What You Need to Know Before Using the Best Web Hosting Services
Web hosting is vital in this digital age we are living in. Provided by the best web hosting services in Frederick and other locations, it allows you to access articles, listen to podcasts, stream Netflix, connect with your friends, and play online games. So what exactly is ‘web hosting?’
Web hosting is the process of delivering technologies and services needed so you can view websites or web pages on the Internet. Companies pay to have their websites hosted on special equipment called servers. Most web hosting companies will ask you to have your own domain name in order to host with them. If you don’t have one yet, the best web hosting services in Frederick will help you obtain one.
Internet users can access your website by simply typing your site address into their browsers. Once their computer connects to the server that hosts your website, they will be able to see your webpage through a browser.
If you own a company and you want to have your presence felt in the online world, you may be thinking of creating your own website. Before doing so, here are several basic web hosting aspects that you should be familiar with.
1. Variety of Hosting Types
IT providers usually offer shared, managed, VPS, dedicated, and cloud web hosting types. Of all these, shared hosting is probably the cheapest. With shared web hosting, your website is stored on the same server with other sites. Since all resources are pooled, prices of shared hosting packages are less costly. If you only have a small budget for web hosting and you do not expect much traffic, shared hosting is the best option for you. This service may cost you about $10 per month.
On the other hand, large businesses that have a high volume of visitors should choose VPS or dedicated hosting as they offer increasingly powerful server specs. VPS hosting is like a high-powered variant of shared hosting, except that much less websites share domain space, and are often a little more isolated. However, VPS hosting is more expensive than shared hosting, prompting you to spend less than $100 a month.
2. Bandwidth and Data Transfer
The term "bandwidth" is sometimes confused with “data transfer.” The former represents the total volume of data that can be transferred at one time, whereas the latter is the actual amount of information that can be used over a specific timespan. So even if your web host provides you a maximum 5GB bandwidth, your site may only allow 1GB of data transfers per month depending on your hosting plan.
3. Don’t be deceived by Unlimited Offers
Web hosting providers will attract you to purchase web-hosting plans by promising unlimited storage or monthly data transfers. However, companies that offer "unlimited" storage or data transfers may still set limitations.
Take for example a company offering heaps of disk space, and stating that they won’t limit a user's content as long as that person complies with the company's terms of service. While they may seem to offer “unlimited storage and data transfers”, you cannot just upload or stream 50TB of data per day -- that’s too much. To have a good standing with your provider, you need to have a steady stream of reasonable traffic. Make sure to consult a web host's customer service representative to learn about the scope of your plan's unlimited offering.
4. Email Accounts
One common feature of web hosting is it also provides email accounts (this is especially applicable if you are hosting a domain). The main categories of email accounts are POP3, forwarding, and aliases.
POP3 accounts appear to be typical mailboxes. You will have the ability to archive your emails on the computer, and at the same time you can use an email application to access your messages. Each username and password combination is normally equivalent to one account.
Forwarding mail accounts is beneficial if you are using another company's software to process the communications for you. Instead of keeping your emails on the mail server, they are forwarded to another email address.
Aliases email accounts are identical to forwarding mail accounts. Some web hosts encourage you to set up a catch-all alias that is mostly used to capture emails sent to addresses that are not accepted by your mail server.
Swift Systems
Swift Systems offer the best web hosting services in Frederick and other nearby locations. We are committed to keeping your website up and running while helping you comply with regulations. Call us today at (504) 370-2102 to get the best web hosting solutions.