Hosting your business on the web

Your Web hosting company can be your site's best friend or worst enemy - depending on the level of service and responsiveness. A successful Web site depends on a good Web host, but it's just as important to select the right kind of hosting account.

Are you willing to share space on a server with other sites or do you need a server of your own? Know the answer before you start shopping.

Unique And Shared Addresses

Every server connected to the Web has its own IP address. The IP address uniquely identifies that server much like a membership number or driver's license number identifies a particular individual. IP addresses are also tied to domain names. This relationship means that Web users can either enter a domain name or an IP address in a Web browser to access the information on a Web server.

The basic difference between Web hosting accounts is whether a site has its own server or shares one with other Web sites. That arrangement determines whether the site has its own IP address or shares one with other sites.

Most small to medium-sized sites use a type of hosting called "virtual hosting" where a number of Web sites reside on the same server. Because the sites share a server, they also share an IP address.

Large and/or busy sites usually can't share server space because the volume of Web traffic from many sites would quickly overwhelm the server. Those sites either operate their own servers or select a "dedicated hosting" option from their Web host. Dedicated hosting means that your site is the only site residing on the server and so you aren't sharing an IP address with any other site.

Which type is best for you? Let's look at the good and bad points of both.

Share The Risk With Virtual Hosting

The best thing about virtual hosting is price: it's usually really low. Depending on your site's technology, storage, and bandwidth requirements, virtual hosting can cost anywhere from $3 to $20 per month. It's even possible to get free hosting in return for displaying ads from the hosting company or one of its partners on your site.

If price is your main concern, then virtual hosting may be right for you. But make sure you're aware of potential problems:

Know your neighborhood. Sharing an IP address with known spam sites or adult sites raises a warning flag with search engines. Spam sites try to trick search engines into giving them an underserved high rank, so some search engines like AltaVista respond by banning the entire IP address from their index.

Check your Web host's terms of service page to see what sites are allowed on their servers. Also ask if they offer an individual IP address for different sites on the same server. Some hosts do, but make sure the IP address and domain name resolve correctly before you start promoting the site.
Slower server response. A server receives requests for files and serves up those files in the order the requests are received. It's like a line at the bank: if you're second in line you get served pretty quickly but it you're twelfth in line you'll wait much longer.

Ask your host how many sites reside on each server and how much traffic those sites get. The sheer number of sites isn't the only issue. Response time may be slower if you share space with 100 busy sites than if you share a server with 250 sites that only get a few hits per day.

Slow server response can hurt site promotion by frustrating visitors. In extreme cases, pages may timeout and never load: not a good idea if that happens when search engine spiders crawl by!
More server crashes. Most Web hosts strictly limit the type of CGI scripts allowed on their servers, and with good reason! A poorly-written CGI script can quickly run wild and consume most of the server's resources, even crashing it.

Your site could be slowed or brought down entirely due to the action of a neighboring site.

Don't get scared by these concerns. The overwhelming number of Web sites use virtual hosting and never experience any problems. You just don't want to be the exception! Evaluate the host carefully before you sign up for an account.

Any questions or comments, feel free to email me at admin@bizinfoex.com

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