Web hosting may be defined as renting space on a web server in its simplest form. One should keep in mind that a website is a collection of files linked together by HTML code to display text and graphics on a computer. However website is not complete here until and unless it is displayed on the net. To make it visible for the world it has to be housed on a computer somewhere that has access to the Internet. This is not possible by just a computer rather special device is required termed as web server. A web server may be defined as a computer set up with special software that allows it to receive requests from the internet for the website files it has stored on it and to send those files out over the internet so that the requesting computer can display them.

Web server in addition to making site visible performs several other functions as well like it provides the ability to create email addresses based on one’s domain name and even helps in sending and receiving emails with them. There are several types of software installed on the web server that allows one’s website to run programs, create and manage databases, display video, etc. One must note that almost any type of computer can function as a web server, but it’s the software that’s on it that makes it a server.

When one goes buying a web hosting, the monthly fees to be paid includes cost for maintenance and upgrading of the server’s hardware and software, the cost of keeping it online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in a secure data center with a fast and powerful internet connection, and cost of professional proving these services. It is surprising to know that it is possible to turn one’s home or office computer into a web server if one really desires, but it is just not economical. Therefore it is better to outsource it. There are several kinds of web hosting available which are discussed below:

Kinds of web hosting:

Shared Hosting – Through a shared server one can save a high amount. If one talks about the drawbacks then Spamming and blacklisting from different search engines are the key problems. Such problems arise due to the reason that several sites are assign to one particular IP address. One should demand for a separate IP address for his/her website (on additional monthly charges) to secure the user from such problems.

Dedicated Hosting –Dedicated servers are best for big, highly trafficked websites, which will require large amounts of server resources to run. One of the downsides to shared hosting is that the server’s resources are divided across all the sites it’s hosting and answering page requests for. If you are in a dedicated environment you can better monitor your server resources. The downside is that dedicated servers will run you generally $50 per month or more. Shared hosting can be purchased for as little as 5$ a month. Most small or medium sized businesses will have neither the website size or bandwidth requirements to make dedicated servers cost effective.

Server Co-Location – If one wants to have full control over every aspect of his/her web server, he/she might very well choose to buy one and maintain it himself/herself if he/she is having sufficient knowledge. Still there are possibilities that one is not having enough resources to keep his/her server completely safe from power outages, roof leaks, thieves, unwary employees and other problems and in addition it is not possible for him/her to keep it on the internet on a fast, high-bandwidth connection through out. Thus he/she needs a data center to provide those services for him/her.

Co-location is the center providing facilities like physical security on rental, continuous electrical power and a fast, reliable Internet connection for a server that one owns. However, the data center is not responsible for any of the hardware or software maintenance of a co-located server, rather user his/her self. Thus it is a cheaper alternative to dedicated hosting if one is having the necessary expertise and time to run a web server by own.

There are several web hosts offering UNIX hosting and Windows hosting.

UNIX Hosting

There are several web servers in the world running mostly on UNIX. UNIX is an operating system originally developed for servers and networking. Till now many different versions of UNIX have been written by programmers around the world under the open-source protocol, which means that the code for the operating system is openly available so as to enable programmers to customize and make improvements when and where necessary. The two most popular forms of UNIX are Linux and BSD that comes in several varieties, like Red Hat Linux, Debian, SuSE, and FreeBSD. The best part of UNIX is most of above mentioned versions can be obtained free of cost, making UNIX hosting cheaper for a web host in comparison to other operating systems. Other plus points of UNIX are that UNIX hosting platforms are generally considered to be stable, secure, powerful and fast. That is the reason why most web programming applications can be performed by software that is available for a UNIX platform.

Windows Hosting

Another very popular operating system developed by Microsoft is Windows operating system, Windows Server 2003. Like every thing useful it is having price and can be obtained by purchasing a license, which in turn increases the cost of operation for the web host and usually results in higher hosting prices. This is considered a negative point as compared to UNIX. Plus points of Windows include it is mainly user friendly however it is generally considered to be less powerful and secure than UNIX for operating in a network environment. There are several scripting languages like ASP, ASP.NET, and Cold Fusion, which will only run on a Windows server, as will the Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Access database programs. Thus the above are some of the most popular scripts for certain web programming applications, and if one is thinking of using them while building his/her site, he/she will first definitely need to find a Windows host.

Before searching for a web host, it is essential to know some important terms used in hosting. They are discussed as under:

Storage or Disk space –As one’s website is a collection of files being offered on the Internet for viewing, it is necessary for storing them somewhere for retrieval and take up space. For each and every web server there is a limited amount of hard disk memory, which is divided up and offered to hosting customers. Different package levels are there, so as to enable to pay more for more space and vice versa divide specifically that space up. If one’s website expands its space then the user needs to buy extra space from the web host.

Bandwidth or Data Transfer –One of the crucial parts to verify is bandwidth. There are several sites, which loose their host due to excessive downloads causing budget going beyond their expectations. Occasionally, host even charges in hundreds of dollars for the additional bandwidth. One should confirm about this before dealing with any of the host. Usually, ideal-hosting providers deliver initial bandwidth of 25 to 50 GB to the users.

Uptime –It is a universal truth that if one talks about perfect web servers then they are the one, which would be up, and running and offering web pages to the world round the clock, whole year. But, it is also true that web servers are mere computers, and like any other computer, they may fail or needs repairing or updating. Often web hosts gives 99% uptime guarantee, and if they fail they refund a certain portion of user’s money depending on the amount of excess downtime they experienced.

Traffic Statistics – By traffic statistics we mean those programs that track visitors to one’s website. These programs are capable of telling how many times a user visited one site, how many visitors were unique and how many came back more than once, which pages were most popular, from where the visitors came

to one’s site, what search terms they used in the search engines etc. In addition they offer several types of information which are useful for marketing one’s website to a target audience. There are several web hosts offering some sort of traffic statistics software with their hosting packages.

CGI Scripts – There are several web hosts offering a variety of free CGI scripts with their packages. CGI Scripts are the things like hit counters, guest books, form mail programs, message boards, and other programs that enable one website to perform commonly desired functions. Most CGI scripts are written in common programming languages like Perl, PHP or ASP.

Thus one should take care and keep all the above points in mind while selecting a web host.

ASP web hosting is a type of web hosting service that uses ASP technology. ASP technology is Microsoft’s technology on the server-side that is used for web pages. ASP stands for “Active Server Pages” and is marketed as an add-on for Internet Information Services. Programming an ASP web site through the use of ASP web hosting is generally regarded as being quite simple, and this brief article will take you through some of the specifics involved in the process.

ASP web sites are made using “built-in objects” which correspond to a specific group of functions used to create “dynamic web pages”. A dynamic web page is a web page that contains content that can be moved such as images or form data. The data can be moved without the need to reload or refresh the page. ASP technology functions best with dynamic web page construction.

There are various versions of ASP technology, for example “ASP 3.0″. I shall use ASP 3.0 in all examples of web hosting technology because it is one of the more commonly used versions of ASP. ASP 3.0 contains several of the built-in objects including “Application” and “Session”. “Session” is an object that maintains various functions throughout the pages of your web site.

An ASP web hosting firm that uses ASP 3.0 is generally equipped with the proper technological information to provide the user with adequate system information at all times and of course, basic customer support. There are several versions of ASP; the most recent is ASP.NET version 2.0 and this version hit the market in November of 2005. Many companies function using this version.

ASP Hosting Basics

An ASP web hosting firm gives the basics of ASP to the consumer and uses the technology to assist and maintain their web hosting company. There are various promotions in place that can collaborate with the ASP technology to offer different discounts and time trial-type selections with which to administer your web site and its products to the consumers.

It is important to shop around, as always, to discover which ASP host will help you with the different aspects of your business and/or personal web site and the needs you have that go with it. In a general sense, as with anything else, finding a good ASP web hosting service can be difficult but very rewarding as well. Finding the best team to work with your team is an asset to all business and personal operators in the world of global marketing, personal marketing and services, and general internet technology.

Once you’ve decided that an identity on the Web is what you or your business needs, you have to ensure that you go about the technical aspects of setting up a website and buying web hosting properly.

The most important part of determining the kind of web hosting you need is understanding your requirements: getting a web hosting package that does not provide features that your site will need can be disastrous when it comes to the development stage. Similarly, buying an expense web hosting package that has features you don’t need can end up costing you a lot more money than necessary.

What kind of web site are you building?

The answer to this question is very important in helping you to figure out exactly what kind of web hosting package you’re going to need. Is your site going to be an e-commerce portal for your business? If so, you will need advanced functionality like databases and scripting support. If, however, your site will be “static”, for example a personal blog or collection of hobby information, you may not need these features.

If you are planning on using your site to sell anything, whether you’re a business or an individual, the most important part of setting up your online presence is finding the right payment provider. This is a company that handles credit card transactions on your behalf (usually requiring a percentage web payment), and allows users to pay directly through your website.

Whenever a website collects sensitive personal information (such as credit card numbers or shipping addresses), a secure connection (sometimes referred to as an SSL or encrypted connection) should be provided to minimise the chance of malicious individuals stealing the information. This is a feature that will need to be provided by your web hosting company.

You should also consider the software that will drive your site. Dynamic sites (ones that display information using programs or scripts instead of basic, or “static”, files) are normally needed if you want to use databases to store information about your site. For example, you may want all the products you sell to be kept in a database that you can edit. The software on your website can then use this database to display the different products on offer, manage payment, invoicing, and automate a lot of tedious tasks. Features in a web hosting package to enable dynamic sites include PHP, Perl or ASP scripting and MySQL or Oracle databases.

How much storage space would you need?

Static websites that comprise of a small number of pages and images don’t require much storage space at all. For many simple websites, 50 megabytes of storage space is more than enough. However, if your website is going to incorporate very large quantities of information or media-rich content (such as images, videos or music), you will need more space than this.

You should also remember that storage space does not always include the space allowed for databases. Sometimes, databases are given separate, individual storage limits – that is, just because your web hosting provider gives you 500 megabytes of storage, this doesn’t necessarily mean your database can be this large.

How much data transfer allowance would you need?

Data transfer allowance is the quantity of data that is allowed to be downloaded from your website. Web hosting providers normally impose data transfer limits because the more data that is transferred, the more they have to pay for their connections to the Internet.

It is very easy to calculate how much data transfer your website is likely to use. Simply look at the average size of one page of information (text, images and any other content) and multiply it by the number of times people will (or do), on average, visit the site on a daily basis. You can then multiply this by 30 for a monthly data transfer estimate.

For example, say the average page on your site, including images, is 10 kilobytes. You may estimate that around 20 people per day will find your site and visit it – this means that your daily data transfer would be around 200 kilobytes (10 x 20). For a month, this would come to roughly 6,000 kilobytes, or approximately 6 megabytes.

A problem you have probably already noticed with this is estimating data transfer usage before actually having your site online. Although there’s no way to accurately do this, the type of website you have can give you a good idea of how much data transfer it will require. Message boards and blogging sites, for instance, often cause a lot of data transfer because users often return to read and reply to new messages.

A corporate website designed to profile a company, however, would require less data transfer allowance, as users are much less likely to return often, and if they did, their browsers probably wouldn’t have to download much because the content would be cached on their computer.

Web hosting companies offer a lot of different data transfer allowance options, but for a completely fresh site, you should look to not spend too much money on data transfer allowance at first – most, if not all, web hosting companies allow you to upgrade your data transfer allowance at any time, so a sudden surge in users (after an advertising campaign, for example) can be accommodated for easily.

What access will you need?

Getting files uploaded onto your website is, as you can imagine, a crucial part of running the website. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is probably the most common way of uploading files to web hosts, and even an affordable web hosting plan would support this. Other technologies such as SSH or Telnet are less common, and you may have to pay more for a web hosting plan that includes them.

You will also want to think about how your web hosting will handle e-mails. Practically all web hosting plans provide an SMTP/POP3 mail server that allows you to send and receive e-mail using addresses that end in your website name (for example, “www.freeearningtip.com”). They often also provide web-based e-mail access so that you can check the e-mail wherever you are.