Understanding Web Hosting

Executive Summary by Stacy Clifford

Well, the answer is that you need to find web hosting for the website you're going to build. Just what is web hosting anyway?

In simple terms, web hosting is renting space on a web server. Along with making sure your files can be seen by internet users around the world, a web server provides other important services as well. The web server also has various types of software installed on it that allow your website to run programs, create and manage databases, display video, and many other functions you might find useful. Almost any type of computer can function as a web server, but it's the software that's on it that makes it a server.

What kinds of web hosting are there?

Shared hosting is simply the concept of hosting more than one website on a particular server. Over 95% of all websites on the internet are being run in a shared hosting environment. Since the resources of the server can be split among the clients hosted on it, so can the costs of operating the server, so shared hosting is universally cheaper than any other type. Shared hosting is also known as virtual hosting.

Renting the use of an entire server is known as dedicated hosting. The web hosting company still owns the machine and takes responsibility for maintaining the hardware and the web hosting software, but you have greater control over the configuration and use of the server. Since the hosting company is still responsible for the upkeep of the server, this type of hosting is also known as managed hosting. For obvious reasons, dedicated hosting always costs significantly more than shared hosting.

Some web hosts are offering UNIX hosting and Windows hosting. The terms UNIX hosting and Windows hosting refer to the operating system (OS) that is running on the server. UNIX Hosting

Most of the web servers in the world today run on one of the many variants of UNIX. UNIX hosting platforms are generally considered to be stable, secure, powerful and fast. Most web programming applications can be performed by software that is available for a UNIX platform. Windows Hosting

Microsoft has developed its own operating system for servers as a special version of its Windows operating system, Windows Server 2003. Each web server has a finite amount of hard disk memory to divide up and offer to hosting customers. If your website gets bigger than the space you are given, you will need to purchase more disk space from the web host.

Bandwidth or Data Transfer - Whenever you visit a website and view a page, you are transfering a copy of the files that make up that page over the internet from the web server to your computer. Uptime - In an ideal world, every web server would be up and running and offering your web pages to the world 24 hours a day, 7 days a week forever. When a web host gives you a 99% uptime guarantee, they are saying that the web server will be up and running for 99% of the billing period. Traffic Statistics - Website traffic statistics programs try to track visitors to your website. Most web hosts today offer some sort of traffic statistics software with their hosting packages.

CGI Scripts - Many web hosts offer a variety of free CGI scripts with their packages.

What Every Marketer Needs To Know About Web Hosting

Executive Summary by Dejan Bizinger

There are many companies that offer web hosting services. Your web site has to be always online and accessible. WEB HOSTING TYPES

You have to choose your web hosting deal depending on type of your site. You won’t choose the same web hosting deal if you have a personal web site, web site for email newsletter subscription and archives, e-commerce site or web forum. There are 4 main web hosting: virtual (shared) hosting, dedicated server, collocation server and reseller hosting. Virtual (shared) hosting is the situation where many web sites reside on one web server. This is the cheapest web hosting because many users split the cost for web server. Dedicated server represents a hosting where company lease the whole web server from web hosting company. That web server is located in the web hosting company. Also, dedicated server is the only logical choice for web sites with lots of visitors. Collocation server is similar to dedicated server. Difference is that company doesn’t lease a web server. They place their own web server in the web hosting company. Reseller hosting is targeted to companies that want to start their own web hosting business.

Useful web site where you can find a web hosting that will fit your needs is http://www.webhost.thelist.com

Web space

Web space is determined by the type of your site. Bandwidth

Email accounts

It is important to know what you will get in your web hosting package regarding email accounts. Today, modern web site has to be database-driven.

Technical support

Many web hosting companies offer you to see their portfolio of web sites that they host. Very useful thing in finding best web hosting deals and recommendations is to visit popular web forums like http://www.webhostingtalk.com and http://www.sitepointforums.com

You see that there are several factors that influence in choosing your web hosting package.