Web hosting allows an individual or a company to make its own website accessible to million others through internet. The web hosting server technologies are specific for the operating system the client desires to use as well on the content of his website.

Unix was the first web server operating system, preferred on account of its stability and reliability as well as being less expensive than Windows. Hence, the Unix and Linux hosting were in use using the respective operating system in the initial years. However they have now largely been replaced by Windows hosting.

Windows hosting uses ASP (Active Server Pages) as the server side scripting technology, conceptualized by Microsoft. ASP can be used to create dynamic web pages by scripting the code (both JavaScript and visual basic can be used) inside the HTML pages which are executed by the web server before returning the page to the browser. Active Server Pages is becoming extremely popular of late and is a standard component of Windows 95, 98, 2000, and XP. Windows hosting is also ideal for developing a website using Microsoft Front Page or using database like Microsoft SQL Server or MS Access. Microsoft Front Page in fact is the best bet for beginners planning to develop their own website without much technical know how.

On the other hand, Unix and Linux hosting largely relied on CGI scripted web pages. CGI scripts are executables which create dynamic and interactive web pages on the server by themselves. Another web host technology Chili! Soft ASP bridges the gap between Windows and Unix/Linux hosting by being compatible with all the three OS unlike Microsoft ASP.

JSP (Java Server Pages) is another server side technology one step ahead of MS ASP, which although works in a similar way but exclusively uses Java code and hence is not restricted to any server specific platform. Cold Fusion developed by Macromedia and PHP are two other server side technologies that allow the user to create dynamic web pages by encrypting the script code inside HTML pages which is executed by the web server before returning to the browser.

The sites requiring online credit transactions or other personal details that need to be guarded use secure server technology. Secure server technology is ideal for transmitting encrypted data by offering protection against unauthorized access.