Understanding Web Hosting
You've got your new business all established now and you're ready to take the next phase and set up a website to tell the internet that you're here and you've got something to provide. You've found a catchy domain name to call your personal and now... what next? Well, the solution is that you should find web hosting for the web site you're going to build. Just what exactly does that mean and how will you figure out what sort of web hosting you will need? First let's start with the basics.
Just what is website hosting anyway?
In simple terms, web hosting is renting space on a web server. An internet site is not simply a domain name, it is a collection of files linked together by HTML code to display text and graphics on a computer. In order for anybody to see this collection of files you've created, it has to be housed on some type of computer somewhere that has access to the internet. Not just any computer will do, needless to say. A web server is a computer set up with special software which allows it to receive requests from the internet for the web site files it has stored onto it also to send those files out on the internet so the requesting computer can display them. It is extremely much like a waiter in a restaurant taking your order and bringing the food that you require from the kitchen, hence the name "server."
Along with making certain your files is seen by internet users around the world, a web server provides other important services aswell. First and foremost may be the ability to create email addresses based on your domain name also to send and receive email with them. The web server also offers numerous kinds of software installed on it that allow your website to run programs, create and manage databases, display video, and several other functions you might find useful. Almost any type of computer can work as a web server, but it's the software that's on it that means it is a server.
When you buy webhosting, the monthly fee you pay would go to the continued maintenance and upgrading of the server's hardware and software, the cost of keeping it online 24 hours a day, 7 days weekly in a secure data center with a fast and powerful internet connection, also to purchase the expertise of individuals who do all that work. It really is completely possible to turn your house or office computer right into a web server if you really want to, but in most cases it really is far more economical to cover someone else who is focused on providing this service in an adequately reliable manner than it really is to try and do it yourself.
What kinds of website hosting are there?
Shared Hosting - Most websites are not huge affairs with a huge selection of pages and thousands of files and graphics, plus they are targeted toward a specific audience, so they will not get as many visitors because the large general sites like Yahoo! that are directed at everybody who uses the web. As such, the common website therefore won't require the full sources of an entire web server to run it. Web servers are made to have the ability to handle dozens, even hundreds of websites at once because they are powerful machines.
Shared hosting is simply the idea of hosting more than one website on a specific server. Over 95% of all websites on the internet are being run in a shared hosting environment. Since the sources of the server can be split on the list of clients hosted onto it, so can the costs of operating the server, so shared enviroment is universally cheaper than any other type. Shared hosting packages are generally designed so that each client is allotted some each resource, with different payment levels representing different amounts of resources such as disk space, bandwidth, email addresses, and so forth. Shared hosting is also known as virtual hosting.
Dedicated Hosting - Should you choose have a large, powerful website that gets plenty of visitors and has a tendency to hog resources, then you might want to have a web server all to yourself. Some companies also prefer the extra security of failing to have to talk about the server with anyone else who could take action accidentally or on purpose to crash it. Renting the usage of an entire server is called dedicated hosting. The web webhost still owns the device and takes responsibility for maintaining the hardware and the web hosting software, nevertheless, you have greater control over the configuration and usage of the server. Addititionally there is any such thing as semi-dedicated hosting, when a web server is only split between a very small number of clients, such as 2 to 4, with strong partitions between each to avoid them from interfering with one another. Since Valheim continues to be responsible for the upkeep of the server, this sort of hosting is also referred to as managed hosting. For obvious reasons, dedicated hosting always costs more than shared hosting.
Server Co-Location - If you want complete control over every part of your web server, you may very well choose to buy one and maintain it yourself should you have sufficient knowledge. However, itâs likely that that you still don't possess the resources to help keep your server completely safe from power outages, roof leaks, thieves, unwary employees along with other hazards and keep it online on a fast, high-bandwidth connection at all times. You will need a data center to supply those services for you. Co-location is the rental of physical security, continuous electrical power and a fast, reliable web connection for a server that you possess. The data center is not responsible for any of the hardware or software maintenance of a co-located server, you're. This is often a cheaper alternative to dedicated hosting if you have the necessary expertise and time and energy to run a web server yourself.
Some web hosts are providing UNIX hosting and Windows hosting. What's the difference?
The terms UNIX hosting and Windows hosting make reference to the operating system (OS) that's running on the server. The operating-system, of course, is the software which allows the computer to function and manage each of the other hardware and software that is installed on it. Chances are good that you are reading this on a computer owning a version of the Windows operating-system, the most popular operating-system on the planet for personal and business computers. Other operating systems which are growing in popularity are Macintosh and different versions of Linux. However, the operating system you use on your pc is irrelevant to which kind of hosting you choose. Here are a few of the main features of UNIX and Windows:
UNIX Hosting
A lot of the web servers nowadays run on one of the numerous variants of UNIX. The UNIX operating system was originally produced by universities for servers and networking, and several different versions have been written by programmers around the world under the open-source protocol, meaning that the code for the operating system is openly available for programmers to customize and make improvements. Linux and BSD will be the most popular forms of UNIX and can be found in many varieties, such as for example Red Hat Linux, Debian, SuSE, and FreeBSD. Many of these different versions (and far of the program that runs in it) can be obtained free of charge, which makes UNIX hosting cheaper for a hosting company than other operating systems and allows them to offer lower prices. UNIX hosting platforms are generally considered to be stable, secure, powerful and fast. Most web programming applications can be performed by software that is available for a UNIX platform. "UNIX hosting" has become a generic term to refer to any platform that is produced from the original UNIX.
Windows Hosting
Microsoft has developed its own operating-system for servers as a particular version of its Windows operating system, Windows Server 2003. It is just a commercial product which requires the operator to purchase a license, which increases the cost of operation for the web host and usually results in higher hosting prices. Windows was created to be user friendly, nonetheless it is generally considered to be less powerful and secure than UNIX for operating in a network environment. ASP, ASP.NET, and ColdFusion are scripting languages that may only operate on a Windows server, as will the Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Access database programs. These are popular for certain web programming applications, and if you are planning on using them to build your website, you will have to find a Windows host.
What are a number of the terms I need to know when I choose a web host?
Disk Space or Storage - Because your site is a assortment of files being offered online for viewing, they need to be stored somewhere for retrieval and use up space. Each web server includes a finite amount of hard disk drive memory to divide up and offer to hosting customers. Typically that space is divided up by different package levels in order that the more you pay, the more space you are allowed to store pictures, webpages, videos and whatever other files you like on the web server's hard drive. If your website gets bigger than the space you are given, you will have to purchase more disk space from the net host.
Bandwidth or Data Transfer - Once you visit a website and view a full page, you are transferring a copy of the files that define that page over the internet from the net server to your computer. If the page you're viewing consists of an HTML file that's 3KB in size and three pictures of 47KB, 100KB and 250 KB, you then have just used 400KB of bandwidth or data transfer, because that is the total amount of data you just downloaded from the web server to see that page. Bandwidth is a commodity like disk space that the web host has to buy from its internet service provider, so it too is divided up and wanted to the clients in specific amounts. Bandwidth amounts are usually measured in gigabytes (GB), because while only 1 copy of your files has to be stored on the server, thousands or even millions of copies could be downloaded for viewing. If your site is viewed more times compared to the amount of bandwidth you're allowed can handle, your site may be turned off before next billing period starts, or you might simply be billed for the surplus amount used, based on your host's policies. You can always purchase more bandwidth as your site's traffic level increases.
Uptime - In an ideal world, every web server would be up and running and offering your web pages to the world 24 hours a day, 7 days weekly forever. However, web servers are computers, and like any computer, things happen to make sure they are fail, or they get old and out of date and require maintenance and repair. When a web host gives you a 99% uptime guarantee, they're saying that the net server will be up and running for 99% of the billing period. Should they neglect to meet this guarantee, most web hosts will refund a particular portion of your money with respect to the level of excess downtime they experienced.
Traffic Statistics - Web site traffic statistics programs try to track visitors to your website. They can track just how many times your website was visited, just how many visitors were unique and how many returned more than once, which pages were hottest, where the visitors found your site from, what search terms they used in the various search engines, and many other styles of information that could be useful to you in marketing your website to a target audience. These statistics could be displayed in tables, graphs and charts by hour, day, week, month or year. Some statistics programs are much better than others and offer more types of data, better displays, easier navigation or other useful features. Most web hosts today offer some kind of traffic statistics software making use of their hosting packages.
CGI Scripts - Many web hosts offer a selection of free CGI scripts making use of their packages. These are things like hit counters, guestbooks, form mail programs, message boards, and other programs that allow your website to perform commonly desired functions. You need to use the ones your host gives you or you can upload and run custom CGI scripts compiled by yourself or somebody else to perform different tasks like conducting a survey or processing customer information to produce a computerized price quote. Most CGI scripts are written in keeping programming languages like Perl, PHP or ASP.