ASP Web Hosting

What Is ASP Web Hosting?

ASP web hosting refers to web hosting accounts providing support for Active Server Pages (ASP), a server-side technology developed by Microsoft.

• ASP web hosting enables you to operate a dynamic data-driven website by embedding ASP code into your websites HTML pages.
• When a user is viewing a website that is developed using ASP, the content of the pages can change depending on the actions of the user.

ASP web hosting allows you to link your web pages to a database, where users can directly interact with the web page by logging in and using their own personal settings, or they can even interactively place orders on your website.

How Does ASP Web Hosting Work?

When you type a URL in the Address Box or click on a web page you are asking the web server to send a file to your computer. If the file is standard HTML (yourfile.html), then it will look exactly the same in your web browser as it did on the web server. However, if an ASP file (yourfile.asp) is sent to your computer from the web server, the server will first run the HTML code and then process the ASP code.

The completed page is then sent to your computer's web browser with the dynamic results of the ASP code already displayed. The dynamic results of the ASP code could be the current date, time, user session data, and other such information.

Locating An ASP Web Hosting Provider:

You will need to find a web host who will host your website on a Windows 2000 server. Although you can also run ASP code on a Unix server that has Sun ONE ASP installed, it is safer to host your ASP pages on a Windows 2000 server as most ASP components work with IIS (Internet Information Services), specific to Windows. You also need to ensure your host supports any database you might use, typically MySQL or Access.

Some hosts that support ASP on a Windows 2000 server include:

• Easy CGI - 100 MB of Storage Space, 5 GB of Data Transfer, 10 POP3 Email Addresses, MS Access Database, No Setup Fee, $7.96 / month.
• Uplinkearth - 200 MB of Storage Space, 3 GB of Data Transfer, 15 POP3 Email Addresses, MySQL and MS Access Databases, $9.95 Setup, $8.10 / month.

If you are a fan of using Sun ONE ASP, then take a look at Lunarpages. They have a great account with 20 GB of transfer, 500 MB of storage and Sun ONE ASP for only $8.95 per month and no setup fee.

Additional ASP Resource Sites:

If you are interested in learning ASP, or want to keep up-to-date on changes in ASP technology, then here are some essential sites to read:

• Active Server Pages Guide - Probably the #1 source for ASP info directly from the Microsoft Developer's Network (MSDN)
• Active Server Pages 101 - An ASP resource site owned by Jupitermedia.
• Sun ONE Active Server Pages - Formerly called Chilisoft ASP, this product from Sun enables you to use ASP on a Unix or Linux host rather than Windows.
• Sun ONE ASP Supported Objects - A comparison chart showing which commands are supported by Sun ONE as compared to Microsoft ASP 3.0.