Finding the Right Web Host
Choosing the right Web Hosting service for your website can be a
little bit confusing. There's so many choices out there and many
people aren't exactly sure what they should be looking for.
Here's a few things you should take into consideration when
looking for a Web Host:
File Storage Space/ Disk Space
How much disk space do you need? That depends on how many files
(pages) you plan to upload to your hosting space. If it's a
personal or ecommerce site (a site that sells products) with
just a few pages and graphics, than 25 MB of disk space a month
should be more than enough. If it's a multi-page site such as an
online shopping mall, then 2000 MB would be safe.
Storage space is specified in kilobytes KB, megabytes MB, or
gigabytes GB, a megabyte is 1000 kilobytes and a gigabyte is
1000 megabytes.
Bandwidth / Traffic / Transfer
All words above are used interchangeably. It's the amount of
data that flows through your site, the amount of hits or how
many people visit your site. If you're expecting a few hundred
hits a day then 10, 15 of 25 GB of Transfer should be enough. If
you're expecting hundreds of thousands of hits every month then
you should get a hosting account with as much Bandwidth as
possible.
Bandwidth is usually expressed in Gigabytes.
CGI
Common Gateway Interface, is a protocal script used to make your
site dynamic. Flash banners, moving objects. With the right web
design program or scripting knowledge and a host that offers CGI
you can easily bring your site to life.
Frontpage Extensions
Now-a-days more sites are offering Frontpage extensions.
Microsoft Frontpage is a WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get)
web design program that lets you easily create web pages while
the software does all the coding behind the scenes. The great
thing about using Frontpage and having a host with Frontpage
extensions is once you design your webpages all you have to do
is click one button that says "publish site" and all your pages
go from your computer to your hosting space with one click.
Shared Hosting / Dedicated Servers
Shared hosting, or sometimes called basic hosting means that the
webspace that you rent will be shared on the same web server
with other clients of the company you've purchased web space
from. This is the most common.
If you purchase a Dedicated server it means your website will
have it's own unique server. This is the preferred choice for
sites with a huge amount of traffic and many graphics that would
take to long to load on a shared server.
Finding a Web Host can be confusing if you're not sure what to
look for. If you're planning on having an average website with a
few hundred hits or fewer a day, than shared hosting is the way
to go.