Best Hosting Top 10
FAQ's
These are some of the more
commonly asked questions that often arise
when it comes to web hosting. We hope
that you will find these FAQ's
helpful.
I don’t have a lot of money, can
I get someone to host my website
cheap?
What is really considered a
budget host?
Who should be looking for a
budget host?
How cheap can I get a website
hosted for?
Do budget hosts offer quality
service and uptime?
What features can I expect to
get?
What if I start with a budget
hosting plan and then later require
more?
What platforms can I get budget
hosting on?
What should I watch out for when
selecting a budget host?
What shouldn’t I sacrifice in
the name of price?
What features should I sacrifice
to save money?
What is
Ecommerce?
How do I know if I need an
Ecommerce Host?
Do I have to accept credit
cards?
What is shopping cart software
and do I need it?
How do I accept credit
cards?
What is a virtual
Terminal?
Is PayPal a good way to accept
credit cards?
What is real-time credit card
processing?
Should I look into accepting
checks online?
Do I need SSL?
What is
Co-location?
Who needs Co-location
hosting?
Who actually supplies the
server?
Will a co-location provider make
sure my machine stays
online?
If something goes wrong with my
server hardware, who fixes
it?
Is there a limit to the size of
my server?
What things do I need to take
into consideration when selecting a
provider?
I don’t have a lot of money, can
I get someone to host my website
cheap?
Yes. Depending on your web
site’s requirements, you may be the
perfect candidate for a budget web
hosting account. Back to Top
What is really considered a
budget host?
A budget host, for the purposes
of our comparisons, is defined as a web
host provider that offers web site
hosting services for $3/month or less.
All the hosting companies listed on this
website offer budget hosting
options. Back to Top
Who should be looking for a
budget host?
Budget hosting is used primarily
for personal use and by small businesses.
The best candidate for a budget web host
is a site that contains mostly static
HTML pages, with a small amount of
traffic. Size matters as well, since web
hosts offer limited amounts of disc space
for the different services they offer.
So, someone who has a large website, or a
very heavily trafficked site would not
benefit from a budget web host
account. Back to Top
How cheap can I get a website
hosted for?
It is not unheard of to see
websites available for as low as
$3.00/month, or lower. Back to Top
Do budget hosts offer quality
service and uptime?
In general budget hosting is
simply a cheaper hosting plan offered by
hosting companies for people or business
that don't require high amounts of disk
space, bandwidth or programming. The
plans usually contain many of the
commonly required features and are a
viable hosting option. Our budget hosts
offer quality service and many have 99.9%
or higher uptime guarantees.
Back to Top
What features can I expect to
get?
To be honest, there are a number
of budget hosts who offer quite an
impressive package at a budget price.
Features like database support,
scripting, shopping carts, and email
processing are available through most
budget hosts. More advanced features are
available at some hosts, but usually at
an additional cost. Back to Top
What if I start with a budget
hosting plan and then later require
more?
Most of the companies offering
budget hosting can, upon request, upgrade
your account to one that better suits
your requirements. Back to Top
What platforms can I get budget
hosting on?
You can find budget hosting on
both the Unix/Linux platforms, and the
Windows platform. Services among the two
are very competitive, since most
offerings and features are available for
both operating systems. Web server
software is commonly Apache for
Unix/Linux, and IIS for Windows.
Back to Top
What should I watch out for when
selecting a budget host?
The key thing to look for in any
hosting provider is reliability. When
selecting a host, check to see how long
they have been around. If the host has
been around for a short time, it may not
yet be an established company. If a web
host goes out of business while hosting
your site, chances are you are out of
luck, especially if you paid a year in
advance. Also, make sure your budget
account includes technical support. Some
hosts offer budget accounts for a good
price, but charge extra for
support. Back to Top
What shouldn’t I sacrifice in
the name of price?
There are a couple of things to
consider carefully when selecting a host.
First, you want to make sure the hosting
package you choose offers enough disk
space to hold your web site. Secondly,
depending on the size of your website,
and how many visitors you expect to have,
you want to make sure your host offers
enough bandwidth for your site to
operate. When you exceed your allotted
bandwidth in a month, your host will
charge you extra. Back to Top
What features should I sacrifice
to save money?
The simple answer to this is
‘everything you don’t need’. Things like
database support, shopping carts,
scripting languages, and even web control
panels are useful things, but not worth
the extra money if you do not need them.
A majority of the websites on the
Internet today are nothing but HTML
pages, and a few graphics. A website like
this requires none of the bells and
whistles offered by most hosts. It's a
good idea to check exactly what features
your site requires with your
webmaster. Back to Top
What is Ecommerce?
Ecommerce stands for electronic
commerce; we will use the term Ecommerce
to refer to Internet sales of services
and products. In particular we will use
it to refer to doing the whole process
online: from selecting what is being
ordered to accepting payment.
Back to Top
How do I know if I need an
Ecommerce Host?
If you want to sell products or
services online then you are going to
need an Ecommerce host. Unless you want
to take a chance that people will send
you a check to order a product from a
site. Just think about how many times
have you sent a check though the mail to
order something online from a web site;
that number is probably zero.
Back to Top
Do I have to accept credit
cards?
Yes is the short and simple
answer.
Ask yourself how many items a
week you buy that which you really do not
need. Then figure out how many of those
items you bought using a credit card. In
retail stores it is pretty well known
that accepting credit cards increase
impulse purchases between 50% to 80% and
that is why any retail store you walk
into accepts credit cards.
When a customer walks into a
retail store the customer can pay with
cash, check, or credit card. In the
online world cash is not possible and no
one ever sends in a check to buy an item
from an online merchant. Accepting credit
cards online is the only way to have a
viable business. Back to Top
What is shopping cart software
and do I need it?
Shopping cart software is
software that runs on the web server that
keeps track of the items or services the
customer wants to purchase. Once the
customer is done browsing and has
selected all the items and/or services
they want to purchase then they go to the
checkout area. In the checkout area is
where the customer will put in all their
personal information and their payment
form. Using shopping cart software allows
the developer or owner of the web site to
get the site up and running a lot faster
than if they were to create the entire
shopping experience from
scratch.
You can get away without using
shopping cart software if you only have 1
or 2 items and/or services to sell.
However, if you have more than that, then
you should seriously consider using
shopping cart software. The great thing
about shopping cart software is that most
hosts will let you test the shopping cart
software even before you setup your
account with them. So make sure you test
out all the versions you can find to
figure out which one you like
best. Back to Top
How do I accept credit
cards?
There are two different ways to
accept credit cards. One is to sign up
for a service like PayPal where they
actually accept the credit card and then
they send you the money. This might be
okay for a smaller site but if you are
serious about doing Ecommerce then you
should get a merchant account.
A merchant account is very
similar to a bank account but it is only
used to accept payments from credit cards
and online checks. The money is then
transferred into your normal business
account. The time it takes to go from the
merchant account to your business account
depends on a few variables, which will
need to be discussed with the company you
setup your merchant account with.
Back to Top
What is a virtual
Terminal?
When a customer is in a store
then the merchant has access to the
credit card and can process it though a
“terminal” right next to the cash
register. In the online world that is not
possible though. In the online world we
have “virtual terminals” which is where
users give all their personal information
and credit card information. This
information is used to verify that this
is really the owner of the card. If the
information the customer gave matches
what the credit card company has on
record then the sale will go
though. Back to Top
Is PayPal a good way to accept
credit cards?
Customers want to pay the way
they want to pay so being able to accept
PayPal payments is a good idea but it
should not be the only way you accept
payments. Having a number of different
ways a customer can make a payment will
increase impulse sales and that will
significantly increase your bottom
line. Back to Top
What is real-time credit card
processing?
Real-time credit card processing
is when a user enters their personal
information along with their credit card
information into the order form and they
get a response as to if their credit card
was accepted or rejected right away. Most
merchant account and software
combinations allow for this but some do
not so make sure if you want to do this
that yours has the ability.
The other option instead of
real-time credit card processing is
manual credit card processing. What this
means is if a user enters an order at
midnight then it would go into a queue,
which you would then have to check in the
morning. If the order looked legitimate
you would then process the credit card.
Doing the credit card processing manually
just adds another step in the process and
the more steps there are the more chances
there are that a mistake will be
made. Back to Top
Should I look into accepting
checks online?
Yes you should; you want to
increase the number of ways a person can
pay because it will increase your sales.
A good number of merchant accounts do
check verification online so ask your
merchant account provider.
Back to Top
Do I need SSL?
Yes you need SSL because it
secures the information being sent
between the users computer and your web
server. If this transaction is not
secured then personal information along
with credit card information could fall
into the wrong hands. Back to Top
What is
Co-location?
In general, collocation is
moving or placing things together,
sometimes implying a proper order. On the
Internet, this term (often spelled
"colocation" or "co-location") is used to
mean the provision of space for a
customer's telecommunications equipment
on the service provider's premises. For
example, a Web site owner could place the
site's own computer servers on the
premises of the Internet service provider
(ISP) who provides co-location hosting
services. Back to Top
Who needs Co-location
hosting?
Customers who have full control
over all aspects of their website and the
way it operates are best suited for
dedicated hosting. Those customers who
want to supply the hardware, or want the
ability at any time to remove their
server, or move it to another location
are suited for internal hosting, meaning
they host the websites themselves and pay
for the internet connectivity and
networking needs. Those customers who
meet the above requirements, but aren’t
able to host their website themselves are
suited for co-location hosting.
Back to Top
Who actually supplies the
server?
When using co-location
providers, the server actually belongs to
you, the customer. Normally, this entails
a server being completely configured and
loaded with information, being delivered
to the co-location provider ready to go.
That being said, some co-location
providers offer programs where you can
purchase a server, or even have one
custom made through them. Back to Top
Will a co-location provider make
sure my machine stays
online?
That depends on your provider.
Co-location providers typically offer
Server Monitoring contracts, which make
them responsible for watching your system
and making sure it is running properly,
within their power, of course. If you
have a custom written application on your
server and it is causing problems with
the operation of your server, it will be
your responsibility to fix it.
Back to Top
If something goes wrong with my
server hardware, who fixes
it?
That again depends on the
agreement you have with your co-location
provider. Most providers offer Hardware
Support contracts, which make them
responsible for keeping your machines
operating mechanically. If you supply
your own computer, and would like to have
spare parts on site, you will typically
need to purchase the parts in advance and
supply them to your provider. For a
computer purchased through the provider,
they will normally have spare parts on
hand, and/or a relationship with the
hardware provider that supplied the
hardware itself. Even though your
provider fixes your machines, you will
still be responsible for the cost of the
associated parts. Now, if you do not have
a hardware agreement with your provider,
you can either pay them to diagnose and
repair the problem, or send your own
technician to their hosting facilities
for the same purpose. Back to Top
Is there a limit to the size of
my server?
There are limitations and
pricing differences in relation to the
size of your server(s). For example, rack
mount servers come in several sizes
depending on the manufacturer and the
hardware contained within. A 1U server is
half the size of a 2U server; hence it
takes up less physical space in a rack,
leaving room for more servers. As such,
1U servers are less expensive to
co-locate than 2U servers. Mid tower and
Full tower cases have similar limitations
as well. Some providers only have
facilities for rack mount servers, while
others provide areas for tower boxes as
well. Back to Top
What things do I need to take
into consideration when selecting a
provider?
Selecting a co-location provider
can be a somewhat complicated process.
When selecting a provider, there are
several key areas that you will need to
take into consideration to make the best
choice possible.
• Bandwidth – What are the tiers
of bandwidth available, and what does it
cost if you exceed your limit for the
month.
• Rack Space – What are the price differences,
based on the size of server you want to place
at the provider? There are several types and
sizes available, and most providers charge
different amounts for each.
• Hardware Support – Does the provider offer
Hardware Support contracts? If so, how quickly
is the turn around for a hardware repair, and
are parts available on-hand or do they need to
be shipped? If the provider does not offer
Hardware Support contracts, or you do not wish
to utilize them, then what methods are
available to repair a down server? Do they
offer services to diagnose and repair issues
for a fee, or allow a technician of your
choosing access to the servers?
• Internet Connectivity – What size connection
does the provider have to the Internet? How
many connections do they have, in the case of a
failure?
• Uptime – What kind of Uptime does the
provider guarantee for your presence on the
Internet?
• Server Monitoring – Does the provider offer
Server Monitoring services, to ensure that your
system is running and operational at all
times?
• Static IP Addresses – How many IP Addresses
will the provider allocate to your servers, and
what is the cost of obtaining more, when
needed?
• Backup Services – What level of data backups
are included, if any? What additional levels of
data backups are available, at what intervals,
and at what cost? Back to Top
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