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What is Web Hosting ?
Web hosting may be defined as the
provision of online systems for storing information, images,
video or content. Web hosting is a business that provides the
technologies and services needed for Web sites to be viewed on
the Web. Web hosting is carried out by web hosts, companies that
provides space on a server providing Internet connectivity, data
center space and connectivity to the Internet for servers they
do not own to be located in their data center. These companies
rent out storage on computers known as "servers". These
computers are connected to the Internet; optimized so people can
access data (web sites, pictures, etc) from them. The World Wide
Web is a massive collection of web sites, all hosted on
computers (called web servers) all over the world. The web
server where ones web site's html files, graphics, etc. reside
is known as the web host.
Web hosting empowers an individual with a computer and internet
connection to own a piece of cyberspace, where one can have
news, bulletins, documents, data, files and ones own post
office (mail server) to accept mail. To get this space an
individual have to own a piece of the physical internet with a
network connection to the internet backbone and computer(s)
operating as server(s) offering access to files and post office,
for people on the internet to view the web site or send and
receive email. Thus web hosting provides computers designed with
the purpose of storing (hosting) web sites or other files so
people can access them via the internet. Essentially, it is the
process of "hosting" data for use on the web, hence the term
"web hosting".
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Any arrangement that is made to
provide features for ones web pages on any web server is what s
commonly known as web hosting. While it is possible to set-up
and host ones own server, this tends to be a costly and
time-consuming process, which is why most people outsource this
task to web hosting providers. However it is to be noted that
Web hosting does not include the authoring of a Web site or the
development of database-driven components or code and is upon
the consumer to develop it.
The core
components in a web-hosting environment are
Web Server: The web server
is a relatively simple piece of software that accepts requests
over HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and delivers HTML pages
and Image files.
FTP Server: FTP is a means
of transfer of files to and from the server.
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Mail
Server: The mail server consists of two parts POP
(Post Office Protocol), where email is received into mailbox and
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), used to send and receive
email between mail servers.
Database server: It provides
data from a database allowing users to search and view the data
in different and dynamic way. Also, a database server is used to
gather data from visitors to the site; orders, feedback,
discussions and the like.
Each one of the above components are
software programs running on servers in the web-hosting
environment. Interaction with each of these is possible with
special software programs, the main ones being:
Web Browser: eg Internet Explorer, provided by many web
hosting companies along with web host account.
Website/ page editor: These special editors allow you to
essentially look at your web site as if you were using a web
browser and edit the pages directly as you see them using WYSWIG
technology, supported by most web hosting environments.
FTP client: This is a very simple piece of software that
allows you to view the server folders and files in ones web
host account as if they were files and folders on ones own
computer.
E mail client: Email client is used to send and receive email.
The most common are Outlook Express, Eudora and Web based mail
clients like Hotmail.
Database Administration Client: The most common databases used
with web servers are Microsoft SQL Server (available only on
Windows), comes with it's own administration client where you
can view your databases, edit them, backup data and do all the
administration functions one needs.
Hosting can be generalized into
several types
Shared Hosting: It is a form
of web hosting service where more than one web site is hosted on
the same server. It is generally the most economical option for
hosting as many people share the overall cost of server
maintenance. It is the most basic level of hosting, and cannot
handle large amounts of storage or traffic.
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Free
Hosting: Free web hosting is a service which provides
users with the ability to store web sites and media on the
Internet for no cost. While there is no monetary cost for the
user, some hosts requires the user to place advertisements or
links on the web site which is being hosted for free.
Image Hosting: It is a
hosting service that allows uploading of images to an internet
website. The image host will then store the image onto its
server, and show the individual different types of code to allow
others to view that image. This type of hosting is often free.
Clustered
Hosting: It relies on multiple web servers and load
balancer to provide flexible handling of resources. Loads are
shared among web servers, dynamically controlled by the load
balancer to ensure optimum performance. It eliminates the
problems inherent with typical shared hosting infrastructures. |
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Dedicated Hosting: A type of
web hosting where the host provide web server or servers
dedicated solely to the user, not shared with anyone. Here the
user gets his or her own Web server and gains full control over
the configuration of server, including choice of operating
system, applications, add-ons, etc.
Colocated Hosting: It is
similar to dedicated hosting, except that here the user owns the
server; the hosting company provides physical space that the
server takes up and takes care of the server. The user owns the
server; the hosting company provides physical space that the
server takes up and takes care of the server, is considered to
be the most powerful and expensive.
Reseller Hosting: It is designed for those who want to become
Web hosts themselves. One gets a large amount of space and
bandwidth that can be divided up among as many sites as the user
wants to put on his account. A reseller account is placed on the
same server with other reseller accounts, just like with shared
hosting but there are fewer accounts.
Web Hosts
A Web host is in the business of providing server space, Web
services and file maintenance for Web sites controlled by
individuals or companies that do not have their own Web servers.
Web hosts are basically hosting service providers (HSP).The Web
Hosting Provider's primary role is to make sure that websites
are available to the viewing public with a high percentage
uptime and to provide backend technology to support website
functionality. To have a Web site on the Internet one has to
have a Web server. Unfortunately, owning and operating a Web
server can be very costly and requires technical expertise that
most businesses do not possess. This is where "Web hosts" come
in. Web hosts provide the equipment and other technical
resources that are required to provide a consumer with their own
customized Web site. Web hosting companies were born to provide
an environment for the masses to own a piece of cyberspace, to
offer an environment where people could have their piece of
cyberspace on the internet 24/7. Hosting companies charge a
rental fee for the service of storing a particular Web site.
Web hosting can be obtained free of cost from content portal
sites, but because they do not charge, they offer limited
service depth and quality of service. The "paid" class of Web
hosting services are normally offered by Internet service
providers (ISPs) or by hosting service providers (HSPs). Paid
services provide a reliable set of offerings that ensure domain
name personalization, service depth and high levels of quality
of service. The paid class of Web hosting includes shared,
dedicated and managed services.
Having the right web host is one of the key fundamental to
running a successful web site. A good web host has high uptime,
good server speed, good technical support, and can support your
growing technical demand.
In choosing
a free web host one must look out for
Amount of web space
FTP access
File type and size limitations
Reliability and speed of access
Bandwidth allotment
While choosing a commercial web host,
one has to keep in mind the following points
Reliability and speed of access
Amount of data transfer or traffic or bandwidth
Disk space being provided
Technical support
FTP, PHP, Perl CGI-BIN access
Provision for SSL, MySQL, Shopping cart
Email, POP3, mail forwarding
Control panel
Subdomains, virtual hosting
Type of server
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