Questions to ask when shopping for dedicated server hosting:

Shopping for dedicated server hosting providers is difficult and sometimes confusing. Knowing questions to ask the server hosting providers will help. Some features are extraneous, but others are essential and can impact the reliability and performance of your website. The priority should always be on determining the precise tools that your website needs to perform the tasks required of it. Important questions to ask web server hosting providers include:

CGI scripts: Ask prospective web server hosting providers about Common Gateway Interface (CGI) access. CGI is a script function of web server hosting, used for transferring data from HTML to an application. Most business websites need to have the ability to generate text boxes and pull down menus that allow visitors to enter requested information. You might request information from visitors so that you can process a purchase, conduct customer service activity, or register new members. Access to CGI scripts requires the permission of the system operator administrating server hosting for your site. Since it is difficult to get this permission for unknown programs, you should consider going with a server hosting provider that offers CGI packages that have been pre-approved and pre-written.

Email aliases: Mow many are included the plan? Most web server hosting companies provide a certain number of “aliases” you can use. Examples include: sales@yourdomain.com, customerservice@yourdomain.com, or support@yourdomain.com. Using a free Yahoo, Gmail or Hotmail address detracts from your professional credibility.

Space and bandwidth: Your server hosting company will assign you a certain amount of space. 2 GB is common for many business website, sufficient to hold hundreds of files and graphics and databases.

In addition, ask about speed, uptime guarantees, IP addresses and domain names. Make a detailed list of everything you want your site to do, and write a brief description of your proposed site.