Monday, June 2, 2008

What is web hosting and how do I choose a web host?

Web hosting is a type of internet service which facilitates websites of organizations and individuals accessible through the World Wide Web. A Web host is a company that provides web space on its server to the clients to host their websites; they also provide data center services.

Tips to choose a proper web host:

A web host company simply provides you space on their web server and you have to pay rental for this. To make sure that your get best web hosting services, you need to check what they offer in return to your money.

There are number of web hosting companies and you need to choose right one for you, the question is how you can do this.

While choosing your web host you must consider your requirements. You should make sure that you are not going to pay for services which you are never going to use.

If you are trying for new service provider, you really don’t know how a web hosting company is, you can just try it. You can also take suggestions from those who have used web hosting companies. You also need to consider how expensive the company is, is it reliable or not, how long it has been in the web hosting business.

You should also consider following areas:

Disk space

You must see how much disk space you will need as well as how much the web host will provide you for the money you are going to invest. If your site has 10 or fewer pages you will need small disk space but if your site has thousands of pages you will need large disk space. So you should consider your disk space requirement.

E-mail accounts

You should consider how many e-mail accounts the web hosting company is providing you. If you have more number of employees and department you will need more e-mail accounts.

Data transfer

Web hosting companies give you a limited data transfer facility. If you have more number of visitors, you should consider for a plan through which you can transfer large amount of data.

E-commerce

If you are selling services or goods that may require SSL support, merchant account and shopping cart software, you should consider an e-commerce web hosting service provider.

Script, Database and extension support

Today many web hosting companies provide you SSI support, PHP support, MySQL, Frontpage, Peri support and ASP support. But you should think, you really need it or not.

Operating systems

Web hosting companies provide two types of hosting services, i.e. windows hosting and UNIX hosting. Generally, windows hosting plan is commonly used for web servers because of its reliability, stability and flexibility. Through windows hosting plan, you can have many types of specialized databases and dynamic content. Sites requiring Frontpage, ASP, MS SQL Servers, Microsoft applications, MS Access databases should consider for windows hosting plan.

Support

Check if the web hosting company provides technical support and customer support 24/7’ (E-mail or telephone service) or you have to hold back for hours to get your technical problems solved.

SUMMARY

Web hosting is a type of internet service which facilitates websites of organizations and individuals accessible through the World Wide Web. Good Web hosting service can matter you a lot in running your business successfully. You should choose web hosting service according to your requirements. Numbers of factors like Disk space, Data transfer, Operating systems, E-mail accounts etc. should be considered in choosing a web host.

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