Guide to ASP.NET Web Hosting
Introduction
This article provides an introductory guide to ASP.NET web hosting. Although this guide suggests content specific to ASP.NET hosting, many of the elements in this guide can be applied to non-ASP.NET hosting scenarios as well.
What you should know
Hosting types
There are two types of hosting options you should be aware of: virtual hosting (or shared hosting) and dedicated hosting. In virtual hosting, one server plays host to multiple web sites. All of the web sites share the same system resources (CPU, RAM, etc.) on the server. In dedicated hosting, your site resides on a server on its own. There is another type of dedicated hosting called co-location hosting. In co-location hosting, you host and manage your own web server in the data center of the hosting provider.
Cost
ASP.NET web hosting fees can range from no cost to several thousands of dollars a year. Don't expect much from free hosting services though. Essentially, what you pay is what you get. For example, free hosting services normally provide you with limited web space, limited monthly data transfer, browser-based uploading support, domain name of web hosting provider in URL, and a requirement to display sponsored ads on your site. Brinkster.com is one of the providers offering free ASP.NET hosting.
Paid hosting plans normally include ability to use your own domain name, more web space, higher monthly data transfer limit, more convenient FTP-uploading support, Microsoft Access database access, e-mail features, technical support, basic log management features, and no forced-ads requirement. Take note that some hosting providers charge a one-time setup fee.
Premium features include multiple domain names pointing to one site, unique IP address (instead of shared IP address), Microsoft SQL Server database access, SSL support, and comprehensive statistical reporting of web traffic.
Virtual hosting plans are cheaper than dedicated hosting.
Contract period
Monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly payment terms are common but quite often, you are required to commit for an entire year. Some web hosting providers do give out discounts on longer contract period.
Disk space
Disk space can vary from one megabyte to several gigabytes (thousands of megabytes) and is one of the main determinants for the different pricing levels of hosting plans. As price per megabyte falls, expect to see more affordable offerings in the future. Note that if e-mail accounts are included in the hosting plan, the disk space will also be used to store e-mail account mailboxes.
Monthly data transfer
Data transfer is the sum of the file sizes served from the web server. Many hosting plans offer a set amount of monthly data transfers (3 gigabytes to 75 gigabytes) for free while others offer free unlimited traffic.
Domain name features
Paid hosting plans allow you to host your site under your own domain name. Normally, hosting providers can register a new domain name for you. If you already own a domain name, you can transfer your domain name to the name servers of your hosting provider.
Most hosting providers also offer root domain name pointing for free or for a fee. Root domain name pointing allows alternate domain name(s) to point to the primary hosted domain name.
E-mail features
Many paid-hosting plans are bundled with e-mail features such as POP3 accounts, web-based access (much like Hotmail), e-mail forwarding, e-mail aliases, catch-all account, auto-responders, mailing list, anti-virus, and anti-spam.
The number of POP3 accounts varies among different plans. Some plans offer free unlimited number POP3 accounts while others may offer only a set number of accounts. Bear in mind that while some plans offer unlimited POP3 accounts, the practical limit may depend on the amount of disk space subscribed.
E-mail forwarding automatically routes an e-mail message to a different address. E-mail aliases allow for alternative e-mail addresses to be assigned to a single e-mail account. Catch-all account is a special e-mail account that captures all mails addressed to non-existent accounts within a domain. Auto-responders automatically send a pre-composed reply message to the sender of an e-mail.
Supported technologies
Most leading ASP.NET hosting providers today support both ASP.NET 1.0 and 1.1 plus classic ASP on the same plan. Take note that some hosting providers are running on IIS 5.0 web server on Windows Server 2000 while more and more providers are turning to IIS 6.0 which runs on Windows Server 2003.
Database features
You should be able to access MS Access databases from your web application on all ASP.NET hosting plans. MS SQL Server 2000 database however, comes as a premium or as a higher-end plan. Prices depend on the SQL Server database disk space subscribed.
COM and .NET components
Many hosting providers offer use of commercial third-party COM and .NET components for free as part of a hosting plan. The list of the components will differ among hosting providers. This is how providers differentiate amongst themselves. Note that ASP.NET applications can work with COM components through COM-interop. However, you might want to take advantage of managed .NET components for performance reasons.
Control panel
Almost all ASP.NET hosting providers feature a nice browser-based user interface (control panel) for you to manage your account. Typical control panel features include password management, e-mail management, account information summary, disk space and bandwidth usage meter, billing history, user/permissions management, web statistics or log management, IIS web server management, and database configuration management.
Log management features
Some of the log management features to look out for are basic graphical web statistics and access to raw log file. Raw log files would be useful if you want to use your own log analysis program to produce statistical reports. Some hosting providers do provide premium live statistics reporting.
Technical support
Most providers offer e-mail support at the minimum. Other forms of support include online forums, live chat and telephone support. Plans with telephone support usually cost more.
Add-on options
Add-on options usually come in the form of additional disk space, additional monthly data transfer, additional mailboxes, additional domain pointers, additional subdomains, and Secure Socket Layer (SSL) support. Note that SSL support includes option to use shared certificate or your own certificate.
Installation of turnkey applications
Setting up a community portal? Don't want to go through the hassles of building one from scratch? Just use ready-to-run or turnkey application solutions! Some ASP.NET hosting providers provide free installation of popular ASP.NET web applications such as IBuySpy, DotNetNuke, and ASP.NET Starter Kits. As blogging becomes more popular, some providers are already offering to install ASP.NET blogging engines like .Text upon request.
Data center services and benefits
Common data center services and benefits offered by providers are 99.9% (or better) uptime commitment, UPS and generator backup, redundant web servers, daily data backups, RAID 5-based data storage for storage reliability, redundant OC48-192 backbones, network firewall, and 24/7 monitoring.
Authoring software support
Most hosting providers allow you to publish your site updates directly from ASP.NET authoring tools such as Visual Studio .NET, Web Matrix, and FrontPage 2003.
How to choose the best ASP.NET web hosting?
Virtual hosting should be sufficient for most hosting scenarios. High-traffic sites or resource hungry-sites should go for the dedicated hosting plan. Match your web site or web application needs with the features of the plan. Also consider the level of technical support and service-level agreement required.
Some providers feature 30-day free trial offers, while some offer 30-day money-back guarantee. Do take advantage of these risk-free evaluation opportunities.