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.
Web hosting explained |
Choosing a platform
There are quite a few considerations when you want to start your own web hosting company. The first thing is to choose a platform that you will run your servers in. You have a choice between Unix and Windows. Of course, going open source is the way to go these days because you don’t have to spend so much. Both of the operating systems will run the usual software you need anyway like Perl, PHP, and Flash. But if you want ASP, .NET, and MS SQL, you will need to invest in a Windows set up which could set you back some money.
Developing a website
Of course, once you have the hardware and software set up, you can’t expect your web hosting company to thrive immediately. You need to advertise and have a one-stop online shop to get people buying your space. Talk about yourself and your business on your own website and watch the customers start to flow in.
Support
After sale support is essential in every business and you need a way to communicate with al your customers. This can be 24/7 support by phone or live chat. Or you can keep in touch with your customers through email but this is not advisable since customers will expect that you have support every second of the day. Give hardware and software support for all the services you sell and you should be fine. Otherwise, you may want to re-think your web hosting strategy.
Remember that web hosting companies are not for everyone. You need to have the technical know-how, the hardware, and even the drive to constantly keep a company like this alive and kicking 24 hours, 7 days a week. And as long as you have the passion, you are sure to succeed in any business.
Web hosting explained, Web hosting tips |
The internet is a network consisting of more than a million computers. All of the computers identify themselves to each other by numeric names called IP addresses which is a number that gets as big as 4.3 billion. To make identification and administration of computers that participate in a network easier, domain names are used instead of IP addresses. It should be noted though that domain names are just there for human convenience because in the mechanism of the internet, all computers talk to each other using their IP addresses.
Functions of domain names
Domain names are not just the names of each computer in the network. It is part of a hierarchical system that is used for routing network traffic. This hierarchical system is called the domain name system (DNS) and it can be quickly defined as the internet’s phone book. Given a domain name such as exampe.com, DNS translates this into its IP address which could be 208.77.93.53. Aside from labeling a computer, its domain name is used to abstract changes in IP address on network management. When a time will come when example.com changes its address, its effect is not visible to humans thus shielding us from the complexity of the internet. When example.com is typed into the browser, we do not have to know that it has a new IP address, the domain name system takes care of this for us.
Parts of a domain name
Domain names consist of a top level domain (tld) which is the familiar .com, .org or .net endings. With the rapid expansion of the internet, it became obvious that more top level domains were needed and so country code top level domains were made (cctld) and examples of such include .uk or .cn tlds. The local host name is appended to the tld so if we have server named example, when it connects to the internet, its domain name becomes example.com
Domain names are used in making the job of administering computer networks easier. Computer addresses change frequently and it would add to administrative overhead if such changes involve human intervention. Domain names are part of a hierarchy starting from a top level domain and ends at the computers who serve as web hosts.
Domain names, Web hosting explained |
Blog networks
Wordpress is by far the most popular blogging platform. Its hosted platform is very good too and provide quite a lot of tools for free. You’ll need to pay if you want to be hosted by them and have your own url, but it’s still quite cheap. Some further customization can be done after payment.
Before the rise of Wordpress, Google’s blogging platform was the most popular. Setting up your blog there will be extremely easy and will allow you to have your blog linked to your Google account, which can be quite convenient.
Free web hosting with free software
Software
There is tons of open source blog engines out there now, Wordpress being the main one now. You could also give a try to TextPattern or Drupal.
Free web hosts
Doteasy.com
Doteasy is probably one of the best free web hosts out there. No advertising, free email accounts and website creators.
Paid web hosting with free software
You can still use the open-source mentionned above while hosting on a paid web host, this will be more reliable but will give you a little more work.
Dreamhost
Dreamhost is a company ran by a great team of software enthousiasts who will always be there to help, I strongly recommend them.
HostGator
HostGator also has pretty much the same resources than Dreamhost, with in my opinion a little better control panel.
FatCow
FatCow is a younger company, but they have a really reliable and extremely affordable service.
CMS Hosting, Web hosting explained, Web hosting tips |
Like most persons who get informed from time to time, you have heard about the environmental problem the planet is facing now. To combine environment-friendly attitude with hosting your website, you should chose one of these companies.
The employee-owned hosting firm is extremely proud of its carbon neutral status. They offer a very stable hosting with quality support, most CMS are supported and often have 1-click install.
Another web hosting leading company with green hosting. Reducing carbon emission for both running and cooling the servers was a giant step for them, it’s the equivalent to removing 444 cars off the road for a year.
This great company has servers that are 100% powered by wind energy.
Best web hosts |
