There is no concept of free lunch in the world, this is exactly true when we talk about free Web hosting for the webmasters. Before going ahead we must talk about what hosting exactly is; Hosting is the process of storing files onto a web server so that it can be accessible to viewers through a web browser.
A lot of new webmasters have to face the decision of choosing the right host for their website and what attracts them is free web hosting that is available all over the internet worldwide. But as mentioned earlier, the free web hosting never comes as FREE as it may sound, it comes with its own limitations such as lack of autonomous domain name.
For the new webmaster, the choice of finding the best host may be very much difficult and even in the case of free hosting providers; the decision is to get the most out of them as most of these free webhosts try to get benefits from those webmasters who plan to use their services. Besides been some limitations, the use of a small server place and non-ability of using the FTP clients, no domain name, lot of ads from the web company and very low benefits may be faced when looking for a free hosting. The webhosts thus try to cover their costs by displaying their ads or some other companies.
Whenever you look for the decision of finding the free web hosting, then there are a few things that one must consider, what is your requirement, what the web host is offering, how much space they are offering, any statistics, what domain name they offer, do they offer the ability to use your own domain name or provide name servers, do their provide email address capability, what sort of ads that they put on your website and where they put that? All these questions are very much important to be answered completely in order to decide the hosting service that you choose for free.
As far as the requirement is concerned, today websites are either static or dynamic, most of the free hosts provide static webhosting and if your website is dynamic then you will have to look for a host that gives you the ability to host your website with the scripting languages that you have used. Very less free hosting companies provide dyamic services and those who do provide have a lot of limitation, like no database availability and stuff like that. Similarly, the requirement is concerned with the space that they are providing, most free webhosts provide from 5MB-50 MB of web space depending upon various other factors, the more space that you use, the more benefits the web hosting company would take from you. Most of the free hosts don’t provide the use of your own domain names as it hinders their own benefits in this way. So, most of the times the web address that your website is uploaded becomes www.yourname.freehosting.com or www.freewebhosting.com/yourname
Besides giving the long URLs, another big issue of these free web hosts is their reliability which is always in question. It is often termed that most of the free host providers are one who have old servers and give free space so as to cover the cost by getting free advertising by providing space. That is why most of the free web hosts don’t assure you that servers will be running 24 hours a day without frequent breakdowns? Similarly, these free webhosts don’t offer a good bandwidth, hence you may be in a problem if your website is popular and it gets beyond the server bandwidth limit and it will block your website till next month.
So, keeping all the factors in mind, free web hosting is not bad, if you are just trying your hands out on the web and want to explore without paying much. Free web hosting have its own set of limitations but are extremely helpful for the newbies to make their impressions on the web.
Yasir Nisar is a 25 years old poet, writer, freelance journalist, script writer, director, software engineer and web master of many websites. He has been writing when he was in his early teens and till then he has written thousands of articles, tens of poems, have handled edited many magazines, directed as well scripted many shows and music videos. He has been handling and managing his own software house where he specializes in web marketing, web development, web promotion and technical writing. He can be reached at yani@yasirnisar.com or at his website http://www.yasirnisar.com
Showing posts with label UK DEDICATED HOSTING SERVER. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UK DEDICATED HOSTING SERVER. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Free Web Hosting or Paid - How to Decide
Have you wondered if free web hosting is any good? More importantly, is it a viable option for someone who wants to set up an online business presence without a significant cash commitment?. It may be but only if you take the time to understand what it will and will not provide.
Free web hosting usually comes with significantly limited capacity and services. And while free web hosts may not charge you anything for hosting your web site, they still have to generate revenue to stay in business.
The Price of “Free”
The way most of them do this (there are exceptions as you’ll see below) is by inserting paid ads on your web site. And since you won’t be able to control what kind of ads are posted on your site, there’s a good chance you’ll have ads from competitors (if you’re trying to run a business) or ads that may not be on a topic you want to be associated with. Unfortunately, that's often the price you’ll pay for "free" web hosting.
To limit the amount of resources you can use, free web hosting plans come with very limited disk space and bandwidth and may even impose restrictions on the types of content you can upload to your site. For example, you may not be allowed to sell anything on your web site.
What do you really want to do?
If you intend to start a business on the cheap then this obviously isn’t going to be satisfactory. Some free web hosting plans prevent you from uploading videos or music files because they take up a lot of storage space and use a great deal of bandwidth when your visitors try to access them.
The Big Risk
Finally, and of greatest concern, is that you may wake up one day and find that your web site has simply vanished without warning. Companies that provide free web hosting pop up practically every day, but they also disappear with alarming regularity.
So if you plan on putting any real effort into developing a web site for personal or business use, you'll be better served by selecting an established, reliable web host.
Professional Image
There are a number of companies that provide free web hosting, under your own unique domain name (not a subdomain under them). All you have to do register your domain through them and pay the annual renewal fee of around $15-25. This way you’ll be able to have free hosting under your own domain and the credibility that comes with it.
The Bottom Line
You should look for a free hosting provider that provides a simple upgrade path. This way you can can enjoy free web hosting now and have your own unique domain name (plus the credibility it brings) for nothing more than the cost of a domain registration fee. You should later be able to upgrade with no disruption when and if you decide you’re ready to move up to a paid plan.
Anthony Hamill is the founder of http://www.Web-Host-Watch.Com which is devoted to helping new webmasters learn the basics of web hosting. It provides tutorials, tips on avoiding common mistakes, a glossary of web hosting terms, and a list of Top Web Hosts.
Free web hosting usually comes with significantly limited capacity and services. And while free web hosts may not charge you anything for hosting your web site, they still have to generate revenue to stay in business.
The Price of “Free”
The way most of them do this (there are exceptions as you’ll see below) is by inserting paid ads on your web site. And since you won’t be able to control what kind of ads are posted on your site, there’s a good chance you’ll have ads from competitors (if you’re trying to run a business) or ads that may not be on a topic you want to be associated with. Unfortunately, that's often the price you’ll pay for "free" web hosting.
To limit the amount of resources you can use, free web hosting plans come with very limited disk space and bandwidth and may even impose restrictions on the types of content you can upload to your site. For example, you may not be allowed to sell anything on your web site.
What do you really want to do?
If you intend to start a business on the cheap then this obviously isn’t going to be satisfactory. Some free web hosting plans prevent you from uploading videos or music files because they take up a lot of storage space and use a great deal of bandwidth when your visitors try to access them.
The Big Risk
Finally, and of greatest concern, is that you may wake up one day and find that your web site has simply vanished without warning. Companies that provide free web hosting pop up practically every day, but they also disappear with alarming regularity.
So if you plan on putting any real effort into developing a web site for personal or business use, you'll be better served by selecting an established, reliable web host.
Professional Image
There are a number of companies that provide free web hosting, under your own unique domain name (not a subdomain under them). All you have to do register your domain through them and pay the annual renewal fee of around $15-25. This way you’ll be able to have free hosting under your own domain and the credibility that comes with it.
The Bottom Line
You should look for a free hosting provider that provides a simple upgrade path. This way you can can enjoy free web hosting now and have your own unique domain name (plus the credibility it brings) for nothing more than the cost of a domain registration fee. You should later be able to upgrade with no disruption when and if you decide you’re ready to move up to a paid plan.
Anthony Hamill is the founder of http://www.Web-Host-Watch.Com which is devoted to helping new webmasters learn the basics of web hosting. It provides tutorials, tips on avoiding common mistakes, a glossary of web hosting terms, and a list of Top Web Hosts.
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