About Web Hosting
Web hosting is a business that
provides servers or computers for your website to actually reside in. It
allows users all over the world to be able to access your website. There are
a number of ways you can avail of web hosting. One of the methods is to do
web hosting on your own. This method allows you to have total control over
your website and be able to avail of all hosting services you require. The
biggest drawback for this hosting method is it is very expensive and very
difficult. It requires a lot of technical skills to do web hosting. Unless
you have the money and technical skills required, it is highly recommended
that you avail of hosting services provided by reputable hosting providers
rather than doing it on your own. But if you are determined, you can host
your websites on a desktop computer. The disadvantage in doing this though
is that all files and accounts on your personal computer can be exposed to
security risks such as hackers. In order to prevent this you need to install
costly software called firewall. Aside from that, the amount of time you
need for web hosting leaves you little time to attend to other business.
Another web hosting option is availing of free hosting. Free hosting can be
good if your website is a personal one. Also, if the web hosting features
are secondary considerations for you. The disadvantages in using free web
hosting are the fact that you cannot avail of customer service, a number of
selling banners on your site, uptime is not guaranteed and others. If you
are into business, it is a huge disadvantage to have no uptime guarantee
considering the fact that you are relying on the business site to generate
sales or provide necessary info about your product/s.
Paid web hosting is another viable option. But you need to consider the web
hosting costs before you sign the dotted line. You also need to know
beforehand what features are you exactly looking for to prevent paying for
costs of features that you do not really need. Web hosting services could
cost you for as low as $10 to as high as $5,000 a month. The cost will
depend on the disk space, data transfer, features you add and whether or not
you require a dedicated server. Dedicated server refers to web hosting a
single company’s web site only. Dedicated servers cater to large companies
with complex features in their websites. That would justify their huge
monthly charges of $5,000. Payment schemes for paid web hosting are monthly,
semi-annually, annually or once every 2 years.
Small companies can avail of shared servers’ services so as to minimize the
costs. $5,000 a month web hosting fee is definitely way too much for
individuals or small to medium-sized companies. Shared servers serve the
same purpose and are much more affordable. Most paid web hosting service has
money back no questions asked guarantee. They also assure you of 99% uptime.
In cases where they were not able to maintain a 99% uptime, some reputable
web hosting service will reimburse you an amount equal to the number of
downtime minutes.
Web hosting can be a simple or complicated process depending on the kind of features your website requires. Whether you opt for a free or paid web hosting service, the decision would boil down to personal preference and necessity.