ASP Web Hosting : Overview About ASP Web Hosting
ASP hosting is a server-side scripting environment that uses the Active Server Pages (ASP) technology. It is designed for dynamic web pages and applications, offering a vast array of functionalities for web developers. ASP hosting is normally hosted on a Windows server, typically an NT server, and can be fully integrated into an Internet Information Server (IIS) or PWS. The concept of ASP is the same as scripts such as Java Server Pages (JSP) and CGI that enables web pages to work with databases and programs in the web server. An ASP web page is easily identifiable with the .asp extension on the URL.
ASP hosting works in similar way as other server-side scripting technologies. When your web browser sends its request to the web server, the web server will call ASP which would process the requested file. It would run any script commands and in turn sends the requested web page back to the web browser. Hence, it is the server who runs all the requests and sends the requested HTML pages back to the browser.
ASP web hosting companies will provide a number of email accounts where you can check your emails online or through a pop3 account. It is advised to join a plan where you can get some kind of email virus protection. Generally speaking, hosting providers of ASP usually give support to MS Access database. It may be that you would have to pay an additional amount for an enterprise manager.
If you need your web application to have databases, so that you can create dynamic database driven websites, then you have to look for the type of database that is supported by ASP web hosting. By default, all the ASP web hosting providers give support to MS Access database. If you need a more robust database like the MS SQL Server, then you may have to pay an additional fee for that feature. You can ask for an Enterprise Manager or a Web-Based SQL Manager to manage the database on your own. mySQL is another commonly available free database that is used for web applications. For an ASP Web Hosting with a database, you can also look for ADO/ADO.Net, OLEDB, MDAC2.8, and ODBC.Net support.
Make sure that you review the technological features that come with your ASP hosting plan. Find out what Windows server is used by the service provider. If you plan to use your web application in the latest .Net Framework, you have to see whether the server supports that framework. See whether it provides you with customized global.asa or a global.asax file. Support for Visual Studio.Net is essential, if you need to develop your .Net web applications in Visual Studio.Net. For other ASP applications, you can look for support from Microsoft FrontPage or Macromedia DreamWeaver.
