How To Choose A Host

Basics:

A web host is something that the person must think long and hard about which one is the best choice for your website. There are tons of web hosts out there, and you must make sure that you are choosing based on what a web host is offering, in order to make sure that you will be happy with the end results.

There are several things that have to be taken into consideration when choosing a web host and these things are necessary to check in order to ensure that you are happy with the service.

Things you should check first:


- Inode allowance

This is the maximum amount of individual files allowed including images, php files and even emails do count. You must determine how large you thing your website will be, you can always upgrade.

But allot of hosts limit this to 150k, 250k, 1 million etc this is normally package dependent (This may result in your website being down as it is normally hidden within there terms and conditions as a breach)


- Memory Allocation and Limits

This will help increase speed, performance, the number of applications that can be run at the same time, and the ability for users to open much larger files.


- Disc Space

Normally hosts are now offering "unlimited" space but depending on the package they will limit your free backups i.e anything over 20gb and your server will not run backups on your websites.


- Bandwidth and Limitations

Hosting providers are now giving you unlimited bandwidth which will allow your 250, 500, 750 etc users to be surfing at the same time and unlimited amount of downloads, although some are limited especially on shared hosting plans, but this is only for a very very high amount of traffic.


- price

Make sure you are happy with the price, once your with them people rarely change unless they have issues.


- Uptime

Uptime is the amount of time a server is constantly running properly, higher is better. Example google, yahoo etc try to crawl your site and the server is down then your site can suffer SERP (search engine ranking position) effects. I can also damage your reputation online and other unforeseen complications could a rise.


- Support

No matter if your an expert or a newbie you will need support at some point. Whether its a minor query or serious fault you need to be able to contact your host 24/7. This will be very frustrating if you cannot contact them when the time arises.

Summary

You DO NOT just dive in and go with the cheapest hosting providers, Take your time as it can directly effect your business, personnel website, Blog etc.

All of the aspects that you want in a web host can be found, you simply have to choose your web host wisely in order to get this.

(READ THE FINE PRINT WITH YOUR NEW HOSTING SERVICE)​

 

great information for starters, thanks

 

Hope it helps. If there is anything you needed advice on just ask, I have dealt with a quite allot of hosting providers now. Good luck

 

looked into the inode usage and your right if i go over 250k my hosting will be shut down until i upgrade. didnt realize this thanks

 

Great article buddy. Thanks again for sharing such an useful information with all of our dp members.