A simple guide to hosting

When it comes to creating your web site one of the more important decisions you will make will be about who and what type of hosting you purchase. Let's have a look at some terms used when purchasing, and we will go into greater depth on some of the terms later.

A brief description of the most common terms:

Domain name

This is usually paid every two years, and prices can vary enormously.

The domain name is your ‘[yourname].co.uk’ or ‘[yourname].com’, and there are lots of permutations for your name, .uk.com or .biz etc. Always double check the price of your domain name. Some are incredibly expensive for little real value.

The domain name is really just a pointer. It takes the ‘real’ address of your web space, usually something like 123.896.453.123:1006, and gives it a relevant name. These lists of 'domain name = number' live on massive servers called domain name servers. See our Internet section for more details. It is important to ensure that you can move the registration of your name from one supplier to another, or that you can change your web space host without penalty. These are issues your designer should explain fully to you.

Hosting space

This is usually paid for on an annual basis and refers to the amount of web space you can use to hold your files and images. It works in exactly the same way as a hard disk so 50Mb allows more space than 25Mb. How much should you have? Well an average image file is 60kb and a HTML page can be around 40kb. So 25Mb will allow dozens of pages and images without any problem. Check with your designer. There is no point in paying vast amounts of money to have large hosting space for a three page catalogue!

A note of caution here. Many developers will offer you space through ‘their own’ servers. Usually they don’t actually host systems themselves, they act as resellers on commission from larger hosting companies. Although this may seem an attractive option, all your eggs are being firmly placed in one basket.

If your host goes out of business and your web space and domain name are hosted through them, this means that your entire web site could (not would...) disappear overnight as the bill from the main host will not get paid.

WeI always recommend strongly that our clients, with our assistance, purchase their own web space and domain name. This way they are in control.

Bandwidth

This is usually a monthly allowance.

Bandwidth is the amount of traffic allowed from your server to the Internet. Every time a page or image is called to a browser in a front room somewhere in the world the size of the file called is added to a list. Once the list has exceeded your allowed bandwidth you will be charged, usually in pence per Mb but the charges can be considerable. This is rarely discussed but can have an impact on your costs for running a site. If you have a logo that is 60kb in size, every time that logo is downloaded you will add 60 to the amount of bandwidth used. So a 90kb file doing the same job ‘wastes’ 30kb every time it is loaded. You don’t need to get paranoid about file sizes, you would be amazed at how much traffic can get through on most allowances, however it is worth checking.

Another point to watch is the cost of loading information to the site. If you regularly change the information on the site this can also use your bandwidth unless you have unlimited FTP (File Transfer Protocol) access. If you are likely to be using large files for the reader to download and these change regularly, watch this area carefully.

Operating system

This is usually either Windows or a variation of Unix.

This is a key area for choosing your web space. There are two main choices for most users. Windows and Unix/Linux.

Windows allows greater integration of Microsoft products into the web page and some of the latest advances in technology are Windows based. This can allow for greater interaction between the home PC and the Internet site.

Unix/Linux are basically the same operating system. Unix is the older and more robust, Linux has been developed by programmes to give the same functionality as Unix but at no cost. It is very good, and addresses some of the Unix problems, and has become more and more reliable over the years. For hosting you can really count these as the same.

So what is the choice?

For general everyday hosting there is really not that much of a problem if, for example, you are looking at a web site that displays a few pages and some images to reflect you current product catalogue either will do, though often Unix is cheaper.

However, as soon as you get into the area of databases or the use of programs the differences are subtle, but apparent. Basically the two systems are not interchangeable (though as with most IT issues there are always exceptions!).

Both systems offer the same basic functionality, you can program, use databases, send emails and use e-commerce packages. The problem lies in the fact that the software for one cannot be used on the other. Set up your site with ASP pages and an Access database on Windows and this cannot be moved to a Unix system. PHP, on the other hand, needs special software interpreters to run which is not usually on Windows hosts. It is therefore really important to know what you intend to do in the future when you select your web host. Do you intend to run mailing list, run a subscription service, sell your companies products, or use the web space to allow distant employees to work from home? All these ideas should be explained to your developer and they should come back to you with a choice of one system or the other.

Often you will find that developers have a good knowledge of the basics of both systems, but work in mainly in one. This is no real problem, just try to ensure they have the knowledge to do as you want by asking them specific questions about your requirements, present or future.

Email

Usually comes with the hosting package.

You will get email accounts with your hosting package. This can be from 1 – 100 depending on how much you pay. Email accounts allow you to send and receive mail as xx@[yourname].co.uk rather than using your ISP account, and adds that professional look. It can easily be set-up on your home or work PC so that you can send and receive messages. Check to ensure how many addresses you can have, can you have a catchall or email forwarding. This sends any emails to your web address on to your domestic PC, or if required another email post box. This allows you to catch any non-specific emails, such as badly spelt names, in one place.

And finally.....

When selecting your host you should ensure that you can get statistics of visitors to your site. Almost all hosting companies now supply visual statistics showing how many visitors you have had, when the looked at your site, the actual pages they looked at, what time of day, country of origin etc. These are important, as the information they contain may be very useful in allowing you to make decisions on how your site should grow.