Whether you are opting for a free web hosting service or a premium web hosting service, you must tread with caution. Choosing a web hosting service is the very first step to taking your business online. Any wise man can understand that if the first step is messed up then concluding results are surely not going to be impressive. A small business owner who doesn’t has much experience in this field must scrutinize the options with even greater caution as there can be some hidden technicalities that may surface up later on resulting in chaos and trouble.
Below is a list of some points that you must keep in mind in order to choose a good website host:
1. FTP access:
FTP stands for file transfer protocol, protocols are basically a set of rules defined for computer-to-computer communication. FTP is the most widely used protocol for data transfer on the Internet. Some web hosting service providers impose a limitation here by allowing you to design your website only according to their own pre-configured templates. This option is useful for a beginner as they don’t have any expert knowledge but for advanced users who wish to design their website themselves and later on transfer the files on the server, this limitation means death to their creativity and expansion possibilities. Please make sure that your web hosting service provider doesn’t impose any such limitations.
2. File Size Limitations:
Some web hosting service providers impose a limit on the maximum size of the file that can be uploaded on their servers. Some jpeg, animation, and video files can be of large size, especially if they are in high definition. This limitation can mean that you will be required to upload compressed files on the servers; such files will be of degraded quality. Another issue is that if you wish to distribute your own program files or any other type of files that may be large in size, then service providers who impose such limitations must be avoided.
3. Back Up and Disaster Management Services:
This is the single most important aspect for those who want to keep sensitive and indispensable data online. Some premium web hosting service providers offer back up services, so in case there is a server breakdown or storage disk malfunction you can still recover your data later on. Some service providers even go a step ahead and offer monetary claims to those whose data has been lost. But this is not a very common practice; in fact most of them don’t offer any such claims or services. What if there is a fire or a natural disaster or in the most simple scenario their server just dies resulting in hardware malfunction, you should ask them whether in such situations you will be able to retrieve your data at a later stage or will it be considered as lost forever. For large organizations that keep their financial records, employee database and project information, this aspect is of extreme importance.
4. Data Transfer Speed and Cap:
Data transfer speed is measured in terms of data (measured in bytes) transferred per second. There are a lot of web hosting service providers who claim that they provide their clients with high speed unlimited bandwidth. You must not put your faith in such claims blindfolded. You can check it on the Internet or ask an expert; web hosting service providers have to pay for the usage of bandwidth. There is a trend in the market to term something as unlimited when it is not, it is known as FUP, an acronym for fair usage policy. There is a limit specified in this policy, if you exceed this limit, make no mistake, you will be charged. Read all the agreements and policies of your service provider to avoid such unpleasant surprises.
