How Does Shared Hosting Operate?

If you have set up a site and you would like other people to see it, you must host your website on a public server.

Where to host your web site?

Although you can use your own computer as a web server, it is a more common practice to let a hosting service provider host your web site. The chief reason for that is the greater reliability and the uninterrupted accessibility of your website, since hosting providers have high-end hardware and allocate a far greater bandwidth allowance, which guarantees the faster access to your site from all over the globe.

Shared hosting services

Pick a shared hosting solution, which allows you to register domains and to create mail accounts. Many web shared hosting companies, like us at My Internet Host, offer a charge-free domain registration as a gift if you sign up for a web hosting account.

Hosting your site on your own

Hosting your site on your own personal server is undoubtedly an option, but only in case you have time and the necessary experience. There are some matters that you need to consider, among them the hardware and software costs. To develop an actual, proper website, you will have to spend cash on some powerful server hardware, since you cannot anticipate a cheap computer to carry out the job. You will also require an uninterrupted high-speed connection without outages, which usually comes at a pretty steep price. If you are availing of licensed software for your site, you will have to invest cash in the license too. You may also need to deal with bugs and viruses. You will have to keep your web server constantly running in an environment where "everything could take place". If you do not have the needed technical expertise, you will need to engage a sysadmin to handle these things for you, which will render the price of hosting your website on your own even steeper than that of a dedicated web hosting server furnished by a hosting solutions provider.

A dedicated web hosting server offered by a hosting vendor

Leasing a dedicated hosting web server from a web hosting company is an appropriate decision if you wish to establish a high resource-devouring site or a business page that has very firm security requirements. The prime benefits of utilizing a dedicated server hosting solution are the high-speed Internet connection, the permanent power supply and the very powerful hardware. Some hosting service providers, again like us at My Internet Host, supply virtual private servers hosting and semi-dedicated web hosting services, which are based on extremely powerful web servers that can be shared by several users. You can also anticipate them to offer effective load balancing solutions and the necessary data backup servers.

Security and stability

Web hosting suppliers are specialized in supplying hosting services and because this is what they do to earn a living, you can expect them to offer uninterrupted Internet access, the latest software updates and the best malware protection, as well as system administrators available 24x7 to support you in emergency cases.

Choose your hosting vendor

What you have to take into account when selecting your web hosting provider is the stability of the offered services. Make sure that the hosting accounts provider of your choice offers a 24x7x365 technical support service. Do not put yourself in a situation where you cannot solve urgent issues immediately because you have to wait till the next working day. Besides, if you pick a shared hosting plan, which features a 24x7x365 client support service, this implies that there constantly will be system administrators available to resolve any critical issues as soon as they appear, which is a very desirable thing.

Routine data backups

Make sure that your web hosting accounts provider offers routine data backups with the offered services, or else you may lose some important data in the event of a hardware crash or because you have erased something by mistake. The presence of day-to-day data backups is typically mentioned in the web hosting service provider's Terms of Service.

Traffic and hosting server hard drive storage space

When selecting your web hosting plans provider, give specific attention to the traffic allowance limitations. Make sure that you don't have to overpay for unanticipated high volumes of web traffic if your site becomes more popular. There are many web hosts that offer unlimited web traffic nowadays, so the smartest step to take is to ensure that you have made the correct decision prior to subscribing.

Content restrictions

Pay specific attention to the web hosting provider's content restrictions. If you aim to publish pictures or to broadcast live video or audio, make sure that you can do that. In addition, the majority of web hosting distributors set restrictions as far as using their services for storage purposes is concerned, so if you upload too much content that is not related or directly linked to your site, your user account could get discontinued. This is the reason why double-checking the hosting provider's TOS, no matter how time-consuming and tiresome this might be, is very vital.

Electronic mail capabilities

Most hosting suppliers today also offer email services with all their hosting plans. It is not a bad idea to verify if the hosting accounts provider of your choosing offers such options too, so as to be sure that you'll obtain all the features that you need in return for your cash.