If you ever have rented an apartment, you can definitely understand what website hosting is through this beginner’s analogy. In fact, VPS is just like a condo and a dedicated server own the apartment on equal basis.
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How does Web Hosting work?
Web hosting at the most basic level is the ability to store website files for easy retrieval online using large computers, what we call servers. You can store information and files required for making an application or website. The content is then delivered to users when server is connected to the internet. It is possible to set up and operate your own and host the website however it will take a lot of expertise and hurdles in doing so. The majority of website owners go straight and purchase hosting services from reputable companies. Let us go through the basics of web hosting that are quite helpful in this regard.
Types of Website Hosting
There are several types of hosting accounts. What sets them apart is their configuration and server capacity these are virtual, shared, dedicated servers, cloud and specialized formats of web hosting. They all fall under these large umbrellas of hosting: VPS, Cloud, Dedicated, Shared, Niche.
What’s Shared Hosting?
It is just like sharing dinner. The computing resources of the server will have to be shared with everyone. There is no control over server settings and there would be few extra settings that you probably don’t need. Everyone has an equal share of server resources also different resources affect the performance of the server for different hosting customers.
VPS Hosting
VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. In this setting servers are divided into virtual machines or virtualized partitions. These partitions or machines act as independent dedicated units. Customers share the server yet they still have a much larger portion and greater control over the computing resources. Customers can configure their hosting by choosing web server, operating system, programming framework and database platform. Several rapidly growing sites can quickly scale memory and bandwidth by turning to VPS hosting.
Cloud Hosting
This is the most complicated form of web hosting. There are several servers in cloud hosting setting that are networked together. These servers are virtualized to share processing resources and storage. Cloud hosting is extremely scalable, reliable and renders high performance as servers are optimized to handle particular tasks. The websites and applications remain online even if something goes offline or crashed as other servers fill up the capacity. As the traffic scales up or down, the new resources are provisioned or turned off.
Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated as the name suggests, you are the only customer on a server and the host will deploy your dedicated server within their data center. This includes management services like security patches and operating system updates. The customers do have total control over security programs, storage space, processing power and software.
Other Hosting Categories
This allows mix and match of two or more hosting services that can satisfy particular set of needs. Flexible and customizable hosting services appeal to customers with specific needs and functionality. This includes: Application hosting, blog hosting, control panel hosting, domain hosting, e-commerce hosting, email hosting, managed hosting, managed WordPress hosting, SSD hosting, website builders, and operating system hosting.
Hosting Features
There are several different features web hosting. The customers usually look for hosting plans that have most features and low prices. The more informed decisions can be made if you get to understand the components of web hosting accounts. The professionals might place more value to the strong design of a website. On the other hand, online business owners might insist on having marketing credits and SEO tools.
What about Emails and Domains?
These two are distinctively different services. A domain is a virtual address that web browsers use to find and display a website. Several hosting services include a domain name registration free for the first year of service. If you already have a domain name, free website migration could be possible.
Email accounts use the domain name as the second half of the address. That is, if monsterhost.com is your domain name then, your email could read “[email protected]”. Emails also use server space to process, store and send the messages. Email address with custom domain name will look more professional and it is an important feature for online businesses. Email hosting program also provides virus and spam protection, enhanced security, and support for different protocols.
Manage Account with a Control Panel
It is the translator of all sorts for most of the foreign menus. Control panels also render user friendly interface so that site owners can manage their hosting accounts. Control panels come in several options including cPanel control panel, Plesk for shared hosting, and free and open-source control panels for VPS and dedicated hosting.
Bandwidth, Databases and Disk Space
Disk space is used to store files in gigabytes and terabytes. However small acronym is used for big distinction known as SSD (solid state drives). This allows faster and reliable websites however it can be a bit costly.
Databases correspond to the types of content management system you choose to install and store information efficiently. We also refer to bandwidth as data transfer. It pertains to the speed that visitors have when accessing a website. The more bandwidth you have, the faster you view a website’s content.
Site Building Tools
The tools include drag-and-drop web design sans coding with hundreds of templates that are user friendly. Builders like MonsterHost.com and Ownwebsite.com provide tools.
Marketing and SEO Tools
Search engine optimization and marketing tools make the site accessible door to door. The visibility, credibility and traffic of the brand are boosted with a strong SEO plan. SEO also render better return on investment. Hosts with shared hosting plans include tools to measure keywords and create site maps and edit metadata as well.
Web Host Pricing
You need to balance the budgetary restraints with quality. Shared hosting, for example, starts at around 3-10 dollars per month, however, many hosts offer annual billing. This could actually help to save you a few extra bucks on annually. Additionally, remember that there are extra fees for: domain name registration, upgraded security and backup services, performance and professionally designed themes and so on.
Before getting web hosting, ensure that you budget for features that secure and enhance your overall web hosting experience. So, go for an all rounded host, capable of providing flexible feature packed plans to suit your company needs.
In nutshell, the best hosting provider or plan is what matches and suits your needs in consideration to server configurations, specialized tools, and add-on services.