Web hosting is a service that allows organizations and individuals to post a website or web page onto the Internet. A web host, or web hosting service provider, is a business that provides the technologies and services needed for the website or webpage to be viewed in the Internet. Websites are hosted, or stored, on special computers called servers.
When Internet users want to view your website, all they need to do is type your website address or domain into their browser. Their computer will then connect to your server and your webpages will be delivered to them through the browser.
Most hosting companies require that you own your domain in order to host with them. If you do not have a domain, the hosting companies will help you purchase one.
There are various types of web hosting services available to host your website. Before signing up for web hosting services, it is important to understand what kind of service your website needs, the kind of server you or your business needs, your budget, and what type of services the web host offers.
Website builder services is a type of hosting service that caters to beginners who need to host a website,but lack the technical skills and knowledge to build one. Website builder services typically provide you with an online browser-based interface to build your website, and also host the website for you without any additional setup.
In a shared hosting environment, your and other website owners shared one server. This includes sharing the physical server and the software applications within the server. Shared hosting services are affordable because the cost to operate the server is shared between you and these other owners. There are, however, a number of down sides, such as being slower.
In a dedicated hosting environment, you have the entire web server to yourself. This allows for faster performance, as you have all the server’s resources entirely, without sharing with other website owners. However, this also means that you will be responsible for the cost of server operation entirely. This is a good choice for websites that requires a lot of system resources, or need a higher level of security.
Each computer on the Internet is assigned a unique address, called an IP address. A typical IP address looks like this: 199.123.456.7
It is very difficult to keep in mind the IP addresses of all the websites we visit daily. Words are easier to remember than strings of numbers. This is where domain names come into the picture. When you visit a website, all you need to know is its URL. Computers remember numbers, and DNS helps us convert the URL into an IP address that the computer can understand.
When you type in domain.com into your browser, the browser first needs to get the IP address of www.domain.com. The browser contacts a DNS server to query the location of the server where the webpages are stored. Think of it as a directory service of IP address.
The truth of the matter is these two web server platforms are functionally equivalent, it all depends on what are your hosting needs, and what are you most comfortable with.
Both platforms differ in cost, ease of use, versatility and stability. Windows costs more than Linux.
Linux | Allows for running scripts written in PHP, Perl, Python and other Unix-originated languages. It usually supports MySQL and PostgreSQL databases. |
Windows | Allows for running ASP scripts and utilizing .NET and other Microsoft technologies. It supports Microsoft SQL Server and Access database. |
If your website does not require any scripting support, you should choose Linux hosting because they are more economical. However, if your website needs scripting and database support, you should choose the platform that supports the technologies you use.
The basic features of a hosting plan include:
All hosting accounts offer a certain amount of disk space that you can use to store your web files. It is recommended that you have some sort of estimates on what you need for various tasks. How much space willyou need for your emails, web files, databases, etc. By breaking down your usage, you can better estimate how much space you should go for.
Email accounts are a common feature of hosting, especially if you are hosting a domain. There are three main types of email accounts: POP3, forwarding, and aliases.
After you have created your web pages on your computer, you need to transfer those files to your web server. The files are transferred to the server by use of FTP.