If you have never heard about web hosting or have never purchased any hosting plans before, you will most likely be puzzled about it. You may have a lot of questions about this concept. You may also not be sure how to pick up your very first provider. You may come across numerous phrases that you may have never heard before.
Most of the hosts assume that you may have some elementary knowledge about the subject. However, only the best ones go to offering you a glossary with all the words related to the topic. Many offer booklets that have all the necessary details to communicate with the sellers about the purchase.
Now let’s discuss what is hosting and why someone must subscribe to a hosting plan. Also, the article will cover a list of technical words related to the subject, and some frequently asked questions on the topic of hosting.
What is hosting?
Hosting involves using a company’s server to publish a specific website. The space in the server provided to the client depends on the plan for which they wish to subscribe. The hosting plans are generally offered a fixed price every month, and the hosting company provides support and other features.
Even though you can use your computer to host a website, the complexities involved in doing so will eventually make you lookout for a more effortless and convenient option. Another disadvantage of hosting the website on your own is that to run a web server. You will need to keep it on a computer connected to the Internet nonstop without any break. Apart from these, if one decides to host the website from a local computer, it will be open to hacking, malware, and DDOS attacks. That is where web hosting companies come in. It is because these companies have electrical equipment that can offer better performance and security compared to any local computer.
There are several other reasons why you must study the different web hosting companies available in the market and select the best one for you. These include:
- The prices for the domain hosting packages differ from one company to another.
- The speed at which any specific website loads relies on the two factors: the site visitor’s internet connection and the web hosting provider’s performance.
- Like eCommerce sites or examples, several websites have to handle sensitive data, such as credit card/bank-related information for online transactions. Hence website owners prefer to contact web hosts who can guarantee the utmost security for the website. Some factors differentiate various web hosts based on the security features each of them can provide.
Shared Hosting is the most common type of hosting used by most of the websites. Even though they lack most of the features, they are also equally powerful enough for the small websites.it is also possible to upgrade the hosting service to something better as the traffic and the website’s size grow in time.
Some of the essential terms of Hosting
If someone is a newbie and doesn’t even know the basics about the hosting services, this section is for you. These are the most important terms that you must see if you want to speak with any web hosting provider about purchasing a hosting plan for your website.
- Servers– Devices on which the owners of the sites or web applications place them so that they are always available on the Internet.
- Domain – Address of a particular website. For example, www.google.com is the domain name for Google.
- Top-Level Domains – They are the tags used to distinguish the type of website.Examples – .com,.net,org,etc.
- Subdomains – It allows users to upload more than one site using the same domain name.
- Content Management Systems – Software used to assemble certain types of websites. One of the most well-known examples of CMS is WordPress.
- Bandwidth – It is the amount of data a website user can send to and receive from a server. Some hosting firms offer limited bandwidth plans, while others offer programs that come with unlimited bandwidth.
- Hosting Plans – These are the various features available for the customers based on the plan they subscribe to. The features offered under every hosting plan depends on its price. The plan’s cost is proportional to the number of elements a client can enjoy under that particular plan.
- Shared Hosting– In this plan, a website shares a server with all the other websites uploaded.
- Reseller Hosting – A client can sell a firm’s hosting services with other small website owners. An advantage of this plan is that the client also receives a small share of the total subscription fee that is to be paid to the hosting firm.
- Virtual Private Servers – Even though this plan shares some resemblance with the shared Hosting, the primary difference is that the client has an individual virtual server, unlike the shared hosting plan subscribers. It offers better security compared to the shared hosting plan.
- Dedicated Servers– Here, the client receives a server all for themselves. It is suitable for a website with the highest traffic passing through it every day, like Amazon and Alibaba’s largest eCommerce sites.
- Website Hosting Control Panel – It is a set option for those who subscribe under a hosting plan to communicate with the server.
- Website and Domain Shift – It is the procedure of transferring the site and the domain to a new host or registrar.
- Website Builders – These are options that allow a client to build a complete website without coding.
- Secured Socket Layer Certificate – As the name suggests, this is a security certificate that a website owner must procure to denote that the website is safe. By browsing it, the users will not be prone to any cyber attack.
- Domain Name Server – It is a database that holds a list of websites with a domain name and the corresponding domain names provided to each site.
- File Transfer Protocol allows the clients to access the files in the server and send them to a local PC and vice versa.
Hosting Provider’s Features
Some of the aspects to look into while selecting a hosting provider includes :
- Uptime of the Server (the time it takes for the website to upload on the live server)
- Support after purchasing the hosting plan
- The free domain name (if available, not mandatory)
- Value for Money (if buying the plan is worth the Money)
- Bandwidth (select one that offers you the maximum or unlimited bandwidth)
- WordPress integration (if available, it will be a plus point for you)
- Money-back guarantees (this is a must-do not purchase from anyone who can not offer you this)
Some Frequently Asked Questions about Hosting
These are some of the questions that beginners often ask when they are about to host their personal or the company’s website for the first time.
Q. Why must you subscribe to a hosting plan?
Ans: The most important reason is that the website can be active all the time without any disruption as the servers under the hosting firm are always active. The hosting providers also have specialized personnel like the engineers and administrators to check if the servers are always active.
Q. Is it possible to acquire the domain name and to host from two different hosting firms?
Ans: Yes, it is possible to purchase the domain name and the Hosting from two different firms. However, if you get both of them from two other places, it won’t be a straightforward task to oversee them.
Q. I want to purchase the domain name first and then host the site, maybe some other time. Can I do it?
Ans: Yes, you can do it, but if you purchase both of them simultaneously, the website will be accessible to the Internet users without much of a hassle.
Q. I want to upload the site on a local PC first, then shift to a hosting provider later. Is it possible?
Ans: Yes, it is possible, but experts do not recommend it.
Q. I want to shift between one provider to another. Can I do it?
Ans: It is possible to shit from one hosting provider to another anytime, and it can quickly happen without much of a problem.
Final Words
Even though you may think that signing up or a website hosting plan is relatively easy after reading a few articles on it, you may initially face some small hiccups when you go out to purchase one. You may also come across several new terms apart from those covered above that may be new to you again. Nevertheless, there is nothing to prevent you from learning as you go along the path and plan for yourself. You will gradually realize that creating a website is easier than you have initially thought with the hosting service provider’s help.