Web hosting services

To make your website publicly available, it needs to reside on a server that is constantly connected to the internet. These servers can attract large amounts of traffic and require dedicated management and maintenance personnel. Hosting service providers specialise in this business.

Important things to consider when choosing a hosting service provider are:

• The amount of server space (storage) and bandwidth (downloads) offered. This needs to be sufficient to hold your site (including all graphics, video and other potentially large files) and any supplementary storage such as email files and archives. If your site contains a lot of multimedia files such as videos and you get a lot of visitors, you will need to make sure your hosting service provides enough bandwidth.
• The amount of ‘uptime’ the provider guarantees—that is, the amount of time the provider commits to keeping your site available to users on the internet.
• The level of security—that is, the protection for the data belonging to you and your clients from unauthorised access, modification, loss or damage.
• Additional services, for example the number of mailboxes that you can set up with your domain (see more about email).
• The ease of managing your own website information. This includes things such as facilitating DNS (domain name server) transfers for assigning your domain name to the hosting provider and FTP (file transfer protocol) tools for uploading your website files.
• The availability of support when you need help.
• Environmental considerations, such as energy efficiency or strategies to reduce power use.
• The duration and terms of the hosting contract.
• Cost-effectiveness.

It is important to shop around to make sure you get the best price for the level of service that you require from your hosting service provider.