| When you're ready to take your business online, one | | | | unplanned downtime and bandwidth limitations, you |
| of the most important decisions you'll have to make | | | | can avoid these problems by choosing a Web hosting |
| is deciding where it will "live." In other words, you | | | | company with flexible plans and an uptime reliability |
| have to choose a Web hosting company that will | | | | quote of 99.99%. |
| store your Web site's files on its server and make it | | | | Dedicated Server |
| accessible to those visiting your Web address. | | | | If you don't want to share your server with other |
| Choosing a server for your online business requires | | | | Web sites that could potentially cause you problems - |
| you to consider several important factors, including | | | | and you have the financial resources and technical |
| storage space, bandwidth allotment and uptime | | | | know-how to go it alone - a dedicated server is an |
| reliability. Your need for each of these - along with | | | | option. Your Web site will be the only one on your |
| your budget constraints -- will help you determine | | | | server, which means you have total control over its |
| which type of plan will serve your Web site best. | | | | applications, and all the space and bandwidth the |
| Before you select a server to provide a home for | | | | server allows. A dedicated server can be quite costly |
| your Web site, you should also know what sort of | | | | for a small business owner, and requires a level of |
| living conditions you prefer. By choosing the type of | | | | technical expertise (and an allotment of time) that |
| services that best meet your needs, you can make | | | | small business owners are unlikely to have. |
| life easier for your online business. Web hosting | | | | Virtual Private Server (VPS) |
| services are typically divided into three main | | | | If you need increased control of your Web site |
| categories: | | | | without the cost of a dedicated server, consider VPS |
| Shared Server | | | | hosting for your online business. When a company |
| When you share server space with other Web sites, | | | | uses virtualization software to divide physical servers |
| you also share the cost of operating that server - | | | | into separate virtual servers, each server can |
| which makes shared hosting an attractive option for | | | | operate independently. You'll also have root access to |
| those with budget concerns. However, many | | | | the server, which means you're free to run the |
| business owners worry that this will leave them with | | | | software of your choice. By offering control and |
| more than their "share" of problems. While sharing | | | | cost-effectiveness, VPS hosting has become a |
| server space does increase your risk of nuisances like | | | | favorite of Web developers. |