Web Hosting , Real Estate In CyberSpace
Author: Paul Babs

As the internet market has grown and assimilated into global
culture, becoming an integral part of our daily lives, more and
more companies, small businesses, non-profits, and individuals
are embracing the web, all desiring their own websites,
tailored to their specific needs and interests, and expressing
their goals and visions, while targeting specific audiences.
Even individuals and companies known for their old-fashioned
tenets and inflexible standards, are giving way to new
standards in advertising and mass-marketing so easily and
readily available on the web.

One of the greatest assets of the web is its ready
accessibility from anywhere on the globe by the click of a
mouse. All one needs is a computer, handheld device, or such
peripheral with an Internet connection, and presto! You are
connected to an enormous database of information on everything
possible: from real estate and brokerage negotiations, to
educational documents, research, and studies, to entertainment,
media, and games; to libraries, health resources, and so much
more - the list is 'virtually' endless.

Numerous web hosting companies have sprouted all over the
globe, each outfitting clients with hundreds of MB of web space
and domain names, as well as extra features such as easy to use
templates for building websites, numerous mailboxes, large
quotas for data transfer (20-60GB per month), marketing
strategies, visitor statistical reports such as Urchin,
password protection, FTP access, web blogs, audio and video
streaming, PERL Debuggers, Message boards, Guestbooks, and hit
counters in CGI script, mailing lists and autoresponders, file
management and tech support resources, as well as live
telephone support, often 24 hours a day. E-commerce sites will
want to have additional special features that enable quick and
seamless financial transactions, with secure encryption and SSL
Digital Certificates, for visitors to their sites wishing to
purchase products or services online.

Some web hosting companies such as the award-winning Earthlink
Company based in Atlanta, GA in the United States, offer dual
platforms, such as Unix and Windows. Considered the most
versatile operating system, the Unix system supports freeware
and shareware programs and offers maximal security. On the
other hand, the Windows system hosts webpages designed in
Microsoft Access as well as ASP or Active Server Programs.
Depending on the needs of the client, web hosting companies
offer a wide variety of services and amenities, with each
increase in web space offering a substantial increase in web
services accordingly. A general rule of thumb is that the
client gets as much as they are willing to pay for.

There are three kinds of web hosting: shared, dedicated, or
collocation. Shared web hosting, the least expensive, involves
sharing a portion of an existing file server with other
companies. Dedicated hosting is more expensive and allows for
full control and access to a web server, with absolute control
of processing power and storage space. This type of web hosting
more than suffices for most businesses and enterprises.

The last but not least kind of web hosting, is collocation, in
which the client provides all services such as hardware and
software and the only task relegated to the web host is to
ensure that the server remains connected to the internet.
Collocation is truly for only the "die-hard" techie that has
exceeded the generous boundaries of dedicated hosting.


About The Author: Paul Babs is the webmaster and operator of
Cyber Venues which tackles all webhosting issues. Please visit
http://www.faqwebhosting.com for more information.