For the novice looking to select his first web hosting company, the task can be quite confusing given the large number of hosting companies on the marketplace. The choice of the correct hosting package is another issue. How should a prospective hosting client choose the right hosting package? What criteria should you use to make a decision?
The choice of a web host is an important one to make, so it should not be made lightly, since the profitability and success of your website depends on it. Understanding the basics of web hosting will help you to make a better informed decision right web host for you.
The website you create essentially consist of several web pages that are housed on computers (referred to as servers). The purpose of these servers is to send around the World Wide Web, the pages that make up your website, the HTML, the audio, the images, and the video. We usually do not consider the nitty gritty of the background happenings and the operations of a website. We usually are only concerned that we are presented with the website when we key in its URL. The background happenings will become more important once you create a website of your own.
Essential Facts on Web Hosting
In order to make a website available online, it must be hosted on a server. The pages of your site will be sent to other computer online when your site’s URL is keyed into an address bar by a surfer. The server is responsible for sending out the website’s information.
Servers are the computers owned by hosting companies. The computers are robust and expensive and individuals select the hosting company they would like to host their websites, and then lease the space they need for a monthly hosting fee. Hosting companies offer a number of features and resources to prospective hosting clients and package these into different hosting plans.
Hosting Plan Choices
Hosting plans include the shared hosting plan that is adequate for the websites of most webmasters. The hosting fee for this plan is very small and it offers a great deal of value for the price. A shared hosting plan means that many hundreds or thousands of hosting clients will share the resources of one server.
VPSand Cloud hosting are options available to webmasters looking for more flexibility and separateness than can be had from shared hosting.
Larger and more complex websites, such as a large ecommerce site, will need a larger and more costly hosting package. In most cases such sites will require a dedicated server that will be shared with no other hosting clients.
This dedicated hosting plan comes with a premium price. It may run for $150 – $200 a month as opposed to the shared hosting plan of $5 to $10 per month. The security, reliability and increased performance of the dedicated server make it well worth the additional costs.
The dedicated hosting comes in two varieties, unmanaged and managed. The managed option allows the webmaster to be concerned solely with the management of his website, while the host manages the maintenance of the server software and hardware. When the business chooses unmanaged dedicated hosting, it would have the expertise of qualified staff on board to manage the technical tasks of the server.
Choice of Server Platform – Windows of Linux?
When it comes to web hosting and the choice of an operating system platform, Linux leads the way. In the home arena when you are considering the home computer, the Windows operating system is the premier choice. Either a Windows or a Linux server will do a great job.
The ultimate choice you make should be decided by the type of applications you are considering running on your website. If you run many Microsoft based applications, then a Windows based server will be the better choice for your site.
