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Author Information
Tom Burke
Web Design, Internet Marketing
tom@awsinternet.com
Tom joined the AWS Team in October of 2003. A
graduate of Skidmore College with a degree in English, he designs much of the front-end content for AWS-created websites, as
well as cust... [more about this author]
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Web Hosting Providers: Get answers on languages, companies, and platforms
November 3rd, 2005, 6:41pm CST
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When I was first looking for website hosting, it seemed that nowhere on the
Web could I find a definitive chart of what coding languages belonged
where and what tools I would need from a server—statistics
programs, FTP access, and all those other necessary technical details
I felt I needed to be familiar with. Granted, I wasn't running a
business, so I had a little more time to ponder these things. But
even if you're not interested in the “geek talk”—all those
acronyms like FTP, PHP, ASP, and MySQL—you as a manager need to be
at least somewhat familiar with these terms, what they do and why
your web developer needs them.
Unfortunately, hosting is not hosting is not hosting. Several variables apply when
determining which Web Hosting Provider you should choose for your
site. Some of these variables depend on your progress in determining
what kind of website you will need—mostly dynamic, with searchable
and interactive content, or mostly static, with set page content—and
what kind of programming languages you might be using, if any. This
article is a quick primer to help you know which Web Hosting Provider
you should choose, and why.
First,
talk to your developers.Get
their input regarding what database types are right for your project,
what programming languages they are using, and other concerns they
have. If you're outsourcing the work, make sure you know which
language your contractor will be using and that all necessary
elements will be available on your hosting server: programming
language APIs, database access and necessary storage space,
statistics, etc. Any competent contractor should be able to help you
with these details as well.
Choose a
platform and programming language. Two operating systems
(OS) dominate the world of hosting: Windows and Linux. These
operating systems are much like the one you use on your own computer:
they provide a base on which all other programs on the server run.
While most home and office computers use Windows, Linux runs about 65
to 70 percent of the servers on the Internet. For all intents and
purposes, Linux
is the best choice because of its unsurpassed stability and security.
If a cracker (“hacker”) does happen to compromise a Linux server,
he will have access only to a limited number of files, and these most
likely will not be core operating system files which he could use to
do real damage. Windows, however, acts as both the OS and the server,
so it harbors more vulnerabilities.
Security and stability are almost
paramount in determining a server type, but other factors play in,
such as which language you or your team will use to build your
website. These languages are like HTML (and often are used to create
it), but special in that the server itself interprets them and
displays dynamic content to the user based on how the site is coded.
The user never sees this “server-side” code. Here is a quick
chart showing which sever-side languages are at home on Linux or
Windows:
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 = available on server;
 = available and ideal on this server
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Programming Language
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Windows
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Linux
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PHP
(Hypertext
Preprocessor)
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ASP
(Active
Server Pages)
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ColdFusion
(from
Macromedia)
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MSSQL
(Microsoft
Structured Query Language)
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MySQL
(“My”
Structured Query Language)
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Perl
(Practical
Extraction and Reporting Language)
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Client-side and other languages
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JavaScript
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A client-side language that exists in the user's
browser. JavaScript varies depending on the browser used.
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XML
(eXtensible
Markup Language)
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XML is a special kind of language that allows for
uniform transfer of data, such as in RSS feeds and syndication.
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Which
language? Your team will
most likely have a coding language they are already familiar with,
which will dictate the answer to this question. If you're running a
small business and outsourcing this work, though, the question will
dictate how and where you can migrate your site if you ever want to
switch hosting providers, so it's good to familiarize yourself with
the strengths, weaknesses and common uses of these languages.
PHP coupled with a MySQL database
is a great way to build small or large dynamic sites that pull from
databases. You can build polls, surveys, tracking software, and lots
more with PHP: it is very versatile and powerful, and is most at home
on Linux.
ASP is normally used with MSSQL
databases and helps build product inventories and large
searchable websites. Microsoft has included some features with
Windows hosting that allow for fast and easy website development. If
you have existing elements of your site that run better with Windows,
you will want to consider Windows hosting.
Perl and ColdFusion are both
platform-independent, meaning they will run on all types of servers.
Perl is great for statistics reporting, and can also build whole
websites and interact with each database type. ColdFusion requires a
special installation that many servers do not have, but it is a
popular way to build dynamic websites and interacts with programs
like Macromedia Dreamweaver and Flash.
JavaScript exists in the end
user's browser—be it Netscape, Internet Explorer, or another—which
means its effects will vary depending on the user. Good web
developers take this into consideration, which is important, because
JavaScript usually validates forms and controls user behavior so that
invalid content is not inserted into your database.
XML is great if you want to
syndicate your content. It is usually created by PHP or another
server-side language in order to provide constantly updated content
in a uniform format that can be read by RSS programs. This is by far
not the only use for XML, but it is a common one.
Choosing
a company. Once you have
a language nailed down, you can find the best hosting provider for
your site. Here we encounter the ever-present questions of how much
storage the site needs (measured in megabytes, “MB”, or
gigabytes, “GB”), how much transfer (or “bandwidth”)
you require, and which peripherals are included, like statistical
reporting and unique IP addresses.
Storage is usually the first detail
that comes to mind. It's not uncommon for many hosting providers to
offer gigabytes of space, but does your site really need so much
storage? Usually for a small to medium-sized website, 25 to 100
megabytes of space is enough.
You must also consider how the storage
capacity figures into your monthly bandwidth. Bandwidth, or
“transfer” as it is interchangeably called, is how much
information goes to and from your website on a monthly basis. The
“pipes” that move information around the Internet are only so
large, so information transfer has to be regulated to avoid clogging
those pipes. If your site includes heavy multimedia content—images,
video, Flash movies, downloadable files—you may find that not only
your storage, but also your bandwidth requirements will be quite
high. Small sites require about one to two gigabytes of storage
per month, larger ones 10 to 15 gigabytes.
In order to know who visits your site
and how often, you need statistical reporting. One of the best
reporting programs out there is Advanced Web Stats, or AWStats.
Look for a hosting package that includes this program, which will
give you specifics on unique visits, total hits, search engine
phrases visitors come in on, visitor locations, and a lot more. AWS
Web Hosting
includes AWStats with all its hosting packages.
When choosing a Web Hosting Provider,
keep all these features in mind, ask lots of questions, and always
make sure you are comfortable with the answers given. If you
compromise on one necessity, you may find yourself regretting it when
the time for upgrades or extensions comes. Stick to your guns, talk
to your contractor or your team, and don't be afraid to spend a
little more if it means your website will be better equipped to
perform. Happy hunting!
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