Web Hosting Tutorial

There are an incredible number of hosting providers out there. Personally, I am now using GoDaddy.com for my needs -- including this site. I am using their private domain registration feature and then adding on a basic web site for only $3.95 a month. I don't have to earn a lot of revenue to make a profit!

Okay, enough of the sales pitch. However, there are reasons that you may want to consider another web hosting provider. Usually these reasons are somewhat technical, but in certain instances it will matter to you. These reasons include:

Dedicated IP Hosting
It used to be vital that your web server have its own IP address. These days this isn't required unless you need to be able to provide secure pages via HTTPS. Most modern providers will allow you to acquire an IP address for your domain name and/or web site for a small fee.

Linux vs Windows Web Hosting
If you are doing things more complex than simply hosting web pages you may need to host your pages on a Linux server. Standard UNIX processes such as cron jobs and email processing may then be available to you. In some cases you may even be allowed root access in order to install custom servers and services.

Secure Shell Access
Secure shell, or SSH, is similar to telnet, except that it communicates to your server using an encrypted connection. This allows you to edit files by hand right on the web server, instead of simply relying on FTP to transfer files back and forth. It also allows you to log in to your database and issue SQL commands interactively -- though web based tools do exist for common servers such as MySQL. Just an aside, but I don't have SSH access to my basic GoDaddy hosting accounts.

Web Server Configuration
Different web hosting providers will give you different levels of web server configuration. Generally, unless you get a virtual dedicated server, you will use Apache .htaccess files to update the behavior of your web server. In particular, you may want to enable symbolic links or require basic authenticated access (simple password only access) to some areas of your web site.

Hosting Multiple Domains
Some providers will allow you to host more than one domain on your account. Assuming you aren't getting all that much traffic on any of the domains you are hosting (this is generally true if your site is not image intensive) you may be able to save a lot of money by hosting many domains on one account. If you are only trying to find a place to host your own business site then you probably won't need to pay for this option.

Because I develop a lot of web sites I've recently signed up with Hostgator. Using their $9.95 shared web hosting plan I can develop an unlimited number of sites. Once each site, or domain, starts to develop it's own traffic I can then migrate it elsewhere if it grows to the point that I'd rather not have it on a shared server. This is a great account for a developer planning to create many sites over time.

Free Web Hosting
It is still possible to host a web site for free. This is an excellent way to get familiarized with being a webmaster. Two things you may want to look into include Geocities or perhaps running your own blog. A great place to host a blog is on Blogger.com. Free providers require that you host banners or some other type of advertising, but this can be fairly benign, as with Blogger.

Other Web Hosting Providers
As mentioned on the affiliate program page, there are simply too many hosting providers to attempt to provide a comprehensive resource. Use any standard search engine to find hosting provider reviews. These exist primarily to earn referral revenues for the people providing the review materials. However, the reviews will tell you about the providers and the services offered so you can make an informed decision.

My advice is to start with something cheap. After you've been working with a very low cost provider for a while, you'll be able to decide what, if any, additional requirements you may require. There is no point in paying additional fees for capabilities that you don't need or use!

If you are still in need of technical details concerning the differences betwee different types of web hosting services, Wikipedia has some good information.