Web
Hosting (Linux Hosting / Windows Hosting)
Web hosting is an internet hosting system that permits people
and companies to access their own websites that are accessible
on the World Wide Web. The companies that provide web hosting
services are called web hosts.
They give their customers server space to use, on their own
servers, along with internet connectivity. In addition to this,
web hosts also provide their clients with data centre space and
internet connectivity to servers that are not included in their
data centre. This form of web hosting is called collocation.
Free and paid web hosting
The huge growth of the IT sector has lead to an increase in the
number of web hosting companies. Generally, web hosting is
offered as part of an internet access plan and is available as
either free or paid web hosting services.
At a glance, most people would consider free web hosting a
better choice as they think that they can save money through it.
However this is not true as free hosting is rather
unprofessional and does not provide the same level of support
and features as paid web hosting.
These free hosts offer you a bare minimum features. They don’t
usually provide great accessibility if compared to paid web
hosts which give you a good connection to the net with greater
accessibility. Free hosts tend to keep on piling as many sites
as they can on their servers, leading to your sites running
slow.
Look out for storage space offered by web hosts
Paid hosts usually have a limited number of sites on each
server. This leads to your website accessibility being high and
your site running efficiently. Free web hosts also tend to place
many banner ads on your site, making it look rather ugly. In the
case of paid web hosts, you are in control in deciding which
banner ads to add to your website and these, of course, would be
for your own financial gain as opposed to the web hosts.
Besides considering between free and paid web hosts, there are
some points to bear in mind when choosing your web host. Make
sure that the storage space offered by the web host meets your
requirements. Its data transfer rates also have to be fast
enough for people to access your site quickly.
Choose reliable web hosts, which have a good and prompt customer
support service. In addition to this, their technical support
should be good and have additional features like email
forwarding options, shopping cart functions and provision of web
statistics. Avoid companies that force you into a long term
contract, where you will be prevented from changing hosts, if
you are not happy with the services offered.
Choosing between Linux and Windows hosting
Today, Windows and Linux hosting are the most widely used web
hosting platforms. Of the two, Windows hosting proves to have a
friendlier interface, with its own products and services.
Moreover, it supports most Windows web development services and
thus let’s people make websites or web applications in their
chosen language.
Linux hosting does not actually support dot NET technologies,
but is incredibly efficient and offer some cheap hosting
options. It is up to you to choose between free and paid web
hosts, and Windows and Linux web hosts based on your budget and
the requirements of your company and website.
