Website Hosting Briefly Explained

Hello everyone i'm here today bringing you help with domain names and hosting companies. These are two areas that really get foggy for alot of people and I can understand why! There are so many different hosting companies out there now its hard to choose. If you do not know much about webservers and hosting companies, and if your not versed on very technical computer server terms, then this task can be very intimidating.

Since I'm a web designer as you would imagine i get to work with web servers on a daily basis. Saying that I have worked with several different clients. Each of these clients usully are on a different hosting company. This has given me a chance to experience the good the bad and the ugly when it comes to web hosting.

When you begin to look for a web hosting company there are a couple main features that you have to look for. First of all web hosting companies run two different types of computer servers. Some of them run Microsoft Server operating systems and some run the Linux operating system. Now of course, i'm sure your asking why your website uses a different operating system than you might. When it comes down to it Linux is historically a more stable machine. What this means is you will not find this machine shutting down on its own very often. This is very important with web-hosting and web-servers because you essentially have the possibility of someone seeing your website at all times. If the computer crashes, your website is not visible. Now the second part of choosing between a linux and Microsoft Windows server will be in the hands of your web designer. What are thy most comfortable and familiar writing the code for your website in. Linux is usually a code called PHP, Windows usually uses a code called ASP. There are others out there but I won't get into those details.

So now you have determined which type of server ( operating system ) that you want to use for your web server. Now there are 2 more rather major items that you need to look for. First is total size of webspace. This is the amount of the hard drive that the web hosting company will let you use. IF you fill it up they may charge extra. It's always good to find the biggest storage space at the lowest price if possible. I would not recommend getting a web hosting package that has under 500mb. Last you have Transfer. This is also measured in MB and GB. This is a monitor that says how much data has traveled in and out of your website. This is another one thats worth getting the highest amount of transfer data available for your buck. That pretty much covers the main points of web hosting. There are many different add-ons and such as "website optimizers" and other tools. These come with most hosting packages.

I want to leave you with a list of good reliable web hosting companies that I personally not only recommend, but I use these companies often.

Reliable, affordable business hosting from Yahoo! Web Hosting. Yahoo provides you with a total e-commerce package which is a shopping / online store package. This hosting plan is actually set at an excellent price at $29.96. Full of options and full of features!

ServerPronto - Full Dedicated Servers just $29.95! This has to be the best offer i have seen on the internet for a dedicated server. This gives the advanced users alot more control and access to server. A great company and awesome web hosting price.

Last I leave you with yet another great price for website hosting and domain name purchase. Introducing $7.95 Hosting, Free Setup and $75 Marketing Rebate at iPowerWeb. This is another great price, nice options and a quality company.

Take a look at these links, get some hosting then send me a link to everyones new website. I would love to see what you come up with!

Cheers!
j mitchell allen
the best graphic designer