The type of web site you have or intend to build will decide very much what web hosting company you end up choosing. The reason for this is that the level of storage, bandwidth, and other services differs greatly amongst all the various web hosting companies available.
If you are going to have a simple web site with only a few pages and very little graphics then you will be able to get by with a web host that offers entry level hosting packages. Bear in mind that even though there may be free services out there for a few dollars a month you are better off with your own hosting without their required advertising on your site.
Now on the other side of the coin, if you are going to have a web site that is more of an e-commerce or business web site or have one that hosts streaming music or video then you will want one that will allow much more features and scripts. The company will need to provide database support and offer applications such as ASP,PHP, and Java. It is also good for a web hosting company to have preinstalled scripts like those for forums or content management systems like Joomla or Wordpress. I personally like the web hosts who offer Cpanel with Fantastico just for the ease of use.
If you intend to collect payments on your website then you are going to want to be sure to have SSL with at least 128 bit encryption for secure online purchases. You may also want to go with a supported gateway for your online shopping cart so that credit cards can be processed in real time using the larger processing entities such as Verisign or Paypal.
If you have a website or blog that requires a database then you will absolutely need a web host that offers this with scripting such as SQL so that the web pages can be read to gain access to the particular database and display the content.
The amount of space you will need plays a huge part on determining the web host you ultimately choose and this is why web design is such a huge factor. As a general rule of thumb, the average web page will need less than 1MB so if you have a 100 page site then 100 MB of space will be more than sufficient. However, the more pictures, video, or audio you add into the equation the more disk space you will need.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What's an ideal hosting company and plan for me?
By: dereo | 12-11-2007
I'm looking for a hosting plan that can handle 5 small business websites. Combined, they use around 50-100GB of bandwidth each month. 2 of them require SSL certificates and have small PHP ecommerce stores. All of the sites use PHP. I would not know how to and do not want to deal with any server administration. What's an ideal, reliable, and affordable hosting company and plan for me?
Linux NAS server with web UI
By: mcduck2002 | 12-11-2007
Linux light server.I want to build fast and quickly a simple linux NAS server.it should have these features:Samba with web UItorrent client with web UICUPS server with web UIHP printer/scanner server with web UIaccess with open ssl(ssh?) no X at all!secure ftp accessability to add NTFS devices as hot plug. (USB NTFS harddisk)reasonable securtiyIs there any way to build that server considering I have little knowledge in linux?
.NET application on website
By: Rachel Inbar | 28-10-2007
How can I put a dot net application on my website?I need to put a survey on my website that was written in .NET. I understood that I need to have Microsoft hosting? Is this true? Is this something that hosting services offer - or does it mean that I need to change my host?
Best PHP editor
By: liorsion | 26-10-2007
what are you using as IDE for your PHP programming?
Choosing a New Web Hosting Plan
By: dereo | 16-10-2007
I've been shopping for a new web host. I am confused about the bandwidth history of my current host. What is the difference between incoming and outgoing traffic? Last month my incoming traffic was 53.45 GB and my outgoing was 4.70 GB.When I get a new host, what's wrong with shared hosting? Why do people pay extra for dedicated? Is it just if you have web applications that require processing power? is media temple's gs a good option?when dreamhost or hostmonster seem to offer more for less?I'm hosting mainly static pages with some PHP 4, and using osCommerce. currently paying $150/month for dedicated hosting seems like too much.Can anyone recommend the best hosting plan/company for me?
100% Renewable Energy Web Hosting recommendations
By: Premasagar | 29-09-2007
I'm looking for personal recommendations for a web hosting company that runs its servers on 100% renewable energy (e.g. solar power, wind power).That is, not just a carbon-neutral, carbon trading scheme, where trees are planted but the electricity is not renewable.They must also be an excellent web hosting company - fast, stable, reliable hosting service with fantastic customer support.I'm looking for something like a reseller account where I can distribute a monthly chunk of bandwidth and disk space between an arbitrary number of domains.Plesk control panel preferred over cPanel - but willing to compromise... I've looked at ThinkHost, but seen mixed reviews...(?)
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