One's web site host is the physical location of his website and this is where the data associated with his site resides. Usually, the web hosting provider maintains the computer called a server, which one's web site lives on. In addition, they also manage the technology that makes his web site work and connects it to the net. Web hosting is a must-have for any web site since it is the platform that holds the content of one's web site. Simply put, it allows a person's web site to be seen and accessed. Generally, web hosts provide clients with several e-mail addresses linked to their domain name. The host can also provide various E-commerce tools if one seek to sell online. There are various types of hosting that are provided by Web hosts. Let us have a look at them.

Free hosting is probably the best choice if one wants to host a personal web site without spending money. Now-a-days, there are copious free hosts available in the internet who will host a website for free, giving the client space in a directory under their domain. The address, in this case, is usually pretty long. In free hosting, one must carry some of the host's banners somewhere on his site.

Shared Hosting allows one to host a website using his own domain name. The client will be allotted a certain amount of web space (measurable in Megabytes) on a server he shares with other people. This type of hosting definitely gives a professional image to one's website.

Dedicated Server Hosting lets a client rent the use of a whole machine. It can be used to host up to multiple websites. Furthermore, one has full control over the software installed on the machine. This type of hosting ensures increased traffic to one's sites. One can even alternatively co-locate his own server at the host's data center who can look after it for him.

Reseller Web Hosting is also pretty common these days. A reseller is a company that buys goods from another company to sell them at an augmented price to customers or another company. It allows one to be a web hosting company himself. Many web hosting companies themselves have a web hosting company which acts as their server's host. Some even provide a service where small companies can re-sell web space on their services for a generous fee. The benefit of going with a smaller company is having certain unique features which may not be available with bigger ones. The important things to consider here are competitive pricing, dependability and support.

One should also be acquainted with different web hosting platforms. The traditionally accepted operating system of choice is none other than UNIX. Although not very user friendly, UNIX is perceived as the most reliable operating system for web hosting. Microsoft Windows is gradually becoming popular with web developers with it's ASP.NET and ASP programming environments. It provides great support for the developer community and integrates well with SQL Server 2000 and BizTalk Server 2002.