The Pros and Cons of Managed Hosting

Managed hosting is a type of internet hosting using a dedicated server. For you, the client, this means that you have the server to yourself and you do not share digital space with anyone else. This is also called a dedicated hosting service. Using a dedicated service like this will enable you to have complete control over the programs, operating system, the hardware, and other specifications. The server administration is usually provided through the hosting company as an add-on service. In many cases, a dedicated or managed hosting service can have fewer overheads and can cost much less to run or purchase for a company.

It is ideal for large online corporations, as the extra room allowed by the exclusivity of the server can enable more programs and computer to run off the server.

Another ideal feature for larger companies is the ability to perform updates and patches to programs, whereas a shared hosting service would prevent that. In addition to this, the availability of high powered networks from multiple providers enables server providers to secure massive amounts of bandwidth, thus providing for a lower price for its clients.

There are on the other hand a few downsides to this hosting.

It does come at a price as most managed servers will cost significantly more than unmanaged servers. They can mean different things to different companies, so you must be clear on these differences before committing.

Problems can still occur on your server, so you must feel you can trust the company that is supplying this service to you.

And lastly you will have less control of your server, so this is maybe not so much of an option for the technically minded that prefer to have more control of their server environment.

In this scenario you can see the pros really do out way the cons.

Shared Hosting – Weighing up the pros and the cons

In sharp contrast, shared hosting means a simple partition is placed in-between companies programs and services. Often, programs or services may even be shared. This allows for viruses and bad code to easily be shared across the partition. This allows bots and other harmful malware to creep across the partitioned platforms and destroy your data. Even though shared hosting may be cheaper than dedicated hosting, in the long run it really isn’t. Shared hosting is also improbable for most companies in other respects, since it is not large enough to hold most the programs a large corporation would take. Additionally, you the client cannot use the programs you want. You are forced to use the hardware, programs, and operating system that are provided by the host of the shared server.

On the plus side, it can provide reliable web presence without having special technical skills.

It can be divided into 2 subtypes -Free and Paid.

Free Hosting allows you to try new ideas without the expense. It provides you with everything necessary for your floating site.

You should however NOT expect the best conditions for your site as Bandwidth and Disk space is limited.

Web statistics are also poorly provided.

Paid Hosting provides features that free hosting doesn’t such as multiply e-mail, MySQI and PHP which are all supported. Whether you want to host a small, intermediate or large professional business website, this can be used.

Using shared hosting you get a very good chance of hosting your site on a powerful, well administrated server at a low monthly cost.



Yahoo! Web hosting offers the very best hosting solutions for small business websites. With Yahoo! Web hosting services, customers are offered hosting packages that perfectly befit their requirements and budget and can be customized to their needs. These hosting packages come outfitted with a wide variety of tools and features ranging from basic design templates, site-building tools to advanced PHP scripting. Customers also get access to MySQL database services.

In order to cater for diverse and website specific requirements, Yahoo! Offers the following web hosting packages:

1. Business Starter Yahoo! Web Hosting Services

This category of web hosting service offers 50 MG of disk space, 20 GB of data transfer and 10 personal email accounts. This option is ideal for beginners who are looking for a basic hosting package. The package also offers web-designing tools that are highly user-friendly and fun to use.

2. Business Standard Yahoo! Web Hosting Services

This category of web hosting services provides 100 MG of storage capacity, 25 GB of data transfer as well as 25 Business Edition email accounts. The customers also get access to 24/7 toll free customer support. In terms of superior business hosting; this category of hosting offers cost-effective hosting solutions.

3. Business Professional Yahoo! Web Hosting Services

As the category suggests, the Business Professional Yahoo! Web hosting services offers high-end, all-inclusive hosting solutions. This plan comes equipped with 350 MG of storage capacity and 35 GB of data transfer in addition to 35 Business Edition email accounts. Given the features, tools and services offered, this plan is quite reasonably priced. Customers also get access to 24/7/365 customer support, customized to the user’s requirements. In addition to other high-end and highly utilizable features and tools, customers also get access to advanced scripting tools, database as well as SSL support.

Customers need not worry about downtime any more with Yahoo’s web hosting solutions. Yahoo offers maximum uptime and this feature remains its prime forte. The very best servers and hardware in the hosting industry is offered by Yahoo web hosting services. Since Yahoo web hosting is supported by their search engine, downtime is not an issue with their services. Since their servers are linked through superfluous connections, downtime is a very rare occurrence.
Furthermore, its data center is within a highly secure facility and receives constant monitoring 24/7; thereby enhancing the reliability of the company.

This measure also aids in preventing hacking and/or other illegal occurrences.

The best part is that the company values its association with its customers and offers 24/7 technical support.

It is however a good idea to weigh and ascertain your hosting budget and website hosting requirements; before you go on to selecting their hosting package. Not every package would suit your website requirements. If in doubt, discuss with other users on discussion forums and blogs so that you can make a well-informed and wise decision. Analyze various factors like bandwidth, disk space, SSL support and other vital aspects of web hosting and your specific requirements before you zero down on a hosting package.



Free Hosting

Free Hosting is a type of web hosting service in which you receive free web space on your hosts server to create and host your web site for free. The main advantage to Free Hosting is the cost. Nothing! No money. No credit cards needed. Ever!

Wherever you see advantages in anything you must have disadvantages as well. In the case of Free Hosting, limited features, and in some cases but not all, forced ads. Typically these are ads that you have placed on your website in exchange for free service. Not bad huh? Well in doing some research for this article I found so many bannerless free hosting sites that I almost did not include the ‘forced ad’ factor. Just wanted to note it to let you know you definitely have a choice. More and more Hosting Companies are content to let you use their forums as a way to write content for their site. It makes sense. This is also where you would draw support if you needed it. You may also notice some ads in your cPanel that the Hosting co. would like you to view. Either way you slice it, there are some amazing Free Hosting sites with some really cool add-ons! As always, take your time and choose wisely! Many free website hosts provide a sub-domain or sub-directory of their own domain name as an option to keep you from paying the cost of your own top level domain name. Remember, no matter how big or how small your business, a website can give it that much needed boost.

Look for a Hosting site that will offer you a promise of no ads or banners to clutter your website. Make sure you are also getting completely free web hosting BUT you also get free space up to 10GB and a bandwidth of 150GB to store and access your data and files with ease. Some will provide servers located in different areas around the globe, to ensure 99.9% uptime. All free web hosting offers need to have MySql support along with PHP, webmail and domain add-ons support.

With the free web site builder and a wide array of free templates, you can easily build and host a website absolutely free!

Free PHP Web Hosting

PHP, an open source Web development language, was created by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1995. Originally it meant ‘Personal Home Page’ but has evolved to mean ‘HyperText Preprocessor’. PHP was adapted from Perl and C. As an Open source, PHP is completely free. PHP Hosting uses and fully supports the PHP programming language. It is typically used in the popular LAMP or WAMP structure. It is commonly used in building dynamic websites. If you are knowledgeable with programming languages, PHP should be a breeze. If not, then PHP is a good starting point and there are tutorials everywhere. Just one thing to keep in mind. Some PHP extensions are not compatible with some Web Server software. This can lead to crashes. An example of a platform built with PHP would be the ever popular weblog, WordPress.

Free MySQL Web Hosting

Free Hosting offering free MySQL databases to use on their web server. When combined with PHP or CGI scripts, this type of free hosting is very useful to your new website. For instance you can run web apps on your free website such as phpBB message board or even PHP-Nuke. MySQL is an Open source database known for its speed and reliability. As mentioned with PHP, the popularity of MYSQL makes it easy to find tutorials anywhere. Your free hosting service should provide an already installed phpMyAdmin script. Look for FREE MySQL tools to help you such as forums, galleries, blogs, shopping carts, etc.

Free cPanel Hosting

Tight budgets call for smart solutions. cPanel Hosting is the ideal solution for just such a situation. Ideal because it is so budget friendly. Smart because you get to make use of the best the market has to offer. cPanel is the control panel of choice. It is so easy to use yet seasoned clients enjoy it as well. cPanel is widely known round the world and support is easy to find. Many tutorials are available with instruction on how to use cPanel and its many features. And yes! CPanel is made available to you free so make sure your Host provides it. When opting for a free cPanel Hosting account, make sure that basic features like file manager and domain manager are included. Also see to it that your package includes the following:cPanel; Apache; PHP; Fantastico; Fast Network; Fast Servers; Frontpage Extensions; CGI Access; PERL.

Free File Hosting

File Hosting, as far as hosting goes, is relatively new. Free file hosting is everywhere and is used as a stand-alone devoid of other hosting accounts. They are easy to use and allow you to upload your large files. You simply store them to be used later to send to family or friends or clients and co-workers. Depending on your website and what you are offering will depend on whether you want to have free file hosting or go with a paid account. Still extremely inexpensive, a bigger business may want to use file hosting that offers the ability to give each client his own file space with private access and passwords. Free file hosting services make their money from advertising on the interface.

Free Sub-domain Hosting

A sub-domain is a more specific portion of a domain name, typically located to the left of the domain name in the URL. Ex: ourwebsite.com would be the domain name and webdesign.ourwebsite.com would be the sub-domain. In the event you don’t have your own domain name, you can get a subdomain name absolutely free! They are very short and easy to remember and it looks exactly like a real paid domain name. Because they are short and easy to remember, sub-domains are a great choice for your new home. Some search engines will even give sub-domains a slight boost over conventional free hosting addresses. If you have decided to go with a free website host and have no desire to own a domain, sub-domains might be just what you’re looking for. You can even find sub-domain hosting that does not place unwanted ads on your cool site. Create Unlimited free sub-domains and point them to your other web sites or where ever you wish.

Free FTP Hosting

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) A process for transferring files over a computer network. Uploading photos or downloading software are just a couple of great examples of things you can do with FTP. If you wish to publish a web site on the internet, FTP hosting is a must. It allows the uploading of web pages directly to your website without having to upload them through a web-based file manager. That can be a slow process as only one file can be transferred at a time. With the array of services offered by free FTP Hosting sites, your only real job is placing good content on your site. A couple of these services include free page counters and guest books. Signing up for free FTP hosting is a simple process. It puts you one step closer to sharing your personal web pages with the rest of the world. For FREE!

Free eCommerce Hosting

eCommerce is the buying and selling of goods, products or services, electronically. Ecommerce has taken the global market by storm. This of course does not come as a shock, considering the Internet is used for just about everything known to man. eCommerce has become the most promising business today. It allows people to create and conduct their business in a way that doesn’t involve travel or time restriction. No matter the time of day or your location, you can do business. 24/7/365.

Visitors can enjoy shopping for a product or service, placing an order, making a payment, and delivery of their purchase all with the click of a mouse.

Serious lack of overhead (no building maintenance, rent, electrical billing or water costs) makes ecommerce inexpensive. In many cases, the savings get passed down to you, the consumer. When involving yourself with ecommerce, considerations might include things like online transactions and internet marketing. You will most definitely need the help of a good web hosting company. There are some great eCommerce hosting plans out there. Some even free. You will want to go with a practical yet quality plan.

Note: There are so many free types of hosting that I could have gone on all day long. The above are just a few of the many types of free hosting you can enjoy. Others include green hosting, photo, reseller, email, forum, blog and many many more. There is nothing stopping you from having any kind of website you would like to have. Go for it!