What Is Web Hosting?
No matter what kind of organization you are, whether you own a business, a source of information, a directory or even if you own a personal web site with your own blog, you must own a piece of space so that others can see you and contact you when necessary.
Web hosting provides you with the opportunity to have your own space on the Internet. There are no limits to what a person can have or promote in this space, ranging from news, documents, information and announcements to blogs, forums, your own mail server and of course business. In order for other people to be able to view your web site or send you and receive email from you there has to be a network connection to the Internet.
Most members of the Internet and small-scale businesses cannot afford to run a direct connection to the net and a server providing access to a web site and email. Connection is not just a matter of money. Technical skills and knowledge are necessary elements even if all you want to do is to run a web site and mail server on your own personal computer while connected to the Internet.
In today's competitive society, it is essential that any person in business or with a career in most industries own a piece of space in cyberspace. This is a must not only for competition but also for survival. The financial constraints of running a web site 24 hours a day led to the establishment of Web hosting companies so that everyone could afford to have their own personal space on the Internet regardless of its purpose. By renting areas on the servers connected to the Internet, Web hosting companies have been able to significantly reduce the costs. People are sharing the server and the connection to the net, thus making it cheaper to remain connected.
Within the environment of web-hosting, you are offered a web site so that you can store data, documents, your files and bulletins for people to access with their web browser in addition to an email server which will enable sending and receiving email messages. The web host will also provide you with a means to obtain an address for people to reach your web site with a web browser and send you email.
The conditions of renting space on the Internet through a web-hosting company are no different to the conditions when you want to rent a house or a building or office for your business. Just as you sign a contract and agree to certain terms and conditions when renting a place, there are terms and conditions to which a person must adhere when renting space from a web-hosting company. After you accept the term and conditions and become a member, you receive an access code, which is the key, to your piece of cyberspace. As with all keys, it consists of a login and password, and it allows you to connect to the web server and up-load your web site. This login and password are also used when you connect to the mail server to create and administer mailboxes to send and receive email.
It is important to be familiar with certain definitions when looking into web-hosting. For example, your area is defined as disk space and network transfer. It is also important to understand what these mean in order to prevent any misunderstandings in terms of the service provided. The unit of measurement for disk space is Megabytes (MB) or Gigabytes (GB). Megabyte accounts for approximately, 1,024,000 characters and Gigabyte represents 1,024 Million characters. Imagine that one character is equivalent to a key on your key board. It is these amounts that determine the number of files and documents, or the amount of data you can store on your web site.
The same measurement units, Megabytes or Gigabytes, are used to measure Network Transfer, which is what determines the quantity of data (the number of files and documents or the amount of data) that people who are accessing your web site can download (transfer to) to their computers. The higher the number of people, or the greater the quantity of data that accesses your web site, the greater amount of data is transferred on the network.
When the disk space and network transfer is high more space is required within the web-hosting environment. Consequently, the rent of such a service is higher.
Web-hosting environments are similar to houses or offices in that each has its own unique characteristics. It is true that houses have rooms, stairs, windows and even a garden or a swimming pool. However, in some cases these are quite bare, just catering for the basic needs and in some cases they can be ultra modern with the latest fashion. Web-hosting environments are similar in this respect since some offer simple structures to perform only the basics while others offer a huge variety of features and facilities so that you can do almost anything you could ever need or want. Types of software to use, components, databases, and server side script processing are some of the features and facilities likely to be offered by web-hosting companies.
Choosing a web host is fairly easy once you have defined what your needs are. In other words, the amount of space, and the features and facilities you need.
If you have been reading this article because you are new to this, then at this point all you need is just basic facilities and minimal space. After you have understood how to work with these basic facilities you will be able to learn more and become aware of greater facilities and features. Then you can simply move from one web hosting environment to another, paying less or paying more. Moving in cyberspace is much easier and faster than physically moving house or commercial premises.
To start off with you can use the web-hosting environment offered by your ISP (Internet Service provider), the company providing your Internet connection. However, don't forget these companies mainly connect many thousands of people to the Internet and are most probably not competent in the field of managing web hosting environments. Unfortunately, in time you will realize they offer is not even as much as basic facilities and minimal space.
If you are just starting out with your first web site the first major decision you will have to make is about your operating system: Unix or Windows. For anyone who is just starting out on the Internet, both systems are equally capable and will provide you with facilities that are necessary for you to have your piece of cyberspace.
If you have someone, such as a web designer or technical person who can help you, all you need to think about is how much space you really require. Bearing this in mind initially, running your piece of cyberspace will cost as little as $6 / month and most web-hosting companies will supply what you need for as little as $3 / month (paid annually).
On the other hand, if you are without any sort of help and doing it all yourself, opening an account with a web hosting provider that offers reliable 24/7 support, customer service, skill and knowledge of its server administrators is a good idea.
Web hosting is a quite simple process and once you have obtained your piece of cyberspace you will never want to let go of it and you can easily move it wherever you want just like a turtle carries its shell on its back. Do not forget that if you are dissatisfied with the service that you get, you have every right to end your agreement with your first web-hosting environment and start looking for a new one.
Web hosting is a piece of cyberspace which belongs to you and it is a must to own a place in cyberspace.
The major components of a web-hosting:
Web Server
This is a piece of software which is relatively simple and which accepts requests over HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and delivers Image files and HTML pages.
FTP Server
FTP is the means which a web master can use to transfer files to and from the server. To put your image files and HTML files on a server you will mostly be using FTP to upload your files to the server on which the web server is running.
Mail Server
The mail server has two parts called POP (Post Office Protocol) where email is received into your mailbox and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) what is used to send and receive email between mail servers.
Database Server
If you have chosen to use server side scripting on your web server then rather than providing data which is "static" only on web pages you can alternatively provide data from a database which allows users to search and see the data in a different and dynamic way. Moreover, a database server can be used to collect data from people visiting your site; feedback, orders, discussions and other similar things.
Each one of the components mentioned above is a software program which runs on servers within the web-hosting environment. There are special software programs on your computer which you can use to interact with each of these. The main ones are:
Web Browser
A web browser, such as Internet Explorer enables viewing the web. Many web hosting companies provide a Control Panel so that you can administer your web host account by using your web browser.
Web site/page editor
These days many web servers make it possible to edit WebPages over HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) based on Microsoft FrontPage. In essence, these special editors enable you to view your web site and edit the pages directly as you see them using WYSWIG (What you see is what you get) technology. Since the majority of web hosting environments support this, and if you are setting out into cyberspace, make sure that you have it. However, make sure the web host that provides this feature really understands this technology since it is the backbone of the security of your web site because this is the main area in which many hacks and security intrusions occur.
FTP Client
Using this software is extremely easy. It provides you with the opportunity to view the server files and folders of your web host. This makes it possible to drag and drop files between your computer and your web host account.
Email Client
This is something everyone connected to the Internet needs in order to send and receive your email. The most common are Eudora, Outlook Express and Web based mail clients like Yahoo or Gmail.
Database Administration Client
MySQL (Unix and Windows) and Microsoft SQL Server (Windows) are the most common databases used with web servers. SQL Server has its own administration client through which you can view/edit/backup your data and carry out all the necessary administration functions.
