You can host a website on any computer that has web serving software installed, even your home or office PC, but there are a variety of issues with doing so:

• Security issues: opening a computer to receive inbound Internet requests can be risky without taking the necessary precautions to secure the machine.
• Stability: DSL and cable internet services are not always stable, and when the service has an outage, the website becomes unavailable.
• Scale: if your site gets busy and receives large numbers of requests, the computer may not have the capacity to keep up.

Consequently, the vast majority of websites are run on computers dedicated just to serving webpages, provided by web hosting companies. A quality web host will have a superior connection, both in terms of bandwidth and reliability, will be capable of providing a secure environment, and can provide more robust solutions for busier sites.

A domain name is simply a pointer, much like a post office forwarding address. When you enter a domain name into a browser, in the background the name is translated to the underlying IP address where the site is physically stored. You actually don\’t need a domain name to visit a website since if you know the IP address of the web server, you simply need to enter this in a browser\’s address bar. But having a domain name provides a human-friendly and memorable way to reach the site.

Owning a domain name costs around $10 a year and doesn\’t require any special maintenance. Web hosting plans vary widely in price, usually as a month or annual fee, and serves visitor requests when they reach your site. You can buy a domain name without a web-hosting plan, which will reserve the name for your use at a later date.

1. Track record. When it comes to something as sensitive and important as host for your website, you will want to sign up with a provider with a proven track record. Do not give your trust easily to a company that has been in business for only a few months; you will never be sure just how reliable it is. Always go for a host with a proven track record and a number of years to its name. If you can call up a list of their clients to ask just how well their service is, do not hesitate to do so.

2. Check for online feedback. Another way of checking the reliability of a host is to check the Internet for customer feedback. Review sites like Consumer Report and Better Business Bureau are great places to see if a host that you are considering has good or bad feedback. However, do take some of the negative reviews with a grain of salt. After all, it may come from a disgruntled customer who will not be mollified despite the fact that their issue was already resolved in their favor.

3. Check the tools offered. Different web hosts offer different kinds of services. Some offer only the basic tools in their hosting package while some offer a whole plethora of it. Figure out what tools you will need, such as content management service, e-commerce tools, file transfer protocols, blog software, and other widgets and extensions. Afterwards, check if the company you are considering offers these tools that you need.

Having your website up and running 24 hours a day and seven days a week is essential to a successful online business. Thus, you need to choose a web hosting service that has a proven track record, has no negative feedback among review sites, and has the tools that you need to run your website. Never settle for anything less when choosing a web hosting service.

So, before you sign up with any company, it is important that you check the speed of the host itself. In that way, you will be able to guarantee that you will not have problems with your website\’s performance. Here are three simple tips that you can use for checking the speed of your chosen web hosting service.

1. Test the web host\’s ping. The ping translates to how fast a web server communicates with the Internet. The lower the ping of a website, the more responsive a website is. You will not want to go for a provider that has a high ping. To check the ping of any website, just click the start menu on your computer desktop (if your operating system is Windows Vista) and then type \”command\” in the search box. Once that command screen becomes open to you, type in \”ping hostdomainname.com.\” The figure the application will yield should be no more than 80. Anything higher will result in a slow-loading website.

2. Inquire about the size of the web host\’s pipeline. The pipeline is the host\’s connection to the Internet. This is the backbone of any web host\’s business. The host provider will be able to let your site enjoy fast speeds if its pipeline is big enough. The ideal pipeline size is T3; at the moment, this is the fastest connection we have to the Internet. If T3 is not possible, T1 will do nicely.

3. Ask how many clients will share a server. Hosting providers typically assign a number of clients to use a single server to optimize their business. You need to know how many other websites will be sharing your assigned server because you simply will not want to get bogged down by the traffic that your neighbor websites get. This will not be a problem, however, if you choose to get a dedicated server for your website.

Speed is everything on the Internet. If your website does not load fast enough, your viewers will be turned off and go to other websites. Lost traffic means lost business for you. So, whenever you shop for a web hosting service, make sure that it can provide you the speed that you need. Check the ping, inquire about the pipeline and ask how many clients share a server. These will help you determine if the web host will be able to provide you the speed that you need.

1. Space. Your space requirements are dependent on the kind of website you are going to develop. If it is just a landing page that is filled with nothing but text and a couple of pictures, then you will not need a big space. But if you are going to put up a lot of high-resolution images, videos and audio files on your site, you will need a big space. Do not get sucked into buying unlimited space from a web host when you do not need it.

2. Bandwidth. During the first few months of operating your website, you may not need a lot of bandwidth. However, as your website becomes popular and you drive more and more traffic to it, you may get penalized for exceeding your bandwidth allocation and even have your website deleted. You do not want that to happen, naturally. Make sure that you check out your bandwidth allocations before signing up for a web hosting service plan.

3. Technical features. Again, the technical features that you will want your provider to have depends on the requirements of your website. For instance, if you are going to use WordPress or Joomla as your platform, your hosting company should provide support for them. If you are going to handle sensitive information on your site like payment processing, you will need your provider to provide you a secure server.

4. Reliability. Reliability is a huge factor in choosing a web hosting service. The guaranteed uptime, for instance, should be not any lower than 99%. The company should also provide high-quality and fast-responding technical support.

The website is the heart of any online business. That is why you need to have a good and reliable web hosting service provider for your site. Always make it a point to shop around and look for the features we have described to you whenever you are searching for a hosting provider for your site.

Imagine a web host has a server with 600 gigabytes of hard drive space and 3000 GBs of total bandwidth (3 terabytes) per month. They offer plans that are \”Unlimited\” and 250 customers are already on the server, so that a total of 550 GB of space and all 3TB bandwidth has already been used this month.

And the web host is still selling accounts on that server! How is this possible?

Overselling

The answer is that the actual amount of space and bandwidth used by a hosting account is often much lower than the resource cap. Most web masters use only a small fraction of their allowed limit (if there is one). If the drives are full, a new one can be added. Bandwidth can be purchased to cover a small overage. This is what is known as \”Overselling.\”

Most web hosts that oversell services do not take CPU resources into consideration. Processor resources are finite – you can\’t just add in another on demand. And you, the hosted user, are stuck on a server that is constantly running all out just to keep up because of the sheer number of accounts hosted alongside you.

Overselling is why there are are so many web hosting companies out there and why so many seem to open up or shut down every day. Existing companies oversell to the point that the service tanks, the user gets fed up and finds an new host that is also overselling – a big plan at a crazy price is hard to pass up. As more and more clients jump ship, the old hosts pick up speed and the new ones get crushed under the load.

Overselling Sucks!

Now, overselling and unlimited hosting plans are not universally bad. For most users, this kind of shared hosting is perfectly fine. However, some sites are more CPU intensive, relying heavily on databases and PHP. WordPress sites are a common example – as sites become more popular, larger, or add more features and plugins, it\’s not necessarily the disk space or bandwidth that becomes strained, it\’s the server\’s RAM and processors.

Many web hosts consider excessive use of these resources to be cause for canceling your hosting account. This is commonly called \”TOS\’ing\” an account. Unlimited Hosting does not cover CPU resources. Having a popular site can actually be a violation of your Terms of Service!

How Do I Know How Overloaded My Server Is?

Log into your cpanel. Click on \”Service Status.\” You should now see a table of stats and a row of colored circles. Here are some signs your server might be overloaded:

1. Any of the status lights are NOT green
2. Any of the services are down
3. Server load is constantly over.90 (1 means NONE of the processors has cycles to spare)
4. Memory or Disk usage is consistently above 80%

These are not signs that your site is a resource hog, only indicators of how hard your server is working to serve all the hosting accounts. Just because your site is not a CPU hog doesn\’t mean someone else\’s site isn\’t making yours slow and unstable.

What Can I Do To Limit My Resource Use?

Here are some ideas to keep your account from getting canceled:

1. Use a cache. There are several different cache plugins available for WordPress. Caches store data that can be reused for multiple users, instead of having the site reload data from the database every time a visitor makes a request.

2. Use a CDN. Content Delivery Networks store your site\’s most commonly used files offsite and deliver them directly to your visitors.

3. Make fewer database calls. Using fewer WordPress plugins, or forum extensions will easy the load on your database server.

These tips will will also make your site faster.

Help! My Web Host TOS\’d Me Off My Unlimited Hosting Plan!

If your site gets shut down for resource abuse, you have a few options:

1. You can rent a virtual private server or dedicated server. This can be expensive, especially if you are not an experienced server administrator and need a \”managed\” solution.

2. You can try signing up for another unlimited plan at another web host, but be sure to limit your resource use from now on, or you\’ll probably get in trouble again.

3. Find a shared hosting provider that does not oversell. Web Hosts that do not oversell are rare and usually charge higher rates than more popular oversold web hosts, but are far cheaper and easier to use than dedicated or virtual servers.

a- Free
b- Paid

Free

Advantages:

No bills:

Free host allows you to host without paying bill per month or yearly basis.

Best for experiments:
Free hosts provide a good environment to experiment different webmaster techniques. You can learn and experiment many things before switching to paid hosting.

Disadvantages:

Placing Ads and Banners on your website:
Free doesn\’t means free at all. You have to pay something in return. Mostly free hosts put ads and banners on your websites to generate revenue. You have no control on quality of ads and placement.

Limited Features:
Free hosts cannot offer rich features. Usually they have limited features because of poor revenue model.

Unreliability:
There is no guarantee or quality of services in free services. Servers can go down for week or days, no one is answerable to you. There is no support department to help you in technical problems. Free hosts can close the services at any times leaving you clueless.

Paid
In this type of service you have to pay the bills at the end of month. Because of high competition in hosting industry it is very affordable to host any website. Now you can host a business website or personal blog in $3 to $7 per month.

Advantages:

Reliability and Stability:
Paid hosts offers reliable services. They are responsible for server failure or any technical issues. Good web host offers 99.9% uptime guarantee to your website. In case of technical issues, you get sufficient help from technical support. Paid hosting service offers rich features combined with quality of services.

Disadvantage:
You have to pay bills to paid service providers.

Colocation is currently the best option for online businesses that want the power and reliability of an IT department without the costs involved to have one onsite. To put things simply, colocation means that you install your own server at a colocation company\’s facilities. This allows you to utilize their IT team and their expensive equipment for a small fee. You will also be able to share unlimited bandwidth with other people who use the colocation company\’s services.

There are many benefits associated with colocation. Aside from having unlimited bandwidth for your website and protection from power outages and downtimes, you also get a lot more. Since you are using your own server that is physically located at the colocation company\’s facility, you can upgrade it anytime if you think the machine is outdated or if you are not satisfied with its performance. You also have a say in what server software you use. You can change it at your leisure without the need to answer to a hosting provider.

Another benefit is not having to deal with the expertise involved in setting up and running your own servers. IT technicians are well paid for a reason. Not having to deal with the effort of maintaining your servers yourself allows you to focus on other parts of your business.

You can also travel around the world if you want and you won\’t have to worry about your server. You can access it any time you want through a special IP address that the colocation company provides. Servers installed in colocation facilities also rarely ever experience downtimes. Your server has access to power redundancy measures and other safety features that can usually be seen at expensive IT offices.

Since your server is stored at a secure facility, you do not have to worry about theft or vandalism. A typical colocation company\’s facility has 24-hour security and technicians check you server frequently.

If you do not know anything about managing a server, then a colocation company can also provide you with an IT team of your own for a small fee. These are advantages that, until recently, only major corporations enjoyed. Now, you can have your own IT team, server facility and security force maintaining and protecting your server at all times. If you depend on your website for a living, then it makes sense to host it in a server that is reliable, fast and safe. You owe it to yourself to safeguard your websites and online businesses.

Simply put, colocation will allow you to mount your server in a high tech facility where you share bandwidth with a colocation company\’s other clients. While colocation is slightly more expensive than traditional web hosting services, it is still a lot cheaper than having your own IT department. It also affords users with many benefits that are not available to websites that run on normal hosting servers.

The first thing you have to do is set up your server machine. After you have uploaded all of your files and directories, you will then take your machine to a colocation company\’s facilities. Qualified technicians will then install your server in a rack. If you do not want to set-up your own server, then you can also rent a server from your colocation company. In fact, most companies also offer server rentals. The colocation company will be responsible for providing you with bandwidth and a special IP address that you can use to access your server anytime regardless of where you are.

There are many benefits associated with colocation. You have the benefit of unlimited bandwidth that large corporations also enjoy. Better bandwidth can allow your site to handle increased traffic loads without having to shut down. You will also be protected from power outages and downtimes because reliable colocation companies have power redundancy measures in place. This is essential for people residing in disaster prone areas. A hurricane can knock down power lines and it usually takes a few days before power can be restored. For small business owners, power outages can translate to a lot of lost money and lost opportunities for sales. Online shops can be adversely affected by downtime because you cannot sell your products and services if people can\’t access your site.

The very worst thing that can happen to a growing business is to have server issues. Not only will you be losing immediate revenue from potential customers not being able to see your offers, but there is also a negative long term effect that is harder to measure. The more times that your site is down due to server issues, the more you be start to develop a reputation for being unreliable in terms of access. And with word of mouth marketing, the negative reputation can cause you to lose many possible clients over the long term. Using a reliable colocation service will ensure that this does not happen.

Colocation is indeed the perfect solution for small business owners and online entrepreneurs who depend on their websites to bring them business. You get all the benefits that only large corporations enjoy without having to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on IT equipment.