Web Hosting Basics
There are several types of web hosting services available on the Internet. The most common ones are:
Shared Hosting:
This is the most economical type of hosting, where one’s site is hosted on a server, alongside several other sites of other customers. Since the server's resources are shared, the individual site charges are reduced considerably.
Locally managed hosting:
This is the type of hosting where in a service provider provides the networking services needed for a server, and the customer purchases the necessary hardware from a vendor. The hardware is set up by the service provider and may even handle server management, if their services include that.
Server-on-lease:
In this case, the customer hires a server on a lease, for a specific period of time. The support is quite less and the costs are very moderate as well.
Dedicated Server Hosting:
This involves hiring a dedicated server to host the entire website. This comes at a premium, and includes several powerful services such as security patches, monitoring, backup, etc.
The following pointers can help to choose the best web host for you:
1. Research about the Prospective Host:
Before hiring a particular host, it is absolutely essential to find out everything about its services. This includes: services offered, years of service, awards won, and so on. Researching the service providers brings out possible flaws if present, and helps to weed out the ones that are not suitable.
2. Determine the Coding Languages Supported:
While most hosts provide support for databases and coding language support for php and perl, it is a good idea to confirm beforehand to avoid problems later.
3. Confirm their Availability Level:
Most hosts claim to have a high rate of availability (98 to 99 %). This claim must be confirmed before investments can be made. One way is to contact existing customers and find out their experiences over the years.
4. Analyze the Features Offered:
Once a general idea about the services offered is gained, it is time to analyze whether the services offered are compatible with the needs of the website being hosted. Some website features may require a dynamic web server and so on. Are such features available with the host?
5. Confirm the Availability of Security Features:
Security is another important factor to consider. Find out what kind of overall security the web host has in place. Most service providers provide the basic security features such as user authentication, change notification, and Domain lock (which protects against domain name hijacking).
6. Collect Feedback from Existing Customers:
Feedback from existing customers is extremely valuable. The user experiences can tell a great deal about the level of support, quality of service, and protection features provided by the host. Existing user feedback can, hence, help in deciding on hiring a specific host or not.
Conclusion
Choosing a reliable service provider to host your site is not a simple task, and must be done after careful analysis and forethought. When going for a web hosting service, one needs to carefully analyze the services offered, and check whether your needs are in tune with the features provided.
