FAQ - 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 website’s 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 or 2003 server. Although you can also run ASP code on a Unix / Linux server that has Sun ONE ASP installed, it is safer to host your ASP pages on a Windows server as many ASP components work only with IIS (Internet Information Services), specific to Windows. You also need to ensure your host supports any database you might use, typically Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server. Check our ASP Web Hosting section for hosts that support ASP.
Related FAQs & Websites
- MSDN ASP Guide - Probably the #1 source for ASP info directly from the Microsoft Developer's Network (MSDN).
- Sun ONE ASP - Formerly called Chilisoft ASP, this product from Sun enables you to use ASP on a Unix or Linux host rather than Windows.
For more information about web hosting, please take a look at our Web Hosting Articles. Also, if you have a question you'd like to add to our FAQ or some other contribution you'd like to make to this page, please Contact Us.
