All the hosting services reviewed are reliable
web hosting company supporting most of your common unix web server software like Apache, Python, PHP 4 or 5, MySQL 4, Microsoft
FrontPage extension, Chilisoft, and email (including webmail).
There are really only a handful and I break them down into those that natively run Microsoft software and those that run Apache and Redhat, Websphere, IBM, and a couple of others that are important.
A good first question is whether you will be building your site yourself or having a web developer design it. If you are building it yourself and are making the web pages static, meaning without any dynamic application coding nor a database, you could use any type of server. If, on the other hand, you are having an application developer code your web site, then you will want to know application technology he will be using. Microsoft servers generally come with native .net services available for application development, however, I prefer not to code in .net simply because of security reasons most of the servers turn off the technology that makes that .net useful. If he is going to write in php, pearl, and/or python you can surely use one of our recommended Unix/Linux/Solaris hosts.
It may be a personal preference, but I enjoy the affordability of Unix and Linux servers and the native database and programming language Mysql/Php. Another option I like to have is cpanel. Cpanel, is the graphical user interface and operating software that is popular for Unix/Linux platforms. Sure there is others like Plesk, Ensim, Ensim Pro, and some custom made backends, but cpanel has been around and updated for the longest amount of time, and I have used both and prefer the reliability of cpanel. Be forewarned, the backend software that some hosts provide like webmin is usually unuseable for non-server pros, whats more is that some companies try the tactic of selling you a graphical backend interface that the good hosting providers provide for free.
Who is be forewarned your web designer may have different motivations for recommending a particular hosting choice.
A senior data administrator friend of ours said that 99% of all hosting companies run on Linux, Unix, and Solaris, while only one percent host on Windows based servers. He added that windows servers are more open to attack from hackers and his reasoning was that most of your miscellaneous hackers are teenagers and teenagers are more likely to learn VB script and .Net language because thats what their home computer has. In addition, windows based servers generally cost more because of the added support required and the licensing fees. With that information, I would just assume one should use a Linux, Solaris, or Unix server just to avoid this problem.
Web Hosting services has become a very competitive industry, some hosts are even giving away free hosting accounts, discount coupons, rebates, and free initial months. Although you can find very cheap hosting, all hosting services are not the same.
I once believed that any old hosting company would do and I would guess the majority of newbee online marketers would think the same. After running an online business for years and trying to conduct every business on a budget, I figured that I could cut corners with a cheap host plan; not the case. After a couple of years of jumping from company to company, and transferring my dns/domain, email addresses, and files from server to server, I had to step back and say "What is wrong with this picture? I am wasting more time and money troubleshooting my and my customers web sites and less time on my business". If there is anything you pick up from what I am telling you, its this. "It is better to put money then it is to put out time. The money you put out can always be made back, the time that you put out, on the other hand, can never be made back!".
With reseller accounts available from the major hosting entities, web designers world wide are becoming resellers touting themeselves as web hosting professionals, even when they do not know the first thing about the backend of a server and what makes it tick. So my advice is to know who you are buying from and what level of service they may be providing in order to avoid costly outages, and unresponsive email accounts.
When choosing a Web Host, one has to consider the popularity, performance, features, support services, and lastly the price. Price comes in their last because a couple of bucks a month, if your running a successful business model, should not make you or break you. It is more important to have reliability, and responsive support because you will need this to run any type of business venture.
More than 100,000 webmasters
use cheap / budget hosting services and resell it at higher cost. This is fine if they are servicing your account and provide up to the minute support, but really do we ever find that a web designer has the resources capable of this, nor does he/she have the patience to deal with you after supper time.
With that said, I would suppose that what you end up getting out of this article is that you must do your research, or use the knowledge of someone who has already researched the hosting industry and take all web hosting company statements with a grain of salt.
Oh yeah, if you can not find a domain in a .com, there all hosting plans can host domains including .com, .org, .net, .mobi, .co.uk, .co.jp, .tv, .ws , .com.au, .com.sg, .it and etc. and etc.