Web Hosting

This Week Assignment 1 – Any Questions Web Hosting Assignment 2-3

Choosing a Website Hosting Provider

What is Web Hosting? Once your site is on a web server, it is available on the internet. To have your site hosted on the web, you need three things: A Website A Domain Name A Web server

Web Server A computer that can be used to store website information and accessed by any computer with a connection to the Internet and a web browser such as Internet Explorer.

Web Hosting A company who will either: Rent you space on one of their web servers (Shared hosting) Rent you an entire server (Dedicated hosting) Rent you space on a shared server that you can use like a dedicated server (a Virtual Server) Connect your own server to their Internet Connection (Co-location)

What type of web Hosting Package? You can get FREE web hosting. Or you can PAY: The average small business pays £10 - £50 a month, depending on features, web space, and data transfer “bandwidth” required.

Group Exercise - Free Web space There must be some catches… What are they? – discuss Google this – what options can you find?

Paying for web space Reasons why you would want to pay… FREE Web space is generally… For small, personal sites only – it doesn’t look professional Offers limited web space and little bandwidth A personal, unique domain name is often not possible Many ISPs give free web space when you sign up with them.

Paid for Web space For business or professional websites. Use your own domain name Need more space or bandwidth Service guarantees Support for PHP/ MySQL etc

Things to consider when choosing a hosting provider Amount of web space needed: What things take up web space? What things on a web site cause it to load slowly? Features wanted: what might you want to include: on your website? with your hosting package?

Web space If your web site is text-based, you won't need much web space Graphics, audio, video and Flash animations require more space.

Features you might need On your website: E-commerce options for selling online Database support Server Programming Language support Shopping carts Audio/video streaming support

Features you might need - With your hosting package Website builders Technical support Facility to upgrade or downgrade plans at any time

Data transfer What is it? When is it important?

Issues for Professional Websites Selling Online Look for a provider who can provide commercial web solutions e.g.: a Merchant Account, Shopping Cart Software and A secure online payment system certificate compatible with their hosting platform. Choose a large web space with a high bandwidth in this case.

Data Transfer Allowance Depends how many visitors you're expecting and … how well you promote your web site. For most sites, 3 to 5 GB /month should suffice.

Choosing a Hosting Provider Exercise: In groups of 2 or 3, research and select a hosting provider for the Translation Services Website. Some sites to try: http://www.oneandone.co.uk http://www.easyspace.com http://www.123-reg.com http://www.globalgold.co.uk

Choosing a Hosting Provider Research their support policies Check support policies Some provide lists of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and support documents on their web sites Select a provider with years of experience Look for a list of their customers and check some of their web sites

Experienced providers will have: A large web site containing pages of services & support documents, Phone and fax numbers A physical address

What else should you do? Clarify the scope of your site, Will you need a database attached to your site? Do you want to start small and expand later on? Clarify the functions you wish to have. e.g. database – which one? Other software you wish to use i.e. PHP, ASP, Cold Fusion Online shopping facility

Assignments 2 & 3 Choose an available domain name for the web site defined in Assignment 1 – give your reasons for the choice of this name? Choose a company to host the website defined in Assignment 1 – provide the details of the company, hosting package chosen and your reasons for making that choice Should be about 1 side of A4 for both