Web hosting is the technology that makes web pages available on the World Wide Web. It involves what is called a technology stack, so named because a layer of technologies is required when serving out web pages. Special computers that are used for web hosting are called web servers. The most common stack used for web hosting is called LAMP, an abbreviation that stands for the Linux operating system, the Apache web server, the MySQL database and PHP scripting language. Roughly 60 percent of web servers worldwide use this open-source technology.
Shared web hosting
It is common for web sites to reside on a common server. This type of service is called shared hosting and is appropriate for small personal web sites, blogs and brochure sites. Part of a shared hosting package includes a control panel for managing the data in the web site. Shared web hosting is usually the cheapest way to make your content available on line.
Free web hosting packages
Of course, free web hosting plans are available but this package is constrained in some form. For one, the amount of hard disk space allocated for such plans is very small. To recover costs, server administrators inject advertisements into your web pages which may or may not destroy the look of your web pages.
Dedicated web hosting
Dedicated web hosting packages are also available. In this setup, only one website is hosted by the server. This type of hosting plan is perfect for e-commerce sites because it allows secure socket layers (SSL) connections. SSL strongly encrypts important e-commerce information including credit card information and personal data that such as addresses and telephone numbers. This type of hosting plan is more expensive but the owner of the website has more flexibility in using the server’s resources.
Web hosting is a type of service that utilizes a technology stack to make web pages available on the World Wide Web. There are different kinds of web hosting plans available. Such plans differ in the amount of server space, allocation of CPU cycles as well as server memory. Shared web hosting is the most affordable package; while dedicated hosting plans are more expensive but is required if a web site is used for e-commerce.
