Web Hosting for PHP
Posted on August 21, 2008
Filed Under Web Design |
You are reading this article because you are looking for a good web hosting service. And of course you would like to get the best deal that you can afford. Choosing a web hosting service is a decision that is going to have long term effects, because you may use it to support your business for many months or even years.
In the present times, PHP web hosting has become very cheap and offers a host of benefits which make it very attractive.
The key issue will follow later but basic knowledge of PHP would help proceedings. It is an extremely well liked programming language which can be embedded in HTML. Its popularity was supported by the following characteristics:
a. It is free.
b. It can be used easily and with little trouble
c. It is a fully object oriented language.
d. It can be used on a variety of platforms
e. It has a rapid pace on the Linux server and this can be used effectively in utilizing and constructing complex web applications.
f. It allows advanced programming and is very easy to integrate with web pages.
g. PHP is able to be used successfully with MySQL.
Before receiving the PHP service to host a web site, first you must take many issues onboard. Firstly, and especially, it can be difficult to get a good PHP service for hosting web sites. The majority of web hosting companies are in the matter for a fast return on their money. They do not want to offer a full service, so it is common to be without PHP for 2-3 days. Equally, you can do nothing about this as support was unavailable, which is often the case. Finding the right PHP host solution can take many attempts to find the best solution. A reason in this is that not all the firms are commonly known or discussed.
These issues can make choosing the right PHP provider seem a scary task. However, there are guidelines to take to make the situation much easier.
A genuine PHP host will have these areas provided:
a. Technical Stuff: It will provide you with all the technical applications you may need, like MySQL, PHP, Perl, Python, Cron, CGI etc. You may not know what all these mean, or what they are used for, but that’s all right, its good to have these stuff, as you may require them in future.
b. Bandwidth. This factor will determine how many visitors you can have on your site and 75GB is a very fair amount to have.
c. Cost: Free does not always equal to good service quality, and ‘cheap’ does not automatically mean that, you have to make do with inferior service. A good price would be around $10 per month, which provides you with satisfying service.
d. Who uses your web site. Having true statistics regarding usage of your site and where it is linked from can be a massive help to your site.
e. PHP web hosting script installers: These are among the essential features to be included in your PHP hosting search. One should get a PHP web host script installation pack, at no extra cost from the service provider. You should be wary of providers that ask you to pay extra money for PHP web host script installation pack. On such application is “Fantastico”, which comes free with cPanel in most cases.
Coming to the free PHP web hosting service providers- they can have a number of disadvantages associated with them. Since the web hosting company is providing the services for free, it is not possible for them to sustain the services for long, without any source of revenue. This revenue is generated by them, through advertisements put upon your website. These advertisements can be in the form of:
a. Banners
b. Adverts that pop-up on screen
c. Advertisement frames
You would have no control over these advertisements. This is not a satisfying solution for small to medium sized business. In fact there have been instances, were users of free PHP web site hosting services, have complained that they were having there competitors’ advertisements running on their websites! You can imagine how distressing such a situation could be. You cannot even complain to your service provider, because they are being able to provide you with free services, only with the help of those advertisements.
It is also true to say that free sites quite often crash. If the host caters for a great number of sites, this is likely to occur.
Equally, as there is no charge, it is usually impossible for the PHP host to offer services, even services that a cheap host may be able to offer.
These issues make it advisable to go for the paid option as opposed the free option. Paying a bit of money will be more than recouped by the extra features obtained.
To be fully focused on the best cheap service of web hosting, bear these issues in mind:
i. Try to strike a balance between benefits and cost. Choosing the cheap option will mean some sacrifices which could include uptime, help desk services or perhaps security issues. You will need to know what is most important for you.
ii. Cpanel is a feature that is useful for installing tools like blogs, discussion forums, shopping carts. It is also used for handling MySQL databases and support centers.
iii. Support services: You should opt for nothing less than 24/7 support services. It is an essential feature as you never know when you can meet a crisis for which you will require expert help.
iv. Available space on the disc: Depending on how much content will be on your site, how much disc room you will require will alter greatly. It is also good to consider future development when planning how much disc space to have.
v. Accounts for email purposes: Do not hesitate to get rid of a web host firm that provides cheap or shoddy email accounts. There are many rival firms who want your business so feel free to go with them if you want.
The harder part of your research comes now and it is seeking the companies which provide offers such as guaranteeing your money back if you are unhappy after 30 days or regarding uptime guarantees. These can be hard to find as they all cost money to promise. But seek them, because some firms are available to offer this, and with the advantages already mentioned above they can also offer a commendable service at a welcome price.
The decision process should never stop and with your own budget and requirements in place, you should be able to choose which host best suits your needs.
After all your choices and signing with a provider, how can you tell you have made the correct choice? It isn’t hard, if you are satisfied with the price being low, having all the email accounts you need, having support always available, having statistics regarding traffic and the option of PHP and windows, then you can be happy with your choice.
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