OK My site is hosted on
www.50megs.com
They have several really good packages. In Fact all my sites are hosted there (Several DOT.COM businesses).
The features you should be concerned with while shopping are the following:
Web Space - For obvious reasons.
File Size Limits - Some hosting companies actually limit the maximum size of a file you can upload. If their size limit is less than 2megs, then don't plan on having any streaming media or MP3s for download! If it's not a listed feature, ASK about it!
CGI Access - CGI scripts are used for FORM processing (among other things): For Example if you want to sell CDs right from your page you'd need a FORM for users to fill out. (Same goes for mailing lists etc)
FTP Access - So you can upload your site properly (Some sites offer a pseudo-upload system through your web browser... these don't usually support programs like MS FrontPage or Dreamweaver for "live" site maintenence.
Bandwidth - VERY important for someone running a site that has MP3s or other large downloadable (or streamable) media. Many cheaper hosting companies don't tell you what your Monthly allowable bandwidth is in their plans, then they limit you to like 1-2 GIG. (Example: your site has 2 MP3's that are say 3.5 Meg in size each... most people will download both for a total of 7 Meg ... if you're limited to 2GIG bandwidth/month, then you you will only be able to "service" approximately 286 people. Anything beyond that and your hosting company will either charge you an arm and a leg for "extra bandwidth" or bump you up to a more expensive plan. Check and READ the service agreement carefully!)
Stats Reports - VERY handy! They give you all kinds of info. Like how many "unique" hits you've had. A common problem with standard web counters is that the number is very misleading in many cases. (Example: If your web site has say 8 pictures on it, then there are 9 unique objects that are sent to the user's web browser including the page itself. Many web counters tally these up and call them "hits" - and many counters don't keep track of "unique" hits... which is to say it will tally up another "score" of hits when the SAME user returns or reloads the page) Stat reports also can tell you where the users came from! Like if I click a link from HomeRecording.com to your site, it will show in the report the exact URL I linked from. - Later on if you start advertising, you'll have a good idea where your traffic is comming from and you can then focus more effort elsewhere to generate more without wasting time.
True E-Mail support - do they host your site's e-mail account? Some places charge extra for this. Also a question to ask is "Does my e-mail folder size count against my site size limit and/or monthly bandwidth allowence?" If you somehow end up on a bazillion mailing lists and get like say 4Meg/day in spam mail, then over a 30day period you will have used up a small chunk of bandwidth that users could be using for MP3 downloads!
Free Priority Phone support - If for some reason your site goes down, is there someone you can reach to find out why? They might not be aware that something's wrong on their end at all till you contact them. Some hosting companies actually won't give you phone support for free... you have to pay for a toll call to tell them that their server is down!
Setup Fee - Many host companies want a nominal fee to set up the server for you. This is normal, but some don't announce it beforehand.
And one thing that I feel is VERY important is to always ask what Operating System they are using. PLEASE avoid Microsoft 2000 or 2003 with IIS (Internet information Services) --- I'm Microsoft Certified MCSE/MCSA (I also have 13yrs experience as a network engineer and I specialize in Network Security and Data Recovery) and I can tell you first hand: it is NOT secure. Your best bet is to find a hosting company using a Unix OS (Operating System) -- preferably Apache
Hope this helps some.
- Tanlith -
