Web hosting Basics
So you're about to embark on your first web project and you're
wondering where on earth to start? Well, one of the first things
you'll need is a web hosting package. There are so many out
there it can seem daunting to try and choose one. In this
article we'll teach you the basics to help you make an informed
decision.
What is Web Hosting?
For people to actually view your pages on the web, you must have
your files located on a "web server". When they visit your site,
what they are actually doing is viewing those files. You can
rent a little bit of space on the web server, or if your site is
large, rent an entire server for your site. Each server is
assigned an IP address. This is a four number address that is
separated by dots. i.e. 127.0.0.1 Every domain name actually
points to an IP address and this is how visitors access your
files on the web server.
Once your site is hosted on a webserver, it can be viewed by any
computer in the world through a web browser. All they need to do
is type in your domain name to view your web pages. Your site
must be hosted on a web server before it will be available to
external visitors.
What is a Web Host
A Web Host is a company that owns and maintains webservers with
the purpose of hosting web sites. You rent space from these
companies and in return they will maintain and service the
server. Part of this entails keeping the server software
current, applying any security patches and ensuring the site is
always available, known as 'uptime'. To achieve peak
performance, these servers are normally housed in specialist
'datacenters' with dedicated high speed connections to ensure
that website loading speeds are as high as possible. A lot of
web hosting companies will rent space in a large datacenter to
save costs.
Web Host companies come in all shapes and sizes, from large
multinational telecommunications companies to joe bloggs down
the street with a server in their office. A number of web
hosting companies will include a lot of other services to make
them a one-stop shop to get yourself on the web. This could
include domain name registration which ensures your domain name
will point to the correct IP address as soon as the name is
registered. If you register your domain name with a different
company you will need to specify the IP address of your hosting
server before anyone is able to view your files.
Types of Web Hosting
- Shared Hosting
Shared hosting means your site will be hosted on a web server
that is also hosting a number of other websites at the same
time. The server disk space and server resources, i.e. RAM, data
transfer is divided up between the various clients. Although
your site is located on a shared server, your files are still
secure and can not be viewed by anyone else who also has their
site on that web server.
As well as sharing the server resources, all the websites also
share the same IP. This can be important in some cases as some
websites can get banned by search engines for improper behaviour
such as SPAM or illegal activities. When a website is banned,
the search engine will block the IP address which means all the
other sites on the web server may also be affected. It is
therefore important to ensure that the web hosting company
careful monitors the activities of the websites they host or
state what kind of sites are appropriate for that server.
- Virtual Private Server Hosting
Virtual Private Servers (VPS) share some of the same
characteristics as shared hosting but it provides you with a bit
more control over your own destiny. Like shared hosting, a web
server is divided up and the server's resources are split
between the clients. What makes this different is that each
partition is given its own IP address and generally, there are a
very limited amount of users on each server, ensuring that you
get a good share of the server's resources.
- Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated Hosting means that the entire web server is
'dedicated' to one website, or one client. A client can host a
number of their own websites if they choose to do so. The
benefits of this are that you control the server, and can be
assured that no one else is doing anything on their website that
will affect your site. It also means that all the systems
resources are geared to your site which will boost the speed and
reliability of your site. On the downside, having your own
dedicated server incurs a much bigger investment and you are
responsible for ensuring that the server is always running.
This can be a great option if you run a large site that will
cover these costs and you have the technical expertise to manage
the server.
Summary
I hope that after reading this you'll have a better idea about
what kind of web hosting plan best suits your particular needs.
Remember to look around. There are lots of very good companies
out there but there are also a lot of bad one's. It pays to do
some research about the company you choose before purchasing
your web hosting plan.