TOP TEN WEB HOSTING

Just like your computer need an operating system for one to be able to access it, a website too needs to be hosted on a web server so you it can be accesses by web users. There are numerous web servers and server platforms offering these services on the web today. But each has got its advantages and disadvantages and so it is important of you to select wisely so that you make the best our the server or the platform you chose.

Research done by Netcraft has found out that Unix and Linux running Apache web server and Window NT/2000 running Internet Information Server are the most popular platforms and web servers today. The former is up by 60.17% and the later by 30.78%. Apart from these, there are many other web servers like SunONE, Weblogics, Zues etc. But we can say from the amount of popularity of Apache web server and Microsoft’s Windows NT/2000 is that they are compatible with most computers and machines.

When we talk of a platform, it’s more like an operation system in computers. Web servers need these operating systems to enable them to run well and perform various tasks. But when talking of web servers, the operating system is known as platform. The most common platform is the UNIX, which is preferred by most web hosts who use FreeBSD, Linus, OpenBSD and NetBSD. Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 is another platform that is doing well in terms of market share and popularity as a web server platform.

Many website only need HTML applications and in this case the platform isn’t all that important. If however your applications are going to be more complex then you need to be more concise with your choice of platform.

But if you need to run dynamic content which might need to use functionalities like CGI scripts, ASP, SSI, JSP, or PHP, then you are advised to go for UNIX platform web hosting.

There are some applications that only Microsoft can operate so Unix will not be compatible in these instances. We are referring to applications like Net, Cold Fusion, ASP. MS Access and the Microsoft SQL Server. For these applications you must have the Window NT Platform or the application will be faulty in their application. If you are not using these then UNIX works great because it supports Perl, PHP and MySQL.

UNIX is very well known for supporting lots of free programs, plus it is a lot cheaper than Microsoft. With just a little bit of planning when constructing your website you can save yourself some money by using applications that are supported by the less expensive UNIX. If you are innovative you may find it’s not so difficult to plan you site this way. You need to really take a look and see what your requirements are. Perhaps by conceding on some applications that you really probably won’t use, or won’t miss, you will be able to take advantage of UNIX. Then on the other hand, don’t sacrifice a much needed application for the sake of saving some money. You won’t be happy with the performance of your site if you do this. Then you need to end up changing it which would be time consuming and perhaps loss of money from your site not being operational while you made your adjustments.

Alfred Johnson is online marketer and web hosting expert, his latest ecommerce project is selling Train Horn Kits online.

categories: web hosting, hosting services, hosting provider