Introduction to Web Hosting
What is Web Hosting? Why do you need Web Hosting?
You need web hosting when you want to have a website.
A website will
only be called a 'website' if everyone connected to the internet is
able to see it. They must be able to look at the text you have written, the
pictures you have posted and everything that you have placed on your website! Just
like every internet user will be able to read this
article, including you.
Your website is actually a collection of computer files (usually text files &
pictures). These
files need to be store in a 'super' computer with high speed internet
connection. These computers are called servers. You will put all your
files in these servers. The guys who provide such services are called web
hosts, or web hosting providers. They HOST your website.
The place where they put their servers is called
datacenter. A datacenter is simply a room or a building. A datacenter
provides fast internet connection to the servers. It also has facilities such as
security entrance, fire protection, electricity backup ... for the purpose of
keeping the server safe, secure and running with minimum downtime.
Server vs. Your Computer
A server is quite different than a personal computer. Your personal computer
will usually have 1 processor, 1 hard disk drive and 1 power supply. A powerful server will
usually have 2 or more processors. This allows the server to execute faster and
process more applications at the same time.
A server will also have a few hard disk
drives to store its data. The same data is always written to 2 disks for backup
purposes. That's why no data will be lost if one of the disk failed. The swappable
feature of the hard disks even allow a technician to remove and replace the
failed hard disk drive without turning down the server!
Most servers will also have 2 power supplies. If one of them failed, the
other power supply keeps the server running without disruption. The power
supplies are also swappable so the failed power supply could be replaced without
the need to power down the server.
A server will need an internet connection that is a few hundred
times faster than ordinary DSL/Cable in order to serve many visitors
simultaneously. So why are we telling you all these? Because it is really a bad
idea to host your website with your computer and your DSL connection! :)
Different Level of Web Hosting - Shared Hosting (Virtual
Hosting)
Having a website on a server alone is a waste of resources.
Unless you have plenty of money to spend, we usually don't need a whole
server to host our site. Here we introduce to you the most common level of
web hosting - shared hosting (or virtual hosting). Depending
on the speed of the server, it could possibly host more than 1,000 sites
without any problem. The users on the same server will share the same
resources of it (disk space, bandwidth, memory, etc.). This makes web hosting
affordable because you pay a portion of the server fee instead of the entire
server. Our directory focus entirely on shared hosting below $10/month. Over
95% of websites of the internet are hosted on shared hosting environment.
Dedicated Server
When you choose to rent the entire server for you own use,
then you are using a dedicated server. In some cases, you can share a
server with another user and so you are using a semi-dedicated server.
For dedicated hosting, you actually rent
the server from the web host and you do not own the server. The web host
owns it. Another common term for dedicated hosting is managed hosting.
Server Co-Location
You can choose to buy a server instead of renting it. You
will then need to place it in a datacenter. Server Co-Location means
having your server co-located at a datacenter by paying the datacenter a
certain fee. A datacenter provides your server with the greatest protection
and most important, high speed internet connection.
Web Hosting Operating System - Unix vs. Windows
What is Operating System (OS)?
We believe you are using Windows XP, Windows 98 or
other versions of Windows. Over 90% of personal computers are using Windows
Operating System (OS). Operating System is the most important software
for your computer. It takes care of many important tasks of your computer
where in most cases you
aren't even
aware of. For example, your OS is responsible for booting up and shutting down your computer, handling your
computer hardware (CPU, memory, disk, modem ...), allow you to install other
software, plus many more. An operating system act as a platform
for a computer. It needs to be installed in a computer before any other
software because it is the core software.
Unix - Linux & FreeBSD
Since web hosting servers are also
computers, they will also need an operating system. However over
90% of web hosting servers are not running Windows! Instead, they are using
Unix as their operating system. All you need to know about Unix is that it is a FREE
operating system created by volunteers and it is open source. Open source
means the source-code (the programming codes) of the software are publicly available to
anyone. Anyone can look at it, learn from it and even modify it. Since it can
be modify freely, it actually evolved into a few variations. The
2 most popular variations are Linux and FreeBSD. The word
'Unix' is now a common term referring to all such operating systems derived
from the original Unix.
Windows Server 2003
Microsoft do have their own operating system designed
specifically for servers, the newest is Windows Server 2003. But why do
most servers choose to run on Unix instead of Windows? Unix is developed in
the Universities for the purpose of research and has been focusing more on
networking and speed. Windows is a commercial product developed and targeted to the
home users. Unix is built to be more powerful, secure and fast while Windows
is built to be more user friendly and easy to use. After so many years of
development, Unix has been evolved into a very stable, secure and powerful platform for
the servers. On the other hand, Windows (Microsoft Corporation) is consider
to be a new comer to the server market.
Unix or Windows?
You should always go for a Unix web host unless you have
some specific requirements that require Windows platform. Not only Unix is
more powerful and secure in networking but it is also cheaper because Unix is
free! If a web host setup their servers to run Windows 2003, he will need to
purchase the license from Microsoft and this will increase the hosting price.
You will need a Windows host if you want to use some
Windows-only features. The most common are ASP,
ASP.NET, ColdFusion, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, etc. If you have never heard of
any of them, you
probably won't need a Windows host. Cut it short, ASP, ASP.NET and
ColdFusion are scripting language. Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Access
are databases.
Can I use a Unix host even if my computer
is running Windows?
YES! What operating system you use is irrelevant to
the operating system of the server. All you need to do is to upload all your
website's files to the server. And to do this, you will be using a standard
way called FTP (File Transfer Protocol), which is platform
independent. If you design your website using Microsoft FrontPage and
wish to publish you site with FrontPage, a Unix server is able to handle it
without any problem as long as FrontPage Extensions are installed.
You won't need FrontPage extensions if you use FTP to upload your files
instead of FrontPage publishing tool. Nowadays, most web hosts will offer
you a web-based file manager where you can upload your files without using
FTP! All you need is your web browser! I will discuss more about designing
your website and uploading your files in the "Build your Website" chapter.
NEXT:
Introduction to Domain Name
or back to Cheap Web Hosting Directory
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