Web Hosting Reviews & Ratings

April 12, 2010

A Basic Guide to Web Hosting

As a newcomer to the web hosting industry, there are many terms and phrases tossed around. Most are technical jargon; while difficult to understand, this is still vital information when choosing a web hosting provider, looking to upgrade or simply maintaining a website.

This is a basic guide to better understand the categories and therefore technical jargon that a beginner may not understand. The following is a list of the items that will be reviewed to ensure clarity:

• Size
• Severs and applications
• Uptime
• Support
• Hosting Price

Size

Size is a basic term that refers to text, media items and other files that will engulf server space. Generally, one page of text with one or two images will take up 33k of space. Therefore, 1GB of data transfers equals 33,000 page views per month. Therefore, 10 to 100MB of physical disk space and 1-5GB of data transfer per month should be adequate for a smaller site.

Sites with movies, graphics and sound will take up much more space depending on the number of media files. Consequently these sites should have much more (gigabytes) disk space and bandwidth to accommodate the large files.

Servers and Applications

The two main operating systems for a server are Windows and Linux. Each type has their individual strengths and weaknesses. Windows is excellent at running Windows-compatible applications and tools. Linux is much more robust and compatible with other types of programming languages.

Uptime

This category primarily pertains to the percentage of uptime which is the percent of time that a web hosting server is operational. All web hosts have a guarantee with most above 98%. If the host does not cover their guarantee, a refund or credit may be issued.

Support

Since the internet is a 24 hour operation, support must also be a 24 hour operation. It’s important to have an excellent support team that can always be reached no matter the time of day. This can be a deciding factor for many consumers in the market for a reliable web host.

Hosting Price

Hosting Price is another deciding factor for those looking for a web host. There are many different web hosting sites; some free, most are pay sites. The free sites have their advantages, but do not offer the same quality, reliability and features as the pay sites.

These five categories are the most important areas to deciding a web hosting provider. It’s important to be familiar with the terminology associated with each so when its time to decide, all factors are clear and understandable.

Tags: uptime,  servers,  server space,  bandwidth,  web hosting guide,  web hosting industry