Web hosting for windows include a number of scripting languages. These include:

* ASP: Active Server Pages or ASP is the first server side script engine of Microsoft that is generated dynamically for web pages. There are three versions of ASP. Though most of the ASP pages are written in VBScript, you can also go for other Active Scripting engines. The built-in objects of ASP include Response, ASPError, Server, Request, Application and Session.

* PHP: It is another server side scripting language that enables you to create dynamic Web pages. When you will open the page, the server will process the PHP commands and will send the result to your browser. Unlike ASP, it is Open Source and cross-platform, which runs on Windows NT as well as on several other UNIX versions. You can even build it as an Apache module as well as a binary that runs as a CGI.

* ASP.NET: It is the next generation ASP scripting language that is s built upon the .NET Framework. It enables you to build web applications and XML web services. ASP.NET also helps in content management as well as in sharing it over the Internet.

If you are using Microsoft technologies, you can easily opt for Windows as your web hosting platform. In fact, the Internet Information Server or IIS is essential if you are using ASP. You will also need IIS in case you are opting for Microsoft Access and SQL server.

Moreover, if you are using CGI or other Windows-based programs, it is better to go for Windows as your OS for hosting. You can also find several other pre-made programs that are especially designed for Windows web hosting. All these programs and scripts come with introductions and tutorials, which will help you to acquire necessary information about them as well as to overcome your doubts.

The following are some of the advantages of web hosting for Windows:

* The Windows web hosting plans usually include Access databases, which can be run only on a Microsoft windows platform. Thereby, the websites that require this feature will have to go for this web hosting.

* With a Windows web hosting you can easily send and receive emails. After creating your mailbox you can send and receive emails from a web browse through a WebMail interface. You can even use Outlook and Outlook Express email clients.

* You can conveniently opt for windows web hosting if you are well familiar with Microsoft Windows software. You can even get optimization of your hard disk space and RAM to help you to remove computer lock-ups while loading up web applications.

However, Windows web hosting is costly as you need to pay a compulsory license cost to Microsoft and takes more time to fix up patches and security flaws.

MySQL retrieves and updates data in your database with the help of SQL statements or ‘queries’. They usually work with a number of database programs such as MS SQL Server, DB2, Oracle, MS Access, Informix and Sybase. However, web hosting for MySQL is most popular when tied with PHP. The combination of PHP scripting and MySQL creates a very flexible foundation, which is used in most websites today.

There are several versions of MySQL for web hosting. However, if you are using MySQL for the first time, it is better to opt for version 4.1 as it is default on most web hosting for MySQL systems. The following are the MySQL versions that are commonly used at this time.

* MySQL 4.0: This version is the old stable release and hardly any MySQL web hosting provider uses them. Though new releases are issued, they only help to fix extremely critical bugs. Some of the features of MySQL 4.0 include MySQL server library, the transactional engine – InnoDB and other features that help to simplify migration to MySQL from other databases.

* MySQL 4.1: This stable release has been followed by several new releases so as to fix the critical bugs and other security problems. The features of this series include subqueries, Unicode support, faster binary client/ server protocol, Create Table, MyISAM storage engine, Archive storage engine, Blackhole storage engine and many more.

* MySQL 5.0: This is the current stable release that follows the SQL: 2003 syntax. This MySQL web hosting can even return multiple result sets in a single invocation. New releases are also issued to fix the bugs.

However, if you are looking for MySQL hosting, you need to be very careful as there are some web hosting companies that have their set up only on Linux. You also need to check out the restrictions for remote access. Restrictions to your MySQL database are natural in case you are sharing a server.

The following are some points you need to look for in your web hosting package specifically related to MySQL support:

* Make sure that your web hosting package comes with PHP as it will help you to create dynamic web sites attracting more and more traffic.

* Always opt for a dedicated server while opting for MySQL web hosting as there will be lesser amount of system crashing with such server.

* The amount of MySQL databases that you will get always depends upon your budget. In case you are an amateur and want to experiment with this area of web site creation, it is better to go for 1 or 2 MySQL databases.

You should be aware of the fact that a Blogger from blogger.com or Wordpress from wordpress.com do have their own positive and negative aspects. It is very problematic when Wordpress gives you an editing facility of poor quality or your chosen Blogger comes up with a lack of trackback and categories. Compared to these, the option of having Wordpress or any other blogging software from your own webspace is much better but people usually have an antipathy towards changing their chosen Blogger or Wordpress.

If you are using a hosted blog, it suggests the fact that you are satisfied with the options presented by the host and you are not in the need of having the options obtainable only from the uploaded software. Some people make use of hosted blog because they don’t feel the need of having their own website and some people don’t have any monetary objective to be obtained from their blogs (not even Adsense revenue).

Blogs can either be used for personal, political, non-monetary issues (filmy issues) or for business purpose. You can have a blog for advertisement as it helps to connect different websites intended to advertise different products. Not only this, it can also cover different niche. Such engines like Google can’t be ideal for you in this case as it often gets on to a website for another site. It is often very irksome because it endows you with information on a different topic. Here comes the paramount significance of having a blog.

You need to know some of the ins and outs of operating your blog from your own website. Let me tell you that diversity in a blog refers to a lack of relevance in a website. As far as the procedure is concerned, free software can be uploaded from Wordpress.org to your own web space (using a ftp client is much better). An ftp client has manifold purposes like it lets you move files from one website to another and added to it; one can also move files and folders from hard drive to their own website.

If you are devoid of an ftp client, it’s very problematic. If we put it in an order, downloading the ftp software follows the process of downloading the blogging software to your hard disk. Without this client, you are in need of creating folders matching those that have the wordpress files. Then follow the issue of uploading each file separately. This is very time-consuming and prone to mistakes because you have to retain the original directory structure. All these problems originate from the fact that you can only upload files (not folders or directories) by the upload facilities on websites. Downloading ftp software requires you to accomplish the simple task of using a text editor in order to alter the contents of some files. This software also endows you with the opportunity of altering file permissions as enlisted in the blog set up instructions.

MySQL is the name of a powerful Open Source Software database management system using SQL(you can usually get it free from the web hosting services). Your web host usually provides you with the instructions needed to set up the database and this MySQL database is of paramount significance for your blog.
Having gone through this process, you are free to have any of the free or paid templates and any plugin that you get online and can modify your blog in your own way. You can also employ the default page template of wordpresss. In a nutshell, you can do anything and can bring changes in the templates and also in the style sheet for the whole page, the header, footer, sidebars and some other elements as well. It is also exceptional that graphics, Adsense blocks, affiliate links can be added and you can also use it to put forward your products for sale.
Plugins are immensely helpful to modify your blog and things like calendars, anti-spam filters, RSS feeds, sitemap generators, tag systems (instances of plugins) endow your blog with specific resources. Let me warn you that your blog can be bad for you as well because you might develop an antipathy towards your business (provided you have own website and business) spending all your time in blogging and looking out for different plugins, templates and themes. So, be calculative in using your blog. Don’t let it exert an adverse effect on you.
Wordpress and B2evolution are two popular self hosted blogs. B2evolution is comparatively uncomplicated and some users prefer this quality. But, Wordpress is much more authentic and popular as it endows you with numerous stylish skins. Its authenticity derives from the fact that its support-team of many developers is its backbone. Also, remember the fact that creation and installation of plug-ins is definitely easy.

The Steps for Getting Your Blog Hosted
Using either Wordpress or B2evolution software is fine but the next step is that you are in need of having a hosting company. You need to bear in mind some aspects as far as wordpress hosting or b2evolution hosting is concerned.

• Do you need a free or Paid Hosting?

You have two options here- I) free hosting II) shared paid hosting. For wordpress hosting or b2evolution hosting, shared paid hosting is ideal because in the free hosting option, you get several advertisements placed at top and bottom of the pages. Let me tell you that this is truly irksome.

• Is your host compatible with wordpress or b2evolution?

Once you have decided to go with the shared paid hosting option, the process doesn’t end over there. It goes without saying that wordpress or b2evolution are very popular and as a result of this, you can easily get many hosting companies perfect for their hosting. For this factor, what happens is that the installation is just a one click away putting an end to the gargantuan task of installing your favorite blog engine. What I mean here is that hosting companies having inbuilt wordpress or b2evolution hosting option should be your ultimate destination because it lets you grab the advantages of these blogging software even if you are not aware if the ins and outs of its technical aspect.

• The Last Step is to choose The Best Host

Be it the wordpress hosting or b2evolution hosting option, you have to take care of the fact that you need to go with the best hosting deal. It is no more like the past and technical advancements now let you decide the best wordpress hosting or b2evolution hosting company with the aid of several sites and web hosting forums. It endows you with all the necessary information ranging from the monthly payment to the factor of offered bandwidth along with disk space. So, these sites are of paramount significance because you can make a comparative study of each and every company. If you desire to do so, you can have the user reviews as well. This is also an advantageous option.

Why is web hosting needed?

Web hosting enables you to bring your company or service to the knowledge of the world. People get to know about your company and also learn about your objectives. Once a website is live on the web people can view it whenever required. To host a website properly on the internet you would require a beautifully developed website that includes contents to gasp readers’ attention. If the website is targeted to a particular audience then the content should be relevant for them. Make sure that your website has a proper domain name. The ‘.com’, ‘org’, ‘.gov’ are to be used justifiably by the web host. They should therefore be informed about the purpose of your website.

Above all you would require a server space. This is the area where information of your website is stored. The information stored in server can be accessed via a computer that has internet connection. The sever space is offered by the companies in various ways, dedicated, shared, c-location, home server or managed server. Your budget and website purposes would determine the nature of server space that you would purchase and share. Web hosts often attract their customers with low cost server space. Before obtaining such services the customer needs to be very careful and cautions.

Do I need a professional web host?

Some customers always ponder over the facts that are web hosts really required? If you are planning to get your services featured in the web, then website is a must. Moreover, those planning to launch an e-commerce project would definitely require a website with additional security and technical services. Even if you are thorough with the web hosting technicalities. It is always better to take the aide of a professional web hosts. These professionals are well acquainted with the web hosting services and can deliver quality results on time. They can offer you the right decision and guide you regarding the actual amount of web hosting you require in future. There are several websites and directories that enable you to select the best web hosts. Try to follow their guidelines and opt for the best package that is offered.

Server space

Websites pages can be of various sizes which depend on the purposes of the website. Unless you have already created the plan for your website or developed the website, it is difficult to determine the server space it would consume. Your web host can give you a fair idea on the web space that you would require; still it is always advised that you become the decision maker. The basic idea is, the larger is the server space, the more is the information that can be accommodated in the website. Forums, blogs, social networking sites, along with e-commerce sites demand more server space. The activities carried out in these sites are higher as people contribute information and download files. Moreover, these sites contain thousands of pages with images and videos. Hence their bandwidth consumption as well as server space requirements keep increasing with time.

There can be various reasons for obtaining a server space and this requirement is defined by the purpose of the website:

Required server spaces based on nature of website:

Server space for personal web pages:

2 MB to 10 MB is required for hosting a personal webpage. This is a suggested value since it is assumed that a personal web page is developed very simply without much input. Popular free space providers can be consulted for the purpose. Generally these websites require the least bandwidth and space and hence you need not worry about the huge monthly bills from the web hosts at the end of the month.

Space for hosting commercial websites:

50 MB of disc space is suggested for commercial and business websites as it is assumed that these websites contain large number of pages and might also feature files and documents. These websites often develop later one and the website owners can ask for more space later on.

Web space for corporate website:

500 MB is the suggested space that one can look for. Corporate sites contain ample information and require huge email space. Documents, press releases and news items are also covered in this website and hence consume lots of server space. Most importantly these websites are developed using Windows, ASP or UNIX. It is advisable not to change the web host frequently if one falls under this category.

Forum and blogs:

This is completely a different category that demands huge space in the server. Large number of activities is carried out. Such website owners run a CGI (Custom Gateway Interface) script that enables them to coordinate a discussion board with the visitors. Visitor Counter, commonly known as a Discussion Board often forms an integral part of these websites. For such websites, 10 to 100 MB of disk space coupled with 1 to 10 GB of data transfer per month is assumed to be normal requirement. They should select the web hosts in such a way that these requirements are fulfilled and the website readers can actively participate in it.

How to free up server space:

To check out your severer space at the total consumption till date, you need to log into the control panel. This features the total server space consumed and left in MB. Based on this you can make estimation as to how much space you need to clean up for further usage. Once you cross your server limit it becomes difficult to receive mails, upload files and carry out several other activities on the website. This also creates a negative impression among the visitors about your website or services. Thus to avoid such issues you can simply keep monitoring the server. However some of the tips mentioned below often works in case of server space:

•    Always look for a web host at provides large server package.  You can also make your selection of the server space according to the proposed size of your website.

•    Try to delete the old files that has been consuming loads of space in the server

•    Remove the unused files, documents and images as they consume huge space unnecessarily.

•    Try to delete the old statistics and logs from the server if they are of no use.

Conclusion:
Server space or the disc space are the primary factors based on which the web hosts are selected. You must make it sure from the web hosts that they can provide you with the required space or not. Approach a reliable web host for better suggestions. As too much of space for an average website is waste, too small space can be insufficient also. For a better judgment consult a reliable web host. They can be the best guide.

But before you start making money from your blog, there are some things that you need to consider. Here are some important factors that you must keep in mind if you are really serious about making money from your blog:

> Your website must look good and attractive. It is recommended that you do not use a hosted service if you want to seriously make money from your blog. It is so because here you do not get enough control. If you don’t have your own URL then it is like binding yourself to a service that you don’t own and building up someone else’s asset. Therefore, it is a better idea to get a website hosted by a good web hosting company.

> Build page rank, traffic and links for your own URL and not for someone else’s.  Having your own website will also provide you with adequate control over the layout and design of your site. You can easily jump on any opportunities that call for low-level changes. If you use a hosted blog then you are actually at the mercy of the web hosting service. This puts the future of any income streams you create with them at risk.

> Web hosting service is cheap and there are plenty of good web hosting companies available on the Net to choose from. You can start by opting for a cheap web hosting service provider. However, make sure that the web hosting company you opt for is reliable and have decent support service. You must be very careful while selecting a web hosting company.

> Before selecting a web hosting service provider, ensure that the company is genuine and provides quality service. You would of course not want hurdles from the web hosting company to affect the performance of your site and thus hamper your money making opportunities.

> As the traffic for your web site grows, you may need to go for an expensive web hosting service provider offering more features. You may also upgrade to a dedicated server or a VPS (virtual private server).  The best thing about having your own server is that you can place as many sites on it as it can handle.

Different streams of income:

Whether you own a hosted blog site or have your own website hosted by a web hosting company, you can always link you sites to the various streams of income to start earning money online. Google adsense is the most popular scheme that is used to make money from blogs on the Net.

Adsense is actually a program run by Google in which advertisements are placed on websites. The owners of the websites can choose to join this program with the purpose of adding advertisements in the form of images, text and even video onto their sites. The whole process is free. It is exclusively provided by Google. The revenue is generated on either a pay-per-click or pay-per-impression basis.

However, there are many people who are not comfortable with the Google adsense. Such people can opt for the alternative ways to make money from their blogs. Some of the popular alternatives include:

> Azoogle Ads

> Kanoodle

> Tribal Fusion

> Chitika’s eMiniMalls

> AdHearUs

> Clicksor

> ValueClickMedia

> Adbrite

> WidgetBucks

> BidVertiser

> FastClick

To make your website visible on the Internet, you must store these web pages on web servers. The web servers are basically computers that store numerous websites at a time. When you type the address into a browser, it not only gets connected with a web server, but also downloads the web page to your laptop or computer.

The task of making web pages and web sites available to numerous users is known as web hosting. You can technically connect your computer to the Internet and serve pages. However, it is not always feasible since home-based connection is often not so powerful that it can serve numerous users at a time. Hence, web hosting organizations exist to make the task easier for you. Web hosting companies maintain powerful web servers that help to house your documents. If you desire to start your own website business, you must approach a web hosting company that can offer perfect web hosting services.

Web hosting firms offer numerous other additional services. The services offered by web hosting companies differ from one company to another; however, there are few basic web hosting services provided by almost all web hosting companies. These are - email services and registration of domain names. Domain name is basically your personal identity on the World Wide Web. Web hosting companies also offer technical support on telephone or email, or through their company sites.

The web hosting package you opt for must depend on the type of site you desire to set up. For small businesses, many web hosting companies come up with their personal plans where they offer enough bandwidth, web space and unlimited email addresses. After you decide on your hosting package, start designing your website to get it online soon.

You must start with software program, which will help you to come up with web pages of your own. Whichever software program you select, your main purpose must be producing fine-looking web pages. Once your website is ready, you will have to upload it to web servers.

If you are a novice, first-rate technical support would be vital to you. Before choosing a web hosting company, go through the terms and conditions of the company carefully. Make sure that you contact a web hosting company that will respond to and answer all your queries in an appropriate manner.

Seasoned webmasters may set up new websites easily in minutes. Novice webmasters often gets confused with different types of web hosting plans on offer - Cheap Web hosting, Budget Hosting, ASP Web Hosting, eCommerce Hosting, Dedicated Servers, Hosting With Templates, FrontPage Web Hosting, PHP Web Hosting, Managed Web Hosting, Shared Hosting, Reseller Hosting, Virtual Private Servers, Unix Hosting, and Windows Hosting. To conclude, choosing a web hosting plan which really works is not that complicated even for dimwits.

Fantastico is one of the best free services that you can find from your web hosting service provider. It is a web based script installer, which enables you to get a number of free goodies to your web site. You can also have access to over a dozen different content management systems along with Fantastico. Moreover it also provides you access to quite a few different blog packages, half a dozen user forums, shopping carts such as Zen Cart and OS Commerce as well as to a trouble free FAQ maker and six unique customer support options.

Some of the free stuff that the web hosting companies offer:

Free Domain Name: Most of the web hosting service providers offer a free domain name registration.  In order to enjoy this facility you need to use the same organization for domain registration as well as for web hosting. Some of these companies also safeguard your confidential business information from general public. However, there is a risk that the web hosting company may tend to keep your website as a hostage if you want to move to a different web host all of a sudden. Thereby, ensure that the domain name is registered in your name.

Portals and Content Management Systems: These Content Management Systems are also known as Web Site Builders. These systems make is much convenient for you to add or remove pages and information to and from your web site. There are a number of web hosting companies that offers free Web Site Builders. Most of them include modules that enable you to add various features such as, shopping carts, discussion boards, instant messaging, and polls. With the help of these content management systems you can even add user authentication as well as security options to your web site without much problem. Usually the free content management systems that your web hosting company may offer are Post-Nuke, Drupal, Xoops, Mambo and Joomla. All of these are open source software that comes with a number of user supports apart from the usual support that your web hosting company provides. Moreover, you will also come across several new tricks and modules that are being offered for all of them.

Blogs: Almost all the web hosting companies incorporate blogs as a free setup script. These blogs are online publishing tools, which enable you to update your website conveniently and as often as you prefer. In fact, they automatically place the latest entries up and shift the older entries down in the reading queue. The most commonly used blogs are Google Blogger and WordPress that your web hosting provider may include with your web hosting account.

The various web hosting companies offering free stuff:

TopCities.com: It is one of the most popular Web space providers and offers you 150 megabytes of space for free. TopCities.com further provides free sub domains and unlimited bandwidth. Moreover, you can also you upload your files very conveniently with the help of FTP or even by using online EasyUpload utility of TopCities.com. They also offer several free website development options including a message board and a guestbook.

007sites.com: This particular web hosting company provides a speedy service and entitles you with 700 megabytes of space as well as 7,000 megs of monthly bandwidth for free. You further get your own sub domain or even use existing one. The 007sites.com even offer PHP, FTP and MySQL support.

ZeroCatch: It is one of the best web hosting service provider available. It offers you free 100 megs of space. The ZeroCatch also support banner ads and has a reliable and speedy server. The other features included are site promotion and FTP support and many more. You can even check out the “partnership” program offered by ZeroCatch in case you are looking for an added draw for your site. This will enable you to become a free Web space provider.

2ip.com: This web hosting company provides a choice of domains and 100 megs of space. You can also enjoy unlimited web traffic. 2ip.com even offers a number of free stuff for you web site such as detailed site stats, complete FTP access, a guestbook, a great selection of sub domains to choose from as well as online forms. With you free web hosting accounts 2ip.com further provides advance site building software that enables you to make professional looking pages such as Flash enabled sites. You will also get a free “catch all” E-mail service that allows you to choose a variety of email addresses which will finally go to one particular mail box.

Absolutely-Free-Hosting.com: This web hosting service provider has a searchable database along with reviews of more than 200 free hosting services available on the Web. They offer a number of services that include PHP, ASP, domain hosting along with many other features.

Orgfree.com: This is another free web hosting site that offers domain as well as sub domain hosting. They provide unlimited Web space and bandwidth. Moreover, if you have a site that generates high amount of traffic then you can even enjoy a free domain. In addition, you also get free PHP, MySQL support as well as complete FTP access.

5GBFree: It is a free web hosting service provider that allows you 5 gigs of space along with an easy registration process. The best part of this web hosting site is that they do not force any ads on your site. 5GBFree also entitles you with a number of free stuff such as PHP, 10 MySQL databases and Perl scripting. You also have the option of either using your own domain or you can also get a free sub domain from 5GBFree.

MyHosting247: This is a very popular free Web hosting service that enables you to have a hefty 5 gigs of Web space, 20 MySQL databases as well as 20 gigs of monthly bandwidth. The other lucrative features of MyHosting247 include a file manager, PHP hosting and FTP hosting. Moreover, this web hosting service puts no banner ads your web pages and also allow you to host your own domain and sub domain.

ProHosting: This is another popular free Web hosting provider that comes with a generous package of 50 megs of Web space. They also allow you an FTP account as well as CGI access. Furthermore, ProHosting has an online site creation utility and E-mail services for providing support to your customers.

At this rate of expansion, it is believed that by 2009 Web Hosting will turn into a full-scale business agenda providing packages and affiliation programs to firms and companies, much like broadband and internet five years back. Right now, there are plenty of Web Hosting services that hardly know their job. It is believed that professional ones will step in and soon oust them. These professional services will have skilled technicians working incessantly to maintain your web page. The affiliate programs will provide all sorts of facilities including customer care.

It’s better for companies to start choosing their Web Host from now. That way, when the real competition begins and more and more skilled ones surface, these companies will be ready. This is also the ideal time for the resellers themselves to make the most of the situation to fill their pockets.

Advertisement is becoming more and more necessary. Much of a company’s success depends on its skill to publicize its agenda. Web Hosting programs will also act as support programs and help these companies in making the best use of online publicity and marketing.

Anybody who owns a website will obviously require a Web Host. How do they select and choose their host? Usually people don’t bother to trouble themselves. They just ask around and follow up on the advice of friends and acquaintances who have their own websites.
For companies, the case is slightly more complicated. Most of these Web Hosts provide addendum packages and affiliate programs. So how exactly does a company know which programs serve its need the most? Here are a couple of ways to find that out and accordingly select the appropriate Web Host.

Selecting The Best Web Host

Promoting Yourself: If your company is looking for publicity for its products or services, then this is the first thing you should look into. Not all Web Hosting services are equally attractive as publicity attractors. Little things such as font and page design become of the utmost importance when seeking publicity.

Checking For Profits: When your website does not bring in that extra profit for you, maybe its time to look for a new Web Host. It is probably also the time to give your website a new layout, a new name and host it on a different interface.

Promoting Your Host: This doesn’t just benefit your host but also your own company. If you are satisfied with their service and dragging in consistent profits, maybe you should try promoting their website. Often, this means getting extra cash. You can do this by providing a link to their website somewhere in your web page. If your Web Host becomes popular, chances of your page getting noticed increase.

Customer Support:  You should choose a Web Host that provides excellent support, online or otherwise. A support program is very essential if your webpage needs to remain a constant source of publicity.

Residual Program Schemes: These often help you earn that extra bit of cash. You are usually paid a small fraction of what your client pay each month. Plus you can also host their page, and for each new customer who enters through your link and signs up, you receive a percentage.

The Web Hosting industry has been constantly on the expanse. With the packages an support programs they provide, it is very essential that you choose the one that most suits your needs.

Doing this is now much easier than it used to be. With so many Web Hosting servers competing with each other, one can easily verify which has a more or less consistent track record and choose accordingly. Having a stable online server is a must for your company’s profits to multiply.

Stability is a priority. No Web Host can give a 100% online track record. The closest it can get to a benchmark is 99.9%. You should carefully look into this before making a selection. Remember, your preference should be to keep your website online at all times. You stop bringing in cash the moment your server crashes.

Checking Bandwidth Limit and Storage Space: Both are essentials, primarily the former if your site involves a lot of uploading/ downloading and uses a lot of audio-visuals. You should also check on the storage space and accordingly choose a server that provides a considerably large storage capacity.

Technical Addendums: This is something else that you must ensure, namely whether your Web Host provides facilities such as MySQL, PHP5 and POP email.  Many hosts offer these plus other unique services, especially through C-Panel.

Hosting Multiple Sites: This is something you might want to check. You may be interested in hosting multiple affiliate programs. In that case you should see the maximum number of sites you can host on your Server with a given package. Hosting your websites on the same server usually saves both time and money. Linking up your sites becomes easier and faster.

Recap:
A quick review of the things you must look into before choosing your web host—promotion. Profits, customer support, bandwidth and storage space, online stability, Technical features, residual program schemes and the ability of hosting multiple websites.
This helps you increase the ambit of your selection. Plus there is also the commission factor. A referral usually gets a good fraction, often a sum of 30$-60$ at one go. Particularly for NGOs and other community welfare services, this extra source of revenue proves highly advantageous.

As the world gets more technically conscious, more and more people are wanting to host their pages online.

There is no definite service leader in this trade, not yet anyway. This can be quite beneficial to you. As Web Hosts themselves are constantly in need of publicity, you can put this to the use to earn extra cash. All you need to do is place as many referrals as you can. Often Web Hosts just pay you for the number of people who just visit their server through the link on your page, without necessarily signing up for their service.

But you will need to do your homework well for all this to take effect. Experience counts. If you are really into it, you might just stumble onto those special schemes, the Residual Programs which keep paying you cash for as long as the client who signed up through your referral remains with your Web Host.

So, choose wisely.

Web hosting basically makes your site available for the general public to see, and the public can check out your site and communicate with you if they intend to purchase something. There are many ways of conducting web hosting. So it is very important that you be aware of what features you require for your site, and select a service accordingly in order to save you unnecessary costs. If the designed website is a personal one, then you must take a decision about which type of web hosting service do you need. Many web hosting services are available on the internet. You can find them by searching for them online, and you can also check out the various features and plans offered by them.
Different web hosting companies have different features and various plans to suit their clients, which may again be different from that of the competitors. The features that we would discuss are the important ones and need to be checked immediately when you consider a web hosting service.

Firstly, check what amount of web space they are offering you. You can check this by calculating the size of files that you can store on their server. You can host additional sub-domains if you have more web space. If you have more space, then it will be easier for you to install more programs later on, if you want to. Secondly, see the amount of permissible traffic limit to your site. Web hosting companies normally keep a track on how much traffic is being generated by the site that they host, but it would be very beneficial for you if there is no restriction imposed on traffic to your site. If there is a limit to the traffic, a person might not be able to visit your site after that limit has been exhausted. This would surely lead to quite a bad impression of your site in the mind of the visitor, and he might never visit your site again.

You might think that registering with a free web hosting service provider would be the ideal way out since it involves no money on your part. There are many such companies and they offer a mouth-watering free web space of 10-20Mbs. Some of the providers offer POP3 service for your email on their website as well, while others offer you FTP access. With all these features, it seems that the stage is set to remove the paid web hosting providers from the scene. In fact, getting services from a paid web service provider for a personal website would cost you dearly, wouldn’t it?

The most important bit in this regard is the need for the services that paid hosts offer. Most of the time, you might not need the extra services. You might simply need a web server that could display java scripts and HTML data to the visitors. Unless you want to have an e-Commerce website, you will hardly need SQL databases or services as such.

If you look closely into the picture, you will be able to take a much better and an informed decision. You can go for a paid or a free service provider depending on what purpose you need the website for. Also bear in mind that you might just be considering the image that the web host has in the market. In case of free service providers, you won’t be charged money, be sure about it, but they would place ad banners, pop-up windows, hot links or other such objects on the site which you might not appreciate. This will result in the look of the site being hampered and will irritate the visitors as well. The domain name of your site will also be long in that case, so the scope of traffic increasing to your site would be very low. People might not visit your site again if they forget he site’s URL, and it’s certainly not worth expecting every visitor to bookmark your site for future reference. To add to it, your site won’t be reflected so easily in results from search engines, so on the popularity chart, your site would be unlikely to cross a certain level.

If you have a personal website, it would help you a great deal in promoting your professional image to the business contacts or even present or potential employers. So think about it. If you hand over a business card to your actual or potential employer, and in the contact information, he would find your email address as name@freeserver.com, then it would most certainly create a bad impression in his mind. If your present portfolio would be available at something.freehost.com, then you would, for sure, be quite uncomfortable attending the interview. So even though you might be a thorough professional in your work, but if your website or URL reflects otherwise, no one will glance at you for the second time.

A good personal website is what most professionals are considering today. Nothing succeeds like success, as a famous proverb goes. If you have a website like www.yourname.com or an email like service@yourname.com, then it would certainly add to your professionalism. So you might very well invest some money in going for a paid web host service even for a personal website as it would be very helpful to you wherever you go. So don’t simply follow people who opt for free service providers. They might have their own reasons to do so, and if not, they will suffer because of their lack of visible professionalism, while you would have the last laugh. Also, if visitors experience any problem with a free host provider, they won’t bother visiting the site again, while chances of problems in paid services are far too less.

A free host would do well for you if your site is not linked with your image. Suppose if you create a site just for sharing your experiences, and the visitors are just your immediate friends and family members, then going for paid services is a waste of money. Also, if you are not too familiar with the world of web hosting, then a free service might just do for you as you would gain some knowledge about how it works before moving on to the paid service. These are some reasons why the popularity of free service providers has increased so much of late.

So there you go! The most important factor to consider while going for a free or a paid service provider would be your purpose of building the website. If it is for business purpose, then a paid one would be the best option, else if the site is just designed for casual purposes, then opt for a free web hosting service provider.

Internet is no longer a safe place, as information passed on through online can also be read by other people. There are a number of malevolent people known as hackers, who can easily reveal the confidential information that visitors exchange with your website. They can even obtain these types of sensitive information such as, passwords or credit card numbers. It is also possible that these hackers present a customized version of your website, which is hosted on their server to your innocent customers. In most of the cases, this is done to collect some confidential and important information from them. To fight against these hackers, a special Internet protocol called Secure Sockets Layer or SSL was created and thus secure web hosting was born .

The Secure Sockets Layer or SSL is a world wide standard security technology, which is developed by Netscape in 1994. It facilitates to establish an encrypted link between a browser and a web server. This link makes it certain that all the data, which passed between the web server and browser remains secure and private. It is recognized by a secured padlock that appears in the browser of the consumers. This protocol is used by a huge number of e-Business providers in order to shield their customer’s important information as well as to ensure that the online transactions remain confidential.

SSL Certificate:

If a web server wants to use the Secure Sockets Layer protocol, it will require an SSL Certificates provided by the Certification Authorities (CA). You will have to complete several questions about the identity of your company and website, while you choose to trigger SSL on your web server. The web server then constructs two cryptographic keys i.e. a Public Key and a Private Key. The Public Key is not a furtive. It is placed in a Certificate Signing Request or CSR, which is a data file that contains your details. You then require to submit the CSR. The Certification Authority validates all the details that you have provided in the CSR throughout the SSL Certificate application process. It further allocates an SSL Certificate that contains all your details and thus allows you to use SSL. The issued SSL Certificate is matched to the Private Key by your web server. This will enable your web server to establish an encrypted link between your website and the customer’s web browser.

However, all these complex procedures of the SSL protocol remain undetectable to the customers. What their browser provides to them is a key indicator that helps to let them know they are well protected by an SSL encrypted session. There is a lock icon in the lower right hand corner of your customer’s browser by clicking which, your SSL Certificate and all other details are displayed. Generally, all these SSL Certificates are allotted to registered companies and to legally accountable individuals.

These SSL Certificates usually contains your company name, domain name, and your address, city, pin code, state and country. It further includes the expiration date of the Certificate as well as the other details of the Certification Authority, who is in charge for the issuance of the Certificate. Whenever the browser connects to a secure site, your SSL Certificate will recover the site’s SSL Certificate. It will check that the other site’s SSL Certificate has been issued by a trustworthy Certification Authority and that it is being utilized by the website for which it has been allotted. It will also check the expiry date of that certificate. If the other certificate fails on any one of these checks, the browser will display a warning message to the end user.

The consumers are now much more comfortable with the golden padlock, which appears within their browser display. It is now considered as an indication of trust in the web site. In fact, this simple fact gives an e-Business provider an opportunity to influence the increased trust level in order to transform visitors into paying customers. All kinds of ecommerce shopping carts and sites that allow you to collect secure information on your website use SSL Certificates. However, it is also essential to keep in mind that while you use a secure server certificate with a form and get the result emailed to you, the email is not secure at all.

The new functions:

The SSL v3 has been recently introduced and is an improved version of upon SSL v2. It has been added with SHA-1 based ciphers and provides support for certificate authentication. There were certain flaws in the SSL v2, where indistinguishable cryptographic keys were used for encryption as well as for message authentication. Moreover, the former version had no protection for the handshake, which implies a “Man-in-the-middle downgrade attack” could even go unnoticed.

Furthermore, the Secure Sockets Layer has been recently been succeeded by Transport Layer Security TLS. This TLS is based itself on SSL and has been incorporated as an integral part of Netscape and Microsoft browsers as well as of most of the Web server products. In present days, the Secure Sockets Layer uses private and public key encryption system from RSA that also includes the utilization of a digital certificate.

Do you require an SSL Certificate:

• You will need to purchase the Secure Sockets Layer Certificate if you value privacy and expect others to trust your website and service.

• If you have an online store or accept online orders through credit cards you will need an SSL Certificate in order to safeguard the confidential information of your customers.

• It is also advisable to get an SSL Certificate in case you have offices, which share confidential information over an intranet.

• An SSL Certificate helps you to process several sensitive data including date of birth, ID numbers, address, telephone number or license number safely.

• If in case your business partners log in to private information on an extranet, an SSL Certificate helps you to protect them from hackers.

• SSL certificates are also important if you need to act in accordance with security and privacy requirements.

Some helpful information about purchasing SSL Certificates:

• The Certificate Authority market is quite diverse, but it is better to purchase an SSL Certificate that meets your requirements as well as budget. You can find a number of Secure Sockets Layer Certificate in different price range. The Open Directory Project identifies 22 third parties and offers over 20 root certificates that are included into Firefox and Internet Explorer. However, due to its price, it is dominated only by a few major firms.

• Netcraft conducted a survey in June 2005 to enlist the largest vendors providing SSL Certificates. The Security Space made similar tallies in January 2007, according to which the major vendors are Equifax via its GeoTrust subsidiary (www.equifax.com), VeriSign plus through its Thawte subsidiary (www.verisign.com), GoDaddy/Starfield (www.godaddy.com), Digicert (www.digicert.com) and Comodo (www.comodo.com).

In fact, depending on the measurement methodology, these six vendors as a whole have occupied approximately 95% of the total market. The Verisign holds the largest market share of around 72%, followed by Comodo which holds around 18% share, Geotrust with 3.43% of the total market share. Entrust and GoDaddy obtained approximately 2.5 % and 1% respectively. The other vendors hold 3 to 4% on an average.