Thursday, October 28, 2010

4:48 AM

Most free web hosting providers will balance the budget by doing at least one of two things:
Decrease costs by reducing maintenance (manpower) which typically translates into no advanced hosting goodies like no server-side scripting (PHP, Perl, SSI) and no databases (MySQL). A collection of web hosting clients that are guaranteed not to bring down their servers every second day through bad scripting and gaping security holes is just simply a whole lot easier to manage.
     Increase revenue by forcing ads.
If you're looking to create a serious presence on the web though you're going to want to sign up with a web host —free or not— that is fully experienced and has a sense of responsibility towards its clientele.
After registering an account with over 50 free website hosting providers, the companies I'm most comfortable recommending to  my clients are the ones that offer free hosting as a complimentary service when you buy a domain name from them. (And among these I find Doteasy.com to be the best.) You're going to have to buy a domain name anyway —unless you really want to look like an amateur— so you might as well get some free hosting along with it, right?
Web hosting service
A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their own website accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own or lease for use by their clients as well as providingInternet connectivity, typically in a data center. Web hosts can also provide data center space and connectivity to the Internet for servers they do not own to be located in their data center, called colocation.
The scope of hosting services varies widely. The most basic is web page and small-scale file hosting, where files can be uploaded via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or a Web interface. The files are usually delivered to the Web "as is" or with little processing. Many Internet service providers (ISPs) offer this service free to their subscribers. People can also obtain Web page hosting from other, alternative service providers. Personal web site hosting is typically free, advertisement-sponsored, or inexpensive. Business web site hosting often has a higher expense.
Single page hosting is generally sufficient only for personal web pages. A complex site calls for a more comprehensive package that providesdatabase support and application development platforms (e.g.PHP, Java, Ruby on Rails, ColdFusion, and ASP.NET). These facilities allow the customers to write or install scripts for applications like forums and content management. For e-commerce, SSL is also highly recommended.
The host may also provide an interface or control panel for managing the Web server and installing scripts as well as other services like e-mail. Some hosts specialize in certain software or services (e.g. e-commerce). They are commonly used by larger companies to outsource network infrastructure to a hosting company.
Hosting uptime refers to the percentage of time the host is accessible via the internet. Many providers state that they aim for at least 99.9% uptime (roughly equivalent to 45 minutes of downtime a month, or less), but there may be server restarts and planned (or unplanned) maintenance in any hosting environment, which may or may not be considered part of the official uptime promise.
Many providers tie uptime and accessibility into their own service level agreement (SLA). SLAs sometimes include refunds or reduced costs if performance goals are not met.

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