Web hosting is, more or less, an agreement between you and a web hosting service provider that you will pay a monthly lease to own and operate a portion of their massive web servers. These are computers that will house all of your data, and will allow others to get a good look at the content you so painstakingly create. Think of it as a storage unit with windows that other Internet users will drive by and take a peep through.

In order to operate a web site you absolutely need a web hosting account, as no site can just live on the Internet without a web server. Since web server usually costs thousands of dollars it is much more affordable to simply lease one from a web hosting provider. Web hosting services give you the opportunity to reach the world wide web without making a significant investment.

Before you begin your comparison journey, you have to decide what type of web hosting will fit your needs as a webmaster. Your basic choices are shared and dedicated hosting.

If you are just starting out online and you don't have a lot of websites, then you may want to begin comparing cheap shared hosting plans. If you want more freedom over your hosting account, then you may want to choose a more powerful VPS hosting plan instead. Finally, if you're extremely serious about being successful online and you want the best of the best, then you should being comparing dedicated hosting plans.

The web hosting industry is extremely competitive, with almost 25 thousand web hosting providers competing for your business at any given point in time. To grab your attention, many of them will offer extremely low prices, while some will simply add more features and benefits to the plans. While price comparisons are generally simple to conduct in other industries, in web hosting, it can be quite confusing, considering all of the plan features that must be compared as well. Many people also fail to realize the differences in payment structure, as well as other pricing factors, such as fees and startup costs.

Web hosting pricing has become very confusing over the last several years, with many web hosting companies changing the way they advertise their plan pricing. It can be discouraging after purchasing a web hosting plan, only to find out that the monthly cost is much higher than was expected. Many web hosting companies are using deceptive marketing tactics to attract new customers without actually lowering the price. It is important to know the various aspects of web hosting pricing before comparing plans. When comparing plans it is best to consider the cost of all the features and the amount of features offered.

Before you pick a web hosting plan based on price, make sure you have a solid understanding of the pricing structure. Try to compare plans of equal value in order to conduct the most accurate and useful comparison possible.

Web servers are critical elements of the internet, as every web site needs one in order to function. Essentially, web servers are computers that are responsible for transmitting data from a web site to the site visitor's computer. Without a web server your web site could not exist, because there would not be anywhere to store the data and send it to a visitors computer.

There is a variety of web servers available on the market, with each one designed to accommodate a different range of client needs. If you want your site to perform optimally, then you will need a capable web server. Make sure you become familiar with web servers and their uses before you proceed with your online endeavors.

Server uptime is a term used to describe the amount of time that a web server is fully functional and online. When a server crashes or goes offline, all of the web sites hosted on it are also rendered useless until it the problem is repaired. Thus, server uptime is direct indicator of the reliability and consistency of a web hosting provider.

Most web hosting providers have a seal posted on their web site that guarantees more than 99 percent uptime. While this may seem appealing, the truth is, most companies do not live up to this promise. If you have been experiencing frequent downtime then you may want to switch web hosting providers. Every time your site crashes you are potentially losing money. This is especially true if you are operating an eCommerce web site.

Most major web hosting providers have their own private datacenters, in which all of their web servers are stored. Datacenters are specially designed to accommodate the environmental needs of a web server. The temperature, humidity, dust content, lighting, cleanliness and security of the datacenter is meticulously upheld by on site staff that is responsible for keeping all of the web servers in perfect condition. The floors are air-cooled, all rooms are equipped with state-of-the-art fire extinguishing systems, and there is a 24 hour maintenance staff on duty 7 days out of every week.

Shared web hosting services are amongst the most popular types of web hosting, primarily because they are extremely affordable. Shared web hosting provides the plan holder with access to a small part of a web server that is used by hundreds of other web sites. These powerful web servers are split into partitions that are allocated to the web hosting customers. As a shared web hosting plan holder you have access to a set amount of server resources. However, if you need to exceed these limitations then resources are pulled from other partitions on the network to accommodate your needs. Although this process may sacrifices performance and page loading times, it gives you the ability to have unlimited plan features such as bandwidth and disk space.

Shared hosting is a very unique web hosting type that usually costs less than any other kind of web hosting plan. Many webmasters get their first bit of web hosting experience by purchasing and using a shared web shoring plan. Shared hosting is essentially a type of hosting configuration in which a single web server is used to power hundreds of web sites that are owned by different webmasters, hence the term shared hosting.

Web server configurations can have a great impact on the way web sites perform, especially when the site beings to grow and experience high levels of traffic. Even though shared web hosting is a less comprehensive service, it is enough to run a basic web site and receive internet training with. In fact, most experts recommend starting out with shared web hosting in order to learn in a comfortable and affordable hosting environment, before moving on to more advanced solutions. If you are planning on getting started as a webmaster then you may want to consider shared web hosting as your first web hosting plan.

Shared hosting also has many disadvantages. In fact, shared hosting has more disadvantage than any other kind of web hosting, simply because there are not as many server resources available to the webmaster. When web servers are shared by hundreds of web sites at the same time they begin to slow down. To uphold customer satisfaction web hosting providers have to keep strict restrictions in order to ensure optimal server functionality. In the process, many webmasters are limited in their ability to build comprehensive web sites.

Even though unexpected site crashes are a rare occurrence in the hosting industry, site downtime occurs regularly with shared hosting due to server maintenance. In order to keep hundreds of sites operating smoothly on a single web server, the hosting company has to perform administrative tasks to keep the servers clean and operating smoothly. When this happens, the servers are reset, and sites temporarily go offline for about 15 minutes to an hour. Such server resets only happen once every couple of weeks during the middle of the night; however, it can be a nuisance to site owners that have a lot of daily traffic at various times of the day, considering the global nature of the Internet.

If you need a comprehensive hosting plan that allows for expansion and fats site performance then you may want to consider another hosting type. Shared web hosting is ideal for new webmasters that need access to hosting for a minimal cost. If you have no experience and would like to start your own online business then shared web hosting may be perfect for you. If you are serious about the long term success of your online internet endeavors then you may want to examine other hosting options before selecting shared web hosting.