Web hosting

The basics of web hosting:  What you need to know?

The hosting company and plan you choose can without a doubt impact the success of your website. A less than reliable service will not only be a huge waste of money but also it will mar the reputation of your site.

So, while cost should be a constraint when picking a web host, it would be a colossal mistake to base your choice solely on pricing. If you are finding it daunting to wade through the offerings of all the hosting providers out there, here is a look at some of the basics of web hosting that will help you to make an informed decision.

So, what does a web host do?

Web hosts offer virtual space for setting up your website. Just like a brick and mortar business needs office space to work out of, your website needs a specific address and a location in the cyber world, which is your url and server space.

 Web hosting providers maintain and run servers which are plugged into an internet connection. For a price, they offer access to these servers and their resources to website owners. While it is possible to host a site from your home computer, this can only be done if you have a high speed internet connection.

Also, you will need a dedicated computer for the job which cannot be switched off. Needless to say, regular desktops are simply not up to the task.

The plans offered by web hosting providers

Web hosts offer a myriad of plans with varied pricing that meet the specific requirements of different customers. In order to understand the suitability of a plan, it is imperative to understand the level functionality that is offered with the option.

Shared or virtual hosting: This is by far the simplest and least expensive hosting plan available, so it is particularly well suited for small businesses and start ups. In shared hosting, several websites are placed on a single powerful server.

Dedicated hosting: As the name suggests, a server is dedicated to a single site in this type of hosting. In other words, the buyer is essentially leasing the server from the hosting company; however, the added functionality comes with a higher price tag.

Virtual dedicated hosting: A blend of virtual and dedicated hosting, in these plans, a buyer is offered a partition of the server for his/her use. So while a website may not have access to all the resources of the server with this plan, it sure is next best thing.

Collocated hosting: This option is the ultimate in flexibility and involves buying and setting up a server on the premises of the web host.

Buying web hosting plans

Most first time website owners find it harrowing to make sense of the innumerable options offered by the staggering number of web hosting service providers. If you find yourself baffled by the sheer number of choices, here are the top 5 criteria that you need to consider when buying a hosting package.

The right plan: The first thing to do would be to choose between shared and dedicated hosting.  Now, it’s crucial to understand that unless you intend to run a complex and dynamic site, you should be able to get by with a virtual hosting plan. In fact, 95% of the businesses use shared hosting, so it’s a very popular choice.

The disk space: If you go with a shared plan, it is imperative to anticipate the amount of disk space that you are going to need. Always buy more than your maximum requirement at the moment and inquire about how much it will cost to rent more.

Bandwidth: The next factor to consider is the amount of bandwidth that you will need. There is a very simple formula to asses this requirement; simply multiply the average number of visitors per month by average page size and the average number of pages downloaded by each user. Once again, it makes sense to err on the side of caution here by choosing a plan that offers 2 or 3 times more bandwidth than your maximum anticipated requirement.

The operating system: Although the operating system that the site runs on will be of little consequence to people who intend to run a static site, if you ever want to include server side activity, it would be prudent to consider this factor. Your choices include Microsoft Windows, LINUX (Unix), other UNIX systems and Free BSD Apple Serve.

 Finally consider the pricing of the plan; a small website can easily be hosted for no more than $10 a month. In fact, a lot of hosting providers may slash the rate to $6 to $8 if you buy an annual pack from them.

Remember that the key to choosing the right hosting plan lies in gauging your requirements accurately. The package you choose should not only be cost effective but also offer all the support and features you will need to keep your website up and running.