PHP is a scripting language for computing devices. Innovatively designed to make dynamic web pages, PHP entails a command line interface capability. Standalone graphical applications utilize PHP the most as a computer scripting language. Rasmus Lerdorf was the original creator of PHP in 1995. The achievement of PHP is a major contribution of the PHP Group to web development. It functions as the de facto standard for dynamic web pages.

PHP has nowadays turned up as the major language of web development for many webmasters across the globe. This sort of computing language is dynamic and mostly popular for web programming. Many websites use PHP scripts for several purposes from shopping system to building websites. You can perform programming in a large variety with the witty use of PHP. The use of a web host determines the use of PHP scripts. Finding the right PHP hosting service to serve your several aspects is not as difficult as it seems.

PHP is an object-based language. The way in which PHP hosting works to filter a request document is using PHP. With PHP tags inside, request documents are available in HIML format. The tags can be played on both UNIX servers and Windows. PHP is competent enough to produce any format like XML and XHTML.

PHP that is a scripting language used worldwide suites the purpose of web development. It can be implemented into HTML. The input of HTML is PHP code and the output is web pages. HTML plays on a web server. It can be installed on almost all operating systems and web servers free of charge. PHP has been installed on more than one million web servers and twenty million websites.

The installation of PHP is of use for client side GUI applications and command line scripting. Many database management systems can also utilize PHP. The complete source code is provided by the PHP Group for the users. PHP primarily functions as a filter. It takes input from a stream containing data or a file containing text. It takes instructions as well as outputs from another stream containing data. HTML will most commonly be the output. The language of the user can automatically be detected by it.

The primary purpose of its design is the creation of dynamic web pages. Server-side scripting is the principal focus of PHP. Several other scripting languages that access a web server to provide a client with dynamic content bear similarity to PHP. PHP has influenced the improvement of many frameworks. They provide design structures and building blocks to promote the rapidity of application development. Some of these frameworks are PRADO, Symfony, Zend Framework and CakePHP. Features of these frameworks are similar to those of other frameworks for web application.

Advantages of PHP Hosting

PHP hosting a server-side scripting environment is utilized to make dynamic web pages. PHP is an abbreviated form of Hypertext Preprocessor. PHP is an open computing language that web developers and programmers widely use. It gives more advantages than proprietary programming languages. That is why nowadays, every hosting provider provides PHP hosting services and PHP is the most remarkable server-side scripting language.

The use of a PHP hosting has many advantages for users. It is relatively easier for beginners to learn as well as work on this language than other languages. PHP hosting comes with a host of advanced features and applications for experienced developers. PHP hosting as an open source technology does not cost more like other hosting solutions. It is one of the cheapest hosting solutions and PHP hosting comes with some programming tools free of charge.

PHP hosting is a complete hosting package. It equally serves both beginners and advanced users. Beginners require user-friendly hosting services while experienced users require high-end web applications. It is more significant than proprietary hosing services as a computing language of the first choice because of its inexpensive pricing.

The use of PHP Scripts

• Server-side scripting – Server-side scripting is the main and most traditional target for PHP. Three things – the PHP parser, a web browser and a web server are required to make it work. With the web browser, you can have access to the PHP program and with the server view the PHP page.
• Command line scripting – This PHP script can be made to run without any browser or server. It requires only the PHP parser to work this way. This sort of usage is perfect for scripts that are executed regularly using Task Scheduler or cron. These scripts are made use of for processing of simple texts.
• Writing client-side GUI applications – A clear knowledge of PHP makes it the best language for writing widowing applications. You can use PHP-GTK to use advanced features of PHP and write such scripting programs. You are capable for writing cross-platform applications. PHP supports many web servers today. PHP works as a module for most of the servers and as a CGI processor for the others that support the CGI standard.

A Web hosting company provides a physical location on computer servers in which your website is hosted. These computer servers are permanently connected to the internet through high-speed data lines and after you reside your website on such a server, everyone can view it typing the domain name in their browser. However, the domain name should be mapped with the server IP for this thing to happen.

There are different types of web hosting available and you should wisely choose the type after analyzing your requirements. A monthly or annual fee is applicable that depends on how much space you want to book and the facilities attached to it. Before you select a web hosting service provider, you must compare the web hosting reviews. The best hosts are those that have strong technical support. Check into the internet to get the latest reviews and ratings of the service providers. Usually the comparison is done based on traffic, space, price and special plans. It is very important for you to go through the reviews, as it will help you to choose the best among the rest.

Before selecting a top web hosting service, it is very important for you to know the purpose for setting up your website. Whether you want the website to be made for your personal use or for any business purpose and what type of web hosting service will be best for you must be decided first. Besides, you also need to decide on the operating system of the web hosting. Windows and Linux are the familiar ones. The decision to choose the web-hosting platform depends on the applications you want to run on the web server. Moreover, if you want to conduct business quite easily through internet then you require specialized ecommerce web hosting that supports various ecommerce tools.

Types of Web Hosting

• Free hosting – This web hosting facility is free but in most cases the options available are limited in comparison to paid hosting. Free hosting services are generally advertisement supported hosting. You can opt for free hosting if you want to test the waters before you opt for paid hosting.
• Reseller hosting – This service allows you to become web host for all your customers. This option is suitable for web hosting companies who do not posses their own servers but hire them from affiliates and resell them to their own clients.
• Clustered hosting – It is one of the web hosting types where multiple servers host the same content for better resource utilization. This technology offers you with a “clustered” handling of security, load balancing and essential website resources.
• Shared hosting – In a shared web hosting service, many websites reside on one web server. All domains that reside on the server (may be hundreds) share the same server resources. It is in fact one of the cheapest forms of web hosting as it makes possible for different clients to share the same server, and so the entire concept is coined as web hosting. Through shared hosting, the website is hosted on the server that is ultimately shared by other customers. The server will be managed and monitored by the hosting company making sure that it is running smoothly all the time. You simply have to sign up with the webhost who controls the customer support as well as maintenance of the server. It is quite affordable and you can easily access it. Make sure that the hosting package provided by the web hosting company supports you efficiently and provide what you actually need like applications, control panel, scripting languages etc.
• Dedicated Web Hosting – One of the most sophisticated ways of web hosting is dedicated web hosting. It is not like shared hosting where several people share the same server. The dedicated web hosting goes the other way round where you have to get an entire server on rent and use it all by yourself. You will also be provided access to all the resources where you can get the facility to host more than a single website. Dedicated web hosting is a reliable hosting service where you can enjoy a better form of hosting service alone. Many web hosting companies offer the best web hosting solutions at quite reasonable rates. However, it is always better for you to go over the reviews before you move on to opt for any hosting company.
• Colocation web hosting – This is like the dedicated web hosting service, but here you own the colo server. The hosting company maintains the servers and provides electrical, internet access and storage facilities for the server space. You have access to administrator and the data center for implementing upgrades or changes.

While you opt for a web hosting, evaluate the hosting plans considering the requirements of the available operating system, database server software and scripting software.

It is needless to say that today’s world is powered by the web. Websites, the electronic media through which information is disseminated to the world, needs to be hosted on servers. Our own computers acts as “clients” and fetch these sites from the servers on demand. There are umpteen hosting companies in the world that host websites on commercial basis on behalf of their owners. The concept of reseller hosting is gaining popularity everyday and it is a specialized segment in the hosting industry.

In reseller hosting, an account owner uses his/her allotted server space and bandwidth to host others’ websites. Initially, the account owner purchases the services of a hosting company on a wholesale basis and then approaches third parties for hosting services. In this hosting plan, the reseller host makes some profit. Quite often in a reseller web hosting scheme, the host may purchase a dedicated server from the hosting company on rent and then sells web hosting plans to third parties on a shared basis.

Typically, web design companies, freelance web developers or system integrators eye reseller web hosting service as an add-on to attract and retain clients. If you are a budding web hosting entrepreneur, then reseller hosting might be your first step towards a lucrative business opportunity. The most attractive thing in reseller hosting is that hosting companies allow resellers to create their own marketing plans and then resell services as per the reseller’s pricing structure. In many cases, resell hosts are able to establish their brands through customized control panels and name servers.

There is another advantage in reseller hosting. You need not have extensive technical knowledge in order to establish your credibility in the reseller hosting market. In line with popular demand, you can cater to Linux and Windows web hosting requirements. In course of time, with increased business turnover, you might even offer dedicated hosting services by purchasing new server spaces on rent from the hosting company. Usually, the maintenance and upkeep of network infrastructure including hardware resources is the responsibility of a data center operator. The server is configured and maintained by the original hosting company to which the server belongs. The reseller host is only responsible for interacting with his/her own clientele and expanding the reseller web hosting business. The reseller host need not be bothered about day-to-day technical problems like hardware, software and connectivity issues. These are simply escalated to the hosting company.

Some hosting companies offer pre-defined packages for the resell hosts. A symbiotic business relationship exists between the hosting company and the resell host. At times, the hosting companies offer readymade sites for the resellers to promote their businesses. The resellers manage their accounts through an interface called the Web Hosting Manager. From the Web Hosting Manager, resellers can control their payments, forms, and other application areas related to their business. They can add new domains and set up Domain Name Servers (DNS) entries for their customers.

In today’s world of collaborative business, newer avenues of joint venture between the reseller and the hosting companies are cropping up. Under such a scheme, the reseller with extensive marketing capability brings new clients to the hosting company. These new clients are billed by the hosting company in the reseller’s name and the reseller is given some commission. The customers interface with the reseller for support and the issues are escalated to the hosting company clandestinely. This gives the clients the image that the resell host is a hosting company in its own right.

Reseller web hosting plans are suitable for the following entities:

• Start-up web hosting companies, before they jump into the big pool
• Web hosting companies that are in need of immediate expansion, but cannot invest in a dedicated server for the time being.
• Individuals with multiple domain names who are looking to host all their domain names under a single plan for economic reasons, rather than opting for multiple hosting accounts
• Individuals with popular domain names that need more bandwidth than what is provided by smaller web hosting companies

Briefly, reseller hosting business is a great boon for small companies and individuals that wish to generate a steady monthly income through the online business. As an added bonus, the start-up hassle has become much less these days. Readymade hosting packages and website templates provided by the hosting companies help in initial business set-up. In no time, you can start up this lucrative business. We all know that all and sundry are trying to make their presence felt on the web. The demand for web hosting services is constantly on the rise. Web hosting companies are on the look out for reseller hosts in order to penetrate the market deeper. After venturing into the web hosting business for a while, you can easily think of graduating into a full-fledged web hosting company.

Some of the most dynamic websites are developed in ASP.NET language. This has driven the web hosts to provide customers with ASP web hosting. In ASP hosting, the applications can be easily deployed and created. However, ASP web hosting can only be run on Microsoft Windows Server operating system (Windows 2003 Server). There are several ASP hosting providers; however, you need to choose a vendor that provides the most compatible features.

ASP web hosting is completely managed by the control panel provided by the web hosts. Some of the most compatible control panels are Helm and Parallels Plesk control panels that allow you to deal with the different aspects of ASP web application.

These control panels also provides full integration with MS-SQL and ASP.NET applications with access to Microsoft SQL Server. The online control panel allows various features that include creating or deleting remotely hosted databases, defining permissions and security settings, creating users and set passwords.

The host enables FTP access to the ASP Web Hosting account that allows you to upload your web files and scripts. There are some software such as Microsoft Visual Studio and Microsoft Visual Web Developer that come with built in FTP upload function. These allow you to enter the FTP settings easily and upload.

Most of the web hosting packages allow you to upload your files to their public web space through FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Further, the File Manager provided in the control panel can also be used to browse, drag and drop files from your PC to the server.
Here are some of the important things that you need to consider about ASP web hosting:

• Enable you to set permission on your files or folders that are hosted in the ASP web space. This will ensure proper functioning of the scripts.
• It must have the facilities to connect with different databases such as Microsoft SQL Server Microsoft SQL Server Manager Express that is ideal for web applications.
• It must enable uploading and managing of files and scripts with FTP.
• You must be able to host conventional web pages (html) and scripts written in ASP.NET programming language or classic ASP.

Choosing the ASP hosting provider

While planning about web hosting, the first thing you must consider is the amount of space allowed. Try to ensure that you get exactly what you pay for. You must also check the number of email ids you get. Now, if you lack a domain name you must book a name with the ASP hosting provider. However, some providers might also give you domain name free. In case you have a domain name, verify whether that can be transferred for free.

Verify the amount of disk space you would be allowed. The space should be enough to accommodate all your components and application. Check out for the ASP hosting company, which offers maximum space at cheap rate. Go through the services provided by the company and check whether they work according to the terms and condition. Choose the company that is high on performance and delivery even if you have to pay a bit more.

The type of ASP hosting that you get always depends on how much you are willing to pay for the service. There are several cheap ASP hosting options that come for low cost or are free; however, in such cases the features are limited. It might miss the sophisticated applications and advanced components that are used by other ASP hosting companies.

Compare the reviews of the technological features that are enclosed with the ASP hosting plan. Check for the Windows server used by the service provider. Now, if you are planning to use the web application in the latest .Net Framework, you need to ensure that the framework is supported by the server. Make sure that it offers you a customized a global.asax file or a global .asa.

Further, if you are planning to develop your .Net web applications in Visual Studio.Net then see whether the ASP hosting provider supports Visual Studio.Net. Some of the ASP application also supports the Macromedia Dreamweaver or Microsoft FrontPage.

It is important to know whether the ASP hosting company is supportive. There would be several instances where you might require help from the company. In such situation, help from the hosting company can be crucial as they are well acquainted with the ASP technology.

Authenticity of the ASP hosting provider is another issue that needs to be considered. Check the certification of ASP hosting company. Some of the best ASP hosting companies are Microsoft certified. Such certifications confirm that the hosting company has authentic people and will be allowing you good technical support. Further, they need to follow some guidelines laid down by Microsoft that ensures better service.

One of the best ways to know about the hosting service is to read the reviews and customer feedback on the service.

If you want an entire server to yourself without any partakers to share it, you should go for dedicated hosting services. A dedicated server is that category of internet hosting that adjusts with your demands from the server like your chosen operating system, hardware, etc. With a dedicated hosting server, you can enjoy additional service facilities like server administration with a larger return on investment.

Dedicated web hosting is mostly found in data centers that provide redundant power sources and HVAC systems. Though this may seem akin to collocation facilities, it differs from the same, as the provider-owned server hardware is there to support your operating system applications.

How Operating system is supported

If you are looking for an operating system on a dedicated server, availability, price and employee familiarity will act as the guiding factors. It is more likely that you will get open source software like Linux because of their free provision to the customers. The Red Hat version of Linux may be availed by a dedicated hosting server by paying a monthly fee. You can get commercial operating systems like Microsoft Windows Server through a special program called Microsoft SPLA.

Free operating systems like CentOS, Fedora Core, Debian, NetBSD, OpenBSD are supported by a dedicated server based on particular server plan. This support will include latest security fixes, patches, and system-wide vulnerability resolutions. If you want updates to your core, operating system you will get kernel upgrades, service packs, application updates that help to protect the server.

With a dedicated server, you will get the opportunity to select the software you want to install in the server. How you use the server will determine what operating system, database, and specific applications you will gain. If you want specialized web hosting specific programs called control panels, you get it along the package of your dedicated hosting server. The control panels will provide you web based automation tools that make web site creation and server management an automatic process.

Why prefer dedicated hosting services

Once you start outsourcing to a dedicated hosting server, you will begin to enjoy high-powered networks from multiple providers. This is mainly because dedicated hosting services enhances the bandwidth and creates a multi-provider blend of bandwidth at lower expenses. You can avail 500 gigabytes to 3000 gigabytes bandwidth with the most successful dedicated server providers.

With some dedicated hosting services, you can get a 100% uptime guarantee on their network. That means that you can get the highest possible uptimes as you secure multiple vendors for connectivity and redundant hardware. With such high quality providers, you are likely to get significant redundancy and better destination-routes in case one provider fails to keep up.

What are the common dedicated hosting services?

Some of the basic functions of dedicated server providers include the following:

• Operating system updates
• Application updates
• Server monitoring
• Application monitoring
• Firewall services
• Antivirus updates
• Intrusion detection
• Disaster recovery
• Load balancing
• Database administration
• Programming consultation
• Security audits

Besides these, you will also get other management services like adding users, domains, daemon configuration, or even custom programming. However, this entire gamut of management provisions of dedicated hosting services has no clearly defined industry standard. The industry standard terms are used by dedicated server to provide personalized interpretation.

Categories of server managed support

Dedicated web hosting providers follow a certain classification when it comes to the different levels of support provided by them:

• Fully Managed: This is inclusive of an array of dedicated hosting services like monitoring, reboots, security patches, software updates and operating system upgrades. This leaves you completely free of maintenance worry.
• Managed: Under this level, you will get a medium management service like monitoring and updates, along with some other limited supports. It requires you to undertake certain tasks.
• Self-managed: If you want to keep the larger share of operations in your own hands, you can lend the dedicated server only regular monitoring and maintenance jobs.
• Unmanaged: At this level, you will scarcely receive any significant help from the service provider. You have to assume responsibility for all maintenance, upgrades, patches, and security.

Security watch outs

You will continue to enjoy network security from your dedicated hosting server no matter whichever level of support you choose. In order to ensure fullest security for their network of servers, dedicated server providers exercise the highest levels of security. They scan your system and networks to eradicate the presence of invaders, spammers, hackers, and harmful elements like Trojans, worms, eggdrops and crashers.

Shortcomings of a dedicated hosting server

With some of the dedicated server providers, you may not get IRC since this often promotes DDoS attacks against the provider. If left unguarded, this attack can have far-reaching ill effects like those that network upsets. This is of course detrimental to the service quality provided to the customers. You may be restricted to see adult content as they often consume large amounts of bandwidth. The question of legal hazards is also there.

Over the years internet has grown into one of the most popular media offering a plethora of services. More and more people are using the internet space to provide their goods and services. Through this system, people can attract great amount of customer around the world. Further, this has increased the demand for web hosting. Hosting is the process locating one’s site online and is performed by host companies or providers. The hosting providers keep the website on the servers with permanent connection to the Internet and this makes the website available and viewable.

However, it might come to your mind why do you need to host the site at the hosting company. This happens, as you cannot host the website on your personal computer, as it would be impossible to locate the site on Internet. Obviously, you would like to have a 24×7 site, but a PC is not compatible for such a task. Whereas a hosting provider would provide you with large hard disks, strong processors, wide memory store and fast connection that would boost your services.

How to obtain hosting

There are several paid and free providers of web hosting services, as a part of Internet access plan. The type of applications you require will determine the sort of hosting you need. Linux-based web hosting is widely used by the hosting companies, as it offers different types of software. The LAMP platform – Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP/Perl/Python, is one of the widely used configurations with Linux server. Other services such as databases or multi-media services for streaming media or email for their business domain might also be availed by the web-hosting client.

Windows can also serve as the hosting platform. You can choose the Perl, Python and PHP for it. In addition, you can also choose Classic ASP or ASP .Net. Mac OS X provides a Unix like interface through Terminal.app that supports the Apache. These systems are equipped with complete web-hosting capabilities and supports Perl, PHP and Shell scripts.

For web hosting, you do not need to be acquainted with the technical aspects, as the Web hosting packages are accompanied by Web Content Management System. Average users might be satisfied with the Web Content Management systems; however, those who want more control over the website design need features that are more advanced.

It would be better for you to search the Internet to get the webhosting forums and message boards, which would offer details on the type of web hosting company.

Types of hosting

There are different types of hosting such as shared, collocation, dedicated that may be either free or paid. Take a look at the different types of hosting services:

• Free web hosting service - These are free of charges, however such hosting is often accompanied by advertisement. Unlike paid hosting free hosting is limited.
• Shared web hosting service - This service allows only a single site to be placed on the server with other sites. There may be hundreds or thousands of such sites. The different domains might share a common pool of server recourses like the CPU and the RAM. Further, you might also host the shared with a reseller.
• Dedicated hosting service - This is one of the most compatible web hosting services. Dedicated hosting allows you full control over your own web server. For Linux it allows root access and for Windows it offers administrator access. This does not imply that the user owns the server.

  For cheaper options, you have the Self-Managed or Unmanaged dedicated hosting. In this case, the user has full administrative access to the box and so the client has to take the responsibility of security and maintenance for the dedicated box.

• Reseller web hosting - In this type of hosting, client can become web hosts themselves. The resellers are allowed to function for individual domains under the combination of these listed types of hosting. It also depends on those affiliated with the provider.

  It enables the client to become web hosts. Depending upon the provider they are affiliated to the reseller might function for individual domains under any type of hosting. The size of resellers accounts might different. In some cases, they have a virtual server dedicated to the collocated server.

• Virtual Dedicated Server - In this service the server are divided into virtual servers where each user seem to have their own dedicated server. However, the users are actually sharing the server with other users. As a user, you can only root access your own virtual space. It is sometimes referred to as virtual private server or VPS.

Collocation web hosting service

This is somewhat similar to dedicated web hosting. The only difference is that the user owns a collo server. The physical space needed to host the server is provided by the hosting company, which also takes care of the servers. However, this sort of hosting is quite expensive and powerful. Generally, the collocation provider does not provide much direct support for the user’s machine. It only provides the Internet access, electrical and storage facilities for servers. Further, in case of collo, the clients have their own administrator that can access the data center to upgrade the hardware or for any other changes.

Clustered hosting

For better utilization of resources, this system uses multiple servers hosting. These types of servers are ideal for creating a scalable web hosting solution or a solution for high-availability dedicated hosting.

Home server

In this type of hosting, a single machine with consumer-grade broadband connection in a private residence plays host to one or more websites. These machines are either built for acting as servers. Sometimes the old PCs are also used. However, difficulties often crop up when ISPs try to obstruct home servers by stopping the incoming requests to TCP port 80 of the user’s connection and does not provide a static IP addresses.

Undoubtedly, Electronic Commerce (or ecommerce in short) is the greatest gift of the advancements in web technology. Ecommerce allows merchants of all classes and business lines to trade electronically in a secured environment. Ecommerce has no boundaries. Merchants find it easy to get newer clients everyday internationally. The successes of EBay and Amazon websites underscore the stupendous credibility of ecommerce as a trading platform.

Merchants participating in ecommerce need a secure ecommerce website and ecommerce hosting services. Ecommerce hosting is a lucrative business in which a company provides all kinds of facilities by which a merchant can sell wares to a global clientele over the Internet. The facilities needed for ecommerce are (but not limited to) the following:

• A high capacity web server
• Ecommerce website design (including cataloging services)
• Software for electronic shopping carts, and to accept, process and confirm sales orders
• Providing templates for building virtual storefronts / online catalogs
• Managing secure e-payment mechanism
• Inventory control

A merchant gets in touch with an ecommerce service provider in order to procure space in its web server. Space in web servers are usually rented out on a monthly or yearly basis. Simultaneously, software for processing online orders is also leased out to the merchant.

There are two modes of service – dedicated and shared. Commonly, an ecommerce hosting company’s servers cater to the requirements of more than one merchant on a shared basis. If the web traffic of a merchant is considerably large, and it suffers because of shared operation, it may opt for dedicated servers. The service providers usually assist merchants in opening up Internet e-payment accounts. These accounts are bank accounts capable of Internet transactions through Visa, MasterCard, American Express and other credit card companies.

The ecommerce hosting service providers are capable of managing the technical nitty-gritty behind the day-to-day maintenance of a commercial web server. For start-ups and smaller companies, opting for an ecommerce host is an economically viable option. These companies can avoid expenditure in costly servers, software connectivity. Moreover, they can escape the burden behind continued maintenance and upkeep of these components for ensuring a 24×7 service. Reliability is the essence of ecommerce hosting service providers. A reliable host should be ready to extend support even during off-peak hours. A merchant cannot afford to lose business on account of a server that has gone down all of a sudden.
For a successful electronic commerce business, it is mandatory to choose a trustworthy hosting partner. The service provider should have goodwill in the market. This in turn is essential to establish your goodwill and credibility in the ecommerce world. Ecommerce merchants should give due importance to the insecurity of internet shoppers about leakage of their credit card details while transacting over the web. Today, hacking of financially sensitive credit card information is not at all uncommon. A credible host capable of providing a robust, secured e-payment platform can alleviate the shoppers’ fear to a great extent.

Typically, a credible ecommerce host offers the following services:

• 24x7x365 service and technical support to ecommerce merchants
• Live chat, email support at all times, preferably a human support most of the times
• Fully automated, comprehensive package to track web traffic
• Shopping cart software
• Periodic database backups to ensure business continuity
• Upgrade facility to better ecommerce packages in sync with growing business needs
• Provision of secured server, with latest anti-virus and anti-hacking tools
• Support for scripting and server-side programming
• Instant switching to backup server in case the master server crashes or during server maintenance

A merchant should do thorough research before selecting an ecommerce host. The hosting charge varies from one service provider to another and depends on the service package you opt for and the quality of support you expect. There are some free ecommerce service providers also. However, their services are unreliable and insecure. These free ecommerce hosting provides make money in different ways – mostly through online ads. The flop side of free providers is their unstable service. It has been observed that free hosting service providers stop functioning abruptly within months or even weeks of commencement of their operations.

A merchant should search for dependable ecommerce hosts over the internet and eventually narrow down the list into two or three. One way to check credibility of the hosts is to visit and study carefully the sites that are currently supported by these companies. The primary expectations can be summed up into two generic requirements – reliability and customer service. No hosting company under the sun can guarantee a 100% uptime, however, today, in the age of advanced hardware and software technologies, 99.9% uninterrupted service level can be achieved. The most important reliability factor is how quickly a service provider can spring back to service in case of a downtime. In real life, unexpected interruptions do happen and credible ecommerce hosts have to invest considerably to ensure business continuity. What’s more important is – host companies should have preventive mechanism in place for prompt restoration of services in cases of disasters like flood, fire, earthquake etc.

If you have just finished your website design and eagerly waiting to hit the web, finding the best web hosting service at the right price is the last hurdle you need to cross. Today, the website hosting market is replete with umpteen hosting companies, each promising to outclass the other with a plethora of services at the cheapest rate. Web masters find it really difficult to find the fittest one among the lot. This article will help you to select the right hosting company by considering several criteria.

The very first thing you need is to assess your requirements. Let us illustrate this. The hosting requirements for a personal website will differ largely from that of a corporate or a product website. The requirement for server space and other software and hardware support will be minimal for a personal webpage, while these requirements will be significantly greater in case of a corporate or an ecommerce website. You need to take into account your present hosting needs, as well as what you expect in the near future.

The next thing that will come into your mind is the website hosting rate. Different hosting companies offer differing rates. If a hosting company offers dedicated servers, then its service charges will naturally shoot up. On the other side, companies that offer cheap hosting services on a shared basis with limited bandwidth will naturally charge less. The point here is – if you are planning to host a personal website or a fun / game website without any commercial objective, you may settle for the cheap ones. On the other hand, if you are planning to host a site, such as a corporate /product/ecommerce site, with serious business intent, then you should not settle for free or cheap ones. After all, you cannot put your reputation and credibility at stake for the saving of a few bucks. You should first evaluate every other criterion and finally select one based on rate from a shortlist of two to three.

Reliability and speed is another crucial factor. Today, a best hosting company has the ability to guarantee 99% or a little more uptime (though 100% can never be guaranteed). Wide bandwidth should ensure smooth flow of web traffic and satisfied visitors to your site. Hosting companies that are technically equipped to enter into a business continuity agreement and have multiple servers on standby for recovery from disasters (say, fire, flood, and earthquake etc.) are certainly credible. These are all the more important for continued hassle-free hosting of commercial sites.

The next important factor to watch out for is the data transfer rate and disk space allotted to you. Website hosting companies have to pay for the bandwidth they consume, and in turn, they will bill proportionate amounts to you – the client. It is wise to pay upfront the amount for the expected data transfer. Otherwise, you might be bombarded with a surprise bill. Another important but related decision is to decide upon the required disk space and reserve that. Note that most websites require a space less than 3 GB.

The extent of technical support provided by the hosting company is another crucial determinant for the success of your web service. The best hosting support possible is 24x7x365. In this competitive age, this has become the most desired service level. You cannot allow your visitors (and therefore your business to suffer) because of downtime. You can take a surprise check of the promised service by shooting off an email at the odd hour.

Certain websites require support on special features. Evaluate carefully whether your host can accommodate special support for a variety of scripts, database, shopping carts and secure servers. Support for desired DBMS (Database Management System) in tandem with your growing business needs is another crucial judgment criterion.

Last, but not the least, you should judge a host on the basis of freedom to control your site to some extent. As a webmaster, it is not feasible to turn to the hosting company’s support chain to address every trivial requirement like changing passwords and email addresses. There should be an administrative control panel for your website under your control.

Let us now share a few thoughts about web hosting plans available in the website hosting market. Typically, there are three types of hosting packages available for you to choose from: discount web hosting, Windows web hosting, and Linux web hosting. Discount web hosting or Cheap web hosting is most suitable for start-ups. Start-ups and small companies generally have limited funding and tend to opt for the discount web hosting services with a low price tag. Generally, the package ranges from $5 to $6 a month. The best discount web hosting deal should not cross the $10 a month mark. If you have a little more money, you can easily opt for a Windows or a Linux hosting plan. Such plans are sufficient to cater to all your day-to-day website maintenance requirements. A Windows plan typically offers support for ASP and MSSQL. Basic Windows and Linux plans are available in the range of $10 to $15. If you have more requirements like greater disk space, increased bandwidth, and other requirements, the price tag will rise accordingly.

Cheap hosting can be a good way to get a bargain. It would make sense to know what to look in a cheap hosting company before you opt for the hosting servers. If you want to start an online business, then you need a cheap web host to make your business lucrative. It is also advisable to investigate a cheap web hosting company vigilantly and find if it will be suitable for your online business.

The suitable cheap web hosting company will not be found in a day – the ideal cheap website hosting company will require your time, perseverance and research. There are lots of cheap hosting companies that offer excellent service, so it makes no sense to pay a whole lot of money for web hosting – it can come to you cheap and good.

The Essentials

The first thing that you should look for in a cheap web hosting company is the availability of the server. Remember poor servers cause poor hosting, so the servers from cheap hosting company have to be openly available all the time. This is essential as you do not know when your customer will be visiting your website and reading the information on the webpage and ultimately get buying your product. If the visitor receives a server error page when he/she wants to buy a product, then in all probability your business loses a prospective buyer.

The website-hosting servers should also take very little time to load the website pages. This is the age of the high speed Internet, so nobody will be waiting for long to get the web pages loaded. Do not let the visitors go for the faster websites – make your option better by having a good web hosting company that gets the loading done very fast.

Another key to knowing a good cheap web hosting company is that the time-period the company has been around in business. If a cheap web host has been around with its hosting service for more than 5 years and is doing well, then you can be assured that you can rely on it. It will be a good bet for your online business to run successfully.

Make sure that the cheap hosting company is a well-managed one. A web hosting company that is well managed will keep you free from the troubles of up-keeping complicated server technology and will be responsible for proper technical maintenance. This will make way for you to focus on your online business and you can leave the technical stuff for the web-hosting support professional.

The common features you need to look for in a web hosting company:

• A control panel is an interface that allows you to access your website on the web server. Here, you have the options of setting up, updating as well as customizing your website.
• The bandwidth is also necessary in cheap website hosting for the visitors to make requests for files on your website and downloading them to their personal computers.
• Make sure you have enough disk space for further growth and elaboration plans on your website. It is essential to go for a cheap web host that has a bigger plan, if you need to upgrade your website and your online business.
• Look for an account that has a database. You will need it if you have to store dynamically accessible data like Interactive news, user accounts, message boards, stock prices, forum and maps.
• Check the scripting language– the top web hosting companies use Unix and Linux platform, and the languages used are PHP, PERL and CGI. It is necessary to get a cheap web host that supports the latest version for the purpose of maximizing the latest web technologies and all this should come for the fee that you need to pay.
• A good customer support system is vital even if you are a novice or an expert in web hosting. If the database is huge, then you do not need any direct assistance from the customer support system, however, if you are too lazy to get the answers you can opt for the direct customer support service. The direct customer support can come in the forms of phone support, email support, as well as live chat support.

A cheap web hosting company should also have a good marketing strategy. A web host should come with enough existing members and there should be steady growth of new members. To put it in a gist, when you are entering in a deal with a cheap web hosting company, look into the 6 factors – service, speed, uptime, reliability, guarantee and price. If you are satisfied with these six factors then you can be assured that the cheap hosting would provide high quality and ideal service.