How does web hosting work?
Initially when you create a website or a web developer does it for you, it is stored only on your computer. The world will be unaware of your website since they don’t have access to your computer. So, the Internet is the solution. If your website needs to be made available over the internet, then it must be placed on a special computer called a server. Your website will be hosted on a particular server that is offered by hosting companies. An Introduction to Web Hosting- A Beginners Guide
The server and Data Center
The server is a special device or a computer that stores websites that you browse over the internet to get access to. The server is basically associated with hosting companies that rent them for your website.
We can relate a server with an apartment; It is an apartment where website files reside.
The Datacenter can be a room or a dedicated building that houses several servers, routers, switches, and firewalls with proper backup power supply and redundant data communication connections.
In addition, a data center can be private or shared. Since the data center keeps working day in and day out, it must have air-conditioning and fire suppression facilities.
What are the types of web hosting?
Shared web hosting
Shared web hosting is the basic type of hosting where multiple website owners share the resources of the server. Every website in the shared hosting server will share one common IP which is of the server.
Most commonly, this type of hosting is used by beginners who are new to the hosting environment, Bloggers, and small website owners. This is cheaper than the other types of hosting.
VPS (Virtual Private Server) web hosting
VPS Hosting, In this type of web hosting, the server is actually partitioned and each partition acts as a dedicated server to the website which is stored in them. It is only virtually private; the reality is that the whole server is shared between the users. You may have root access to your space in the server, but the activities of some other websites can slightly affect your website???s performance.
This hosting has the ability to handle high traffic and traffic spikes. VPS is recommended for those who need greater control on the server side and cannot afford to invest in a dedicated server.
It is a little more expensive than Shared web hosting but cheaper than Dedicated web hosting.
Dedicated web hosting
Dedicated web hosting is a type where a single server is rented to a user. The user will have root access to the server. If you are a dedicated server user, then only you can store your website(s) on the server. The performance of your website will depend on how well you handle the hosting environment. Dedicated web hosting offers maximum control and better server performance. The greater the power, the greater the price; hence it is quite expensive.
Cloud web hosting
A set of servers are put together and are called a Cloud; they will host a group of websites. So, multiple computers work together to handle high traffic and spikes for websites. The websites will make use of the virtual resources of several servers.
Cloud hosting is quite expensive but usually available at per-usage charges. Check How Cloud hosting really works and Its Benefits
Classification of the Web hosting based on the operating system.
Based on the operating system of the server, there are two major types of hosting; Windows web hosting and Linux web hosting. Both have their unique features and limitations.
Linux web hosting
Linux is an open-source system and doesn’t need to pay licensing fees for using Linux as a server operating system hence you can get the Linux plans cheaper compared to Windows packages. Linux web hosting is preferred when your web application uses frameworks like WordPress or Joomla etc. This type of hosting is used for websites built using PHP, MySQL, and Apache. Moreover, it provides you with more control and flexibility to control the server. It has a much easier and better control panel like cPanel which is used to manage websites and emails.
Windows web hosting
This is a web hosting where the server uses Windows as its operating system. If you are familiar with the Windows operating system then you’ll definitely have a good time using the Windows-based server. This type of hosting is preferred for Windows-based web applications or websites. Suppose you are using the .NET framework to develop a web application, then Windows hosting is the only option to host it. Microsoft gives a lot of updates to Windows server software. Hence there is no room for bugs and will be fixed quickly if there are any.
Things that matter while choosing a good Web hosting service
It’s always better to know your requirements before choosing the web hosting plan.
When it comes to a Hosting provider, it???s better to do research about them and check for all kinds of reviews and likewise a couple of factors such as Server performance, price, features, customer support, server locations, and much more.
You should check our web hosting comparison or check out our 10 best web hosting picks to learn more.
What is the difference between hosting and domain names?
What is Hosting?
Hosting is basically a service provided to store your websites in a device or a special computer called as a server so that it is made available to the people who browse over the internet.
What is a Domain name?
Storing your website on a server is not enough. There must be a unique name to identify it. This unique name of your website is known as a Domain name. Usually, hosting providers will provide this service for the domain name.
The domain name and hosting both go hand-in-hand for a website. Both are an integral part of a website if it is available over the internet. In simple words, we can say that the hosting is a place where a website resides and the Domain name is the address/name of that place.
How does a domain name work?
Let’s take a real-world example to understand how a domain name works. Every object that you have come across will have a name to be able to get identified. You will suddenly acknowledge people who approach you by your name.
Similarly, a website needs to have a name to get identified over the internet. However, the websites have their own IP address by means of which we can get access to the corresponding website.
The Domain name is for human understanding but it does???t help the browser. So, the internet has a DNS (Domain Name System) server which works like a phone book. This server has a database that stores the website names and their corresponding IP addresses.
When you request a website using its domain name in the browser, the DNS converts the name into its equivalent IP address.
Types of Domain name
TLD- Top-Level Domain
These domain names are of the highest level in the DNS hierarchy. .com, .co, etc are the extensions of Top-Level Domains.
ccTLD- country code Top Level Domain
These Domain names usually have two-letter extensions and are meant for particular geographic locations like countries. For example .us, .uk, .in, etc.
gTLD- generic Top Level Domain
These can be registered by anyone and from anywhere. The common extensions of this type are .net, .org, .biz, etc.
How to register a domain name?
- Think of a good name that is relevant to your website
- There are chances of unavailability of the name you want for your website. So, it???s better to have some backup names.
- Plan for a Good and affordable domain name registrar to book your domain name.
- If the domain name is available then you shall buy it.
- After registration, change the DNS record to point your domain name with your web hosting.
Wrapping up
So, that’s all we have for the ultimate guidelines for hosting a website. Hope you got to learn something new!
