Do you have a business idea, and maybe even a web or mobile app in mind? Some mockups? Or, perhaps you just want to migrate your web or mobile app to a different host?
Let's start with the basics of hosting in a multi-week series on the basics of web & mobile app hosting. The goal of this series of posts is to minimize the risks you take when choosing a web or mobile app host. A little research and planning up front will minimize potentially disruptive situations while working with your web host.
As many of you probably already know, all web and mobile apps use source code, most of which is hosted. While source code comes in many languages and formats, simply put source code governs the visual presentation of the web or mobile app, and the way the web or mobile app works. Without source code, there is no web or mobile app.
What many of you may not know, is that web & mobile app hosting companies use source code as well. A lot of configuration goes into web & mobile app hosting to ensure uptime, redundancy, security, etc.--and your web & mobile app host's source code makes it all work. In some cases the web & mobile app host's source code may limit the way your web or mobile app works, so it's important to know what you're getting into when you engage a web & mobile app host.
While a number of web & mobile hosting companies and web & mobile app hosting plans exist, through both re-sellers and primary sellers, the most important distinctions in web & mobile app hosting are the following:
the data center tiers you need from your web & mobile app hosting company
the web & mobile app hosting support you need from your web & mobile app hosting company
the web & mobile app hosting permissions you need from your web & mobile app hosting company
As a quick side note, lets incorporate web & mobile app hosting as described in this series of posts with some of the recent buzzwords such as the cloud, or software as a service (SaaS). When using the cloud or SaaS, these points are still relevant! We'll get more into how the cloud and SaaS affect your web & mobile app hosting decision in the next post, data center tiers.