must be said that different web-hosting providers offer different space and bandwidth. Space and bandwidth are usually the main characteristics of a web-hosting plan.

The terminology associated with web can be quite dazzling: virtual web hosting, dedicated hosting; co-locating hosting, shared reseller hosting.

Shared Web Hosting

Shared web or virtual web are two terms for the same thing.

Shared web means that on a web server are hosted many web sites that all have a defined quota of HDD space and bandwidth. They all run simultaneously and there can be from hundreds to thousands of web sites on the same web server.

Given the high number of web sites should you worry about exceeding the performance of the web server, issue better known as slow server response, meaning that your visitors will have to wait too long for your web pages to load.

That is usually not a real problem when dealing with serious web providers, because the operational parameters of the web servers are monitored and appropriate actions will be taken in order to maintain the level of service contracted.

The greater number of web sites sharing the resources of a web server (HDD space, bandwidth, memory, CPU time), the web provider can afford to offer its services at a lower cost. A minus would be that, even with high level of service, you will have to accept a slower server response time when choosing shared web hosting.

Reseller Web Hosting

When web-hosting providers offer their services, typically with a discount, to a third-party (a reseller that will thus become a web-hosting provider itself) and the latter subsequently offers web-hosting services under his branding.

Indeed technically the reseller web is very similar to shared web hosting, as many web sites end up sharing space and bandwidth on the same web server.

The resellers usually are web designers or web developers who offer web services as part of their integrated services. As the web-hosting provider offers resellers important discounts, the price they can offer is among the smallest in the industry.

Compared with the shared web hosting, this system has technical support problem. It takes time and communication problems may occur on the course of your problem from the reseller to the web-hosting provider.

Unless your site is a personal web site or non-commercial one, this poor support issue is enough to not consider this your primary option.

Continuing this line of thought, how can you distinguish a reseller from a real web-hosting provider? It’s not the professional design of the web site, not even the support contact facilities offered as may resellers might have contracts with the provider on the technical support and the person taking your calls might be working for the provider and identify himself to you as an employee of the reseller.

Solid company information is made available usually only by serious providers. The price, that can get as low as under 5$/month is another hint, but you should consider it carefully with prices dropping through the industry.

Dedicated Web Hosting

In dedicated web one single web server is rented to a single customer.

Although this is the common belief, web-hosting providers usually divide a single web server computer between up to three customers.

On the other hand there are web-hosting providers that actually give an entire web server to a customer. Even with three customers sharing the web server, the dedicated web option offers the customers the option to host more than one web site, configure the software to best meet the needs of his site or scale the available bandwidth.

The high prices combined with the availability of resources recommend this type of web for highly important web sites such as e-commerce sites.

Co-location Web Hosting

Co-locating web is similar with dedicated web hosting. The main difference is that while in dedicated web the web server computer belongs to the web-hosting provider and is only rented by the customer, in co-locating web the customer owns the web server computer.

The web-hosting provider only houses the web server computer and sells bandwidth to the customer. This gives the customer using co-locating web full control of the web server combined with the security of the data center.

Now you should be equipped with the necessary information to decide on you web hosting.

You shouldn’t try and find the lowest price possible, but give some extra thought to the quality of service you are buying and to the support offered by a web host provider.
Calin Indre is editor at HostPinPin (www.hostpinpin.com), a Cheap Web Hosting Directory. HostPinPin.com is a resource for webmasters and consumers looking to find a web hosting company. Providing web hosting articles, tips, web hosting reviews and more. This article may be reprinted or published without the authors consent as long as the “About” and “weblinks” are kept intact.

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