Why do I need web hosting?
The Internet comprises many computers linked together
to form a huge international network (hence the term
Internet). Most computers however connect to this
internet via powerful computers called 'servers'.
Without getting into technical jargon, it is these
servers that host your web pages. For a small annual
fee the companies that own the servers rent out space
so that people can load their web sites onto it..
this is web hosting. You need to get server space
before anyone will be able to type your domain name
into a browser and actually arrive at your site.
How do I know what type of
web hosting is right for me?
There are a number of considerations to take into
account, but for this stage in the business startup,
most packages will be suitable. For completeness,
familiarise yourself with the following characteristics
of web hosting.
Size of web space: most web hosting services provide
more than enough space to host even the biggest of
sites, so space considerations for a startup web business
are not that important (you can always increase the
size of your package at a later date - though for
a price).
Bandwidth: this is the number of simultaneous accesses
to your web site from visitors. Again this is a factor
to worry about if business picks up and again it can
also be dealt with by paying extra.
Downtime: as with anything electronic, there are times
when things grind to a halt on the hosting server,
i.e. the server stops working and your site becomes
unavailable. This is called downtime and is an important
criteria for heavy profit-making sites. Do not worry
too much about this as most servers have a low period
of downtime.
Show me the packages!
Below are the links to popular web hosting packages.
Browse the various sites and choose that which you
think provides you with the best deal. Firstly, you
may want to click
here to read a brief description of web-hosting
characteristics to help you make a more informed choice.
P. s. the companies that provide web hosting usually
provide a service to register domain names.. getting
both together is not a bad idea in terms of ease of
maintenance!
