It is requisite that the user should have an existent website, if he/she wishes to take a web – hosting service. Thus after the development of website, the subsequent very important thing would be the selection of web hosting use for the …

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It’s difficult to chose right web hosting service for your web site at the time when there are numerous of web hosting providers all assuring for identical web hosting packages. So its necessary to take care of 3 aspects before starting a web hosting search which are given below. Features required for web hosting Technical requirements for a web site is the most important point to be taken into consideration which includes-

a) Hardware requirements and platform for server

According to your need such as if you want to set up a website that uses programming environments such as Active Server Pages (ASP), Visual Basic scripts, Cold Fusion or Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL database, then a need for a web hosting service will arise that supports Windows platform such as Windows NT or Windows 2000 servers.

Similarly as for programming languages such as Perl, CGI, SSI, PHP or mySQL database, then any web hosting plans that support Unix/Linux platform can be helpful. After having these types of requirements in mind one can decide for the best web hosting plan.

b) Disk space & Bandwidth requirement

Next technical requirement to be taken care of is disk space and bandwidth requirement, however disk space requirement may not be a big deal if you want to publish website with very less contents. Generally 200 MB to 500MB disk space will be quite enough as hosting requirements. Further for hosting a website with enormous amount of graphic pictures, mp3 or video files, a web hosting providing huge disk space example 500 to 1000 MB will be crucial. In the same manner site traffic estimation can be held responsible for bandwidth requirement .A website that attracts high traffic will tend to consume monthly bandwidth allowance very fast, then in that case one web hosting service that offers huge bandwidth with 40GB to 100 GB per month is needed.

Web hosting service that provides sufficient amount of disk space and bandwidth can be opted as per website requirement and that consideration will help not only to reduce costs but also tend to proper disk management.

c) Some other hosting features

Apart from above there are many other hosting features that are to taken into consideration such as Is web hosting provider supports video clips on the website? Is there any plan for setting a virtual store online? Is the host providing e-commerce facilities without charging more and top of all finding number of email accounts provided, number of FTP accounts, web statistic software etc.

Trustworthiness and scalability

If the web-hosting provider is offering reliable server uptime and fast Internet connection then it can be considered as a good host. For selecting an appropriate provider one must look for a web hosting service that guarantee 99% server uptime with high speed internet using at least OC3 (Optical Carrier) lines (155 Megabits per second) or above instead of T1 or T3 lines. A trustworthy hosting provider invests hugely on high performance servers, high speed multiple backbones providers with fail-over redundancy, backup power generators and firewall software protection in place so as to ensure they fulfill the uptime guarantee specified in the terms of service.

In the same manner selection would depend upon the hosting service that can ensure hardware facilities that are designed for scalability, so that they can also expand with user’s business. For example if requirement emerges for increasing disk space, bandwidth or number of mySQL databases, there should not emerge any problem and that all can be upgraded easily.

Customer service and support

Last but not the least excellent customer service and support is also important while selecting appropriate host provider. A web hosting provider must provide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week technical support with highly experienced technicians, so as to ensure timely resolution of any problem. Checking must be made by sending inquiry emails to the web-hosting provider so as to check the responsiveness of the customer support. Generally if a response comes within 24 hours can be considered as indication of acceptance but if no response comes then it is taken as a poor customer service. In world of competition, a web hosting provider must be also equipped with multiple support like Toll-free phone support, 24/7 email support, live chat, FAQ etc.

Apart of above important factors some other minor factors must also brew taken care of while selecting an appropriate web hosting provider like since how long that provider is in business and quantity of customers they hold as these shows the credibility and stability of the company. Cost of web hosting is an important factor also but due to growing competition now their charges have come to as low as US$10 per month and so this major factor needs to be ignored. Thus besides of all most important is that the website hosting requirements are met, website is always accessible with good speed, there is scalability in provider to grow and expand the website and that it also offers best customer support.

After creating and designing one?s own website he/she wants to host his/her own website other wise all the hard work will go in vain. Deciding the host for the website is far more difficult job then creating and designing it. While choosing host one should be very careful and should gain proper knowledge. One should consider all the factors while opting one host, as if this one decision went wrong then all the previous work will ruin.

Following are the few factors to be consider while choosing hosting plan-

1. Uptime of the web server?

2. Does the SSL is provided by the server or not?

3. Does the server avail server side scripting (e.g. PHP, ASP)?

4. What type of host to choose Free or paid?

5. What is the upload limit and file limit?

6. Support provided to the Customer.

Now we are going to take the above factors one by one:-

1? Uptime of the web server.

While hosting one?s website he/she wants that his/her server should always be up, as if website faces downtime it will result in the loss of traffic as well as of goodwill. The customer will never visit a website which remains down most of the hours so it is very important to choose host which provides maximum uptime.

Search engines will never give position to the website that always faces the downtime.

These kinds of websites should not expect the traffic from the search engines.

One can get a web server that is usually up, by the help of the reviews of the different persons who have already used the web host.

2. Does the SSL provided by the server or not?

If one created his/her own website just for the personnel use, not for doing any transactions on his/her website then SSL protection is not required.

If one who is not doing any transactions right now, but planning to do it in the future then he /she should opt for a web host that will provide SSL protection as and when required.

SSL is an encryption method which helps to encrypt any sensitive information like credit card info, names, etc

If a customer is going for a web host who is not offering SSL protection, in that case, installation of SSL will be very expensive as if afterwards he/she is trying to get it installed then the provider can charge what ever he/she wants for the SSL protection for transactions.

3. The third factor to look at it is does the server avail for server side scripting?

There are many web host providers who provides for server side scripting but still it?s important for customers to make sure that they do or don?t.

Server side scripting permits the webmaster to create pages which changes in real time.

For example, if one is running a business, and has all of his/her products stored in a database, and then a server side script will be helpful as it generates the pages that the customer sees according to the category/product he/she chooses.

If any of the web host provider is not providing the service of server side scripting, then it means that it will be a very silly decision to choose that web hosting.

4. What type of host to choose free or paid?

Now here comes the most important factor i.e. money factor which molds the customer?s decision. It?s hard for customers to decide that what to choose ?free or paid host.

In case of free host, it has one and only one advantage that it is free, rest it has only and only complications in it.

The one who is not going to do any transitions by his/her site or created his/her website only as a hobby, then any of the free host will be ok for him. On the other hand for a professional customer, it will be good for him/her to not to look at for free hosting rather choosing for a paid host. Choosing free hosting will be of no use as it will never facilitate it?s customer due to lack of facilities in it.

Free web hosting has many disadvantages such as the hosters usually run ads on one?s home page.

The paid web host usually offers better customer support that is absent in free web hosting.

5. What is the upload/bandwidth limit and file limit?

If any customer is going for hosting large image files or if he/she wants to provide downloads to his/her users then upload/ bandwidth and file limit is very important.

But if anyone is making a hobby or business website then space is not a big deal for him/her and he/she can opt the host providing less space.

6. Customer Support

Now let?s talk about the Customer support which is very important. If any customer is suffering from any problem and he/she is not getting any support from his/her host then he/she will get irritate and leave the host. If any of the hosting company don?t want to loose his customers then it is important for the company to provide proper customer support and of course when ever needed.

Some web host providers even provide forums where customers like they can log in and post questions to other customers and web host staff.