naveen gupta asked:


First thing that comes to mind after selecting the hosting provider is whether to go for Linux Hosting or Windows Hosting. As the owner of the website you are the best judge to decide what you require and accordingly decide the budget.

Normally, this choice would depend on the scripting language used for the website. If languages like PHP, mySQL or Perl have been used as scripting languages in your website, then it is advised to choose Linux Web Hosting. But if you use ASP.Net for your website, then Windows Web Hosting becomes the finest choice.

Let us focus on Linux Web Hosting for the moment and understand the important features that one should consider while selecting Linux Web Hosting plan.

1) POP3 e-mail ids – Since you already know what your requirements are, it is relatively easy to decide how many email ids you would want. The package is selected accordingly, but whatever package is selected the service provider should provide plenty of POP3 e-mail ids.

2) FTP accounts – File transfer protocol is the medium which connects the live server and the local server. This is the place where all the modifications are made right from deleting to updating anything in the website. It is advisable to have sufficient FTP sub accounts. Granting FTP access to clients/users help a lot as the files can be uploaded from a password protected folder to the websites.
3) Control Panel – If someone wants to handle the website completely then having a control panel is a must. The entire access is with the website owner and any sort of modification can be done by him. The host provider should immediately provide the access to the control panel as and when registration with the provider is completed.

4) Back ups – This is a very important feature and you should ensure that your service provider offers back up option for your data.

5) Bandwidth – While selecting the hosting plan another factor that needs to be considered is the bandwidth offered by the hosting provider. Though it is difficult to know the precise requirement in the beginning, there should be the option available to reduce the bandwidth according to the requirement.

Though all the factors have not been included but the more important ones have been mentioned. I hope this will be of some help for those who are looking for quality web hosting.