There are thousands of Web Hosting Companies out there and counting. How do I choose
ideal plan for my Web Site? The key here is to understand what your Web Site’s needs are. Once you know what is required, you can eliminate many options. These are most important points that you need to focus on:Determine requirements of your site. Choosing an Operating System. Choosing between SHARED and DEDICATED solutions. Determine which hosting company is better.
So, what are requirements of my site? Answer all following questions. If there is any question that you do not know answer to, try to work with your Web Designer. If you do not have a Web Designer, try to ask any Web Hosting Provider. If you do not understand any of terms, see Web Hosting Terminologies at http://www.sirunet.com/WebHostingTerms.com.
•How much Disk Space does your Web Site require? •How much Monthly Transfer (Bandwidth) do you need? •Is a Database required? If so, what Type of Database is required for your site? •What Scripting Languages does your web site use? •Does your site require Servlet Technology (Server-side scripting language)? •If so, What Servlet Technology does your web site use?
Some of questions above may have approximated answers. Try to do your best and it will help you when choosing your hosting provider and plan. Most of sites out there need less than 100 Megabytes (MB) of disk space. Notice that one Megabyte is equivalence to eight Megabits, so do not be fooled by numbers. If your web site is not for heavy media downloads, in most cases you do not need more than 10 Gigabyte (GB) of Monthly Transfer. There is an equation that can be used to calculate your bandwidth: Monthly Transfer = Monthly Visitors x Average Hits per Visitor x Average Page Size
Unless you have a web site hosted already, otherwise it is impossible for you to determine site’s monthly visitors and average page hits per visitor. So lets put this aside for now.
There are many types of databases. The most commonly used database types are MYSQL (Windows & UNIX), ODBC (Windows), and MS Access (Windows). By knowing what type of database you use, it will help you decide which Operating System to go for.
The most popular Scripting Languages are CGI and Perl. While most of web hosting plans include these as standard features, you do not have to worry too much here. Note: some Free Web Hosting plans DO NOT support scripting languages.
Choosing a Web Host with Servlet Technology is very hard because it is not commonly supported and even for those who say they support it, they do not have sufficient technical support. The most commonly used Servlet Technologies are Active Server Pages (ASP) and Java Server Pages (JSP). While JSP is best supported in both Windows and UNIX environment, ASP is currently well supported only in Windows. Although Sun Java System Active Server Pages do work on UNIX environment, it is still in testing stage; as of July 2004.
