| So you're looking to learn about web hosting and | | | | exception customer service. Web hosting is no |
| what it has to offer or you may not know much | | | | exception to this. Many of the hosting companies |
| about web hosting? There is no shame in not | | | | are available all day and night in case you have a |
| knowing this information. Everyone has to start at | | | | problem with your web site, but there are some |
| the beginning at some point. On that note, | | | | who are just available specific hours of the day. If |
| let’s begin learning about web hosting. | | | | your web site goes down in the middle of the |
| First off, what is web hosting and how does it | | | | night when they're not available, this means lost |
| work? | | | | revenue for a business. You should make sure the |
| Web hosting is the business practice of providing | | | | web host you select is always available for |
| space and bandwidth on a high-powered computer | | | | support. |
| server that is connected to the Internet at very | | | | Money Back Guarantee |
| high speeds. Hosting companies maintain large | | | | Most web hosting companies will provide a |
| networks of high-powered web server computers | | | | thirty-day money back guarantee. Some will |
| in a physical location known as a data center. | | | | provide one even long, but be wary of the ones |
| These computer servers are connected to a | | | | who offer no money back guarantee. I would not |
| very fast, and generally redundant, Internet | | | | purchase web hosting services from a company |
| connection. The data centers have primary and | | | | who does not offer at least a 30 day money |
| backup power, a fast connection to the Internet, | | | | back guarantee, unless they have proven |
| and a security monitoring staff. | | | | themselves to be a leader in the industry and |
| The web hosting companies provide a share of | | | | have an excellent reputation. |
| disk space and available bandwidth to a customer | | | | Operating System |
| for a monthly fee. Once the customer is signed | | | | An operating system is a piece of software that |
| up, they can upload files to their personal space | | | | controls the interaction between the computer |
| on the web server and the information is then | | | | user and the physical hardware of the machine. A |
| viewable to anyone interested on the Internet. | | | | vast majority of all web sites on the Internet run |
| The monthly fee the web hosting company | | | | on the Linux operation system. Linux is generally |
| charges is much less than what it would cost to | | | | much more stable than Windows. Stability is critical |
| run a server out of your own home or data | | | | in running a web site. For this reason, I prefer to |
| center. This is the reason these companies exist. | | | | host my web sites on the Linux operating |
| They take care of all the hardware, software, | | | | system. Some sites have specific requirements |
| and other technical needs for you. | | | | that only the Windows operating system can |
| Types of web hosting | | | | satisfy, but there are always alternatives to those |
| There are many different types of web hosting | | | | requirements. |
| offers, but the main three are shared, reseller, | | | | Backup |
| and dedicated. Each type of hosting is for a | | | | A good web hosting company will have a regular |
| different purpose. | | | | schedule to backup the data on all the web |
| Shared Web Hosting | | | | servers. The more often the data is backed up, |
| Shared web hosting is the most popular form of | | | | the better. At the very least, a web hosting |
| hosting. Shared hosting is a portion of disk space | | | | company should backup web site files daily. |
| and bandwidth provided to you by the web | | | | Control Panel |
| hosting company on a high-powered server. | | | | The control panel is the point of contact the web |
| There are many other web sites hosted on this | | | | site administrator will have between the host |
| server, and the hosting company is likely to have | | | | server and their own machine connected via the |
| quite a few of these servers in a large data | | | | Internet. It is essential to have a well organized |
| center. The resources of the server are shared | | | | and easy to use control panel interface. My |
| by as many other websites as are allocated to | | | | favorite control panel is cPanel, which is one of |
| that computer. | | | | the leading web hosting control panels out there |
| Shared web hosting is the best form of web | | | | today. Plesk is another good one, and many |
| hosting if you are looking for a great price and | | | | companies will create their own control panel for |
| don't have more than a couple thousand daily | | | | you to use. Most web hosting companies will |
| visitors to your site. | | | | provide a link to a demo of the control panel they |
| Reseller Web Hosting | | | | use with their hosting plans. The control panel |
| Reseller web hosting is a popular, low-cost solution | | | | used is a matter of preference, but it should be |
| to starting your own web hosting business. There | | | | user friendly. |
| are two types of reseller hosting, private-label and | | | | Email |
| a reseller of services. | | | | Email is essential part of communication on the |
| The private-label is the best type of reseller plan | | | | Internet. Most web hosting companies out there |
| because it allows you to retain full control over | | | | will give you more email addresses and more |
| your customer's websites. A private-label plan | | | | space to hold email messages than you will ever |
| allows the reseller to keep the full monthly | | | | need. What you need to watch out for are the |
| payment of the web-hosting customer, but the | | | | companies that have decided to be a little strict |
| reseller must pay a monthly fee to the larger | | | | on their email accounts and only offer a small |
| hosting company for the reseller space. The more | | | | number or a small amount of message space. |
| hosting accounts a private-label reseller can sell, | | | | Uptime |
| the higher the profit for them. Private-label hosting | | | | Uptime is a term used to describe how often the |
| allows you to host many more websites than if | | | | average web site hosted by a company is |
| you were using shared hosting for each. This is a | | | | available online. No company should be expected |
| great solution for someone who has many sites | | | | to provide an exact 100% uptime. This is |
| they need to host in one location to save money. | | | | impossible due to things such as hardware, |
| The reseller of services plans resell the regular | | | | software, and power failures. A vast majority of |
| web hosting plans of a larger web hosting | | | | the companies are very good with uptime, and |
| company, but you get a discounted price for | | | | they guarantee it. It is still a good idea to be |
| providing the customer and earn a monthly fee | | | | conscious of the uptimes posted by the company. |
| for as long as they remain a customer. This plan | | | | If it is not at least 99.5%, it is probably not worth |
| does not allow control over customer web sites | | | | hosting with that company. |
| and you only keep a portion of the potentially | | | | Statistics |
| monthly revenue. | | | | As a webmaster, it is nice to know how many |
| Dedicated Web Hosting | | | | visitors you've had, where they came from, how |
| Dedicated web hosting is the most powerful and | | | | long they stay on your site, and how much |
| cost effective solution of hosting a busy web site | | | | bandwidth they've used. This information is |
| without resorting to buying your own equipment | | | | collected by the web server and is placed in a log |
| and paying hundreds of dollars per month for a | | | | file. A statistics software package can read this |
| fast Internet connection. Dedicated hosting | | | | data and provide meaningful information to the |
| consists of single server with no one else hosting | | | | webmaster. The information gathered from these |
| on that computer. This allows for the greatest of | | | | logs can be very valuable in improved services to |
| configuration options. Anyone who has a busy | | | | the viewers of the web site. |
| website will find dedicated hosting is the | | | | FTP |
| necessary choice. | | | | FTP stands for file transfer protocol. It is a way |
| Web Hosting Considerations | | | | of quickly uploading or downloading many files to |
| Wondering about all the other information listed in | | | | and from a web server. Most web hosting |
| web hosting plans? In this section, I will explain the | | | | companies will allow their customers access to |
| most important considerations in choosing a good | | | | their web hosting accounts via FTP. FTP is very |
| web host. | | | | useful and is a great feature to have when paying |
| Price | | | | for a web hosting account. |
| The price of web hosting services is one of the | | | | Scripting |
| most important. There are many hosting | | | | Since the World Wide Web began, many scripting |
| companies out there with cheap hosting packages, | | | | languages have been created and have evolved |
| but they may be lacking in other areas. Don't let | | | | into the dynamic and interactive environment we |
| the price of a hosting package fool you. There | | | | enjoy today. A scripting language is a way of |
| are some hosting companies out there who have | | | | adding functionality to a web site, whether it is to |
| great prices and the other features are just as | | | | calculate numbers or to load information from an |
| good. Price may be one of the most important | | | | external database. Scripting languages have made |
| decisions of a web hosting plan, but there is much | | | | electronic commerce possible. Some of these |
| more to consider in choosing a quality web host. | | | | languages include PHP, ASP, JSP, Cold fusion, |
| Disk Space / Storage Space | | | | VBscript, JavaScript, and Perl. I won't go into the |
| Disk space is the amount of physical storage | | | | details of these in this article for the sake of |
| space a web host gives to you to store your | | | | complexity. If you know how to use these |
| web files. Hosting companies these days have | | | | languages, you should know what to look for in a |
| plans with disk space being measured mostly in | | | | web server for them. |
| terms of gigabytes, but some are still offering | | | | Databases |
| plans in the megabytes for storage space. | | | | A database is a place to store data that can be |
| Depending on your needs for file storage space, | | | | used in a large variety of ways. Databases are |
| you may need more or less. Generally the more | | | | used on the Internet for applications such as |
| disk space offered the better. | | | | shopping carts, message boards, and product |
| Bandwidth / Data Transfer | | | | catalogues. The more databases the web hosting |
| The amount of bandwidth available can make a | | | | provider allows you to create, the most |
| big difference in choosing a quality hosting plan. In | | | | applications you can deploy on your web server. |
| general, the more bandwidth a hosting company | | | | Databases are used by the more advanced web |
| makes available to you, the better. This means | | | | master, but information is freely available online |
| you can support more traffic to your web site as | | | | should you be interested. |
| your business grows. Be wary of web hosting | | | | Conclusions |
| companies that offer unlimited or unmetered | | | | Web hosting can be a very difficult decision with |
| bandwidth. While many of these are legitimate | | | | the many thousands of hosting companies out |
| offers, there are some out there who are | | | | there. It is critical to find a plan that fits your |
| overselling their bandwidth in hopes the average | | | | needs and to have a good hosting company. I |
| user won't use much. | | | | hope this article was useful in making your |
| Customer Support | | | | decision about which company to host with. |
| In any business, it is very important to provide | | | | Happy Hosting! |