Definition of web hosting? Explanation of web hosting

Today, every business owner knows that a web presence is a necessity. Customers search for information online when looking for new places to shop and new services to try. Online shopping has become a part of commerce, regardless of whether a customer is buying from your website or just browsing your website before visiting your physical store.

However, what does "being on the web" really mean? Where is the web located, and where is your web page located? For most people, the answer is "your website is on web hosting where you rent space so your pages are accessible to people online."

What exactly is web hosting?

To understand web hosting, it helps to know a little about how the internet works. Basically, the internet is just a series of connected computers. These computers, known as "servers," are where all the information found online is stored.

When a user wants to view a website, they contact the server by sending a request to its IP address. Usually this is done by typing the server's URL, or an easy-to-remember version of its address translated to an IP address, into a web browser. It sends a specific request to the server, and the server responds by sending the website content to the user's computer.

Any computer connected to the internet can become a server; however, the processing of web page requests requires special software. Your computer doesn't host your website just by connecting to Wi-Fi. It's possible, but there are security concerns with publicly exposing your computer to the web. Due to the expense and technical necessity of running their own server, most people use a web hosting provider instead of taking a DIY approach.

In professional web hosting, a company provides a number of servers and leases space on those servers to organizations and individuals who wish to place web pages or other documents on the web. It provides users with a fast and easy way to connect to the web instead of purchasing, securing and maintaining a web server themselves.

What are the types of web hosting?

There are several different types of web hosting. Each type has its own distinct advantages and disadvantages, and appeal to different types of users.

Types of web hosting

Shared hosting

In shared hosting, several users share the same server with the same IP address (although they usually have individual URLs). It's like living in a house with roommates. Everyone has their own room where they keep their personal items, but they share the rent and utilities.

This is the cheapest option, and suitable for very small personal or business websites that can't afford the more expensive plans. The downside is that websites tend to be slow (because resources are shared), security is lower, and if one of the other websites on a shared server does something illegal or problematic, it can cause problems for everyone on that server. For example, if someone using the server sends out spam email, it could blacklist everyone's IP addresses on the server on a spam filter's blacklist.

Virtual private server hosting

With a virtual private server (VPS), your files are still on the same physical server as other users' files, but they are separate in "virtual machines" that pretend to be completely separate computers. Your files are completely protected from other users on the server, you have resources dedicated only to you, and to anyone outside your hosting provider, it appears as if you have your own private IP address.

To continue the residential analogy, a VPS is like living in an apartment. You share a building with other people, but you have a dedicated space that is not shared.

Virtual private servers are a good choice for many businesses. More cost-effective than a full server that is self-contained, while still providing the benefits of dedicated power and an address dedicated just to you.

The drawback is that the amount of available bandwidth, memory and storage space is less compared to a full server. Since the hardware is still shared, the customization and optimization options are limited

Dedicated Private Hosting

Dedicated private hosting is, as the name suggests, a private server completely dedicated to one company. A dedicated server gives you full access to the entire physical machine which is completely yours. To complete the housing parable, it's like having your own home.

Dedicated private servers provide the most customization options with various specifications and capabilities. Usually, you are free to make whatever changes you want to the software. There are also many hardware options available if you want higher speeds or more storage.

The disadvantages are cost and maintenance. Dedicated servers are the most expensive option, and because they are customizable, they usually require more technical know-how to manage.

Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting is a type of VPS system where instead of getting space on a specific server, the hosting provider builds virtual servers in their cloud. It's just like a standard virtual private server, except for one big difference: cloud servers can be customized to be as big or small as you need, and it's really fast. This is especially useful for companies that are growing rapidly and for any company experiencing unexpected spikes in the number of visitors to their site.

The biggest drawback to this flexibility is that prices can be unpredictable. Since cloud hosting providers usually charge based on the amount of space and bandwidth used, large spikes in visitors can result in large, unplanned bills for business owners.

Choose a web host

In simple terms, web hosting is where your files are located on the internet. There are many web hosting providers. Some provide hosting for everyone, while others focus on providing web hosting for certain types of organizations or businesses.

In recent years, web hosting has become a commodity item. Most providers offer similar packages at similar prices and use similar interfaces. This means that unless you are looking for something very specific, it doesn't matter which web hosting provider to use as long as it is a trusted company. It's never been easier and cheaper to find good web hosting, and that's a good thing.

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