Choosing a web host

In this day and age, there are plenty of web hosts to choose from,with a wide range prices. Diffrent webhosting companies have diffrent prices for diffrent amounts of web space and it is essential to understand what makes each host so diffrent from the rest.

When you look for hosting, the first thing you are usually going to look for is the amount of space and bandwidth that each hosting provider provides, for some people, this is as far as they need to look, for other people, they need to look further into the hosting provided. The server that you decide to use is in fact just a PC like the one you are using now, the only diffrence is that more often than not, a server will be much faster and possibly hold more space, it is when you realize this that you can apply the other aspects to picking the best web host, you just have to think about what makes your computer better than your friends(an example), we can then go into the realm of processor speed, operating system, RAM and the internet connection, these aspects are quite often the reason why one host may seem more expensive than another.

When choosing the best host for yourself, you may not need a fast processor or alot of RAM, you may only need 250 MB space, if you cut back on what you buy to as far as you need then you will get just what you need on a much cheaper budget, for example, if you need to host a website that is only 50 MB in size, you would be better off getting a hosting package with 250MB space, than a hosting package with 1,000 MB space. The same applies for bandwidth, RAM and processor speed. The operating system you use can also vary depending on how you want your site to run, UNIX and Linux servers are well known for having much better security than Microsoft servers, however, you may not need much security for your website, and there are other aspects to choosing the right operating for you. Diffrent operating systems also support diffrent languages that can be used in creating your site, all servers are able to support HTML but, some people are now looking to create dynamic websites.

HTML is a static language, it outputs information on your screen, and this information does not change, dynamic languages allow the content to change, there are also diffrent types of dynamic languages, these are server side, and client side, server side script execute on the server and then are able to output as HTML, for server side scripts to work, the server needs to have the correct software installed. Client side script exacutes on the computer of the person who is viewing the website, this means that the person viewing the website must have the correct software installed to be able to view it.

When it comes to server side scripts, the servers operating system can play a major role in what scripts you decide to use. Microsoft servers support a language called ASP, only Microsoft servers can run ASP and Microsoft charges money for their software, linux servers equivalent is PHP, PHP is much more used and most hosting professionals believe it is much beter, PHP as well as linux is open source, this allows people to modify how the programs themselves work, another good point is that they are totally free! The most common setup for a server is called the LAMP setup, this stands for Linux Apache MySQL and PHP. Apache is the server program that runs on the server and manages all of the requests by users accessing the server. MySQL is a type of database that can be used to store information on your server, you may need a diffrent amount of MySQL databases depending on the content of your website and some web hosts provide a limited amount of MySQL databases so it is essential that you get the right amount for you.

Other important factors when choosing a hosting provider are the type of control panel provided and the support provided by the web hosting company. Cpanel is the standard when it comes to linux web hosting, it includes many user friendly features like easy script installation, email account management and visitor statistics.

This is only a brief overview of web hosting and what you need to get started. It is always advised to discuss your requirements with your hosting provider. A reputed web hosting company will always guide you to choose the right plan for you or your business.

About the Author

Kirk McCutcheon is the director of web operations for HOST-REA, a web hosting and web design company dedicated to providing Reliable Easy and Affordable web solutions.

Simply The Best Web Hosting Company Period!