How to Find the Right Web Host
A Web Hosting Article Contributed by Frances Rhea
Finding the Right Web Host for You
It is useless to create a web site and then leave it on your computer instead of finding a web host. Although you could use Virtual Private Networking, the only safe way is to find a web host.
There are millions of web hosts on the Internet. Days can be spent researching the best host. A personal site is easier to find a host for because of minimal special requirements. Lots of hosts provide free web space.
You need more information than knowing how much space you need before looking for a host. You need to consider the following.
Disk Space You Need on the Host
The amount of web space you site needs is important but try to anticipate any future projects you may want to do. Make sure you can purchase more space at a later date.
If you choose a free web host, and you have to move hosts, you will need to change your URL. This can cause problems for your visitors and the search engines.
Bandwidth Allotment
Your bandwidth and data transfer quotas can cost a lot if you exceed their limit. If you find you have to buy extra data transfer each month then upgrade your hosting plan.
Most of the free web hosts do not quote data transfer or bandwidth limits. You might find in their Terms of Service that there are hidden charges or your site may be deleted for using too many resources.
File Transfer to the Web Host
Your web host should have FTP upload as well as telnet access to your account if it is on a Unix type server. The free web hosts use a web based FTP interface where you log into your account through a web browser then upload, create and edit files on a special web page. Some also offer FTP access for those that know what they are doing but most do not.
Web Host Special Features
Many web hosts provide pre-installed scripts instead of a cgi bin. Others list such features as ASP, PHP, and MySQL as either allowed or not. Make sure you know what these are and what your web site needs.
Web Host Server Type
If you have a personal web site that uses plain HTML pages, then the type of server is not important. For a more complicated site, the server type can be essential.
On a Unix based server you set file permissions before your scripts will work correctly. Permission setting on a Windows server is not the same. You tell the server to use Perl by the file extension therefore the path to Perl is not needed.
However, there are less scripts that will work on a Windows server because many of the scripts available use sendmail which does not exist in Windows.
Server Software
If you use FrontPage and the scripting features, you will need a server with FrontPage extensions. You also need to check that other scripting languages you use are supported.
