If you’re new to Web
hosting, the bevy of plans available from many providers may confuse
you. Here’s a quick primer on what’s what in the world of Web hosting.
Shared hosting: In this arrangement, a single Web
server box usually handles hundreds or thousands of websites. This is
possible because each of those sites is probably very small and uses
minimal bandwidth--which is why providers can offer such a service for
just $4 or $5 a month. We looked exclusively at shared hosting in our Web host roundup. Linux hosting: Along with shared hosting, this service is probably what you want, as the vast majority of Web development tools (WordPress,
Joomla, Drupal, and more) are all designed for Linux. For sites that
use PHP, Perl, or most other programming code, Linux is almost
essential. But don’t panic: You don’t need to know Linux to use a Linux
Web hosting service, since Web hosts provide a graphical interface to
help you find your way around. All the hosts we looked at in our roundup
are Linux hosts. Windows hosting: A commonly available alternative is
Windows hosting, which allows you to use Microsoft tools to manage and
publish your site. For sites that employ Microsoft-specific tools, such
as ASP, Windows is essential. Usually Windows hosting is more expensive
than Linux options.
VPS hosting:
A virtual private server is designed for higher-traffic sites, and
provides a virtualized server that runs only your website and no
others--the benefit being that you can manage or reboot the site
individually without affecting (or being affected by) other sites. At
the same time, however, the server is hosted on shared equipment that is
running many such VPSs, so a hardware failure will still take all the
sites down.
Dedicated hosting: With a dedicated host, you get
one computer (or more) to host your website. Other sites are hosted
elsewhere, so they can’t crash your site or bog it down if they receive a
lot of traffic. Sounds nice, but this service gets expensive quickly. Managed hosting: In a managed hosting situation, the
host provides staff members to help keep an eye on your website,
manually restarting failed servers and providing technical expertise,
sometimes at additional cost. Many hosting plans--shared or
dedicated--can also be managed. Colocation: Although colocation is similar to
dedicated hosting, it uses hardware and software that you provide
personally, giving you complete control over the site. The Web host
doesn’t touch the server except to make sure that it’s still turned on.
Everything else is up to you. This service is the most complicated--and
usually the most expensive--way to run a website.
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