HOSTING HOTLINE

Choosing a web hosting company is something every adult webmaster should do very carefully. After all, in an ideal situation, you want your web host to grow with your site – transferring your website to a new company because you outgrew the old one takes both time and money.

When choosing a web hosting company for the first time, the first question you have to ask yourself is: What kind of web hosting account do I want? Adult webmasters are typically presented with three different options, each of which has their advantages and drawbacks: shared, dedicated and co-located.

Shared web hosting accounts are one step up from free hosting from both a price and performance perspective.HOSTING HOTLINE

Choosing a web hosting company is something every adult webmaster should do very carefully. After all, in an ideal situation, you want your web host to grow with your site – transferring your website to a new company because you outgrew the old one takes both time and money.

When choosing a web hosting company for the first time, the first question you have to ask yourself is: What kind of web hosting account do I want? Adult webmasters are typically presented with three different options, each of which has their advantages and drawbacks: shared, dedicated and co-located.

Shared web hosting accounts are one step up from free hosting from both a price and performance perspective. Most shared hosting packages cost less than 50 dollars a month, and come with all the amenities of any web hosting account: e-mail, a fair amount of disk space, a specified amount of bandwidth transfer, detailed statistics and database/programming capabilities. Shared accounts are also typically easy to use, as they tend to be accompanied by a web-based control panel that takes the confusion out of site administration. Therefore, most adult webmasters purchase a shared account before moving on to bigger and more powerful packages like dedicated servers.

The downside to shared web hosting is the fact that although it provides webmasters with a fair amount of control, it is still limiting. The number of e-mail addresses and web space allotted under the provisions of a shared web hosting account are usually capped at a fairly low level. Most shared accounts also limit the amount of available bandwidth for use before having to pay extra. While this isn’t much of a problem for mainstream properties, adult webmasters must keep a close eye on their bandwidth bills because of the image-intense nature of their web sites.

The other pitfall to shared web hosting is in its name. Shared hosting means your account is likely on a web server that is shared by a couple of hundred accounts. This means that if another site on the server crashes or experiences a sudden surge in traffic, the chances of your own site experiencing some sort of technical difficulty increases.

Despite these downfalls, however, shared hosting is an excellent option for webmasters new to the adult Internet. Just make sure your host can offer you more down the road should you need it.

Once your website gains in popularity, you may want to consider moving to a dedicated server. A dedicated package is accompanied by your own server, which you have complete control over. Unlike shared web hosting, no other websites will be located on that machine.

A dedicated server provides webmasters with an incredible amount of freedom. You are typically able to choose from a number of operating systems and web server software packages to run your site on. You are given exclusive control over the machine, and can do whatever you wish with it (within reasonable limits, of course). With a dedicated server, webmasters are free to delegate e-mail addresses and disk space in any way they please, and can host multiple sites on the same machine. Dedicated servers also tend to be accompanied by more bandwidth, as most web hosting firms assume that anyone using a dedicated server is running a fairly serious web operation.

There are two major downfalls to choosing a dedicated server: the technical expertise required, and the price. Dedicated servers aren’t cheap, but you get what you pay for. The performance that accompanies a dedicated machine tends to be unparalleled when compared to a shared account. Dedicated servers also require at least an intermediate level of technical knowledge, as you will be responsible for the everyday operation of the machine. Unless you are willing to pay extra for a suite of managed services or technical support, you will be the one responsible for keeping the server up and running.

If you have the technical expertise required to operate a web server but don’t want to leave any part of your site in the hands of another company, you might want to consider co-locating a server in a data center. Co-located web hosting packages provide the webmaster with the utmost control. You purchase the server, and install it in a data center. You are responsible for every single aspect of the server, save for the connectivity, which is typically provided by the owner of the data center. Otherwise, all maintenance, equipment upgrades and installations are up to you. Many popular adult webmasters, including The Hun, currently employ this technique (you can read more about The Hun’s hosting requirements here: http://hosts4porn.com/profiles/thehun.cfm).

Remember, although you might not need anything too fancy to begin with, you never know when your website may take off. Therefore, make sure to choose a hosting company that can upgrade your hosting package in a hurry should the need arise. Make sure to use Hosts4Porn.com to search for a company well-suited to your needs.

Adam is a staff writer for Hosts4Porn, a Web hosting directory and resource site geared exclusively to adult webmasters.