Web Hosting Tips all IT Professionals Should Know

Web hosting is the most underappreciated part of the World Wide Web. Some people might not realize it, but every website actually involves hosting so that users can access it. 

Websites are hosted on servers. Servers are powerful computers that store and process data, and web servers are those which store the files that make up websites and process requests to view these files.

Web hosting is an invisible yet essential element of the online experience. So, If you care about your website, it is important for you to make sure that your online site is in good hands. In this blog we’ll share with you some web hosting tips that you and your IT team should know.

There’s a huge gap between the different types of hosting. 

If you’ve spent any amount of time on a web host‘s website, you’ve probably seen terms like shared hosting, VPS, dedicated server, cloud hosting and WordPress hosting. They represent the different web hosting types, but not every web host provider offers them all. Plus, the hosting types differ from one another in significant ways. Take a look at some of the various servers below:

• Shared hosting

The cheapest form of web hosting is shared hosting. This hosting basically lets your website share a server and server resources with other websites. This level of hosting is really best suited for small sites that don’t need a huge amount of bandwidth. Since you are sharing resources with other sites, you should be prepared for the occasional slowdown should one of your site-mates start attracting a lot of visitors.

•  VPS hosting

VPS hosting is most likely a high-powered version of shared hosting, except that far fewer websites share a server’s resources, which are also a bit more segregated. In effect, VPS hosting is usually more expensive than shared hosting.

• Dedicated hosting

Compared to other hosting servers, dedicated hosting basically refers to an Internet hosting option in which a physical server (or servers) is focused on a single business customer. With this type of hosting, customers have complete control over the machine, so they can optimize it for their unique requirements, including performance and security.

• WordPress hosting

WordPress hosting lets you build a site in an environment that caters to the world’s most popular content management system. 

• Cloud hosting

Cloud servers are the newest type of hosting and the most popular among the websites today. With its latest developments, it lets you easily scale website power across multiple servers, though not every web hosting provider currently offers this as it is a new technology. 

Domain and hosting are not the same thing. 

Right from the start, you need to find a dependable and trustworthy registrar. Domain names don’t have to be registered at the same company.

Ultimately, domain name is the most expensive and irreplaceable asset, as it is your online identity, while hosting services are just there to accommodate the website. Most web-hosting providers would prefer to have your domain registered with them, as it is their other profitable revenue stream. However, it won’t be that convenient if the web hosting company decides to go down together with your domain. At the same time,if you are able to manage your domain and hosting across separate vendors or providers – then by all means do. The bottomline is you should always purchase your domain and hosting from a company that can provide you the proper support you need – including reminders to tell you that your domain is due for renewal! 

Know your hosting’s bandwidth and disk space. 

Bandwidth and data transfer are frequently used interchangeably to define the amount of data that your website serves to visitors, but the terms, technically, do not have the same definitions. Bandwidth represents the total amount of data that can be transferred at one time, while data transfer is the throughput or the actual amount of information that can be used over a given period of time.

Most websites won’t go past their bandwidth quota by high traffic alone, but if you have some files for download on your website, remember that it can possibly happen.

Don’t fall for “unlimited” storage! 

​​Web hosts will entice you to sign up for their web hosting plans with the promise of unlimited storage or monthly data transfers. Unlimited Storage seems like a great offer doesn’t it? RULE OF THUMB: Don’t believe it because it’s not an honest deal. Unfortunately many web hosting companies will tell you this with the knowledge that you probably won’t read the entire details of the server that you purchased. 

If you have ever studied the Terms of Service or Service Level Agreement of your web hosting service thoroughly, you will surely see a section about its CPU/Server Usage. We’re almost sure that there’s a limit stated there (as there is always a limit for everything in life!) in which case your hosting is not “unlimited”. 

This only means that if your website uses more than a certain amount of storage, it violates the Terms of Service and will be subject to termination. Of course, it is necessary for just about every hosting service to have something like that in their Terms of Service to protect resources on their servers from improper usages. However, many web-hosting providers are using the CPU/Server Usage to get around their Unlimited Storage promises. Bottom line is to make sure to read the Terms of Service thoroughly to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth. 

With 25 years of experience in the IT industry and as one of the first Internet Service Providers in the Philippines – and a Tech Company at heart, iManila has the skills and the experience to help you with your online presence whether it be through website or email hosting, website design and development, applications development, technical support or digital marketing. We have a variety of hosting packages that are available to suit your needs. For more information, you can check out our Shared Hosting, Cloud Hosting, Business Cloud Hosting, WordPress Hosting and Dedicated Hosting services. Contact us and we can help you identify the best hosting package for your business needs.