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Best Web Hosting Provider
If you're looking to get a site online, chances are you're going to want to compare web hosting providers. With so many companies, packages and features, how does one compare them to find the best web hosting provider? There are four basic categories you'll need to effectively compare web hosting companies: features, stability, reliability and support. The best web hosting provider will provide all of these qualities.
Features - Best Web Hosting Provider
There are two essential categories of web hosting: hosting for basic web sites, and hosting for web applications. Basic web sites don't require many features to operate. Web hosting for basic web sites will usually focus on disk space, the amount of monthly bandwidth, and SFTP support for secure access to your web space. Hosting for web applications should have support for server-side scripting languages like PHP, and SQL database access. These two features allow your advanced web application to take, manipulate and save data in a dynamic way. When it comes to cost, hosting for basic sites is typically less expensive than hosting for web applications. The best web hosting provider's plans should reflect this.
Stability - Best Web Hosting Provider
Because basic sites simply present hard-coded information, they are usually very stable by default. Web applications are different, and have more links in the chain. They retrieve data from databases, manipulate them with scripting languages, and then present this dynamic information to the user. If a problem occurs at any step along the way, the web application will present an error. To prevent errors from happening, the servers that host your web application should be of high performance, updated regularly and well maintained. The best web hosting provider will ensure reliable performance. So check your web hosting provider's site to see what kinds of servers they have, and what procedures they use to maintain them. The best web hosting provider will have a dedicated staff that maintain their web servers.
Reliability - Best Web Hosting Provider
Natural disasters happen, but the best web hosting provider will implement precautions to make sure that their servers stay online. Battery backups and emergency generators can keep power running uninterrupted from blackouts and brownouts. Multiple, redundant Internet connections can ensure that the server will be online, even if one Internet line goes down. Also look at the strength of the company itself. Chances are, the web hosting companies that have been around awhile will be more financially secure than a shaky startup company. The best web hosting provider will make a stable company for you to partner with.
Support - Best Web Hosting Provider
Customer support should be there to answer your questions and help you set up your site. All web hosting companies will provide support over email, but the best web hosting provider companies will also offer telephone customer support. Keep time zone differences in mind, and look at the customer support hotline's business hours. The best web hosting provider's customer support will be your lifeline should you ever need help.
Hurricane Electric - Our Pick for Best Web Hosting Provider
Hurricane Electric has been around since 1994, providing Internet Backbone and Colocation services. Now they also offer web hosting services, with packages for basic sites starting at $1 / month, and packages for web applications starting at $9.95 / month. Their servers are top notch, battery backed up, meticulously maintained by their expert technicians, and plug directly into Hurricane Electric's Internet backbone, with multiple connections for redundancy. It's web hosting done right, and their so sure of their service that they offer a 30 day money back guarantee. If you're looking for the best web hosting provider, check them out at http://www.he.net/hosting.html