Web Hosting

Web hosting is a service that allows individuals, organizations and companies, without their own web servers, to host their own websites.

Web hosts offer many different services. The most basic is website hosting, where files can be uploaded via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or a Web interface. Many Internet service providers (ISPs) offer this service for free to their subscribers. People can also obtain Web page hosting from other, alternative service providers.

A complex site calls for a more comprehensive package that provides database support and application development platforms (e.g. PHP, Java, and ASP.NET). These facilities allow the customers to write or install scripts for applications like forums and content management. For e-commerce, SSL is also required.

The host may also provide a Web interface control panel (e.g. cPanel, Hosting Controller, Plesk) for managing the Web server and installing scripts as well as other services like e-mail.

Hosting services limited to the Web:

Free web hosting service: is free, (sometimes) advertisement-supported web hosting, and is extremely limited when compared to paid hosting.

Shared web hosting service: one’s Web site is placed on the same server as many other sites, ranging from a few to hundreds or thousands. Typically, all domains may share a common pool of server resources, such as RAM and the CPU.

Reseller web hosting: allows clients to become web hosts themselves. Resellers could function, for individual domains, under any combination of these listed types of hosting, depending on who they are affiliated with as a provider.

Here’s what you should look for when selecting a web host:

  • Web space – at least 300 mb
  • Monthly bandwith – at least 10 gb
  • Control panel
  • Multiple domains
  • Web based email
  • PHP4.3.11 – required
  • MySQL Database version 4.0 or greater – required

So how much will this cost? Less than you expect. Here are the companies we recommend:

Step Four: Obtain Neccessary Software