Finding a Host for Your Site | HTML, XHTML, and CSS, Sixth Edition

Unless you have your own server, you'll probably have to pay someone to host your site. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of companies that provide Web site hosting. Most charge a monthly fee that depends on the services they offer. Some offer free Web hosting in exchange for advertising from your site. Although you can search on the Internet for a Web host, I recommend talking to friends or looking in your local yellow pages.

When considering a host, there are a number of thingsbesides priceto keep in mind.

How much disk space will they let you have for your Web site? Don't pay for more than you need. Remember that (X)HTML files take up very little space while images, sounds, and videos take up successively larger quantities.
Do they offer technical support? If so, is it by telephone or by email? How long will it take them to get back to you?
Will they register a domain name (see page 355) for you? How much will they charge?
How fast is their connection to the Internet? This will determine how fast your pages are served to your visitors. Do they have multiple connections in case one of them should become inoperable?
Do they include dial-up access to the Internet? (They don't usually.) Will they if you need it?
Will they let you run custom CGI scripts, Server Side Includes, FrontPage extensions, RealAudio, Telnet/SSh, PHP, MySQL, and other advanced features?
Do they offer a Web hit statistics service to let you know how many people have been visiting your site?

Your ISP as Web host

If you have Internet access, you probably already have a small amount of Web space through your Internet Service Provider (ISP). For example, AOL offers its members 20Mb for each screenname (up to a total of 7 screen names or 140Mb). EarthLink gives its members 10Mb per screenname (up to a total of 8 screen names or 80Mb). Com-cast gives its subscribers 25Mb and Verizon offers a rather stingy 10Mb. It might not be enough for your entire Web site but it's certainly enough to get started. Ask your ISP for details.