What is shared website hosting?

Many people want to host their own website, be it a personal site or one for a business, and they don't want to use a free website space. They'd rather have it look more professional and have it's own domain name such as www.******.com instead of www.geocities.com/~ankitjain/ In this kind of a situation, you must pay a company to host your website so it can be available on the internet for all to see and use. There are a few types of website hosting options, and the most common ones are dedicated and shared. A dedicated server is a machine that is yours alone, the entire machine. You can put on there what you like, manage it how you like, the company just charges you for the space it occupies and the bandwidth it uses. For most, the cost of a dedicated server (managed or not) is often too high so many opt for shared hosting. It also requires technical knowledge far beyond the norm, and most people don't have the time or the skill set. With shared hosting, you don't get the entire machine to yourself, you share it with other websites (hence the name). Moreover, you may even share the same IP address, which is fine for most people's needs. The web server can use the same IP address for multiple sites because it knows how to map your domain to the correct location, and not to the location of some other person's site on that same IP. That shared hosting solution also comes with the added benefit that the server is managed by the company you buy it from. You don't need to worry about software updates, deleting old log files, or account changes. They do all of that for you. So, there you go. That is the technical explanation of shared hosting. Still confused? Basically, it's a situation where your website, and dozens of others are all placed on the same machine, sharing its hard drive space, bandwidth, and most often, its IP address. The account is very basic and managed by the company you buy it from, unlike a dedicated server. Shared hosting is great for small companies or personal websites (like this one, www.******.com) and is very affordable. Shared hosting often costs anywhere from $8.95 to $39.95 depending on the features. As time goes by, companies offer more and more features at cheaper prices so those prices may change, but they generally hover in that area. (This article is mostly about Shared hosting, but for those who care, dedicated hosting can cost anywhere from $60 to $500) A shared hosting provider should offer the most basic of services, such as email accounts, visitor/hit statistics, a control panel, SPAM filters, FTP access, and possibly file management via a web browser. As more and more companies enter the arena, more and more choices and features will become available. Some even offer database capabilities, ssh or telnet logins, webmail access, and other advanced features. With so many options, it's easy to see that the hunt for a shared hosting company can be daunting. But, it's in your best interest to shop around. Some require you to sign up for an entire year, others charge on a monthly basis. Some aren't as user friendly, others are. So, make sure you know what you want before you start looking and have a price range in mind. Below I list some of the better shared hosting companies I have found, or used in the past:
A2 Hosting - http://www.a2hosting.com/
iPowerWeb - http://www.ipowerweb.com/
DreamHost - http://www.dreamhost.com/
Lunarpages – http://www.lunarpages.com/
Some basic features you need to focus on are:
How many email accounts do I get? (10? 50? 100? Unlimited J )
What server log reporting tools do they offer? (Analog? Webalizer? AwStats?)
Do they offer free SPAM filtering?
What are the monthly data transfer limits? (10gig, 20?)
How much website space do I get? (100gig? 50?)
Does webmail access come with it?
Do I get FTP access so I can upload my website and other files?
How do I manage my account, is there a control panel?
Is the billing monthly, or annual? Once you have found one that suits your needs, you will need to buy a domain name or have your current domain name pointed to the new server. The hosting company will help you with that part; often they have documentation at their website explaining the process. It generally takes 24 to 48 hours for a new domain name to change name servers across the entire internet, at which time your site will now be visible at its new server.