In order for your website seen on the Internet, it needs to reside on a web server. When you visit a website, you are accessing files that are on the web server. You can think of web hosting as “renting” your own piece of cyberspace. It does not matter if a website is simple complex, it must be hosted.
Almost all people and businesses must outsource web hosting services. It is not feasible for most businesses to own and operate a web server. They are very costly and take a good deal of technical knowledge to run and maintain.
A web server stores constituent files, images and data. When a website is hosted, it is available to be seen from and computer with Internet access and a web browser. When a person types a website address into the web browser, the server will download the site onto the user’s computer. The site will then be displayed by the browser application.
A web server is similar to your own computer but it is faster and more powerful. They are stored in data centers, where there are high-speed connections running through thousands of servers. The sole purpose of these servers is to get websites online.
Web hosts provide you with space on a web server. It is the web hosts job to keep the server, and thus your website, online. They maintain the server and take care of any problems that may arise. Your web host is providing you with access to the equipment and technical knowledge needed to host your website for the world to see.
There are both free and paid web hosting services available. Some examples include: tripod, geocities and yahoo. These sites almost always have ads on them as a means for the provider to earn revenue. The features and technical support offer by free web hosts are usually limited.
Paid web hosting services offer you a wide range of options and services. Internet hosting providers and web hosting provides normally offer web hosting to consumers. Paid web hosting includes: shared, dedicated and managed services. The most basic level of hosting is shared. Numerous websites share a single server.
Some websites need more sophisticates servers. The owners of the website may choose dedicated or managed services. With dedicated hosting, a website has it’s very own server not shared with any other websites. Managed hosting is a dedicated server that includes total technical support, monitoring and maintenance. On the other hand, if a customer or business has a dedicated server nearly all the administrative and maintenance tasks are their own responsibility.