Shared Hosting

Shared web hosting, also known as virtual hosting, is where many websites are sharing space on the same physical web server. Depending on the web host, one physical web server can hosts hundreds of different websites.

Shared web hosting is the most popular form of hosting due to it’s low cost. Since the web server is shared by many websites, the costs associated with the web server including the diskspace, computer processing power, bandwidth, and memory are also shared. The drawback to shared hosting for the web site owner is that because you are sharing the web resources of the server, your site’s performance can be negatively effected by the other sites stored on the server. Shared hosting plans csot between $5 – $20 per month.

Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated hosting means the customer is assigned a specific web server exclusively for their own use. Because the server is exclusively assigned to a specific customer, they have a much greater level of control over it. They can modify the software configuration, handle greater site traffic and scale the bandwidth as necessary. Dedicated hosting is more expenseive that shared hosting, typically costing between $100 – $500 per month. Because of the high cost, dedicated hosting is typically used only by high traffic web sites.

Co-location Hosting

Co-location hosting is similar to dedicated hosting however the customer owns the web server hardware as opposed to the web hosting company owning the server and the customer is simply renting it. Like dedicated hosting, the co-location servers are stored and maintained in the hosting company’s secure data center. This represents the best of both worlds for the customer. They have full control of their server and it is monitoted around the clock with the hosting company’s data center. Depending on the monthly bandwidth and other features, co-location hosting ranges from $500 – $1000 per month.
Reseller Hosting

Many hosting companys offer a reseller plan or program. Basically you sign up for the plan and receive hosting at a discounted rate from the hosting company. You then resell the hosting to your customers. Resellers are usually web designers, web developers, or consulting companies who offer the web hosting as a add-on in addition to their other services.

Discounts that resellers receive range from 10% – 50%. Resellers are typically allowed to set their own pricing and in some cases, even offer the hosting under their own brand name.

When choosing a hosting provider, you should not simply look for the lowest price. More important than price is the quality of the service and support provided. Like many things, you get what you pay for.

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Web sites are hosted, or stored, on a special computer called a server. The server allows Internet users to reach your site when they enter your domain address, for example: www.yourcompany.com.

At its most basic level, a web site consists of many web pages. And a web page is basically composed of texts and graphic images. All of your web pages need to be stored on a web server so that online users can access them.

When you view a web page, your browser establishes a connection to the web server that page is stored on. The information (images and words) on that page is downloaded to your computer where it is displayed in your web browser.

While any computer can be turned into a web server, owning a web server can be very costly. In addition, web server maintenance requires technical expertise most people and businesses don’t posses. As a result, many small businesses opt to outsource their web hosting needs.

Well-established web hosting providers such as Verio, 1&1 Internet, and Yahoo host thousands of websites. This requires a large number of web servers to store the web sites. And all these web servers are connected to the Internet through high speed Internet connection and housed in a physical building called a data center. In order to ensure the security and operability of the web servers, a data center is a physically secure and monitored environment with fire protection, virus detections, computer data backup, redundant power backup and complete disaster recovery capabilities.

Web hosting companies charge a monthly rental fee for the service of storing your web site and allowing web site visitors to access the information on your site. Most small business pay $10-$40 a month for web hosting. Prices vary depending on the traffic, features, and functionality of the web site. More than price, it is important to consider a web host’s reliability and customer support when choosing a provider. Saving $10 a month won’t feel like a bargain if your web site is down and you can’t get in touch with anyone to help fix it.

Web hosting plans are monthly although some companies offer discounts for longer term commitments.

Once you select a web hosting provider and sign up for a plan, you will be provided with information on how to access your web server. This is typically done through FTP. Some web design programs such as Dreamweaver have an FTP client integrated within the program. You can also use a stand alone FTP application such as CuteFTP or WS_FTP to transfer your files.

Once your site is loaded onto the web hosting company’s web server, anyone with Internet access can view your web site from anywhere in the world.

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