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By far the most affordable way to get your website on the internet these days is to use what is called shared hosting. Shared hosting is where a net hosting company rents you a certain amount of disk space in which to store the files that comprise your website and permit you a certain amount of bandwidth (ie. the data transfered between your site and your guests browsers) in exchange for a monthly fee. Typically speaking, the more you pay the more web space and bandwidth you’ll be given.

There are even deals around where you are offered ‘unlimited’ disk space and bandwidth for a absurdly tiny sum of cash every month. A lot of individuals are pleased with what they get, however many others have discovered when actually trying to use large amounts of space or bandwidth that if it sounds too good to be true then it usually is!

One of the features of a shared hosting account is that, as it’s name implies, you are sharing the disk space and bandwidth with lots of other users. As I am certain many will appreciate, when an application is thrashing your hard disk on your own PC, or using up a lot of memory, then your PC slows down considerably and can seem to grind to a halt at times. Well, this situation is pretty much the same with shared hosting. You’ll find yourself on a server with other users who have memory or CPU intensive applications, or popular sites that have tons of guests, which means heaps of disk activity. The end result is that the responsiveness of your website suffers.

An additional downside with shared hosting is that you will be unaware of who exactly you are sharing with. If you discover that your web site drops suddenly in Google that might be for the reason that you have done something Google does not approve of. On the other hand it may be that the IP address you’re sharing with each and every one the other sites on your server has been identified as a source of spam or malware.

So what is the answer?

Well many folks are OK with taking the risks associated with shared hosting, but for others some kind of cheap dedicated hosting provides an occasional price solution to their problems. You will need to come to a decision if you would like Linux server hosting or Windows server hosting, but that decision should be driven by the applications that you need to run, as they can almost certainly be Windows only or Linux only.

A virtual dedicated server is the next step up from shared hosting and can cost you a touch more money. With a virtual shared server you still will not have a physical server all to yourself, but you will have far more control over your hosting environment and you’ll eliminate just about every one of the problems related to shared hosting, and you will have your own IP address. For the small amount extra (it will be typically around $twenty – $30 a month extra) that a virtual dedicated server costs this is a worthwhile investment.

When you are thinking about hosting your web site in the Unix/Linux server hosting environment there are a few things that you need to be aware of. Unix is an operating system that was designed from the start to be a multi-user operating system. It can handle the needs of advanced users and servers with ease.

Initial releases of Unix were very high-priced, which was something that hindered it’s adoption. However, there are free Unix compatible operating systems, such as Linux that do the same job, but without the large price tag. Linux began life as a university project by Linus Torvalds and has grown to be a main force in web server operating systems.

When thinking about which server operating system to go for you will normally find that servers using Linux will be cheaper that those using the proprietary and expensive Microsoft Windows. Linux tends to have a smaller system footprint and less overhead than Microsoft Windows. The cost savings from all of this can be passed on to the consumer in lower prices.

If you decide to opt for Unix / Linux server hosting then you will also benefit from the large selection of free software, a lot of which is open source and can be personalized to meet your specific needs. There is also a large quantity of developers for these free and readily available software packages and tools.

So what downsides are there to choosing Unix or Linux? One of the disadvantages are that it is quite a complex operating system and requires more technical skill to correctly administer it than Microsoft Windows. There are however loads of knowledgeable and experienced Unix experts and resources that you can fall back on.

A further disadvantage is that unless you are running your own server you are likely to find that your web host will tightly control the environment and may limit how you can access your account through Telnet or SSH.

So, your decision to opt for Unix / Linux instead of Microsoft Windows will come down to price, availability of free and readily available software, and how confident you feel about getting your hands dirty in what may be to you a potentially alien OS environment. However, your budget and desire for a cheap host may ultimately be the determining factor.

One thing is definite though and that is that if you are looking for a cheap host then going down the Linux route will ensure that you should be able to pick up the cheapest deal available. You will also be in great company when selecting linux web hosting as it is the operating system of choice for many of the biggest web sites on the internet. So you can be certain that if it has the power and stability to meet their needs then it must be OK for yours!