A web hosting provider is a company that offers the service of keeping your website online. They grant the service through specialized servers that store information, images, video, or any content accessible via the web.

First, we must verify that the environment of the operating system on which the e-commerce platform is designed is compatible with the servers. Most can support Microsoft Windows and Linux.

Another element to consider is the type of server. This may be the Internet Information Services (IIS) which is is a server for Microsoft environments or APACHE HTTP Server, or open source server.

A third element is the availability, which is the time that a server is available online. You should also consider the type of server. There are three types of servers: dedicated, dedicated, high-performance cloud computing. The first, is recommended for SMEs, since its price is more accessible. The second is designed for medium sized businesses and is a set of machines specially configured to avoid discontinuance of service if a machine stops working, but equally has a finite amount of computational resources.

Finally, cloud computing is recommended for micro, small, medium and large with high transactional and high traffic businesses. This type of server provides computational resources on demand, almost unlimited and customization features.

The transfer rate is another important factor when choosing a hosting service. It is the ability to transfer information in a given period. It is necessary to obtain a high enough transfer rate to support site traffic. There is also the storage element, which corresponds to the dedicated server hard disk for storage of code, images, videos, databases and information website.

Another factor is security. A web hosting provider must have: Certificate SSL, which ensures the "legitimacy" of the server, backups of information; Firewall, which prevents unauthorized users to access the server, and security scanning for the detection of virus or malware. Finally, the service support and assistance in case of problems, you should also consider. This must include: live chat, e-mail, telephone, help desk, among others.