1. POP3 Email Accounts – An example of a POP3 email account would be “yourname@yoursite.com“.  Most hosting companies will provide you with a large number of email accounts to use for yourself or distribute to your employees.

2. Webmail and SMTP – As soon as your website goes live, email will likely become your main source of communication.  The tool you need to make this an easy process is a webmail program such as Horde or Squirrelmail.  This process can be even faster when downloading your messages to email clients such as Microsoft Outlook or Eudora.  However, in order for this to work, you need a Unix hosting solution that supports messaging protocols such as IMAP and SMTP.

3. Spam Filter – It doesn’t matter who you are, no email user is immune to spam messages.  In this day and age of the internet, having a reliable spam filter is a must.  These applications are installed on the web server where your site resides and typically offer features such as blacklisting, whitelisting and greylisting to mitigate spam.  The more flexible filters will allow you to make configurations to tag spam and have it delivered straight to a quarantine folder to keep it from cluttering your inbox.

4. FTP Accounts – FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a method that allows you to upload your files and maintain them on the server.  A Unix host that supports this protocol usually provides the ability to create a certain number of FTP sub-accounts.  This allows you to provide your clients and users with access to password-protected directories, which is very useful for sharing files in a more efficient and secure manner.

5. Backup Utility – While most web hosts perform automated backups on a regular basis, you should never put the fate of your website in their hands.  There are many ways to backup your website data, but the easiest way is with a utility specifically designed for this task.  Most of today’s control panels come included with built-in utilities that allow you to easily backup your site in minutes.

6. Web Stats – Analyzing your visitors and traffic can play a crucial role in the success of your site.  Popular web stat software such as AwStats and Webalizer run on the back-end of the server and can provide you with detailed reports on your statistics.  This can give you the knowledge to make the needed adjustments or additions that increase traffic and boost sales.

7. PHP and MySQL – Similar to Linux, almost all Unix plans come with support for PHP server-side programming and the MySQL database server.  These features are generally provided for no extra costs and can give you the power to create a dynamic, data-driven website.

Related posts:

• October 18, 2011 – coLinux: can Linux and Windows co-exist?
• December 17, 2009 – The Power of Cube Panel
• August 28, 2009 – Five Reasons to Choose Unix Hosting
• April 23, 2009 – Choosing a Hosting Platform for Your Business
• December 17, 2008 – The Advantages and Disadvantages of Ensim
• January 3, 2012 – Battle of the Giants: Linux and Windows Compared
• October 13, 2011 – A Comparison of the Most Popular Linux Distributions
• September 22, 2011 – How And When To Offer SSH Access To Your Customers
• September 14, 2011 – Linux Web Hosting – What Makes it Click?
• January 25, 2011 – 4 Crucial Aspects to Consider When Choosing a Web Hosting Plan