Introduction to Web Hosting
Web Hosting packages can offer all the features you require to get your web-site up and going, but they also have restrictions which are mainly based around how much you pay.
Most hosting packages offer a set amount of storage and bandwidth limits (this is the amount of data that can be downloaded from your site) for a monthly fee. When you are first selecting a web host you need to consider how much space and bandwidth you’re going to need. Most web hosting companies will slow down your connection or charge you extra if you exceed your monthly bandwidth limit. Always read the small print when selecting a web hosting package….this will pay huge dividends.
Some web hosting packages come with a free domain name, so you can choose some thing memorable like www.smeology.co.uk.
Email accounts are usually included with your hosting package, together with some handy tools to help you manage your email a good example of this would be to get your business email to point to your personal email package…saves loads of time.
If you want a site that is termed (in geek speak) a dynamic site, which creates web pages on demand you may want to opt for a scripting language such as MySQL. MySQL holds the database, which holds the content and the PHP scripting language, which is used to extract content from the database. You can use the database within your site for a chat forum or a content management system.
So always consider what you need from your web hosting provider and package before you go shopping for a web package.
