Friday, March 28, 2008

What is ASP 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 hosting provides a platform for web developers to explore their own creativity and design customized web solutions. Web developers would be able to tap on Microsoft’s programming technologies and design web pages with powerful features. ASP hosting is also considered as an attractive hosting solution with the availability of free training videos on the Microsoft web site. This is extremely useful especially for beginners as they can learn the basic skills of working with ASP technologies.
It is also possible for ASP hosting to be run on non-windows operating systems such as UNIX. Some hosting providers do offer this kind of service, for example making use of ChiliASP on a UNIX server. However, there could be some compatibility issues that may come with it and users would not be able to enjoy the full features of ASP.
In summary, ASP hosting is ideal for web developers who intend to create websites that utilizes the Microsoft programming technologies especially ASP. There is a huge list of applications and features offered by an ASP hosting environment. There is plenty of room for creativity with all these available functionalities, which definitely suits those who plans to develop powerful, multi-feature websites.

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