what's hosting?

To have a Web site on the Internet you first need to have a Web server. Unfortunately, owning a Web server can be very costly and requires technical expertise and resources that most businesses don't have. Web hosting companies like MPG provide the equipment and other technical resources that you need.

Think of a Web Host as the owner of building. An owner rents out shops to various businesses. Each business decorates and runs their store differently, and doesn't worry about the maintenance of the building. MPG rents out space on a Web server to various businesses. Each business builds their own Web site and never has to worry about the maintenance of a Web server.

MPG provides web space on the Internet where your Web site lives. It's a lot cheaper than owning you own server, and hiring the technical staff to take care of it. [view our hosting packages]

There are three types of servers that MPG can provide you with.

Shared Servers are by far the most popular choice of businesses. Shared servers offer clients the ability to host their Web site on a powerful, professionally managed server, at a low monthly cost. Shared servers provide individual Web sites with redundant connectivity, 99 percent uptime and 24/7 monitoring for a fraction of the cost of a dedicated server. Shared servers are an excellent solution for most hosting needs. Designed to host small to mid scale e-commerce sites and static Web pages, shared servers offer Webmasters a reliable Web presence without advanced technical skills. The activity of other sites and the number of other sites on the server can however affect shared server performance. As you are restricted to the server box space, upgrade capacity is primarily focused on disk size and throughput. Shared Servers are limited to the software that is installed by hosting provider. No technical skills are required to use a shared server. Shared server hosting provides a cost effective way for businesses to maintain a reliable Web presence without extensive technical resources.

Virtual Private Servers (VPS) are a combination of the flexibility of a dedicated server and the cost effectiveness of a shared server. VPS Web sites reside in private and protected areas on a shared server and maintain an independent set of applications, allowing the client to share the expenses of hardware and network connections while maintaining a predefined proportioned allocation of RAM and CPU. A VPS is are intended to meet more exhaustive hosting needs. It can be used as a web server or as an advanced, database-driven e-commerce server. Virtual environments are not affected by the activity of other sites on the server, but their allocated resources will limit site performance. Upgrade capacity is primarily focused on disk size and throughput. As you maintain your private section of the server, you are able to incorporate software options. A moderate to high technical skill level is required. Windows 2000 administration, basic programming, and database capabilities are needed to operate a VPS.

Dedicated Servers are single computers dedicated to the needs of one client. They allow for faster access to information and provide the client with greater flexibility to add  advanced database and e-commerce applications. As the client does not share RAM, CPU or disk space; dedicated servers provide clients with the most flexible Web hosting solutions. Dedicated servers are primarily for advanced level hosting such as "mission critical" and very high-traffic sites. Dedicated servers can handle heavy traffic sites, advanced e-commerce programs, video streaming, and multimedia. A dedicated server's response time depends solely on the volume of activity on the customer's Web site. All aspects of the platform (disk space, memory, etc.) are upgradeable since dedicated servers are single client machines. Unlimited ability to download software programs to your server. An advanced technical knowledge is required in programming and database capabilities. Dedicated servers provide high levels of security, connectivity and scalability, to support high volume and mission critical Web-based applications.

Have specialized hosting requirements ask for a free hosting quote and our professional staff will promptly respond.