Web hosting explained
In a nutshell, web hosting is the process of renting or buying space to house a website on the World Wide Web. Website content such as HTML, CSS, and images has to be housed on a server to be viewable online.
What exactly is a server? A server is a computer that connects other web users to your site from anywhere in the world. As the name implies, web hosting service providers have the servers, connectivity, and associated services to host websites. By offering a variety of hosting plans, they cover the spectrum of hosting needs, from small blogs and large organizations.
If you’re planning on creating an online presence, reliable web hosting is essential. There are literally hundreds of web hosts available today providing thousands of varieties of web hosting services. Plans range from free with limited options to expensive web hosting services specialized for business. The plan you choose will depend primarily on how you plan to use your website and how much you have budgeted for hosting.
Choosing the right hosting plan will mean having access to the right allocation of resources to keep your website loading quickly and reliably for your visitors. Think about how many businesses these days operate primarily online; their sales and business leads come from their website. If someone lands on a website and there’s a problem — it takes too long to load or doesn’t appear at all — potential customers won’t wait around. They’ll bounce off that site in search of a one that works correctly and can deliver what they are looking for, seamlessly.
Essential features of web hosting
Here are some features you should be expecting from your hosting provider:
Email Accounts As mentioned earlier, most hosting providers require users to have their own domain name. With a domain name (e.g. www.your website.com) and email account features provided by your hosting company, you can create domain email accounts (e.g. yourname@your website.com).
FTP Access The use of FTP lets you upload files from your local computer to your web server. If you build your website using your own HTML files, you can transfer the files from your computer to the web server through FTP, allowing your website to be accessed through the internet.
WordPress Support WordPress is an online website creation tool. It is a powerful blogging and website content management system, which is a convenient way to create and manage website. WordPress powers over 25% of websites on the internet. Most hosting providers will tell you right away if their plans are WordPress-compatible or not. The simple requirements for hosting your WordPress websites include: PHP version 7 or greater; MySQL version 5.7 or greater.
If you decide to create and host your website with IndicHosts.net, in addition to access to the drag and drop site builder, you can get a custom domain, email addresses, and web hosting all bundled into one subscription.
How does web hosting work
Web hosting happens when the files that make up a website are uploaded from a local computer on to a web server. The server’s resources, (RAM, hard drive space, and bandwidth) are allocated to the websites using it.
The division of server resources varies depending on the type of hosting plan chosen. To choose the appropriate hosting plan, you first need to differentiate between the plans available. This doesn’t have to be complicated. For the non-technical readers, let’s use a simple analogy: Choosing web hosting is similar to searching for office space:
How do you decide which type of office space is right for your needs? Is a workstation in an open co-working space enough, or the next best thing; an office within a business center. Do you have intentions to expand quickly or expect a lot of people to come and go? Would you consider renting an entire building or would building your own space appeal?
Aside from the style of office, you use there are other considerations. How easy the rooms are to access, which functions they offer (extras such as a whiteboard, high-speed internet, and other facilities), where are they located and the overall cost. These considerations will determine your needs and help decide which type of office is right for you. Let’s compare this selection process to deciding which web hosting fits.
- Low-cost Shared hosting is similar to renting a workstation in a busy, noisy, open-plan office or co-working space. You have all the modern conveniences: a desk, internet connection and some stationary and you share the space with other co-workers including the kitchen, printer, and restroom. You can’t do any makeovers to the space such as installing whiteboards etc. This is a popular option for launching small websites and is not appropriate for large-scale commercial projects.
- A virtual private server (VPS) is a nice step up from shared hosting. Medium-sized businesses will benefit from renting an office within a business park. With a VPS, users are isolated from each other. You have neighbors, but you are less dependent on them, and you can carry out any makeovers (customizations) as you like and organize your workstation on your own.
- Taking an entire office building is comparable to hosting on a dedicated server. It’s a more expensive option and best for websites that value reliability and high performance. Since you control the entire space, you have more say over configurations and plenty of space, but it’s not worth investing in if you won’t use the space included.
We’ll discuss each type of hosting in greater detail later in the article.
Web Hosting and Domain Name
After choosing where to store your website files, the next step to set up your website is to perform a domain name search and then purchase a domain name. A domain name acts as the website’s digital identity, allowing people to easily access it.
A domain name usually consists of a website name and a domain extension such as .com, .org, .net, or .xyz.
A domain and a hosting account can be purchased from the same or different providers. Many hosting companies, including IndicHosts, offer domain registration as well.
To get started, decide on a domain name, and check its availability.
Once you find a unique domain name, register it with a domain registrar. If it’s not the same company you chose for hosting the site, buy a hosting plan and point the domain name accordingly.
Alternatively, buying a hosting plan that includes free domain name registration is a much simpler and more affordable solution.