As far as creating your website, you can probably do most of it on
your own, with some help designing and writing it. But when it comes to
actually getting your website on the Internet, you'll definitely need
assistance. This article is about that part of the process—finding a
website host.
A Few Internet Basics
Most of us connect to the Internet through home computers that are
hooked up to the web through an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Your
ISP is the one who gives you access to the Internet and all the websites
on it.
But just where are all these websites located on the Internet? Are
they in one place, maybe somewhere underground in a secret location? Not
quite:
- The Internet, or World Wide Web, is a global network of computers on which information can be shared, posted, housed, updated and exchanged.
- In simple terms, there are sophisticated computers across the country and world where website content (images, videos, writing…all of it) is stored. These are called web servers.
- These servers process your (and everyone else's) Internet requests and activity.
- These servers also play one more important role: they give a home to all the websites out there.
A Fine Host
By offering managed-hosting services, web servers provide both the
technology and customer support that businesses and regular folks need
to get their websites up and running.
A web host typically offers a lineup of essential services: website
management, domain names, email services, e-commerce services, marketing
support and more.
Servers are expensive and technology is complicated and changing all
the time. Without website hosts, you'd have to invest in a boatload of
server technology—and learn how to manage it and keep it up to date.
Many web hosts consist of dozens or even hundreds of servers and they
can host a lot of websites at once.
If you've watched the Super Bowl the last few years, you've seen
commercials for a GoDaddy.com, a host services provider. With a quick
online search, you can find plenty of web host providers.
Presence at a Price
Of course, you have to pay a web host for their services. The price
will depend on whether your website is complicated or fairly simple. If
you're going to sell a line of merchandise to people everywhere, your
web hosting costs will be more than for a guy who wants a website to
advertise guitar lessons to residents in a 20-mile radius.
Price also depends on another factor: What level of web host service you choose.
There's shared hosting, virtual private servers (VPS) and dedicated
hosts. Shared hosting is the most affordable, but least flexible. The
other two give you more bang for more bucks.
Shared Hosting
Shared hosting is the most affordable type of hosting package, and
some companies offer free service through shared plans. However, shared
hosting packages are often very limited or are accompanied by limited
guarantees.
With shared hosting, a single server is divided into several
partitions, and each partition is available for lease. These partitions
share the server's resources on a first-come-first-served basis. This
means that, although shared hosting is affordable, it can be unreliable
if one partition on the server is hogging all of its resources. Also,
shared hosting may not allow for the server to be customized and to run
specialized software. In most cases, the only choice of software offered
is between a Microsoft operating system (OS) and a Mozilla OS.
Shared hosting is best for personal websites or websites that are not
expected to receive much traffic. Business websites may require
features that are not available through shared hosting, and some risk is
accepted because the server's security is not particular to each
partition. In addition, some cheap and free shared hosting plans may
force users to accept advertisements or restrict the amount of data that
can be shared, which limits the website's independence from its host.
VPS Hosting
VPS hosting is one step above shared hosting. VPS hosts still divide
the resources of a single server between partitions, but the maximum
amount of resources for each partition is predefined. In addition, a VPS
allows for each partition to run a different OS or other software
without affecting the other partitions.
The greatest advantages of VPS hosting are that it provides
additional flexibility over shared hosting, it is affordably priced
compared to dedicated hosting and the availability of resources are
guaranteed. The disadvantages of VPS hosting are that it requires a user
to possess some technical knowledge about servers and that it still
does not provide a user with the server's full resources.
VPS hosting is best for business websites and websites with heavy
traffic. Security is improved over shared hosting, and proprietary
business software can be installed on the VPS. For all intents and
purposes, a VPS is a private server even though the hardware is shared.
Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated hosting is the most powerful type of hosting available. It
allows clients to lease servers all to themselves. No other websites are
hosted on a dedicated server other than those of a single client, and
the user has full access to the server's resources, including processing
power, memory and bandwidth.
The two primary downsides to dedicated hosting are that it is the
most expensive hosting package available and that it requires a great
deal of technical expertise. However, most companies that offer
dedicated hosting will manage the server for an additional fee.
Dedicated hosting is the perfect solution for large businesses,
enterprise software or those who want the additional privacy and
security afforded by separate hardware. Businesses or individuals who
require extensive customization will also want to go with dedicated
hosting. A business's IT personnel has full access to a dedicated server
through a virtual control panel, but a dedicated server with managed
hosting may actually be more affordable than using a fulltime IT staff.