Choosing a web host

If you are not going to be running your own server, you will need to rely on a web host to look after your site for you. There are several key things you need to consider when choosing your host, with the ideal answer in brackets:

  • Do they make PHP available? (yes)

  • If so, what version, and how often do they upgrade? (v5, every release, delayed by one month in case of bugs)

  • Which extensions do they have enabled? (GD2, IMAP, various databases)

  • Will they enable other extensions on demand from customers? (preferably yes)

  • Do they use a PHP opcode cache (preferably yes, any will do)

  • Do they make MySQL available? (yes)

  • If so, what version, and how often do they upgrade? (v5.6 or later, not very often)

  • Do they make remote MySQL access available so that you can use the MySQL monitor from your computer? (yes)

 

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