Shared hosting
Your entry into paid web hosting is most probably shared hosting.
Shared hosting means that you share a web server with many other
websites. A web host owns the server, and they rent out small
parts of the servers, so webmasters can share the cost of the
server. The number of accounts on one shared server can be from 5
to a few hundred. Something like 100 or 200 is normal for lowend
shared hosting accounts.
The web host will set up your account after you have paid, with
all the necessary functionality installed. If you do not own a
domain, the web host will probably assist you in getting one. All
you have to do is upload your website, and your visitors can come.
And no advertisements are placed on your website, except your own
ads of course.
With a shared web hosting account and your own domain, you have
the opportunity to create a professional image of your online
business/activity. All you have to do is to create a good looking
website with decent content.
The other articles in the beginner-section will cover everything
you need to know to get started with shared web hosting, and
select a web host that will provide what you need for a successful
online presence.
Web hosting Sizes
There are many ways to determine the size of a web hosting
account. Some factors to count in are disk space, email accounts,
allowed data transfer and the number of domains you can host with
the account.
Disk space
The size of a typical web page is around 10 to 30 kb. And
remember, most of the disk usage is graphics that are reused on
several pages, so a moderately sized web site might well be under
1 mb in total size. However, if you throw in large image
galleries, big databases, scripts, email and log files, the total
size could easily be 200 mb or more. Luckily for the disk pigs,
disk space is very cheap and 200 mb or more is included with some
sub $10/month web hosting accounts.
Buying disk space over your allowance is normally not very
economic. So if you think you will need loads of disk space,
choose a package that includes big disk space. If not, you have to
find some other way to separate your web hosting candidates.
Email accounts
Web hosts offer anything from one to unlimited number of email
accounts. Even if only one person will operate the web site, it is
convenient to have separate email accounts for different purposes.
You could f.ex. have one account for general inquiries (general@yourdomain.info),
one for more private mail (yourname@yourdomain.info) and one for
business issues (business@yourdomain.info).
Also check if the web host offers web mail with your account. If
not, you will have to download the mail to your computer with a
POP3 compliant email program, or access your mail via another web
mail account. Some free web mail accounts offers POP3 access. It
is also nice to get a catch-all address. This means that email
sent to anything@yourdomain.info will be forwarded to your main
account.
Data transfer
Data transfer is the amount of data transferred to and from your
web hosting account. This includes file uploads, email, and visits
to your web site. Normally, visits to your web site will be the
dominant factor.
If your average page size is 20 kb, 50 000 page views will result
in 1 gb of data transfer. And since graphics normally are
downloaded to a user only once per session, your actual amount of
data transfer will be lower.
Most web sites use less than 1 gb per month, but popular web sites
might need 10 gb or more. Unlike disk space, data transfer is
quite expensive. Extra data transfer is normally priced from
$3-$10/gb, so if you need to purchase extra data transfer,
consider upgrading your account or switching web host.
Multiple domains
If you are running or plan to run many web sites under different
domains. Many web hosts does not offer this, but it is very
money-saving to host many domains under one account.
Some web hosts offer multiple domain hosting, but email is only
included with your main domain. Or they only offer a catch-all
address for your secondary domains. This means that email sent to
anything@seconddomain.info is forwarded to something@yourdomain.info.
There is normally a limit to the number of extra domains you can
host with one account. And the extra domains often comes with
extra costs. Like a $10 setup fee and $2/month for every extra
domain.
It could also be useful to have extra IP-addresses for your extra
domains. Some web hosts offer a number of multihosted domains with
a smaller number of IP-addresses. One IP-address is normally
included with hosting packages that allow multiple domains.