When creating your website, you will need choose a host. There are many on the market and it is sometimes difficult to find your way through the offers. Discover our advice to help you see more clearly.
Types of web hosting
A web host is a company that has servers connected to the Internet, on which the data of one or more sites are stored. Its role is to allocate them space (memory) and resources (a processor) 7 days a week and 24 hours a day. This is called web hosting. There are several types of web hosting, each with specific characteristics:
- Shared hosting
Several sites are hosted on the same server and share space and resources, which can slow down their speed or reduce their capacity.
This is the most efficient and secure type of hosting. Your site is the only one hosted on a server. You manage your space as you wish.
- VPS” or “Virtual Private Server” hosting
VPS hosting gives you access to your own storage space and ensures good performance without using a dedicated server. It is a hybrid solution.
On the other hand, cloud hosting allows users to benefit from a virtual hosting solution on several servers connected to each other. The performance adapts in real time, which offers significant flexibility and agility.
What are the criteria for choosing a hosting company?
To choose the right hosting provider, you should define your needs beforehand and especially to base you on various criteria, among which :
- The resources Allocated resources: amount of space, bandwidth, disk technology, number of e-mail accounts that can be created… ;
- server location ;
- security provided by the host ;
- quality/price ratio: better to avoid free or low cost hosting for professional use ;
- customer service efficiency
- social and ecological impact.
Choosing a web host: pitfalls to avoid
When comparing different web hosts, you should also pay attention to different points. Think about identify your needs beforehand, at the risk of choosing a web host that will not meet them. It is for example not recommended to choose a free hosting for a professional site. Not reading the T&Cs (terms and conditions) could also be detrimental to you. Remember that accepting them is equivalent to signing a contract. Read them before validating anything to know the rights and duties of each party.
Forgetting to make regular backups would also be a mistake. Indeed, even if you choose the best web host in the industry, you risk losing all the data on your site if you do not make backups. So be careful on this point. Finally, not to assure you of the quality of the customer service could be damaging later on. Do not hesitate to contact a consultant to ask for information, and to consult the opinions of Internet users.