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by Answer Rabbit on April 13th, 2006

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Beyond price, what are the main differences between cheap and expensive web hosting plans?

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  • by KCTrey on April 13th, 2006

    KCTrey

    There CAN be a lot of differences, but for the most part, almost all of the hosting sites out there have similar features. I'll try to list a couple of them.

    What operating system do they run? Any Microsoft OS costs more for them to buy licenses for. If you don't do anything Microsoft-specific, don't worry about it, stick with Linux ... IMHO

    What scripting/programming languages are available? Most companies include Perl and PHP now, but make sure the one you pick does, even if you don't know what this is...you'll probably want it eventually.

    How much storage space and bandwidth do they provide? Only you know how much you need, depending on the type of site you are going to run and what kind of traffic you will have.

    What kind of extra features do they have? Can you load modules, like message boards, shopping carts, etc...? If you want them, make sure the hosting company offers them as part of the package.

    Is it a shared server or not? Shared servers will be cheaper, but you lose out on some of the bandwidth. Also, if someone does something to mess the server up, you get stuck until it's fixed.

    Other things to consider are how many e-mail addresses you get, how many domains you can have, how many databases you can use...stuff like that.

    My final answer really is: If you know what you want, find the best price. If all of the features are the same, all you are paying for is the quality of customer service. A hosting company making $40/year from you won't be nearly as responsive as someone making $40/month. This isn't true in all cases, but you have to be willing to deal with what you choose.

    I hope this helps a little. There are always going to be a lot of hosting companies. Find someone you know who has one and see if they like theirs. That's always a good place to start.

    Happy hosting!

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