the Choose service section , select POP or IMAP as below. Click the Next button to continue

On the next screen, you enter the correct information as the configuration information above. Click on More Settings…

After clicking on More Settings…, you open the Outgoing Server tab and tick the option as below

Switch to the Advanced tab and choose as shown below. Click OK to close the dialog box. 

Click Next to continue. ​If you receive the following message, it means you have successfully configured Outlook

You can now use Outlook to send and receive emails. ​

How to Install WordPress in Z.com

Z.com supports WordPress installers in cPanel. Go to cPanel, move to Software section . Click the I nsta llation Application Installe button r.

Next, you choose WordPress blog

On the next screen, click the Install this application button.

You will now see a setup option for your website. In the Location section, select the domain you just added above. Directory, you leave it blank

The version you keep is the same

Next, enter your login information into the WordPress admin page. Change the rest to suit your information

The Advanced section you keep the same.

Finally, click the Install button. When the installation is complete, you will see the following summary information

Click on the WordPress Admin link to go to the admin page.

Speed ​​test after installation.

Right after the installation I want to test the hosting speed of z.com for the default wordpress site. Do not check tool with location in Vietnam. So I choose GTmetrix with Hong Kong location for accuracy. Here is the test result

SSD drive for real fast speed 🙂

How to install Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate

Z.com’s cPanel does not include a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate. But I have a way to install this certificate and have detailed instructions here.

But in this article, I will guide you again for your convenience.

You go to the website ssl for free . Enter the website address where you want to install the certificate. Click the button Create free SSL Certificate

SSL For Free requires you to authenticate as the owner of the domain you just provided. Here I choose Manual Verification. Because I use CloudFlare translation as an intermediate DNS, changing DNS is very easy and fast. Click the Manually Verify Domain button to get instructions for changing DNS

You will see 2 TXT record information you need to add to DNS

I will add as below in the DNS section of CloudFlare

Once added, click the Download SSL Certificate button .

Finally you will see the SSL certificate information. Click the Download All SSL Certificate Files button to download the certificate to your computer. Remember to also register your email address to receive notifications when the certificate expires.

Now go back to Z.com’s cPanel. Scroll down to the security section and click on SSL/TLS .

In the SSL site settings, copy the crt that SSL For Free provides you and paste it into the corresponding field. Then click on the Autofill Certificate button to have it fill in the rest by itself.

Done, click the Install Certificate button . If the installation is successful, you will see the following message:

The next task you need to configure SSL for WordPress to convert all HTTP requests to HTTPS.

Go to Plugins->Add New . Enter the name of the Really Simple SSL plugin . Install and activate the plugin

As soon as your plugin is activated, click the Go ahead, activate SSL button . It’s done.

Be sure to read my SSL installation article  to learn how to configure Google Webmaster, and Analytics.

HTTP/2 . Support

Immediately after installing SSL, I proceeded to check if z.com’s server supports HTTP/2. But unfortunately the server does not have support. HTTP/2 will give the best speed when the website uses SSL connection.

Speed ​​test after installing demo site

Above I tested the site speed after installing the default WordPress site. Now I will install a demo site using MyThemeShop’s Ad-sense theme.

Theme of MyThemeShop is very famous in terms of speed and SEO optimization. So I’m very curious as to what it will look like on z.com:

And here are the results on GTMetrix. Not too bad right?

So using a quality theme, hosting z.com with the Start package can completely have a site with a loading speed of about 1s. ​If the server is good, I think it can reach a speed of about 700ms. 

For your convenience, below are the results on pingdom and google test speed. Looking at this parameter you will see how well MyThemeShop’s Ad-Sense theme is coded. 

Review Uptime

Z.com claims its server uptime is always high at 99.9%.

When using UptimeRobot and Pingdom, I see z com’s uptime as committed. 

This is also the point that makes a strong impression on me. I have used many hosting services in the country and the most annoying point is downtime. 

But z.com has completely changed my opinion about domestic hosting services.

If we continue to maintain high uptime like this, z com may be even better than many foreign shared host services. ​

Read more : monitoring WordPress website uptime

Review support

Z.com provides you with many forms of support via email, livechat, and phone calls. The support staff is very enthusiastic and friendly. Overall, I’m satisfied with the quality of z.com’s support service, maybe because I’m not the type of person to be too fastidious.

Epilogue

After trying the hosting of z.com, I feel satisfied with the service here. Here’s what I like:

Although cPanel does not have a built-in Let’s Encrypt certificate. But this is not a big deal. I have instructed you how to install this certificate in detail in the article.

However, the server does not support HTTP/2 protocol, so the speed cannot be optimal when using HTTPS protocol. However, with the Ad-Sense theme, I still have a site with a load time of about 1s.

The automatic WordPress installation application in cPanel is not as secure as A2Hosting , for example, the table prefix is ​​still wp_​ or the admin page path is unchanged. You can of course use the plugin to handle these issues after installation

High speed. High uptime. That is more than enough for a quality shared host service. It is also a guarantee for a successful website. 

And you. 

I would like to know your opinion about the hosting service of z.com. Please share in the comment section below.