What's in a Web Hosting Plan?
What is WWW & Web Hosting?
The World Wide Web is simply a way of publishing information (such as documents) so that it is easily accessible by others connected to the Internet. This is accomplished by placing the information on web servers. This act of publishing any information on the Web by placing it on an adequate Web server connected to the Internet is called "Web Hosting". Web hosting is a service which essentially provides a home for the on-line content or applications you wish to publish. Space is allocated on the server and access is granted to individuals who will develope and maintain the Web site.
A web server is a computer connected to the Internet and configured to make the information it stores available to other computers "through the web." Clients use software called a web browser (such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer) to view information stored on any web server.
What's in a Web Hosting Plan?
While hosting companies vary greatly in the options they offer to web developers, a number of standard features can be found in virtually all hosting plans. Web space, e-mail capabilities, access to a CGI-Bin, FTP, Bandwidth and account maintenance via web control panel are the most common features among all reliable web hosts.
Web Space
Server space is basically the amount of hard drive space made available to the developer for publishing his files on-line. Developers opting for their own server will obviously have more server space than those who select to share space on a server with others.
Most developers can estimate their required server space with some simple math. A developer must first estimate the file size for their average web page. The file size of a basic page with limited graphics often runs around 20 kb. Files heavy with graphics can run upwards of 50 kb. To calculate the amount of space a site will need, a developer will multiply the number of pages in the site by the average file size of the site's pages (Kling, 2001). For example, a site with 40 pages of moderately sized pages (30 kb) would require 1.2 MB of server space.
Server hard drive space is relatively inexpensive for the hosting company. Developers should not be swayed by offers of hundreds of megabytes of server space for a single account.
Bandwidth Bandwidth is a measure of how much data the server serves. It is the lifeblood of the Internet and should be accorded the appropriate consideration.
It’s important to consider how much bandwidth you will need. Suppose a company put a 2500 MB per month limit on your account. Now suppose that your site is exactly 1 MB. To reach your limit, 2500 visitors would have to visit your site and view everything on it.
A company's advertising of unlimited bandwidth is misleading according to Burnham (2001). While the allowable bandwidth may seem endless, there is a physical limit to any server and thus a limit to the bandwidth.
E-mail Services
Another nice option is a number of free POP3 accounts. This means you are given an email address at your domain such as [email protected]. Hosting sites vary on how they charge for POP3 accounts. They may charge for each POP account, look for free POP offers.
CGI-Bin Thesedays, almost all paid hosting services come with your own CGI-Bin to run various scripts.
FTP
It allows you to upload your files on the web server.
Advanced Features
Server-side functionality including SSI, JavaScripting, Active Scripting, and PHP capabilities are among the added features Burnham recommends for more advanced sites. User logs and error tracking along with daily site back-ups are also important components of a quality hosting solution.
Control Panel
Some hosts give a special administrative page to each of their clients. This enables the client to adjust certain attributes and check the status on certain parts of their account without having to contact their host.
Upgrading Choices
This is important if you plan on your site growing overtime. Hosting sites tend to offer packaged deals that include specific limits. These are nice if you know how much of a particular resources you require for your site. It is important however to see what types of charges a site might add if you exceed your limit on these resources.
Price
Price is not necessarily a factor on performance, however. You may find a site that charges $2 a month that is just as good if not better than a $20 a month site. This links back to the web hosting industry analysis section. A hosting firm that is just starting out might need to build a client base and if you join at the right time you might obtain an excellent rate.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks