There are many hosting companies out there and it's hard to know which one to choose.
I've used many Web hosting companies over the years and wanted to offer a few suggestions here.
Windows or Linux Hosting
I highly recommend using Linux hosting instead of Windows hosting.
Some reasons to use Linux for hosting are:
- Most Web sites run on Linux
- Using Linux hosting allows you to use open-source content management systems like Drupal and WordPress. While you can often run those programs on Windows servers (IIS), IIS lacks support for something called .htaccess files. .htaccess files are required to get those free content management programs working to full effect.
- Linux and other Unix variants are the standard for Web hosting and provide features like SSH that wll make your current and/or future webmaster(s) happy.
- Linux hosting is cheaper in the long run.
Hosting Recommendations
EDIT: this section has temporarily been removed. If you have questions about hosting, please ask them in the Hostel Management forum.
Popular Hosting Companies to Avoid
I highly recommend avoiding GoDaddy.com for Web hosting. GoDaddy hosting lacks in features and they do not have good statistics packages. You even have to pay extra money to get basic visitor stats. The control panel is like one giant advertisement. There is no SSH access on their basic shared hosting plans (something that might be useful on your site eventually). Of the big hosting companies, I believe that GoDaddy is the worst.
Another popular hosting company that should be avoided is 1and1.com. They have terrible server-side stats and also lack other essential features. I've dealt with 1and1 on several different accounts and found their tech support to be lacking.
These large hosting companies are popular because they have huge marketing budgets and advertise heavily in magazines and on TV. You are better off going with a smaller company.
