Managed hosting is the same thing. If you want to host your web site in-house, you'd first need to invest in a dedicated server that would house your site and all its related components. Those servers aren't cheap. Next, you'd need to bring in a professional to help you set up the server and your web site. Given that IT professionals can charge 50 to 80 an hour or more for their services, you can imagine how much that would cost. Plus, you'll still need to call them back frequently for maintenance.

Your Web Site is Handled by Professionals

Managed hosting is a smart option for small to medium size businesses that want to establish an effective web presence but don't have the budget for a full-time IT staff or the costly hardware required to host their web site.

Managed Hosting Saves Money

Below are some of the reasons why managed hosting could be the right choice for you.

In business, you know that sometimes the smartest choice is to bring in an expert to handle certain responsibilities on your behalf. For example, most business owners don't manage their own books. They hire accountants or other people who are experienced at dealing with those tasks. Otherwise, you would spend a large amount of time trying to do something in your business you just didn't know how to do. That's how mistakes get made.

Another important part of running a business is learning how to make cost-effective decisions. You may have to decide, for example, whether to hire a full-time marketing person or to outsource your marketing campaigns on a project by project basis. Clearly, there would be pros and cons to both choices but one might end up saving you more money without jeopardizing the results you want.

With managed hosting, you entrust a company to host your web site. Your site is placed on a dedicated server in their facility. Besides the web hosting itself, these services can usually come with a number of other features that can be very beneficial for companies using the Internet to boost their revenue and to attract new customers, which at the end of the day everyone is looking for.

The Advantages of Managed Hosting

By turning over the hosting of your web site to a professional service, you are making the same type of decision. Their staff are experienced in maintaining the hardware and programming necessary to keep your site up and running so potential customers can find it. Their knowledge can help you be more successful and can free up your time for other important business tasks.

9. POP3 email IDs and Aliases

An example of a POP3 ID would be name@domain.com. You should be given an ample number of POP3 email IDs - this would depend on the size of your package.

15. IP

If you have a website which would be requiring SSL Support in the future, then you need to get a dedicated IP.

1. ASP Support

The obvious reason why you would be going for a windows plan is so that you could use languages which are Microsoft-specific.

12. Web Statistics

The analysis of the visitors of your website plays a big role in your website's success. With a Statistics Application which runs on the backend of the server, you would be able to view this report of visitor statistics.

6. ASP Components

Aside from the default features, there are a lot of third-party software, so check the list of the features that are provided by the host.

14. Webmail and SMTP

Check if your host would be providing you with webmail so that you would be able to check your email messages using an interface which is web-based.

11. Backup

Majority of the web hosts use automated backups. However, users usually do not care a great deal about this when they choose their hosting plan. This would be a feature that is just as essential as the other features mentioned here.

13. Bandwidth

Make sure that you would be selecting the hosting plan which would be able to provide sufficient bandwidth.

4. Databases

All windows plans support Microsoft Access 2000 Database. This would do if you are a beginner. However, for the more advanced, MSSQL is a necessity.

10. FTP Accounts

This would be what you could use to be able to upload all of your files, as well as delete and update them.

3. CDONTS

CDONTS or Collaboration Data Objects for Windows NT Server is a Messaging Component which comes with Windows NT/2000. A hosting plan which is Windows-based without this feature is incomplete.

If you are looking for a web hosting plan and you are considering getting a Linux-based plan or a Windows-based plan, then there are a couple of things that you need to look at. Here are the features that you have to make sure are included in your Windows-based hosting package.

15 Elements of Windows Web Hosting

2. .NET Support

ASP.net would be the next generation of the Microsoft's Active Server Page or ASP, which is a feature of the Internet Information Server or IIS. A lot of web hosts provide this feature for free while there are some who charge an additional fee.

8. Control Panel

This would be your website's nucleus. In the CP or Control Panel, you would be able to do anything. From the moment that you would be signing up with a hosting plan, you have to be provided with a CP so that you would be able to easily manage your website.

7. PHP and ColdFusion

ColdFusion is a language web development tool which uses server-side scripting. This is an advanced option and is not provided by all web hosting providers.