The first thing to understand is that managed server hosting is typically used for medium to large sites. These are web sites that need to stay up, and can’t go down or slow down because of resource limitations. The problem with shared hosting is that you share the server with many other accounts. So if one of those other sites hog the machine resources, then your own web site becomes unresponsive. If your business relies on your site being up, that’s an unacceptable situation. This is where managed server hosting comes in. With this type of service, you get your own machine to run your site. You get the same access as if it was a computer you had at home, except you have to access it remotely, because it lives in the provider’s data center. Still, you get administrator access, and can customize the operating system and the installed software so that your site gets exactly what it needs to run. This is the best solution to have the most flexibility, and is crucial for any site that gets a lot of visits and needs to be reliably.

But with managed server hosting you get a lot of interesting privileges that you wouldn’t get if you had to build your own computer and run it from home or the office. For one, the computer is built by the hosting provider, and added to their own racks. That means it lives over there on the web, and not in your basement. It also means that it has access to their fast bandwidth, and you don’t need to pay for extra bandwidth to serve your own site. Also, because it’s inside a large data center, it has the proper cooling and fire suppression system. Finally, this service can come with a lot of useful extras. For example, many companies will do regular backups of their servers, so you don’t have to worry about that. If something breaks, they have on-site support staff to correct the problem, and replace any broken part, so you don’t have to change it yourself. And if you want to upgrade to a more powerful server as your site grows, they can often offer to transfer your installation and data to a larger server very quickly, something that might take you a long time to do.

Overall, there’s no question that having a managed server hosting is the best of both world. On the one hand you get the power and flexibility of having your own server, along with full control over it, and on the other hand you have someone else handle all the boring details like backups, maintenance, and so on.

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If you ask around, or read review sites, you’ll soon realize which host is actually the most popular. There’s no question that right now, WordPress is the one used by the most people out there, and there’s a lot of reasons why. First, it’s easy to use, where all you have to do is create an account and everything can be customized from the web interface. A basic blog is free, but adding more services like your own ads or a secure shopping site costs extra. Because they are the most popular, it also means there’s a ton of templates and plugins available for it. Templates allow you to design your own unique looking site, and that’s very important so your blog doesn’t look like thousands of other blogs out there. Plugins allow you to add extensibility, such as Twitter integration or a shout box for your visitors.

But WordPress isn’t the only option. In fact there are reasons not to go with them. First, every additional feature costs money. On the other hand, if you go with Blogger, you get the option to add ads so you can make money with your site in a much easier way. Also, WordPress being the number one choice, all the hackers out there target them, and so they have to update their software constantly. Other choices like TypePad and Movable Type are smaller targets and so they don’t suffer the same fate. Another reason the best blog host for you might not be the most popular option is the interface. Many people like the WordPress interface, but others don’t. It’s not always the simplest one, and there’s a lot of people who prefer LiveJournal or Blogger. In the end, these are all options you can use, and each of them have their own unique feature which you should explore.

The truth is that the best blog host is the one you run your site on, because it’s what powers your blog. You should go to the various options like WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, Movable Type, LiveJournal, and so on, and then simply read their feature list and compare. It’s up to you to decide which one you will pick.

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First, it’s important to understand what hosting means, and how multiple web sites can be hosted on a single server. Typically, in the early days, a single machine would host a single web site. That’s how the early versions of Apache, the Unix based web server software, were made. The way you would host a server is simply add the IP address to a configuration file, and the name of the domain to host. This was simple enough, and could work well with early sites. However, soon companies started to offer web hosting services for businesses and individuals who did not want to run their own servers. This posed a problem, because nothing in the initial architecture allowed for multiple sites on a single IP. So the initial way to do virtual hosting was with multiple IP addresses. This is still used today if you wish to have a secure, SSL server, because they require unique IP addresses.

However, Apache was soon updated to allow servers to host multiple web sites, and that’s when the VirtualHost section really started to become popular. In there, you could now configure domain names, along with folders where on the physical machine they would reside. The use of this function is fairly easy. Basically, any time a hosting company wants to add a new host, or a new web site, they add a line to their configuration, with the name of the web site, and the folder, usually the home directory of the user account. This is done for all basic shared hosting packages out there. Behind the scenes, Apache starts various copies of itself to handle all the requests. That way, when a client browser connects to port 80, the web port, then it will look at the URL it asks for, determine which domain that is, and send the request to the right place. Then the process assigned to this request reads the files from the correct folder, and sends them off to the client.

There’s no question that the addition of Apache VirtualHost was a key change in the Apache server software. By adding a simple line, with the name of the server and the folder, along with optionally a unique IP, anyone can host as many web sites as they want on a single machine, restricted only by the hardware resources available.

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Is their control panel user friendly? Many hosts offer free demonstrations or tours. Take advantage of these to make sure it’s a control panel that makes sense and is easy to use.

Building your own site or looking for a website builder too? Some website hosts offer site building tools. These can be wonderfully useful if you’re not interested in getting into the technological side of building a website. However, if you are building your own website using any number of software programs or languages, make sure the host has FTP transfer. This is the system you’ll use to upload your web pages to your host’s server.

Can you upload your files easily?  Some website hosts are only compatible with certain file types. Make sure your website builder of choice works with your host before you pay for their services.

Are they big enough for your needs?  Look for data space, bandwidth and file size limitations. You don’t need to go crazy however a host does need to accommodate your current needs and give you some room to grow.

Server reliablity. Occasional downtime is expdected however it should be rare and you should be forewarned when the servers are going to be down. Ideally, your host’s server should be up and running 99% of the time.

Security. If you’re doing business online then security is a must. Even if you’re not doing business online, you’ll want to do everything you can to protect your website from hackers. A secure host is essential.

Features and functions. What do you need your website to have?  Do you need a shopping cart, email or autoresponders? Do you need to be able to sell advertising? Do you want analytic and reporting functions to track traffic and website visitor behavior?  Make sure your website host has all the features and functions you need before you sign up and transfer your domain.

User reviews. This is the last thing to look at once you’ve narrowed down yoru choices and before you compare price. Make sure the company has a solid reputation in the industry. There are a lot of resellers out there, you also want to make sure you’re dealing with an acutal hosting company and not a reseller – you’ll get a better price and better customer support.

Finally, it’s time to compare price. If a website host meets all of the above criteria and fits your budget, you’ve found a good company. There are many wonderful website hosts out there. Spend a bit of time researching based on your needs and you can’t go wrong.

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