Applying this analogy to web hosting can help you make a wise decision if you are currently 1) new to internet business and looking for that first web host, or 2) up and running but thinking time has come to upgrade to a higher level.

Web hosts fall generally into 3 categories. They are: 1) Free Services 2) Budget Hosts (under $20-25 per month) 3) Full Service ($25+ per month)

Let's take a look at each category.

1. Free Services If you want to run a home page for personal interest for family and friends, great! If you want to ease into internet cautiously, great. Tripod.com offer a good free service with reasonable support. Or check out: http://zap.to/1freewebpage/ for a good listing of what's available.

In short, if you merely want to paddle around, have a little fun, gain some experience, these services are fine. For serious business however you really need your own domain name, not someone else's. Tripod takes edge off by allowing your name to come first in URL, e.g. http://yourname.tripod.com

Having said that, you can't get away from fact that your credibility as a business takes a hit when clients see this kind of domain name.

2. Budget Hosts You get what you pay for, generally. Many may knock value of budget hosts. If you are running a serious business, then probably this kind of package would not give enough stability or features.

Consider following first-hand nightmare experience: "One popular low-cost host left my entire site dead for over a week while I scrambled frantically to save my business. Heck, I couldn't even reach anyone or get them to return my plea for help. When dust settled, they had lost backups of my entire site and I was left to fend for myself." - Ken (Internet Marketing Challenge)

Now that you’ve probably just spent hundreds of hours and possibly even thousands of dollars to build your web presence, one of most important decisions you’ll make next is where to host your website.

Choosing a Platform It may be true that Unix tends to be more reliable than NT, but it is even more true that any server when overloaded with sometimes 250+ web sites, like most web hosting companies do, will not be as stable as you need it to be. Don’t expect your site to incur 100% availability if you are on a shared virtual server. There are too many things that can go wrong when 250 different sites are competing for same resources. If your web host doesn’t publish how many sites they put on a single server, find out from them, they shouldn't have anything to hide. By way, 255 sites is maximum that Windows NT will allow per server, and most web hosts take full advantage of that for their lower end solutions.

Web sites running on NT/Windows 2000: *Rapid application development with scripting languages such as ASP or Cold Fusion. *Typically is easier to administer in a shared hosting environment. *If need ODBC to support database driven a site. *FrontPage tends to work better on NT

Web sites running UNIX/LINUX: *Scripting languages such as PERL, PHP or any CGI applications. *If you only need email or a static site, use Unix/Linux, it's cheaper. *Tends to be more reliable then NT in a shared hosting environment.

Web site running on a dedicated server: *If Uptime, user experience, branding, and site performance are a main concern. *If you new to hosting, check out Cobalt RAQ.