What should I consider when selecting the webhost for my needs

Y

yaksha

New member
Hello everyone,

I am completely novice user as far as webhosting/website is concerned. I am an engineer but not a computer one. I am trying to educate myself, since I would like to create a website for my specific needs. I hope you guys will advice me.
What I intend to do is, I would like to create a web dictionary for a language in India called as 'Marathi'. As you can guess it uses different script than English. Is there something I need to consider before I select the webhost?
My other requirement is, I am a music composer and I would like to host my music online and also do some podcast. I read that I should consider a webhost that allows online streaming. Any inputs on which webhost to consider are welcome. Thank you very much.
Regards,
Amit
 
Sorry, I was not advertising.. I apologize extremely if anyone got a feeling like that. All I wanted to give as much details as possible so that people can respond appropriately without going back and forth on exactly what I was doing and why I needed to do something specific.
Regards,

Amit
 
Hi Amit, you were not the one who was advertising. It is the user who posted after you tried to sell you service. :)
 
Hi Amit,

The main thing you would have to decide is what operating system your site/script will use. If you are looking to program it in asp, then you will need to go with a Windows-based host. If you need php, I would recommend a linux based host.

There are too many hosts out there to just list one. I would recommend you to check the offers section on this forum and when you find something you like, ask around about that company as well as do a bit of research.

The rules I would go by are:

1. Make sure the hosting provider's website is grammatically correct and neat. If it's written in broken English, there is a good chance that you should pass on them.
2. Make sure the provider has been in the business for a year or two atleast. There are too many companies who are started today and are gone tomorrow with your money.
3. Contact the company you are interested and ask them a few questions. See if they have live chat on their site and that it is actually available and working. See how their response times are and how they reply to you.
4. Do not fall for the "Unlimited Space and Bandwidth" scam. There is no such thing.
5. If it's too good to be true, it probably is. If the host promises you everything for nothing, then you will probably end up getting nothing.
6. Make sure the host has a money back guarantee. If you are not satisfied with their services, then you can always get your money back.

Good luck with your search!
 
Well that depends on how much space you need. If you are going to host music as well I would suggest a little more bandwidth. But usally I would just start out with a hosting provider that had a real cheap plan to get you started then upgrade as you go on.
 
Thanks for the reply guys. I do not have particular preference as to which OS.. I think I like the flexibility of using sql and perl scripting. Also, I am kinda good at python coding, so I believe that a linux based host might be of my interest. Currently, I am learning basics of webserver using ubuntu as my platform. I am pretty sure that it will help me understand which questions to ask. Also, do you guys feel that I might be better off hosting my own server? I mean I do have a couple of beaten up pcs which can be converted into servers (1.2Ghz processors/2GB ram.. so not that beaten up). I definitely have one to spare... question is based on experience will a dsl connect be able to support multiple users say listening to music at the same time?
 
if you dont have a particular preferance for which operating system you want to use,then maby going for a Linux OS would suite you well,generally Linux based packets are the basic services offered by hosting companies.
Try testing one of the standard hosting companies in the business.
and thers one more thing,are you looking at a global audience of a regional,if your looking for a Globally targeted audience,then maby you should contemplate looking for a web host that has data server's in the US.
If your looking for a regionally target website,then a web host offering data servers in the desired targeted region is advisable.:thumbup:
 
To me, support is number 1. If your site goes down and no one is around to bring it back up, doesn't matter how fast the site was, it's still down.

Always backup your data as well. Don't rely on your host. I do backups daily, weekly and monthly, but I still want my users to back their data up as well.
 
ryleejames said:
To me, support is number 1. If your site goes down and no one is around to bring it back up, doesn't matter how fast the site was, it's still down.

Always backup your data as well. Don't rely on your host. I do backups daily, weekly and monthly, but I still want my users to back their data up as well.
Click to expand...

Yes I agree

Customer service - fast response to tickets, live chat, telephone contact etc are all vital when realising confidence in your host!

Long periods of silence are not a good sign!
 
There are many things that you should consider: pricing, bandwidth, disk space, customer support, bonuses, server reliability, platform, etc.

The best thing you can do is research a web site completely before making a final choice.
 
It totally depends on your requirements and ability to spend.

But ofcourse you must look for :-

1) packages that meeting your needs
2) your budget
3) 24 x 7 customer support [technical / billing / sales (any or all)]
4) server uptime guarantee
5) Money back ( if possible)
6) Also, SLA ( that reduce risk in any condition)
7) Network / datacenter and data security arrangements ( you may find this through reviews. )
8) Backup and data recovery policies.

Hope this will help.
 
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