Small Business Hosting Solution
Once you have designed your web site the next step then is to host the web site on the internet. Web sites are hosted on the net by web hosting companies. The web hosting companies try to include more and more features in their hosting packages to attract more and more customers for their company.
1. Bandwidth:The first thing that you should see while choosing a web host is that how much bandwidth they are providing for the web site. Whenever a file is transferred from your site, it takes up a small amount of the bandwidth. This is also known as data transfer. The bandwidth is usually specified in terms of GB or Mb. The bandwidth of your web site should be determined on the basis of the requirements of the site.
2. Disk space:This is the amount of space that you have on their server to store your files. This is usually given in Mb. In your web hosting package you should ask for that much of disk space that you actually need to publish the web site properly.
3. Control Panel:Control panel is a must with all web hosting accounts as it allows managing your website, to setup e-mail addresses, for managing the database etc.
4. Windows Hosting:This is the place where your web hosting account is sited on a Microsoft Windows server. It allows you to use ASP, .NET, Access Databases amongst other things. The standard web server is IIS5.
5. Unix/Linux Hosting:This is the place where your account is placed on an open
source Linux or Unix server, commonly Red Hat Linux allowing you to use PHP, SSH and MySQL. The standard web server is Apache.
6. Domain Name:When a web site is hosted on the net the first requirement is to acquire a domain name for the web site. Domain name is the address of your web site through which visitors can visit your site. Some web hosting companies also provide the domain name registration feature.
The domain name of your web site should be registered in your name.
7. FTP:FTP (File Transfer Protocol) allows you to move files from your PC to your web space which you want to display on your web site. It is a very crucial that this feature is available 24/7 on your web site.
8. POP3 e-mail accounts:These are mailboxes where messages are delivered on the web site. Each has their individual username and password. You can provide an individual e-mail account address to each staff member. You should expect at least 10 e-mail accounts, although the more the better.
9. SMTP Server:If you have POP3 e-mail accounts you can only receive mails on these e-mail addresses.If you want to send mails through your POP3 e-mail account you will need this feature on your web site. Some hosts provide this feature and some does not provide the SMTP server feature.
10. Auto Responder:When an e-mail is sent to an address which has an auto responder setup on it, a message of your preference will be sent to the sender in the response of the mail. For e.g. you could send a thank you message for their order, or a message saying that you will respond within 24 hours etc.
11. Webmail:With the help of this feature you could check your e-mail accounts from any machine which is internet enabled and which have a Hotmail like interface.
12. Scripting - CGI/CGI Bin:If you want to use CGI scripts on your account such as CGI message boards or guestbook, then you will need CGI support feature.
13. Scripting - ASP:Through this feature you can use the Microsoft ASP (Active Server Pages) technology on your web site. This is generally available on Windows servers. It allows both dynamic and interactive websites.
14. Scripting - PHP:If you want to use an alternative to ASP you can use the open source PHP technology which is usually available on Unix/Linux servers only. It is also possible to use it on Windows. It also allows both dynamic and interactive websites.
15. Database Access:This feature is typically used with ASP. Although, it can only supports up to fifty concurrent users and is therefore not useful for large sites.
16. WAP/WML Support:Now-a-days mobiles come with the web access features and many people surf through mobiles. This feature will allows you to create pages that could be hosted on mobile phones and it will serve those pages on your account.
17. Media Streaming:This feature enables your site to provide live music and video streamed from your web site in both real media player and windows media player.
18. SSL:Many web hosts provides 128bit secure connection between the browser and the server. SSL certificate provides security to the web site and protects the credit card data and personal data that are transmitted through the web site.
19. Website Statistics:It is a system that observes your web site and collects crucial data about your site. It provides data about the number of visitors visiting your web site, where are the visitors located, how much time they spend on your site etc.
20. Error Pages:When there is an error on any page of the web site, this feature will let you to show the page of your choice i.e. it will direct the visitor to another page of your web site. It reports the error and prevents the visitors from seeing just a blank error. You should decide about the features that you need and on that basis choose the right web host for your web site.
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