A Guide To Website Hosts

Website hosts can vary bit and choosing one may seem confusing at first. However, understanding some common facts about hosting will help -- we aim do do that here.

There are two basic kinds of web hosting - dedicated and shared. Dedicated hosting host one site per web server; shared hosting has more than one site per server.

The most practical and the cheapest is to go with shared hosting. This service fits the needs of most websites.

A website is an organized collection of web pages, graphics, script files, and any other media source that is used to make your website function. That's It!

These files need to be stored on a computer, called a web server, that is accessible to others.

Choosing A Location For A Website

• What is a web server?
• What are the three basic web server functions?
• What is a web hosting service?
• What are the types of website hosting services?
• What are your web hosting needs?

One of the obvious questions people ask when planning to

build a website is...

... 'How do I pick a service from amongst the many website hosts?'

Let's explore.

First...

What Is A Web Server?

A web server is a computer that stores and shares web files. Other people access these web files with their web browser.

You access servers every time you go to any web page. You type in the address of the server, it sends you the version of the web files it has stored on its hard drive, and you see the web page on your screen.

What Are The Basic Web Server Functions?

• Storage — A web server stores web files on a hard drive. Every web page, graphic, and script needs to be stored on a web server.

• Share Files — Based on the requests a web server gets, it sends the files via the Internet to a user's browser.

• Analytics — A good web server keeps track of all the people accessing the website's files and captures data about them.

What Is A Web Hosting Service?

• A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals, companies and organizations to make their own website accessible via the World Wide Web.

• Website hosts are companies that provide the computing space on servers that they own or lease to their clients. They provide the providing Internet connectivity also.

• When you put your website's files on a server, the company that owns the servers is "hosting" your site.

• It is very extremely important to determine where to put your website's files -- plan and research it thoroughly.

• It is important to do this because the features or limits of your choice of hosts may be a factor in how you build your site.

Types of website hosting services

Tip

Apache is an example of a free web server. It’s a product of an open source community. I’ve used these in past on my personal computer to help me test an Oracle database mainframe application – but it’s not necessary. In you’re curios you can find information about it at www.apache.org.

Review your web hosting needs

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