How Hosting Operates

If you have decided to launch your very own personal website, but are not quite sure about what a web site is and are unfamiliar with the expression "hosting", this article is dedicated to defining these concepts in plain words.

What exactly is a website?

A web site is an amalgamation of web pages assembled systematically. It has a unique web address, also referred to as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator). A website may contain only one single webpage and sometimes may even be comprised of as many as a thousand webpages.

What is a web hosting server?

A web hosting server enables you to upload your web site onto it. In some instances, there might be even thousands of web sites on a single web hosting server. The web hosting server essentially is a computer with specific hardware, which is situated in a datacenter facility with special cooling systems, whose task is to ensure the smooth operation of the machine and all the web sites located on it.

In short, a hosting server will be indeed a launching pad when the time comes for you to launch your website. It could be any sort of web site - a corporate website having lots of web pages, or a web site, which is comprised of only several pages and which you have created just for your acquaintances and family members.

You've reached a decision about what your web site will be, now what?

Once you have made a decision about what sort of web site you would like to set up, the next move is to discover what type of web hosting service you have to pick for your online adventure. Basically, there are two sorts of website hosting services - cost-free website hosting services and professional paid website hosting services. The free-of-cost web hosting solution is typically utilized by users that do not own a business-related website.

Upsides and downsides of the free-of-cost web hosting solution

You will not get a lot of options with a cost-free web hosting plan. Features like bandwidth, memory and hosting server hard disk space are limited and insufficient for an elaborate Internet shop or a business site, or even for a web site with plenty of graphics. What's more, there are a lot of commercials put on your site by the web hosting supplier. These advertisements take up lots of space on your web site and are very annoying.

Shared website hosting

The paid shared website hosting services are more dependable and offer many powerful features in addition to the high-quality web hosting server that will host your site and its content. However, it is important to find out which features your website demands before choosing your web hosting plan. You should not rush and end up investing cash in something that your website does not demand.

Find your web host

It is not hard to find a hosting distributor. You have to simply conduct an online survey in order to find a web hosting services provider that satisfies your site's requirements. Before you make your actual decision, have a peek at the features of the web hosting packages provided by the hosting companies that have caught your attention. We, for instance, are among the premier web hosting service providers on the market these days. The broad variety of hosting solutions and our prices are what renders us an attractive choice. However, you must ascertain what kind of web hosting service you need and whether the price corresponds to your budget. Also, you must always remember to check the hosting supplier's Terms of Use before signing up to confirm that your web site is not abusing them.

Opening a web hosting account

Once you have found out what features are optimal for your website, the next move is to open an account with the web hosting supplier of your choosing. You will receive all the needed tools for administering your website files and databases. With us, for example, you will obtain a Control Panel, which contains domain name, website, database and e-mailbox management areas. You log in the web hosting Control Panel using your unique user name and password, which grants you safe access to the portion of the server where your web site will be hosted.

Uploading your site

You can either upload your website files through FTP or, as is with most web hosting providers, via a web-based tool that is integrated within the Control Panel. With us, the File Manager is very user-friendly and offers features comparable to those encountered in Windows Explorer, which makes file management extremely easy. We offer additionally a web site building tool and a PHP script installation tool, which you can utilize to set up your site if you have no programming expertise and are making your first steps in web design. The web-based web site builder, dubbed SiteStudio, will also spare you the time and effort of making a web site on your computer and then uploading it using an FTP program or the File Manager interface.