Written by Rack Alley

In the most basic sense, web hosting is an intangible service. There are cheap web hosting companies that rely on its intangible nature to promote these plans over the more expensive alternatives. In order to better understand the various pricing schemes available and arrive at the best decision, it is important to know what goes into web hosting.

Servers

This is one of the biggest sources of expenditure. With the exception of cases like LA colocation, all servers, and related equipment are purchased and owned by the hosting company. In some cases, higher fees are due to the constant upgrade cycle. This is a good thing as faster servers mean better performance.

Data Centers

The servers will be located at one of the many data centers used by hosting companies. The cost of this is a part of the charges included. These large buildings are designed specifically to host thousands or tens of thousands of servers. Some host will allow region selection like an LA data center.

Software

With the exception of a few open source applications, most software that both runs and runs on servers are proprietary. This is another one of the major costs in hosting. The difference can be seen when comparing the cost of a Linux server and a windows one.

Internet

Web hosting companies purchase web hosting just any other normal organization would. The advantage is that since the connections are large, these costs savings filter down to the individual hosts. However, since the connections need to be distributed amongst thousands of customers, there are strict limits and charges for exceeding those limits.

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Rack Alley is a provider of colocation and server hosting Los Angeles at their LA data center.