What exactly is web hosting?
If you're planning to build your web presence, it's important to know what web hosting is. Whether you're building a website for yourself, or simply need to know more about web hosting, we're ready to help you with everything you require to know about how web hosting works.
Let's dive right in!
What exactly is Web Hosting? What is it that makes it work?
Web hosting refers to the procedure of buying online space to store your website on the internet. When you sign up to a web hosting provider allows you to publish your website on the internet.
If you are planning to build a WordPress website, you need two items including a domain name as well as a hosting option.
In addition to storing and transmitting files, hosting services usually help you with website maintenance too, such as backups, security and the uptime. As hosting services' capabilities and prices can vary widely and are not always comparable, you must select the right plan for your requirements.
Web hosting and the Domain Name System
When a user is looking to connect to your site then they input the domain name in their browser. The computer then sends an email to connect to the web server keeping your files.
The DNS makes sure you connect to the right server.
You can think of the web server as the location of your house, with the domain name being the address. Your home could be anyplace in the world, but the domain name allows users to find you.
Types of Web Hosting
Once you've figured out the definition of web hosting, we'll look at the numerous web hosting plans available.
Hosting providers take into consideration factors such as speed, storage space and cost when deciding on their plans for hosting. Each option has different payoffs.
We'll look at the most popular options available.
Shared Hosting
As you learn the basics of web hosting, you'll likely hear about shared web hosting. This type of hosting is ideal for entry-level functions. As it's designed to cater to novices, shared hosting packages often have features like websites builders, templates, and email.
When you host your website on the use of shared hosting you share server resources such as bandwidth and disk space with other websites, making it the most affordable option. But, since you share space with multiple websites on one server, there are risks associated.
Ideal for: Websites that are new and receive only a small amount of web traffic, for example, as websites for small businesses.
Pros:
- Low-cost
- Options for pre-configured servers
- It requires little or no technical knowledge
- Host is responsible for the maintenance of servers
Cons:
- Resources shared with other sites can affect security and speed
- Shared IP address
- Very little control on the configuration of servers
Host for Dedicated
By using dedicated hosting You rent out the entire server. This means you're in charge of everything including the choice of operating system to maintenance.
Ideal for: Webmasters who are dealing with large volumes of traffic or require the ability to control their servers.
Pros:
- Space for dedicated servers
- Customizable and scaleable
Cons:
- Hosting with the highest cost
- Technical expertise is required
Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting
Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting can be described as an intermediate level between dedicated and shared hosting.
VPS hosting mimics dedicated hosting since each website has its own space on the server. However, websites hosted on VPS hosting have shared server space with other sites.
Best for: Webmasters who need more control of their servers, but do not necessarily need an individual server.
Pros:
- Server space is dedicated with no cost
- Owners of websites can set up their servers
- Not requiring a great deal of technical know-how
Cons:
- Unable to handle large volumes of traffic or increase in traffic
- It is still impacted by the other sites on the server.
Cloud Hosting
In the case of virtualization, data appears to be saved on one server, but multiple storage devices share the physical server's capacity. Since data is kept across multiple places, it is effortlessly backed-up and recovered. Also, it's more flexible because it's easier to add storage space.
Ideal for: Websites with high traffic that require lots of processing power, bandwidth as well as disk space like e-commerce sites.
Pros:
- Little to no downtime
- Pay-on-demand
- The resources are scalable to meet the users' needs
Cons:
- The cost of actual expenses is hard to calculate due to the fact that it is a variable monthly
- Relying on the internet
Web hosting typically consists of four plans. There are hosting options designed to target specific segments of the market.
WordPress Hosting
Servers are specially configured to work with WordPress which means that your website runs faster and more smoothly. WordPress hosting plans can also come with specific features like:
- Pre-installed plugins.
- One-click WordPress
- Pre-designed WordPress
- Drag-and-drop builders.
- Customer support team knowledgeable with WordPress.
Ecommerce Hosting
Want to know the ways we have increased visitors by 1000 percent?
Join the 20,000+ who get our weekly newsletter with insider WordPress tips!
The Things to Consider Prior to Signing to sign up for Web Hosting
Picking the appropriate host and service is vital to ensure your company's growth. Both affect your website's speed in terms of security, speed, and usability.
These are the basic features hosting plans offer and what to look for in a hosting provider.
1. Disk Space
What's web hosting without disk space?
All hosting plans offer the possibility of a specific amount of disk space that you are able to use to keep your data.
If you aren't able to estimate your storage requirements yet you can plan to increase your storage with a web hosting service which allows you to purchase more storage space.
The Advantage of Adding-On Disk Space
The process of purchasing disk space is easy: All you need to do is to join for additional disk space via your My dashboard. It is also possible to monitor your the usage of your disk space and billing by logging into My.
2. Bandwidth
A web hosting service isn't adequate without bandwidth.
Bandwidth allowance (also loosely referred to as "data transfer" or "traffic") is the measure of a server's ability to transmit data in a particular period of time. It's expressed in megabytes/second (MB/s) as well as gigabytes per second (GB/s).
If you're looking for a higher speed, you need an individual server or one that is sharing it's resources with less websites. Remember that the higher speed is more expensive because there are less users to split the cost of hiring the server.
Hosting packages offer a set amount of bandwidth for each month. When choosing a hosting package, determine the suitable bandwidth for your website by measuring the size of your website and number of visitors.
The Benefit: Visitor-Based Pricing Model
Our customers opt to work with us because of our amazing serviceand not just because we charge per bandwidth.
3. The time between Uptime and Downtime
If the server is unable to function the high-performance hosting plan can help it get working again in a short time.
The Advantage: Private Cloud Hosting
's entire infrastructure is built on Google Cloud Platform which allows the physical server's capability to be shared among multiple storage devices. Because data is stored at various places If the server that hosts your site go down, your website will be restored in a matter of minutes.
4. Website Speed
Websites are expected to be up and running in five seconds or less.
The closed software container guarantees that each program is 100% private and not shared even between your own websites. In addition to the security advantages Customers have experienced a half-time reduction in the speed of loading websites which has resulted in an lower churn rate of under 5percent..
The Benefit: Multiple Global Data Centers
5. Security
Security of websites is not a laughing subject.
In addition to bandwidth and disk space Websites also require the security provided by the hosting companies
If you're not an expert in technology We suggest comparing every hosting service's security options. A lot of free or cheap web hosting plans might have certain security options, however, they also offer more advanced security features to add on.
Since no site is completely secure from hacks, we also automatically create two weeks' worth of back-ups.
The Benefit: Cloudflare's Enterprise Level Firewall
6. Control Panel
Although it won't affect directly the performance of your website, it is recommended to also look into your hosting account's control panel.
- Manage and upload web pages as well as domains and subdomains
- Secure your privacy and protect yourself
- Install applications
- Create and manage email accounts
- Protect directories
If you are looking to find hosting options make sure to check reviews about the ease of use of the control panel offered by the hosting company. You'll be unable to fully explore and maximize your site's capabilities if the control panel is difficult or confusing to navigate.
The Advantage is My
My empowers you to:
- Pre-installing plugins
- Migrate your WordPress website
- Copy your sites from the past
- Create and manage Domains
- Monitor performance and analyze
Summary
If you've learned what hosting on the internet is, the different types that are available, as well as what you should consider before you sign up for a plan, it's time to design your site.
- Free WordPress installation
- Free SSL certificates
- Enterprise Cloudflare integrations
- One-click staging environments
- 24/7 uptime monitoring
- Technical assistance
Save time, costs and improve site performance by:
- 24/7 help and support 24/7 support from WordPress Hosting experts 24/7.
- Cloudflare Enterprise integration.
- Global audience reach with 29 data centers around the world.
- Optimization using the integrated Application for Performance Monitoring.