You all understand the concept of web hosting very well, but In this article, you will go to read more about web hosting, which is very important from every one point of view, so have a look.
1. Managed servers VS Unmanaged servers
Unmanaged servers, as the name suggests, are those servers which are not managed by hosting providers, instead, they are managed by you. Everything related to your servers such as their security, creation, and transfer of accounts and their monitoring throughout the day, everything must be looked and managed by you. And obviously, then you must have good knowledge also on handling servers as this is not a common man task, it requires professionals. So, if you don’t understand technical aspects of hosting, don’t choose this one.
On the other hand, Managed servers are offered by hosting providers where they take the entire responsibility of servers, their handling, and everything, as discussed above. So, here you can leave everything on a company and sit relax. Thus this is a good option and recommended for everyone as nobody has so much time to look after their servers all time. There are various plans offered and among them, some plans cover only a few of services, so before choosing your plan, understand everything very well.
2. Operating system
Servers are like physical computers and just like a simple computer, it also requires an operating system. Two popular operating systems are Linux and windows and usually, Linux is used on servers as compared to windows. And there is a reason behind this, Linux is an open-source operating system, thus it does not incur any additional charges while Windows incurred additional charges as it is owned by Microsoft.
One thing to be noted here is that software which is written in ASP programming language always work on Windows.
3. Control panels
Control panel is a very important component, as its name suggests, it is used to administer and control everything. It helps in performing various tasks, through a control panel, email accounts are created, files are uploaded, parked and subdomains are managed and several other things. Control panels are of various types but cPanel is mostly used and a popular one. With this, Plesk panel is also a good option but you will see that mostly cPanel is recommended.
4. Domain names
Domain name is an address of your website. It is recommended that always select an easy one and must be related to purpose or contents of your website. After choosing this, your domain name must be registered. This is done by web hosting providers, mostly for free, when you order them a plan but some companies even charge for this. But I advise you not to register same from any hosting provider because in future if you wish to change your hosting provider, then you can easily register your domain name with other company than transferring of a domain name from current company to another one.
A process of registering domain names is very easy. Simply, browse a website, look for a fresh domain name and if it does not exist, means it is available, then some simple steps are needed to be followed by you until the registration process is completed. After being registered, select your hosting plan and make payment. When you received information of your web hosting account, DNS (Domain Name System) will be found by you for your hosting account which must be copied and pated by you in DNS section, located on your domain control panel.
5. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Before choosing any hosting provider, it is required that you must read its Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. It is required as some of the points such as backup offered, usage of resources and their refund policy are considered as very important because they may affect you in future.