zondag, oktober 08, 2006
Choosing a web host
So far I have a web name and decided on a programming language. Today I'll discuss how I selected my hosting provider. A web host offers you a place on their web server to store your website content, and they usually charge a monthly or yearly fee for it. All web hosts allow for storing static web pages. If you need specific server languages such as Java, PHP or ASP.NET, you need to select a host that offers those.
One thing to keep in mind: hosting is a commodity. You can find literally hundreds on the web and the competition is fierce, and prices low. You have plenty of hosting options, and it is easy to just copy your content and put it on another server at another provider. You know that, they know that. So avoid at all costs to be tied in with your provider! One way is to register your web name yourself separately at directnic or other sites, or make very sure that your host doesn't legally own the name of your site! Another way hosting providers want you to stay is to have unclear policies on how to end your hosting agreement. And they will also offer a lot of extra services such as free components that make it more difficult to just pack your site and go elsewhere with it.
Important when comparing web hosts :
You'll find two big categories of hosting plans: on Linux servers and on Windows servers. The latter will be a little more expensive because Windows isn't free. I have one of each: some of my sites are hosted with ipowerweb.com and my ASP.NET sites are on seekdotnet.com .
I'm happy with both, so I'll stay. But here are some of my experiences I wanted to share:
DECISION: I'll host my site on seekdotnet.com unless it gives problems. In the beta period, I'll use the free account on VWDHosting.net .
One thing to keep in mind: hosting is a commodity. You can find literally hundreds on the web and the competition is fierce, and prices low. You have plenty of hosting options, and it is easy to just copy your content and put it on another server at another provider. You know that, they know that. So avoid at all costs to be tied in with your provider! One way is to register your web name yourself separately at directnic or other sites, or make very sure that your host doesn't legally own the name of your site! Another way hosting providers want you to stay is to have unclear policies on how to end your hosting agreement. And they will also offer a lot of extra services such as free components that make it more difficult to just pack your site and go elsewhere with it.
Important when comparing web hosts :
- the cost they charge per month or year (most offer 3 months free when signing up)
- the setup cost (usually free and most offer a 30 days money-back guarantee)
- the disk space (don't be fooled, you'll never need a 1 GB site unless you store movies our sound files on it, so don't pay a lot more for 10 GB or 100 GB accounts)
- the monthly volume you are allowed for people visiting your site (popular sites will generate more traffic and need more bandwidth, ususlly the limit is OK and is there solely to avoid misuse)
- if you need it the e-mail addresses you can have, if there is webmail or SMTP
- the number of databases included (usually mySQL server, an open source database) and the total database size
- the ease of use of their web-based control panel
- the quality of their support and online knowledge base, FAQ or forums (have a look!)
- search for reviews on your provider on Google before you sign up
You'll find two big categories of hosting plans: on Linux servers and on Windows servers. The latter will be a little more expensive because Windows isn't free. I have one of each: some of my sites are hosted with ipowerweb.com and my ASP.NET sites are on seekdotnet.com .
I'm happy with both, so I'll stay. But here are some of my experiences I wanted to share:
- IPowerWeb.com is cheap, very popular, fast and easy to manage. Two comments: they ask a photocopy of your VISA card when you sign up, which is a weird practise. Second: they did not upgrade my account with the extra gigabytes they now standard provide for new sign-ups. Not that I need it, but it doesn't seem fair. Otherwise, never had any complaints.
- The best ASP.NET provider is probably discountasp.net . If I get problems with my current one, that's the one I'll change too. They are very popular, highly respected in the community and always include the latest technologies in their package. But they are -inspite of their name- more expensive than others, especially if you want a MSSQL database which is not included by default.
- I selected seekdotnet.com for my ASP.NET and MSSQL database hosting, merely because of the low price. They have some bad reviews, but generally I'm happy with them and I'll stay until I encounter major problems.
- They offer good support, for example reset my security for me on request, installed my dotnetnuke website, tested my SMTP settings etc. But you have to submit your request via the support section in the control panel. They don't respond well to sending mails.
- They do have serious problems with their SMTP mail server once in a while. I never got the mail functionality on my dotnetnuke site http://www.6c-learning.orgworking. But that could be a bug in dotnetnuke because I did a test with a mail component in ASP.NET and that worked...
DECISION: I'll host my site on seekdotnet.com unless it gives problems. In the beta period, I'll use the free account on VWDHosting.net .
Labels: hosting provider, ipowerweb, seekdotnet, web host
