Php web hosting
Wondering what is PHP?
Before we discuss about PHP hosting, it is important that you know what PHP is, and understand the basics. PHP is basically a web programming scripting language, which is used for creation of dynamic web pages. PHP, also sometimes used as PHP: Hypertext Pre-processor can be deployed on any of the operating systems, web servers or virtually any platform free of charge.
History of PHP
Rasmus Lerdorf invented PHP for the first time in 1995, and the language has undergone continuous changes and evolved as a powerful scripting cum web programming language.
Who Uses PHP
In case you’re thinking that only very few of the folks make use of PHP, then you must know that PHP currently powers 20 million websites and is installed on over a million web servers.
Incompatibility with GNU General Public License
Despite the fact that PHP is free software, it is incompatible with the GNU General Public License (GPL). PHP was released under the PHP License, but due to the usage of term PHP, it is not approved under GPL on account of restrictions on the use of the term PHP.
PHP Web Hosting
Currently, most of the web hosts offer php web hosting, but not everyone offers the latest builds. With a good php hosting provider, you get to choose the method of using php of your choice, which may best suit your needs. By default most of the hosting accounts run with mod_php apache module, which allow the php pages to be processed inside the web server process itself, without any need to fork a new process for php.
Advanced Functionalities of PHP
You can have few parts of your site with php as a cgi, and even obtain access to your own php.ini file. Not all the hosts provide these flexibilities so make sure that the php web hosting vendor that you choose offers these facilities. Moreover, custom php binary can be used to run your site the way you want, rather than using any of the ready-made builds fine-tuned by someone else.
Top Things to Consider
Here are a few more important points to Consider When Selecting a php web hosting provider -
Provision to create your own php.ini: This allows you to make custom changes and control user access levels to your site and site data.
Php options inside of apache's .htaccess: This helps you in exercising comprehensive control, and also saves your time and efforts to include these options outside the .htaccess file by incorporating some programming logic.
Custom build of php that best suits your needs: It is quite possible that your business requirement need a highly specific custom build of php – so make sure that your php hosting provider can do so.
No preset limits on upload size, post size, and memory size: Lack of flexibility in these aspects may be quite annoying at times. So, you should look for a php web hosting with all features and no restrictions in any regard!
Ability to run few parts of your site with php as a cgi: This can help you run the scripts faster.
Installations of non-standard PEAR modules (default or even on request): You may require some of the non-standard PEAR modules. Even if these don’t come as default, your host should be willing to get them installed upon your request. Before you pay for hosting services, make sure that your host agrees to this point.
Support to Python (1.52 and 2.x), Ruby (with ruby-on-rails and FastCGI-support!), FrontPage and all the latest technologies: Today, you may start off with basic HTML, but soon you may want to shift to advanced platforms like Ruby on rails and host your web apps. So, find out whether your php hosting provider supports all the latest technologies or not.
Good Pricing and Money-back guarantee: Of course, price does matter after all, and you must always keep the money-back option open in case you don’t like any of the aspects of the php hosting provider that you choose.
Excellent Customer Support: Despite all the goodness, including loads of features rendered at a competitive price, a helping and skilled customer support team is a must! If you feel your host is offering php hosting services at a great price, but the support team isn’t that helpful and prompt in replying, you MUST reconsider your decision.
Password Protected Directories and Server Side Includes (SSI): These are basic requirements of hosting any website.
Uptime Guarantee: Of course, no matter how feature-rich and affordable the hosting plan offered by your host may be, unless your host ensures 99.9% uptime guarantee, it is of no use. After all, you don’t want you site to be down for too long, do you?
Experience in php hosting: With so many experienced php hosting providers, it is not a good idea to try your luck with an inexperienced host just to save a few bucks. Additionally, you may also look for freebies like GD, ImageMagick, FreeType 2, and unrestricted access to MySQL database, PHPAdmin, and unlimited FTP accounts. Furthermore, your host must also provide you the flexibility to host multiple websites with the same account. You should also look for a host that provides firewalls on all servers, and allows you to run different php versions in different parts of your site.
The Bottom-Line
You should look for a php hosting provider that provides you with most common Unix utils, SSH, Crontab, and all the options that you need, at a reasonable price. You may also want to find out what does unlimited stand for, in features like Un-metered POP3 Mailboxes, Unlimited Email addresses, Unlimited Auto-responders, and Unlimited Mailing lists. Remember, unmetered or unlimited can’t mean virtually infinite in reality – so you should look for decent limits – after all, unlimited should not mean anything under 100 or a reasonable value, depending upon the context of usage. For instance, Un-metered POP3 Mailboxes may mean 150-250 POP3 mailboxes, each receiving about 100 mails, not 25 mailboxes each receiving 50mails each!