Web Hosting Options – Free, Shared, Dedicated Or Reseller
Web Hosting Options – Free, Shared, Dedicated Or Reseller
How do you know if a web hosting service will be reliable throughout the lifetime of your website?
If it doesn’t function well you could easily lose sales, service or subscribers.
Before choosing a web hosting company first research the different options. For example you don’t need to purchase a dedicated server for a 5 page website. It will have more space than you’ll ever need and you’ll be paying a high price for it. Make an informed decision so you won’t break your budget.
Types of web hosts
Free
Some companies will offer advertising to host your website. This gives the impression you’re not a business professional plus the ads may annoy your visitors.
Other companies promise free web hosting if you register a domain with them. Usually it means you’ll receive a small amount of web space and bandwidth before you’ll need to upgrade and be charged a monthly fee.
Shared (virtual)
This is the most common service offered where multiple web sites are stored on the same server. Some web hosts will advertise unlimited space and bandwidth. Avoid these ones because they may overload their servers trying to cram as many websites on them as possible.
Dedicated
This is where you own the server. Only your website or websites will reside on it thus you receive a huge amount of disc space and bandwidth because you don’t share it with others. A dedicated server usually costs a high monthly fee.
Virtual Private Server (VPS)
This is a hosting solution for small to medium sized businesses that want more space and control than shared hosting. It delivers similar control to a dedicated server at prices a little above shared hosting.
Reseller
If you plan to sell web hosting services to your customers or need to host a lot of web sites in one location consider a reseller web hosting company. They’ll charge you a monthly fee to host as many web sites as you need. If you require more space and bandwidth you have the option of upgrading by paying a higher monthly fee.
Windows or Linux web hosting
Besides choosing a reliable web host service you need to also select the correct platform..Windows or Linux. For instance if your web site contains ASP web pages you’ll need to host it on a Windows server whereas a web site containing php files need a Linux server. Linux hosting is the most popular because they have the most flexibility and cost less than Windows hosting.
Whatever web hosting option you choose, free, shared, dedicated, VPS, reseller, Windows or Linux, make sure you select the most suitable type for your website so you’ll enjoy reliable service.