|
Virtual
Hosting Options - Part II
Allotted Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the amount of traffic and content your site will deliver.
When a visitor requests a page, you site will return your page along
with graphics. This is bandwidth. A good analogy for bandwidth is
that bandwidth is like water in a pipe. The amount of water flowing
from a pipe is like bandwidth.
NOTE:
There is a point I would like to make before we continue with this
section. Some hosting providers offer "Unlimited Bandwidth".
If this is the case, ask them for their definition of this phrase.
If they answer "Unlimited Bandwidth is Unlimited Hits",
this is not true unlimited bandwidth. Hits are actual request for
content (pages, graphics, files, etc.) from your site, not actual
content. It is the request for content, or bandwidth.
"You have
access to Unlimited Bandwidth", is not true unlimited bandwidth
either. You have the ability to use as much bandwidth as you need,
but there is a set amount allotted to your site. Any additional
bandwidth will come at a price.
Just because
you have a site on the web, does not mean you will have a lot of
traffic. You need to advertise or promote your site to increase
traffic.
Here is a formula
to calculate an estimate on the amount of bandwidth you will need:
Number
of pages X .05 MB X Number of Visitors/Month = Total Bandwidth/Month
Now this formula
is based on the notion that each visitor will visit all your page
once. That is not likely to be the case, but the formula should
work. Some visitors may view 1/3 of your site, while others may
view your site twice. It all averages out.
Monthly and
Yearly Fee
Figure out how much you want to spend per month. Some hosting providers
will discount your monthly rate if you pay annually. You should
look for a company with some type of "Money Back Guarantee".
Most reputable companies will offer this incentive to it's customers.
If they provide great service, you will not want to leave.
Most providers
charge a setup fee, usually the equivalent of the first month. If
you are transferring a domain site, ask if they will waive the setup
fee. Most will!
CGI Script
Support
A CGI script is a program, mostly written in C or Perl, which will
work with other programs and your web page. HTML is static. CGI
scripts give HTML the ability to interact with the visitor. An example
of a CGI script would be one that takes information from a page,
completed by a visitor, and inputs that information in a database.
Shopping cart systems are run by CGI scripts.
Most hosting
companies offer popular pre-installed scripts like, MailForm, Counters,
etc. If you have your own script, check with your potential host
and make sure they allow it. Some do, some do not. Some providers
will not let you install your own CGI scripts. If you have an error
in your script, you could lockup the entire server. This could affect
hundreds of sites on that server.
Sub-domains
A example of a sub-domain is name.yoursite.com. name is a sub-domain
of yoursite.com. This is useful if you want to subdivide your site
into many subsections, say support.yoursite.com, sales.yoursite.com,
etc.
Dedicated
IP Address
An IP address is a unique identification number assigned to your
web site/space, given to you by your provider. Remember back in
the section of "How Domains Work", when a visitor types
your address in their browser, it is queried in domain name database
(operator), then directed to your hosting providers DNS server (phone
number). Then the DNS server directs it to your site, or IP Address
(extension).
Some hosting
companies do not provide you with your own IP address. This is due
to a shortage of IP address on the Internet. There is only a set
number of IPs available, and they are running out quickly. Not having
an IP address is not a bad thing, unless you expect visitors to
your site which still use older browses (e.g. Netscape 1.0). They
will not be able to see your site! This will not effect current
browsers that support HTML 4.0 like IE and Netscape 3.0 and up.
Most of the World uses current version browsers, but some smaller
countries still use Netscape 1.0.
|
