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(1) Whether Shared Hosting or Dedicated Hosting is required:

two major requirements on which this depends are – 1) the traffic ones web site is estimated to receive and 2) the degree of administrative privileges he/she needs. If one is expecting to receive huge amounts of traffic, then he/she will need to have a Dedicated Server, which definitely has a much greater bandwidth offering. He/She should select dedicated server hosting if his/her web site requires customized options, secure information or complex applications i.e. dynamic content, e-commerce, database and multimedia applications.

(2) Whether one needs Linux Hosting or Windows Hosting: One should use a Windows hosting provider if he/she is going to use server technologies such as ASP, JSP etc or intend to run Microsoft applications like Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL database on his/her server. There are securities and reliability concerns related to ASP, though it can be run on the Linux platform by using some commercial applications. However, ColdFusion can run on both Linux and Windows platforms if one wants to use it.

(3) What are ones Space and Bandwidth requirements: nowadays, many web hosts are offering 1 GB to 3 GB generous amounts of disk space. However, Ones disk space requirements may be 5 to 10 times greater than this, if his/her web site mainly acts as a download resource. The second consideration is ones bandwidth requirements may be estimated by the amount of traffic his/her web site is expected to receive.

(4) FTP Accounts and Anonymous FTP Requirements: if one has coworkers working on his/her web site project at different locations he/she may need more than one FTP account. The Anonymous FTP permits the public to access certain directories on his/her web server to whom they have been granted permission. For Anonymous FTP to function, one will need a dedicated IP address.

(5) The number of Parked Domains and Subdomains one needs:

The amount of traffic to ones web site can be increased significantly, as Parked domains are very advantageous. Likewise, by pointing to specific directories of ones web site, subdomains can help with search engine rankings. Parked domains and subdomains seldom come free with certain web hosting packages. However, One will have to pay an additional price per month if he/she needs more

(6) Whether one needs e-commerce Features: One should choose a web host that provides e-commerce functionality such as shopping carts and the ability to accept credit cards if he/she needs e-commerce features. Also, check if their server is SSL secured.

The under mentioned considerations must be kept in mind when looking for a quality web host in addition to ones own hosting requirements.

(1) More than 99.5% uptime: If ones web site is for business purposes, it’s very essential that ones site stays online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. Therefore, one should choose a web host that has an uptime greater than 99.5% and if there is an uptime guarantee, it’s even better.

(2) Server Backups: To make ones data secure, his/her web host must have a power backup system and should backup the data to an external device in order to prevent the data loss due to failure. One should test out how regularly the web host backups data, i.e. either daily or weekly.

(3) Moneyback Guarantee: It makes one risk-free, if the Web host gives a moneyback guarantee.

(4) Fast Servers: One should choose a web host with at least a T3 connection to the major Internet backbone as the level of connectivity of his/her web host to the Internet is very important. If ones web site takes more than 30 seconds to load, chances are that he/she will loose a lot of visitors and consequently sales as according to the analysis the average web visitor waits for about 30 seconds before a web page loads.

(5) Unrestricted CGI, SSH, FTP access & Anonymous FTP: CGI and FTP access is provided by most web hosts while SSH access is provided by a few so If one have a professional web site, he/she will need to run CGI scripts, have SSH (Secure Shell) access and FTP access. He/she will also require checking if anonymous FTP access is being provided.

(6) Disk Space and Bandwidth: Mostly 1 GB to 3 GB of disk space is being offered by web hosts, so if ones web site is not mainly a download resource, then this factor is not that important for him/her. Always choose a web host that meets ones, disk space and bandwidth requirements. However, bandwidth should be as much as possible as ones traffic can increase in the future thus requiring more data transfer. One should check whether he/she has the option of buying more disk space and bandwidth when required.

(7) Full e-mail services: Web host that provides web-based e-mail, mailing lists, auto responders, both POP3 and IMAP e-mail accounts, forwarding accounts and antivirus and spam filtering software should be chosen.

(8) Software/Scripts: Web host that has an extensive script library for one, to add guestbooks, forms, surveys, newsletters etc to his/her web site should be chosen.

(9) E-commerce capabilities and SSL: web host that provides one with e-commerce capabilities with shopping cart software and merchant accounts must be chosen.

(10) Web-Based Administration: nowadays almost all web hosts provide a control panel to access and manage web site features.

(11) 24/7/365 Customer Support: as many support channels as possible should be provided by the web host including an FAQ section, a knowledgebase, video and flash tutorials, toll-free support, e-mails support, live chat support and a community forum.

1. Is the company offering telephone support or 24/7 email support?

It is very important to have 24/7 Email support and one should always get reply within 1-2 hours. Not only is that telephone support also a must.

2. What is the history of the company? Since how long is the company been in existence?

One must very carefully read the companys profile from their web page. It is important to check for the existence of the company in business. One should also check for the number of users of the company .The way to obtain all this information is by having a look on the hosts website as large number of host providers posts their customer testimonials on their site to reinforce the message.

3. What is the type of software that the company is offering?

The most important tool for a user is control panel which includes statistic, web mail, adding email account, file manager, Database management etc.

Free Scripts Provided There are several webhosting provides offering free scripts to users. User can install these scripts through control panel. Some examples of Free Scripts are- Oscommerce, Phpnuke, Phpbb, Moodle, Phpwebsite, Xoops, etc.

4. Fees.

One should also check the providers service plan carefully before signing up. This service plan is usually made available by all the providers and by comparing them one can find the suitable provider suiting his/her needs. It is necessary to read the providers terms and conditions” and refund conditions as well.

5. Marketing Service

There are several web hosting providers providing search engine submission to their customers. Not only that they use to provide paid per click service to their customer.

The following are the lists of 11 most essential questions before choosing a web host-

Q1. On which platform is the web hosting built i.e. on windows or UNIX or Linux etc.

Q2. What about the reliability of the service of the web host?

Q3. What is the kind of performance one is expecting?

Q4. How is the quality of email and phone support?

Q5. How expensive is it?

Q6. How much is the bandwidth available?

Q7. What is a type of control panel available?

Q8. What about a POP3 account?

Q9. What about protection i.e. anti spam and viruses features?

Q10. What about running ones own online store?

Q11. What kind of Online Marketing Support is made available?