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.
Hosting types
There are primarily two types of hosting options you should be aware of: shared hosting and dedicated hosting. In shared 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 web hosting, your site resides on a server on its own i.e. a dedicated web server. There is another type of dedicated web 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. It is worth noting that in recent years, new types of hosting like virtual private server hosting and cloud hosting are also offered.
Cost
ASP.NET web hosting fees can range from under a hundred dollars a year to several thousands of dollars a year. Cheap web hosting services normally provide you with limited web space, limited monthly data transfer, lack of database, and is normally offered as shared hosting.
Higher priced hosting plans normally include more web space, higher monthly data transfer limit and a selection of premium features.
Examples of premium features include multiple website hosting on one account, unique IP address (instead of shared IP address), SQL Server database access, SQL Server Reporting Services, Crystal Reports, scheduled jobs, and SSL support.
Take note that some hosting providers charge a one-time setup fee.
Contract period
Monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, and 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 several hundred megabytes 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.
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 transfersfor free while others offer free unlimited traffic.
Domain name features
Some hosting providers also act as domain name registrars and 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 domain name pointing for free or for a fee. 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
Many leading ASP.NET hosting providers today support both ASP.NET and classic ASP on the same plan. Take note that some ASP.NET hosting providers are still running on IIS 5 web server on Windows Server 2000 or IIS 6 on Windows Server 2003. However, more and more providers are turning to IIS 7 which runs on Windows Server 2008.
Database features
You should be able to access Microsoft Access databases from your web application for most ASP.NET hosting plans. SQL Server database however, comes as a premium or as a higher-end plan. Prices depend on the SQL Server database disk space subscribed.
COM, .NET and AJAX 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. More recent ASP.NET hosting plans also include ASP.NET AJAX support.
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. Plesk is an example of a hosting control panel software available for ASP.NET hosting.
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 ticket-based helpdesk or 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 DotNetNuke, BlogEngine.NET and ASP.NET Starter Kits.
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 and the free Visual Web Developer.
Shared 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.