by: Joshua Mabilia
Web hosting, in simple terms, is a service that allows individuals, companies and other organizations to store information in remote server such that it is always accessible through internet. Information for the purpose of web hosting can be text, audio (like song and music), image, video (film, animation, etc.) and all those that can be transmitted via web.
Web hosting company offers space to store and retrieve information in servers, which they may or may not own. Web hosting server is typically located in data center that also houses communication equipment needed to connect the server with the world wide web.
Web hosting thus enables your stored information to travel from server via web to any computer across the globe. How do you store information in remote server? When you hire web hosting service, you will first connect your computer with the internet and then dispatch (upload) all your information from your computer hard disc to remote server via web with the help of special program called 'file transfer protocol' or FTP.
Not all web hosting providers offer same level of service. When you approach a web hosting company, you are likely to come across many options. Among many web hosting parameters, following are the ones that need close attention.
Disk Space
Similar to storing data locally on your computer's hard disk, web hosting company will allot space - commonly termed as 'disk space' - in web hosting server where you will upload and locate your information for access by all. Ensure that the disk space offered as part of web hosting service is sufficient for your needs.
Bandwidth
Imagine four people trying to pass through a 2-feet wide door at the same time. This is seemingly impossible. The way out will be to either widen your door to 6 feet or make them pass in a queue. This is akin to the concept of bandwidth in web hosting service.
Higher bandwidth in web hosting will certainly allow more amount of visits at any given time. Bear in mind though that if there is unprecedented traffic to your website, the web hosting provider will automatically resort to making queues. In which case those who stand at the back may not reach your website because the time allotted by web hosting server to each request would have expired before their turns come.
Control Panel
At the heart of web hosting service is control panel. Many a time, low-cost web hosting does not include access to control panel. This is not suggested because unless you have access to the control panel of your web hosting, you will not know or control many vital information.
A control panel in web hosting is nothing but a browser-based interface provided as part of web hosting service, whereby you can monitor your website. Notable among what you can do in web hosting control panel are access to log files and analysis, configure email setting if preferred, manage database if in use and monitor FTP user account(s). You will also be able to view spare and used disc space and bandwidth of your web hosting account.
Other Considerations
It is always a good idea to run a random check on credibility and credentials of web hosting provider. For a start, note whether the main frame computer and web hosting server conform to latest market standards in terms of processor speed, server space, data accessibility, server uptime and so on. Second, is your web hosting provider reliable? To check, refer to forum comments and feedbacks left by earlier customers. Do not hesitate to ask questions from web hosting company if you need any specific information.
Finally, consider if the asking price of web hosting service is reasonable. There are many web hosting providers in the market. There is no harm to shop around awhile for good bargains to be had. All things considered, ensure that you get good value for your money while deciding on a web hosting service.
About The Author
Joshua Mabilia
Article by Josh - admin @ hostingfrenzy.com
Josh is the webmaster of http://www.hostingfrenzy.com
Visit his site for a comprehensive web hosting directory, articles, tools, and much more.
Think It's Hard to Find The Best Web Hosting Companies?
by: Anthony Hamill
It's really not. In fact the best web hosting companies can be identified rather easily if you make time to absorb some basic information.
Building a Web Site
You can build a very basic web site with a simple word processing program such as Microsoft Word. Then after you've built your web site, you'll need to find a way to publish it if you intend for it to be accessible on the World Wide Web. For this you'll turn to a web hosting company.
A web host will provide you with the disk space, services,and tools you'll need to publish your site on the Internet. While occasional technical problems are inevitable, competent web hosting companies will ensure your site is up and running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so that anyone, anywhere in the world, can find your web site at any time of the day.
Many Hosting Choices
There are literally tens of thousands of web hosting companies to choose from so finding one of the very best web hosting companies can be challenging.
Prices range from free to hundreds of dollars a year for personal web hosting and small business web hosting all the way up to hundreds of dollars per month for ecommerce web hosting for large online businesses.
The best web hosting companies offer a wide variety of web hosting services all of which can be confusing if you're new to web site hosting.
What You Need to Know
There are a number of basics you need to learn if you want to create a good website that is cost-effective, easy to manage, and provides a meaningful experience for your visitors. Some of these basics include:
- How to decide whether free or paid web hosting is right for you
- What is a web server and why does it matter to you?
- How to select and register a great domain name
- How to determine if you need shared or dedicated hosting
- How to connect your domain to your web hosting provider
- How to publish your web site
- How to make use of free web templates and other authoring tools
Our nine-part Introduction to Web Hosting at http://www.web-host-watch.com/bestwebhostingcompanies.html will help you make sense of all the available information and give you the confidence to find, evaluate, and select a web hosting company that is most suited to your needs.
About The Author
Anthony Hamill is the founder of http://www.Web-Host-Watch.Com which is devoted to helping new webmasters learn the basics of web hosting. It provides tutorials, tips on avoiding common mistakes, a glossary of web hosting terms, and a list of Top Web Hosts.
It's really not. In fact the best web hosting companies can be identified rather easily if you make time to absorb some basic information.
Building a Web Site
You can build a very basic web site with a simple word processing program such as Microsoft Word. Then after you've built your web site, you'll need to find a way to publish it if you intend for it to be accessible on the World Wide Web. For this you'll turn to a web hosting company.
A web host will provide you with the disk space, services,and tools you'll need to publish your site on the Internet. While occasional technical problems are inevitable, competent web hosting companies will ensure your site is up and running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so that anyone, anywhere in the world, can find your web site at any time of the day.
Many Hosting Choices
There are literally tens of thousands of web hosting companies to choose from so finding one of the very best web hosting companies can be challenging.
Prices range from free to hundreds of dollars a year for personal web hosting and small business web hosting all the way up to hundreds of dollars per month for ecommerce web hosting for large online businesses.
The best web hosting companies offer a wide variety of web hosting services all of which can be confusing if you're new to web site hosting.
What You Need to Know
There are a number of basics you need to learn if you want to create a good website that is cost-effective, easy to manage, and provides a meaningful experience for your visitors. Some of these basics include:
- How to decide whether free or paid web hosting is right for you
- What is a web server and why does it matter to you?
- How to select and register a great domain name
- How to determine if you need shared or dedicated hosting
- How to connect your domain to your web hosting provider
- How to publish your web site
- How to make use of free web templates and other authoring tools
Our nine-part Introduction to Web Hosting at http://www.web-host-watch.com/bestwebhostingcompanies.html will help you make sense of all the available information and give you the confidence to find, evaluate, and select a web hosting company that is most suited to your needs.
About The Author
Anthony Hamill is the founder of http://www.Web-Host-Watch.Com which is devoted to helping new webmasters learn the basics of web hosting. It provides tutorials, tips on avoiding common mistakes, a glossary of web hosting terms, and a list of Top Web Hosts.
Unlimited Web Hosting? Better Read the Fine Print
by: Anthony Hamill
OK, so unlimited hosting sounds tempting. And if you operate a number of small business websites, you probably ought to consider some of the options for unlimited multiple domain hosting. But before you sign up you'd better examine all the details of any unlimited web hosting plan you may be considering.
Some unlimited web hosting plans place no limit on the number of domains you may operate for one flat monthly rate which can be quite attractive. Other plans allow you to operate what may as well be unlimited for most people’s purposes: 10, 20, 30 or more domains.
Unlimited what?
Don't make the mistake of confusing “unlimited domains” with unlimited resources. These plans come with a fairly generous allotment of storage and bandwidth which can be shared across all the domains on your hosting plan. But few provide totally free unlimited file storage and bandwidth.
Unlimited plans can be highly economical for the online business owner who wants to operate multiple websites without the hassle, and expense, of having to keep up with a separate plan for each.
Who will manage your websites?
There are a few things to be aware of with unlimited web hosting plans. One is that they are usually set up under a single account. This means that if you plan to have each web site managed by a different webmaster you’ll experience a security risk from sharing the account password.
How much do you really need?
Another thing to watch out for is the temptation to sign up for an unlimited web hosting plan if you don’t actually need one. While they provide terrific value for what they offer, if you don’t actually need unlimited hosting you’ll be overpaying. You can host a single web site for a very cheap monthly rate.
At www.Web-Host-Watch.Com/webhostingreview.html our list of Top Web Hosts includes reliable companies who offer a variety of affordable unlimited hosting plans. If you need lots of storage and bandwidth for multiple web sites, an unlimited hosting plan is the way to go.
About The Author
Anthony Hamill is the founder of http://www.Web-Host-Watch.Com which is devoted to helping new webmasters learn the basics of web hosting. It provides tutorials, tips on avoiding common mistakes, a glossary of web hosting terms, and a list of Top Web Hosts.
OK, so unlimited hosting sounds tempting. And if you operate a number of small business websites, you probably ought to consider some of the options for unlimited multiple domain hosting. But before you sign up you'd better examine all the details of any unlimited web hosting plan you may be considering.
Some unlimited web hosting plans place no limit on the number of domains you may operate for one flat monthly rate which can be quite attractive. Other plans allow you to operate what may as well be unlimited for most people’s purposes: 10, 20, 30 or more domains.
Unlimited what?
Don't make the mistake of confusing “unlimited domains” with unlimited resources. These plans come with a fairly generous allotment of storage and bandwidth which can be shared across all the domains on your hosting plan. But few provide totally free unlimited file storage and bandwidth.
Unlimited plans can be highly economical for the online business owner who wants to operate multiple websites without the hassle, and expense, of having to keep up with a separate plan for each.
Who will manage your websites?
There are a few things to be aware of with unlimited web hosting plans. One is that they are usually set up under a single account. This means that if you plan to have each web site managed by a different webmaster you’ll experience a security risk from sharing the account password.
How much do you really need?
Another thing to watch out for is the temptation to sign up for an unlimited web hosting plan if you don’t actually need one. While they provide terrific value for what they offer, if you don’t actually need unlimited hosting you’ll be overpaying. You can host a single web site for a very cheap monthly rate.
At www.Web-Host-Watch.Com/webhostingreview.html our list of Top Web Hosts includes reliable companies who offer a variety of affordable unlimited hosting plans. If you need lots of storage and bandwidth for multiple web sites, an unlimited hosting plan is the way to go.
About The Author
Anthony Hamill is the founder of http://www.Web-Host-Watch.Com which is devoted to helping new webmasters learn the basics of web hosting. It provides tutorials, tips on avoiding common mistakes, a glossary of web hosting terms, and a list of Top Web Hosts.
10 Sneaky Tricks of Cheap Web Hosting Companies
by: Greg Cesar
If you thought all those billions of web pages are hosted on expensive and full service web hosting companies, you need to cross check your information sources again. Of course, there are free or cheap web hosting companies that provide basic features good enough for simple html pages. You can take the example of some blog sites for these. But cheap (as cheap as $1.99 a month) web hosting service is different as they claim to provide more than the basic features which require huge infrastructures and funds to maintain and remain in the business. How do cheap web hosting companies attract business and what are their tricks?
Trick Number 1: The 24/7 toll-free number that a cheap web hosting company will advertise on their website. Most of these rarely work and those that do work seem to work only Monday to Friday. They are there mainly to create a false impression. What will you do on the weekend or after hours? You need a web hosting company that provides real support.
Trick Number 2: E-mail contacts given, which give you a very nicely worded (auto responder) response, requesting you to be patient while promising that an appropriate web hosting executive is handling your query. Don't you want to talk to a real person at some point? Email messages could go on forever with no resolution in sight. Your time, in short supply, is valuable.
Trick Number 3: Unlimited emails in POP3 and SMTP which hardly give any value to a small webmaster but can have a big impact on your decision making. Cheap web hosting companies cannot provide good email service. Yet, you need good email service so that you can stay in contact with your customers. (better service=more customers=more sales)
Trick Number 4: Cheap web hosting companies often make promises of free downloads worth thousands of dollars. You can check this offer only after you subscribe to their service. You should be able to check out all aspects of an offer before making a commitment, thus saving you valuable time and money.
Trick Number 5: The lure of freebies like all platform database support, preinstalled server side scripts, site builders, templates and SSL & ecommerce tools. In actuality, if these products are provided by cheap web hosting companies, they are very limited. Why limit your business from the start? You need a web hosting company that will give you the tools you need to be successful right out of the gate!
Trick Number 6: Domain registrars and sister companies of cheap web hosting companies don't allow editing DNS zone files and MX records. Registrars talk about "name server management" when they actually mean the exact opposite resulting in forced hosting with them. You should be able to choose the services that you want for your business. After all, who knows your business better than you? Locking yourself in with a cheap web hosting company forces you to do business their way. Don't do it!
Trick Number 7: Artificially populating user forums is another way of promoting their cheap web hosting business. Cheap web hosting companies do this so you will think they have tons of satisfied users. Really, you should rely on referrals to check out a web hosting company's services. This is the only real way to be sure you'll get the service you deserve.
Trick Number 8: Display of an unknown or little known award and trying to impress you that they provide award winning service. Do awards mean anything anymore these days? Better to rely on actual comments from real customers.
Trick Number 9: Offering free integration of shopping carts and payment gateways. Cheap web hosting companies do this because they know that for many online businesses having access to an online payment tool is a must. What you actually get is PayPal, which is well known, and is not their product at all. Why would you trust a web hosting company that would do this?
Trick Number 10: Free Marketing support. Of course they do it but what they market vigorously is their site where your name might be mentioned. Cheap web hosting companies will not do more than this. In fact, they cannot. Are you paying for marketing your business? Or theirs?
Being on the lookout for tricks such as these will keep you from falling into the trap of thinking that cheap web hosting is good. You can make a better choice for your business. You need a web hosting company that provides real, complete services that help improve your business. Do you want your business to be just a number?
Remember the old adage, "you get what you pay for".
About The Author
Greg Cesar gets results. Find out how hundreds of webmasters benefit from Greg's web hosting and internet marketing knowledge by visiting this link: http://www.hostpartnerplus.com
If you thought all those billions of web pages are hosted on expensive and full service web hosting companies, you need to cross check your information sources again. Of course, there are free or cheap web hosting companies that provide basic features good enough for simple html pages. You can take the example of some blog sites for these. But cheap (as cheap as $1.99 a month) web hosting service is different as they claim to provide more than the basic features which require huge infrastructures and funds to maintain and remain in the business. How do cheap web hosting companies attract business and what are their tricks?
Trick Number 1: The 24/7 toll-free number that a cheap web hosting company will advertise on their website. Most of these rarely work and those that do work seem to work only Monday to Friday. They are there mainly to create a false impression. What will you do on the weekend or after hours? You need a web hosting company that provides real support.
Trick Number 2: E-mail contacts given, which give you a very nicely worded (auto responder) response, requesting you to be patient while promising that an appropriate web hosting executive is handling your query. Don't you want to talk to a real person at some point? Email messages could go on forever with no resolution in sight. Your time, in short supply, is valuable.
Trick Number 3: Unlimited emails in POP3 and SMTP which hardly give any value to a small webmaster but can have a big impact on your decision making. Cheap web hosting companies cannot provide good email service. Yet, you need good email service so that you can stay in contact with your customers. (better service=more customers=more sales)
Trick Number 4: Cheap web hosting companies often make promises of free downloads worth thousands of dollars. You can check this offer only after you subscribe to their service. You should be able to check out all aspects of an offer before making a commitment, thus saving you valuable time and money.
Trick Number 5: The lure of freebies like all platform database support, preinstalled server side scripts, site builders, templates and SSL & ecommerce tools. In actuality, if these products are provided by cheap web hosting companies, they are very limited. Why limit your business from the start? You need a web hosting company that will give you the tools you need to be successful right out of the gate!
Trick Number 6: Domain registrars and sister companies of cheap web hosting companies don't allow editing DNS zone files and MX records. Registrars talk about "name server management" when they actually mean the exact opposite resulting in forced hosting with them. You should be able to choose the services that you want for your business. After all, who knows your business better than you? Locking yourself in with a cheap web hosting company forces you to do business their way. Don't do it!
Trick Number 7: Artificially populating user forums is another way of promoting their cheap web hosting business. Cheap web hosting companies do this so you will think they have tons of satisfied users. Really, you should rely on referrals to check out a web hosting company's services. This is the only real way to be sure you'll get the service you deserve.
Trick Number 8: Display of an unknown or little known award and trying to impress you that they provide award winning service. Do awards mean anything anymore these days? Better to rely on actual comments from real customers.
Trick Number 9: Offering free integration of shopping carts and payment gateways. Cheap web hosting companies do this because they know that for many online businesses having access to an online payment tool is a must. What you actually get is PayPal, which is well known, and is not their product at all. Why would you trust a web hosting company that would do this?
Trick Number 10: Free Marketing support. Of course they do it but what they market vigorously is their site where your name might be mentioned. Cheap web hosting companies will not do more than this. In fact, they cannot. Are you paying for marketing your business? Or theirs?
Being on the lookout for tricks such as these will keep you from falling into the trap of thinking that cheap web hosting is good. You can make a better choice for your business. You need a web hosting company that provides real, complete services that help improve your business. Do you want your business to be just a number?
Remember the old adage, "you get what you pay for".
About The Author
Greg Cesar gets results. Find out how hundreds of webmasters benefit from Greg's web hosting and internet marketing knowledge by visiting this link: http://www.hostpartnerplus.com
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