Getting Started In Web Hosting

What Is Web Hosting?

Web hosting is a service that allows users to serve their content on internet via their website. Users are provided with a specific space on a web server, where they upload the source files of their web-pages.

Once these files are uploaded on server, the web page can be accessed by the end users. For small websites the files can easily be uploaded by File Transfer Protocol (FTP), but for a complex website, a webmaster may need to install different scripts on server using databases, and to handle some other functions like email etc, so for that cPanel hosting is considered as most useful choice.

Types of Web Hosting

These are the basic types of web hosting according to the usage of service, i.e. complexity of a website.

Free Hosting: As title shows, it's free, so definitely it's provided with a limited set of functions. This type best suits simple sites like blogs. Free attracts everyone so does free hosting, but a major drawback of this type it that it is advertisement supported.

Shared Hosting: In this case your site is hosted on a server that has many other sites on it. All these sites hence share the server resources, i.e. RAM, CPU etc. This type, however, allows customization and advance features, i.e. ready made scripts, email access, website stats etc.

Reseller Hosting: This is an advanced type of shared hosting whereby you want to host more than one site at a single place. You then buy a single account for all your sites. There may be more than one reseller accounts on a single server, i.e. all your sites are on shared hosting if you've reseller hosting, but the difference is that you're managing them from one place.

Dedicated Hosting: This type of hosting allows the webmaster to have full control (including root access) over the server; however, he doesn't own it. This type of hosting suites best to complex and heavy websites, i.e. web community sites with high traffic etc. Another such type is Managed Dedicated Hosting whereby client is not given full control to modify server configuration, and that is to ensure the quality of service from hosting company.

Virtual Dedicated Hosting: This type lets the user feel that he's on his own server, but in actual there are more than one user sharing that server. The user, however, may have root access via Virtual Private Server (VPS).

So, have you made up your mind in which type of web hosting plan to go with? If yes, then it's time for you to pick up a web host. In such case, I would recommend you to check out my favourite web hosting companies: HostMonster and BlueHost.

Web-Hosting - Tips In Choosing The Right Host

If you are really serious in earning money online then having your own website is a must! For those who started out blogging, just like me, they know how addicting and how fast your online experience can be. And if you have been doing your homework, you'll know how massive the earning potential is online. Soon you will no longer be contented with a blog, you will realize how it can be limiting in terms of your earning potential. That is when owning a website comes in and just as important is choosing the right host. A poor web host can very much affect the potential of your website. To help you in choosing the right host, look out for these characteristics.

Versatility - Your web host should be compatible with windows, linux and mac, if they're not then that means they have a poor system. Go ahead and choose another host.

Reliability and Support - Uptime is of utmost importance! No matter how great the features are if they're always down then its useless. Ask around in forums for a feedback on your chosen host. If the web host themselves have their own forum then that is great, that means they are confident enough to be open for criticisms. 24/7 support is a must for providers, if they don't. DON'T!

Web space and Bandwidth - Web space is important so you'll know how many pages you can have in your site, for beginners smaller web space is ok but if you're business is growing then you'll need a bigger space, so right from the start go for those that offer larger web space. Bandwidth determines how much traffic you get, its the amount of bytes transferred from your site to your visitors. As your site becomes popular you are going to need more and more bandwidth. So again, right from the start go for those that offer larger bandwidth or else you'll get charged extra for exceeding your limit.

FTP Access and Website Builder - Creating your own website can be a difficult job specially for beginners (just like me). Having a website builder is an added plus which I think is important but this has its limitations as well, as you become an expert in building websites these free website builders might not have the facility you need, so an FTP access is a must so you can upload your pages.

Domains and Sub-Domains - How many domains and sub-domains will you be able to host. The more, the better.

Scripting - PHP, CGI-BIN, .htaccess, SSI, TELNET, CRONTABS, mySQL. Make sure that your host supports all these. CGI-BIN is used to run scripts like counters, guestbooks etc..if you want to add a database on your site you will need mySQL/PHP support. .htaccess is needed so you can customize error pages, cron jobs are needed for those programs that are run periodically.

E-commerce Readiness - You'll never know when you might think of setting up a store. If you're host does not support this then you'll go through the hassle of choosing another host for your store. SSL is required so you can collect credit card information from your site, a shopping cart and oscommerce would be nice.

E-mail, POP3, Mail Forwarder, Auto responder - Most redirect your emails to you. Having a POP3 allows you to connect directly to their servers and get your messages.

Nice to Have's - like fantastico install popular scripts in your site like blogs, portals/CMS, discussion boards, image galleries etc..

These are the must haves when choosing your web host and this need not be expensive. There is no perfect host but what's important is, how they treat you as a customer, how willing they are and how fast the are in fixing any problems that you might have.

Check out some hosting providers that I recommend here, compare their features and services and choose the best suited for you.

JP Mendez owns the site myspot that aims to provide free and real online opportunities to the public.

For the recommended web-hosts click below and choose the best one suited for your needs.

recommended sites

The Hugeness of the Web Hosting Market

Its been rightly said (by me), that 'Presumptions are often the greatest tools of discovery'. One such presumption of mine was researching on the Web Hosting Market, which has seen a lot of growth in the past 12 months - more than 30% - most of which was driven by the usual trends of virtualization, business continuity services and security technologies.

Despite of the near recession status which is being successfully (?) evaded by the government in the US, the growth does seem nothing less than spectacular. Analysts at Tier1 Research (T1R) deduce that 'Rackspace, Savvis, AT&T and Verizon Business have been the biggest beneficiaries of this market growth, being the clear leaders in the managed hosting sector.' Rather than focusing on the technical aspects of the Hosting Industry and Statistical Analytics, I shall proceed on with some of the reasons which I find have been the leading factors for this growth :

1) Resellers: The term 'reseller' is being linked unthinkably with the hosting sector now, and mind you, there is a lot of logic behind that. Almost all leading hosting networks have special reseller plans for ambitious customers who want to start their own sub-version of a hosting company with their own set hosting plans and much fulfilling profits. Due to this upsurge of resellers in the market, people now, have so many places to choose from; little realizing that the ultimate source of the hosting is the main provider with much cheaper rates and much faster, well-appreciated technical support rather than the fairly expensive hosting resellers(they do need their profits!).

2) Affiliates: Upon delving into the depths of Affiliate Marketing, sooner or later, you realize that the most lucrative and high payout sectors for becoming an affiliate is 'Digital Products' (more specifically, 'Website Hosting'), Drugs, and Electronic Goods (prospect of growth). Almost every web host out there has an affiliate system, where affilates get paid huge amounts (sometimes in excess of $100) and they publicize the hosting site all too enthusiastically. Although, the ratio and proportions of affiliate marketing seems all too dizzy for me. The average hosting packages on a hosting site start from monthly subscriptions ($8.99/mo on average), to biennial subscriptions ($5.99/mo on average). These hosting sites pay about $75 on an average to affiliates for each customer that they refer. Say, a person takes a monthly subscription and leaves after a month, then the hosting company will face losses of $75-$8.99=$66.01. But, who cares about the losses that they incur, because, we finally have thousands of sites pertaining to : 'hosting coupons, hosting discounts, hosting reviews, top hosts, recommended hosts' etc, with all such sites containing affiliate links/banners of the hosting companies.

3) Features: Most of you, who have seen the features provided by hosting companies, would be mind boggled by the disk space and bandwidth that they claim to provide you. These range from 750GB-1500GB disk space and 750GB-15000GB bandwidth. If you notice closely, these offers are only on shared hosting (not on reseller or dedicated). The thing to think about here is, an average server which is loaded with hard disks, can at most contain about 1000-2000GB. And, the same server, is used for shared hosting of about 500+ clients. If you actually start giving 1500GB to each person, then the server would need a disk space of : 500(client)*1500(GB)=750000GB, or 750TB, which, in the real world, can only be possible in your dreams. I call this disk space as: Virtual Memory; Because, you will presume that you have this much space and will work on your site considering that you have lots of memory to burn. Now, if you are wondering about the tall claims here, then there's some news for you: They don't actually allow you to use the disk space. There are some restrictions mentioned in the terms and conditions, such as - Max use of 50000 inodes (number of files); Max use of 5GB for scripts, 5GB for images, 5GB for videos and so on, which results in use of no more than 25GB. Such restrictions, if not followed, result in termination of your account. So, I hope you read the TOS before you actually start believing.

In the context of Shared Hosting, I can think of a proverb: "What you see is 1500GB. What you get is 25GB. What you see is blazing fast servers. What you get is a slow normal site, but darn cheap hosting"

Ok Ok. This proverb won't exactly go down in the books, but it pretty much sums up shared hosting for you.

I expect to see the 1500GB increasing to 5000GB in the coming years. But, the facts will still remain the same. The Hosting Industry will see some terrific growth over time and let's hope for the best and see what happens in the years to come.

This article is written by Ritoban Chakrabarti, an analyst and reviewer associated with Hosting Site Reviews

All the source of content is either through research on the internet or through personal/social experiences.

For great discounts on our Top Web Hosts, visit : HostGator, HostMonster, IPower

Do You Want To Host Web Sites?

Are you interested in what it takes to host web sites? Do you think that this could be a business that could make you a lot of money? If you answered yes to both of these questions, you may be onto something. There are many companies that host web sites for hundreds of thousands of people. As you can figure out with some simple math, this turns out to be quite the income each month. But of course this it not all pure profits. And on top of this, you need to consider the fact that there is a lot of competition among people and companies that want to host web sites.

If you are going to get started in this industry, there are quite a few things that you will first need. In other words, you cannot simply jump into hosting web sites and think that you are going to be a huge success. There are hundreds of companies that offer a great service, but when it comes down to it, the competition is smothering them because their name is not quite as big. With all of that being said, there is no reason that you should be afraid to move forward with this business idea if you are truly interested.

In order to host web sites, you are going to first need reliable servers. These are the machines that you will actually use in order to meet all of your clients needs. Keep in mind that as you grow, you are going to need to purchase more and more servers. And remember, these are anything but cheap. Of course, as you add more and more sites to your company, you are going to make more and more money.

In addition to servers, you are going to need to make sure that they are housed in the proper environment. If something happens to these servers, your ability to host web sites has gone right out the window. And in turn, this means that your client's sites are not going to be live. The second that you get the reputation for not being reliable you are going to start struggling.

Once you have at least one server, you will then need to have a web site of your own that sells your services. You will probably want to start putting this together as soon as possible. This is what you will use in order to sell your services to potential clients. Make sure that you know what most people want as well as the special needs of some webmasters. Also, take a close look at what your competition is doing before you decide on a set price and package levels.

If you want to host web sites you can get involved. This is not to say that you are going to have a low barrier of entry, but with hard work, you can become a player in the web hosting industry. It may take a lot of time and a good bit of money, but if you stick with offering a reliable service, you will be able to build a client base.

Bill McNulty writes about affordable web hosting at the web hosting directory, HostingRef.com