| There are several types of hosting. Among them are: | | | | ask your Web hosting company about the numbers. |
| Free hosting | | | | If you are shopping around for Web hosting, you |
| Free sites are for people who's sites are small and do | | | | need to ask each company about the client per |
| not expect much traffic. Personal sites about your | | | | server ratio. Go with the company that fits your |
| family or hobbies are perfect for free web site hosts. | | | | other needs, and has the least amount of clients per |
| I do not recommend this for any business, promoting | | | | Web hosting server. |
| or selling a product, or expect a lot of traffic. Usually | | | | 3. Do you allow SMTP POP3 email to be sent and |
| you cannot use a domain name for your site. You | | | | received from |
| must use a domain and site path provided by the | | | | You should get the answer: Yes |
| company. | | | | Some hosting companies force you to send SMTP |
| Virtual (or shared) hosting | | | | POP3 email from rather than They do this because |
| A web server which shares its resources with | | | | they claim 1) it keeps the servers fast. However, a |
| multiple users. It's another way of saying that multiple | | | | dedicated SMTP POP3 server won't have any |
| web sites share the resources of one server. If you | | | | problems 2) it minimizes spam (however, spammers |
| do not need your own web server (i.e. your own | | | | can still use technical tools for spamming from their |
| server class computer), you will use a virtual server | | | | account - so it really doesn't minimize spam). The |
| to host your web site. | | | | biggest problem is that some Internet Service |
| Dedicated hosting | | | | Providers won't allow the use of It probably wouldn't |
| A more expensive type of account in which the web | | | | make for a good day if you discover you had to |
| hosting company provides you with an entire hosting | | | | change ISPs just to send email via your domain. |
| setup including your own server hardware that only | | | | 4. If I go over the monthly allotted bandwidth, what |
| you can use. This usually means a much faster | | | | are the charges for each gig? |
| loading time for your site because the entire | | | | You should get the answer: $0 to $2 a gig |
| computer is "dedicated" to running the server | | | | Watch this one as we have seen hosts indicate |
| software. This is different from most other hosting | | | | "purchase additional bandwidth for $0.1 per MB." That |
| accounts in which your web site will share space on a | | | | translates into $100 per gig. |
| server with many other web sites, called a virtual | | | | 5. Do you have any upgrades for each account, and |
| server. A dedicated server makes sense for web | | | | if so, what are the costs? |
| sites that require higher availability and higher data | | | | Varies Most web hosts publish this information along |
| transfer rates. | | | | with each hosting plan. It's good to ask if you can't |
| Collocation hosting | | | | find this information. |
| Collocation hosting offers the same benefits as | | | | Other issues |
| dedicated hosting, except you provide the server. I | | | | 1. The lame web host companies usually lack |
| only recommend this plan if you can gain physical | | | | professional "look and feel" in their emails, some even |
| access to the server, or have special server | | | | taking days to respond. Worse yet, you may find |
| requirements. If you are located in New York and the | | | | some that won't reply, forcing you to have to send |
| server is in Seattle, it would be difficult, and | | | | another email. It pays to find out any problems in |
| expensive, for you to replace a hard drive. You can | | | | advance |
| have the hosting provider repair problems, but at a | | | | 2. The established web host companies reply to your |
| premium cost. | | | | email within 12 hours, if not by then, you should have |
| Questions To Ask a Hosting Company Before You | | | | at least received a courtesy email to let you know |
| Start | | | | they are reviewing your questions. |
| 1. How long have you been in business? Are you | | | | 3. Keep in mind that there's much more to hosting |
| incorporated? Do you have your own Merchant | | | | than gigabytes and HTML, as without the |
| Account? | | | | professional support you need, your online business |
| Varies These are questions geared at stability and | | | | will suffer the consequences. |
| long term continuation of web hosting service. | | | | 4. Look for an established Privacy Statement and |
| These questions are important as you don't want to | | | | Terms of Service. A web host without a Privacy |
| sign up for a web host who will disappear in one day. | | | | Statement or Terms of Service is usually a red flag |
| 2. How many customers do you serve per server? | | | | for you since it is very important for all web sites to |
| Depending on the Web hosting plan or the Web | | | | establish this information to their visitors. While it can |
| hosting company the server that your hosted on | | | | be boring to read this material, you may be in for a |
| might be a little more packed than you might think. A | | | | surprise to later find out extra charges that your site |
| responsible Web hosting company will not overstuff | | | | could unexpectedly incur. Know what to expect. |
| the servers they own or collocate. Most of the time, | | | | When in doubt, ask. |
| sharing a server with several different companies is | | | | 5 Ask for names of two to three similar users and |
| not a bad thing though. However, you do need to | | | | check with them regarding their experience. |