Hosts
give your site a 24 x 7 x 365 place to "live"
on their web-servers. Internet Visitors who type in or link
to your domain are directed there to view your pages. A
Domain Space is provided, logs started, and a certain amount
of 'memory' is alloted (10meg, 20, 50 or more). Most small
sites do not use more than 10 meg but it is restrictive.
Other sites need more - no way around it. Email
servers maintain xAccounts (10 email addresses, 20, 100
for example-whatever is included in the hosting plan). Your
computer at home is not equipped (normally) to behave as
a web-server, nor is your modem or phone-line adequate for
the heavy back-forth traffic that a website demands.
Your
Host determines how you can access your web-pages. Look
for full, independent FTP access. File managers and a web-based
"Admin" page will not suffice. There should be
no "tricks" or bottlenecks in getting to your
files. AVOID template websites and EZ Site Creator
Tools that often come with Hosting Plans. Call WebStuff
before you ever make such a desperate error.
Your
Host can help you with buying and registering your new Domain
names and hosting them. Chicken & Egg - it is hard sometimes
to buy a domain if you don't have a host....and most people
don't talk to a host until they have bought a domain. Call
WebStuff for a guiding hand in this process. After completing
the process so often, we have learned the tricks that eliminate
this muddle.
If you
need to move to another Host...your old Host can be helpful
or a real drag. WebStuff is helpful, however no-one has
left yet! So that is an unverified statement.
Hosts
provide Technical Support for troubleshooting your website
and email.
Hosts
help determine how many email accounts you will have with
your domain, assist with managing your company email, setup/removal
of accounts, mailbag size limit, etc.
Hosts
help you deploy SSL's which 'credit-card enable' your website.
Hosts
help your site with database connectivity.
There
are some $4.95/mo hosting and $7.95/mo hosting options out
there. Server Farms, they are known as. Perhaps it is clear
from the above information that Hosting is crucial. You
should consider having your Host in the same Time Zone as
your company. All the above duties are performed by WebStuff
for free. You are charged for the Hosting costs just like
them....but we do not charge for setup, help, email accounts,
Tech Support, etc. You are encouraged to note the Server
Farms rarely have any extras, charge per email account and
Support Incident, etc. LogFiles are one-size-fits-all. If
they were to do anything special for you, they would have
to do it for ALL their clients. And then where would they
be?
