FAQ

What is web hosting?

Web hosting is a means to protect, maintain and serve files for a website 24/7.  A web hosting company operates a complex network of technically sophisticated servers whose purpose is to provide daily quality connection to the Internet. Due to the vast array of web hosting products offered, comparisons of features, rates and quality of service allows you to determine the right web hosting for your personal goals. 

How do I compare web hosting providers?

Every individual, group, company and organization has different specifications and preferences.  The best way to compare webhosting providers is to ask yourself:

• What am I willing to pay for said product?
• How reliable is this company?  Is it reputable?
•  What kinds of features are offered and how are they different from other packages?   
• How easy it is to get quality customer support?
• How easy is it to use of the control panel?

That’s where 5 Best Web Hosting comes in.  Our top 5 comparison chart makes it easy for you to choose the package right for you. 

What is a domain name?

A domain name, mainly composed of two parts, is a technique to identify your site on the web.  The first part consists of the name of the organization. The second part, also known as the “top-level domain, (i.e. “.com”, “.gov”, “.edu”, “.org”) indicates what kind of site you have.  

What is disk space?

Disk space is the amount of space that a website can take up on a server; it is a niche where the files of your site are held. Keep in mind that there are maximum limits for every product offered and that images and videos uploaded on your site may occupy large amounts of space.

What is bandwidth?

Bandwidth, measured in Gigabytes, determines how much traffic your website can support. Various files can take millions of bytes. If your website will generate lots of traffic, it is important to get a hosting company that supports this. 

What are Shared (virtual) / Dedicated / co-located hosting?

There are different kinds of paid web hosting to consider: shared hosting, dedicated hosting and co-located hosting.  A breakdown is below:

• Shared Hosting – Most commonly used.  This server hosts multiple websites under the same server and is a cheaper option; all sites shared under the server use the same CPU and hard drive space.
• Dedicated Server – Appropriate for busy sites and will host your site on its own server, in which its resources will serve your web site for the paid period.
• Co-located server – Appropriate if you have multiple sites and want to own your own server, which will be connected to the Internet with a hosting company.

Can I host my site from home?

Yes, however, problems may occur:

• ISPs may prevent home run public servers, thereby causing you to eventually buy or upgrade to a more costly plan.
• Home run speeds may be much slower.
• Potential risk of failure due to inappropriate hardware resources that cannot support high visitor traffic.
• Security issues with exposure of personal computer files on the Internet.

What is SSL?

SSL means Secure Sockets Layer, which protects and secures your financial transactions over the Internet. Whether you are buying over the internet using a credit card or offering a service to sell a product over the internet, you will need to offer an SSL, which can be purchased by companies such as VeriSign. Static IP addresses are more compatible with SSL setups. 

I use a Window PC – should I choose a Windows-based?

There is no relationship between the kind of computer you used to create your web-site and your server’s software.  

How do I know how many people visit the site?

Webhosting companies can track how many people visit your site, including:

• Number of pages and which pages were visited.
•  Time spent on a particular page, which can help you refine popular pages and boost traffic.   
• How visitors have found your site.
• The number of dead links existing for easier site maintenance.

What is Fantastico?

Fantastico is a script library, accessible through cPanel, that automatically installs many different applications to be used on the web server.  The most common applications that Fantastico installs is web content management systems, blogs and photo-sharing applications. Fantastico makes managing a site easier, especially when new websites are created.  Remember, not all web servers provide this control panel.

Aside from Fantastico, there are other ways to install applications, such as command-line interface systems or add-on scripts.  However, Fantastico is a much easier system to work with. 

Pros of Fantastico:

• Fantastico allows the administrator to track installed applications.
• Allows administrator to adjust permission levels for users to install applications via Fantastico.
• Fantastico allows administrators to track when installations are removed or completed.

Cons of Fantastico:

• Installations not monitored and updated on a regular basis may rend the application unstable and create a security risk.
• There may be difficulties in updating applications if the administrator is not paying attention.

What is Control Panel (cPanel)?*

A control panel enables the web site owner to manage his or her web site using a graphical user interface for ease of use. Any web browser can be used to access the control panel.

Control panels come in many different forms –  cPanel, xPanel, vDeck and Plesk – all of which serve to manage web sites. 

A control Panel is used to:

• Set-up email and FTP accounts needed with options for auto-responders and email forwarding.
• Track usage of disk space and bandwidth.
• Track statistics that show the number of visitors to the site, the pages they visited, and the time they spent on the site
• Track broken links.
• Ease database management.
• Ease sub-domain management.
• Set up redirections for URLs
• Set up security options for different parts of the site.
• Back up the site in case of system crash.

*Disclaimer:  If you are using a shared server, your default control panel is the control panel used on the shared server and changing to a different web hosting company is the only way to change control panels.