When a company or a person decides to have an online presence or other internet based project they will use a service called web hosting. Simply put, and for the majority of people and companies, this means allowing their website to be seen by others around the world; some of these services are actually free. The data center or server used for by the hosting company is able to store all kinds of digital media which can be accessed (if allowed) by visitors, this includes all website files.
Free hosting deals are great for those who want to ‘dip their toes in the water’ for example but the range of services available to them will be limited. However, if you’re planning to expand you should shift to a paid service as free web hosting only gives you limited space and sub-domains for your site. You can search the Web for many of the paid hosting services but their prices may vary depending on the packages they’re offering.
Most people and companies start their hosting by using a shared server system which means your files are on the system with other peoples.It is usually possible to upgrade to have a dedicated server for your files once you know the service provider is reliable; there is normally an additional charge for this facility. However, all this is academic if you haven’t registered a domain name that you can use in conjunction with the web hosting and to send your files to.
Another advantage of web hosting and your own domain name is that email addresses will include your own domain name and not that of those free providers such as Google, Yahoo and MSN to name a few of the thousands of providers whose services can be used. If you have a business presence online you cannot afford to have another company’s name at the end of your own e.g. www.yourcompanyname.hostingcompany.com when it should really look like this: www.yourcompanyname.com. The more information that is transferred from your website over the internet, the more bandwidth is used so it is important if you have a great deal of information stored to ensure you have a hosting package that will easily cater for your bandwidth usage.
Another advantage of web hosting and your own domain name is that email addresses will include your own domain name and not that of those free providers such as Google, Yahoo and MSN to name a few of the thousands of providers whose services can be used. It always looks like the user is more serious about their internet presence if they have their own email and domain name, it increases credibility. The amount of data that is viewed on your site each time someone accesses it is called bandwidth; it is an extremely important aspect to consider and the main reason why buying the cheapest hosting package is not always best.
If you only settle for a package with a minimum amount of bandwidth then there will be times when visitors will have trouble viewing your web site or using its facilities. Of course this won’t matter if you only have a basic website but as soon as you start adding large images, audio tracks, video footage and other big files, your bandwidth will be used up very quickly. In almost every case it is a wise decision to use a web hosting company and not consider using your own computer as a host due to the risks, especially for those unfamiliar with internet security.
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This entry was posted on Friday, August 6th, 2010 at 9:17 am and is filed under Web Hosting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.