Choosing a Web Host: About Web Hosting and More

The importance of computer is surely on increase and as a result of which, each and every aspect related to computer is of paramount significance at this point of time. It is often found that people are in need of some information regarding this, especially when it is about a website or the world of Internet. This is a common need and goes without saying that having created a website, one is supposed to go to the world of Internet. Once you are in the realm of Internet, it endows you with three alternative options to choose from. The first two options are simple and well known. In fact, if they are placed in an order, they stand like- either hosting the site on your own computer or hosting the site on a server. These are the first two options and the third option is that of employing anyone else to live up to the job of hosting the site for you. To put it in a straightforward manner, the first two options that are talked about are very useful and practical. But, the issue is that these options are perfect if either you have fast connections or if this is all about business related sites. This is not something easy because such options can’t be devoid of your vigilant eye to supervise. Moreover, this can only be done successfully if you do have a fast connection facility.

So, if you forget about these two options, the other option that remains is that of having a web-hosting company for this job. When we talk about such companies, it must be said that they are planned to accommodate your site with the aid of their server. The interesting thing is that you have the chance to get into it in order to upload your files on the site. If the aspect of web-hosting is categorized into different sections, we get three types of web-hosting. They are free web-hosting, paid web-hosting and dedicated web-hosting. The most expensive option is that of the dedicated web-hosting and this is perfect if your site is in need of a great attention. Here, the company lives up to the task of hosting your website on their server with their connection.

So the other alternatives are of course, free or paid. And the most common question asked is that why should I pay for something that I can obtain for free?

But paid web-hosting does score over free hosting on several counts: There are better features provided in your hosting package, technical support is prompt, responsible and probably better, the net connection is faster as compared to free hosts, there wont be unwanted advertisements on your page and most importantly your needs shall be catered to as you pay for the services rendered.

Paid web hosting provides you with more number of features, like faster internet connection, good customer support, absence of irritating advertisements from the webpage, and also, as you are paying for the services, your needs will be taken care of.

As far as the free web-hosting is concerned, they lack in the aspect of reliability notwithstanding having some brilliant features. Honestly speaking, their service is not up to the mark, although, there are some free hosts who do not put their banner on your website. You can consider these options if you have a small site or you are a beginner in this field. The web-hosts provide you with certain features and a list of such features is given below. This is not certainly an extensive list. Let me put it in this manner that in order to get your site hosted, you are expected to know about certain terms.

URL/ Address- you need a URL address only if you do not have a domain name already.

Space: Websites are built of web pages, which consume little space. For a small site of about a hundred pages, a space of 5MB is sufficient. But remember that graphics take more space than plain text, so if your website is one which has a lot of graphics, then go for about 15MB to 20MB space. Many web hosts offer unlimited space, but in most cases, you may not require it.

Bandwidth/ transfer- this is a monthly affair, and accounts for the total number of files transferred from your site in a month. The best option being unlimited bandwidth. You need no less than 1GB per month for average sites.

CGI-BIN- This is of paramount significance as far as your dealing with interactive scripts like guest-books, counters is concerned. It provides you with the facility of remote hosting also bearing the banners from the site that live up to the task of presenting them.

SSI- a special function feature, which lets you maneuver the server to include something on your page. It could be anything like simple text or CGI generated code etc.

My SQL/PHP/ASP Support- A database format like these is of immense importance in order to keep a database on your site. Interestingly enough, some key sites are generated by ASP.

Technical Assistance- As mentioned earlier, a paid host can endow you with better technical support than a free host and your site is in a great need of this. This technical assistance can be had through either e-mail, phone or fax.

E- mail- It is always wise to have a POP3 mail service as it lets you receive any message from your web-host before they send it to you. Actually, it is very common to have such mails provided you have a domain name.

FrontPage Extensions- If you have Microsoft Frontpage for modifying your website, you need such extensions. Front page items are also possible to be had in your site.

SSL/Secure Server- It gives you the advantage of having secure ordering facilities as far as your website is concerned.

Statistics/Log files: You can have them to gain information about the users of your site, and get information about what has been downloaded from your website, which page has been viewed the most, etc.

FTP Accounts: Users get the option of downloading files by logging into an area of your website with anonymous FTP. Basically, File Transfer Protocol [FTP] allows you to upload files on your server.

Paid web hosting service: most web hosts charge a monthly payment for paid services, and they remove the advertisements present on your site, besides offering you good technical support as well. So if you can do some research work and get hold of a good paid web host, you can get rid of the unwanted advertisements. The costs range from $5 to $75 a month, though the dedicated servers cost about $150 a month.

If you are paying your web-host you must enquire about certain things like, a list of the sites hosted by them. You could get in touch with some of these sites and verify the web-host details from the site-owners. And do ask about the technical support they are willing to provide you with as it the most important service they can render.

Always bear in mind to go through all their terms and conditions. It is often seen that some free hosts do ask you for the ownership of the copyright of your page. This is an obstruction to advertise on your own website. So, be aware of all the restrictions to advance properly.

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