Looking for the best Web Hosting? There is a wide range of web hosting services available, with different features and costs, suitable for hosting from private websites to large corporate websites. What should you be looking for in a web host, and how to compare the different features and services.
Domain Names
Domain Names can be bought and registered alone, or with a web hosting package. A domain name can be registered with one web host and point to a web site at another host, or they can be the same.
Web Hosting Features
It is important to know the requirements for the website to be hosted so that the right web hosting features can be included. The web hosting package may include email POP3 & iMap, variable disk space, databases (MySQL or Access), PHP scripting environment, security with SSL certificates, control panel, file management tools, website usage statistics, FTP access, sub-domains, and preconfigured website tools and CMS options.
Dedicated Web Hosting
A Dedicated Web Hosting package (dedicated server or managed hosting service), is a web server dedicated to one client, in which they can configure specific options not available on shared servers. Suitable for websites needing special features and large amounts of traffic.
VPS Web Hosting
A Virtual Private Sever (VPS) is similar to a dedicated web hosting package in features and customisation, but the server will run many instances of VPS for different clients. Overall performance may not be as good as a dedicated server, so load and traffic is important to know.
Shared Web Hosting
A server hosting many websites, each with it's own control panel, is the most common and cost-effective web hosting solution. As there are many websites hosted in the same environment there are restrictions on the software that will be available, the customisation of the software and environment, and limits on the disk space and traffic allowed.
Cloud Web Hosting
Cloud based Web Hosting utilises the virtual resources across a number of web servers in a cluster. Scalability and flexibility are positive aspects of cloud web hosting: increases in traffic and load can be accommodated with additional resources from other web servers in the cloud.