| If you're out there looking for the best way to | | | | months at a time. |
| get your web site online, you've probably run into | | | | 2) If you are not only looking for hosting but also |
| some confusion over web hosting. To put it mildly, | | | | are interested in creating your own website from |
| there are many choices, and for most people the | | | | scratch, beware of the hosting deals where you |
| options can be overwhelming. Let's take a look at | | | | are offered site creation tools. Some of these are |
| shared web hosting, which for most people is the | | | | very easy to use and quite appealing, but most |
| best alternative. | | | | are proprietary tools and should you choose to |
| Shared hosting, sometimes referred to as "virtual | | | | leave someday, moving your site to another host |
| hosting", is where most people start out. In this | | | | could be difficult. There are lots of excellent site |
| arrangement, the same server or computer is | | | | creation tools out there that aren't tied into |
| shared by many different web sites. All of the | | | | hosting plans - if you want to use this type of |
| sites have their own individual slice of data | | | | tool, this is your best bet. |
| storage capability, and they are securely | | | | Your plans may include building your site into a |
| separated from other sites on the same drive. | | | | mega-multimedia powerhouse. If that is the case, |
| Shared hosting will provide sufficient disk space | | | | you can always upgrade to dedicated web hosting |
| and resources for most individual, hobby, or small | | | | later on. Dedicated hosting simply means your site |
| business sites that don't have a lot of traffic or | | | | is hosted on a server by itself, so that high traffic |
| tons of multimedia running on their site. A certain | | | | and bandwidth consumption won't affect other |
| amount of system resources are allocated for all | | | | site owners (and typically your applications will run |
| the sites on the server, and they share these | | | | faster). Most people just starting out will not need |
| resources. | | | | dedicated hosting, but it is a good option to |
| In a shared hosting arrangement, if any one site | | | | consider up the line, should your traffic warrant it. |
| suddenly explodes with traffic or starts running a | | | | One final note. Whether you are using shared or |
| large number of high-bandwidth applications (such | | | | dedicated web hosting, if you are running a |
| as video), it can negatively affect the | | | | business where site "uptime" is critical, consider |
| performance of all the sites on that server. | | | | using a website monitoring service to watch your |
| Bandwidth is the amount of data that you can | | | | performance at least for the first few weeks you |
| transfer to and from the website. If you have a | | | | are on board with a new host. Most good web |
| lot of visitors downloading or viewing video or | | | | hosting companies promise 99% uptime or better, |
| other files on your site, that can use more | | | | but cheaper hosts sometime experience |
| resources than the web host has allocated for | | | | significant down time because they try to pack |
| any one individual site. Good hosting providers are | | | | too many sites on one server, and this causes |
| always on the lookout for spikes in activity, and | | | | the server to slow to a crawl or crash. For |
| will step in and do whatever it takes to balance | | | | business or commercial sites, I always |
| things out. | | | | recommend using a monitoring service for a while |
| The cost of shared hosting should always be very | | | | after you set up with a new host, just to be sure |
| reasonable. Typically, you can host your site (and | | | | everything is going well. |
| usually several others) for around $8-$10 per | | | | Bottom line - shared web hosting is the best |
| month for basic service. A couple of things you | | | | choice for most people, and offers enough |
| should watch out for: | | | | flexibility and options for almost all applications. |
| 1) Don't sign on to any long-term deals with a | | | | Just be sure to check out your host carefully |
| host you are not familiar with. Some will offer | | | | before you sign up. The competition for web |
| special incentives to sign up for a year or two in | | | | hosting is very fierce, and there are lots of |
| advance. Wait until you have used their services | | | | garage or basement servers trying to make a |
| for a while, and make sure you're happy with | | | | buck this way. |
| them before you commit to more than 1-3 | | | | |