What do you look for in a web host? A low price? Reliability and good support I hope. If you’re anything like today’s ambitious webmaster, you’re on the hunt for the best features. There’s a lot of programs and management tools available to make your site standout but I bet there are some features you pay no mind at all. Often overlooked but one should never forget about critical security features as they will help to keep your web hosting environment protected from an array of threats. Security features are abundant but here some you simply can’t do without:

SFTP



Short for Secure File Transfer Protocol, SFTP is more efficient and secure variation of FTP. In its purest form, FTP only has the ability to transfer files, leaving them vulnerable to a range of security breaches such as eavesdropping, tampering and even interception of the entire file. A web hosting company offering SFTP provides you with the ability to secure your files in transit with SSH (Secure Shell Host), a protocol that protects data with government recommended 128-bit encryption.

SSL



Secure Sockets Layer or SSL, should be incorporated on any website that sells products or services. SSL is a standard encryption protocol designed to keep internet communications secure. If a web hosting company doesn’t support a shared or private SSL certificate, you need to turn in the opposite direction and find yourself another provider.

Data Backups



Data backup and restoration is not only something that should be practiced with the files on your hard drive, but those on the web host’s server as well. All it takes is one technical difficulty or natural disaster for the web hosting company to lose a server and all of your website data. The good thing is that most providers perform redundant backups to ensure that your data can be restored in the event of a failure. To be on the safe side, I recommend looking into a web host that offers a utility that allows you to backup your own data.

Network Security



Aside from protecting your files and website transactions, you also need to keep an eye out for security features that protect the web hosting company’s network. Do a little research to learn how the web host is protecting their infrastructure, keeping in mind that intrusion detection systems, firewalls, DDoS protection, virus and spam filtering are common features. Servers are prime targets of hackers and malicious code writers so if the hardware is breached or goes down, your website will suffer right along with it.

These are just a few of numerous security features a web hosting company should offer to ensure the safety of your website data. Hackers are constantly trying to ***** into web servers while malware writers are releasing new infectious strains everyday. A web host that doesn’t take this into mind is essentially leaving you wide open for exploitation.



Reliable Shared Web Hosting

Managed Web hosting refers to the facility in which a hosting provider takes care of the client’s servers by offering a number of services, which can vary according to the nature of the host or the requirements of the client. In some of the cases, the vendor provides and/or manages the hardware only, whereas in other cases, they may supply software as well. Hosting providers who offer software services are called application service providers.

In managed Web hosting, the hosting company holds the control of the Web server and most of the hardware and operating systems. This would ensure security of the server as users will not be allowed to modify the settings of the server. Users are, however, allowed to manage their data via file transfer protocol (FTP) or other remote management tools.

In an unmanaged server, on the other hand, the user is responsible for most of the aspects of the server. The service provider simply offers the hardware, operating system and Internet, and the rest of the things are left to users. In such a service, the user is responsible for security of the Web server as well as other aspects such as setting up updates and patches as and when they happen.

The dedicated server managed by a hosting provider Web Hosting Delhi are found to be more advantageous than a Web server that is shared by thousands of other clients. The dedicated server not only provides freedom and flexibility, but it also ensures security. Users are given unlimited options to upgrade their server in future. These types of servers are relatively faster too.

A managed Web hosting is more expensive than the shared hosting or unmanaged hosting. Even so, it makes sense to opt for managed hosting as it provides the above benefits. Companies are completely free from the task of maintaining the hardware and software. They need to only concentrate on managing their data. Many enterprises today, therefore, opt for managed hosting services.

While selecting the hosting provider, you need to have clear focus on the services you require from them. If you are a start-up business and looking to expand your business in the future, you will very much require a higher bandwidth than that you require today. In such situation, you will have to also decide on the cost of the additional bandwidth that you may add in the future as you establish your business.

A managed Web hosting provider should be able to offer 24X7 to your server. If any down time occurs, they should take the responsibility and offer you immediate alternative measures. Last, but not the least, enquire about their reputation in the market and ensure that the service is secure.



Affordable Shared Web Hosting

When the service provider serves pages for multiple Web sites, each having its own Internet domain name, from a single Web server, it is known as shared web hosting. Such websites need a dedicated web server. Shared web hosting is gaining popularity as most webmasters look for affordable hosting plans to host their websites.

These sites need a dedicated Web server, either provided by a Web hosting service or maintained in-house. Shared web hosting make possible to host websites on a powerful server at reduced cost, that’s why it’s the most popular among webmasters. Shared web hosting also has its own advantages over other web hosting plans:

Shared Web Hosting: Advantages

• Shared web hosting provides uptime and fast connectivity. It’s the most time saving hosting plan a webmaster can opt for hosting his/her website.

• It does not require the webmasters to have more advanced technical knowledge about the hosting plans. Shared web hosting always come with multiple domains, multiple email addresses and usually a number of one click software installs.

• The most striking feature of shared hosting is its cost, shared web hosting come up with low cost. The cost of maintaining a server is divided among all the webmasters sharing the same server. Therefore the particular amount paid by an individual reduces at certain level.

• Shared web hosting plan is convenient to execute. It requires least website setup time as well as fastest activation.

• Shared web hosting offers multi platform website solutions. A standard shared web hosting package usually includes disk storage space, the ability to transfer a certain amount of data, the ability to forward your emails and a file transfer protocol service.

• Shared web hosting plans are fully managed, the company providing you web hosting services is responsible for the maintenance and updates as well as the technical assistance for your website.

• Control panel for shared web hosting come in several ways like cPanel, Plesk, H-sphere or some other name. No such hurdles come your way. Shared web hosting with control panel has several other advantages.



Reliable Shared Web Hosting