Web Host: Basics to Know

A web hosting is a service that offers individuals, organizations and users with online systems for storing information, images, video, or other content on a web server. These informations can be accessed by World Wide Web and allows the public to view them.

Web hosting is directly related with domain names. The World Wide Web is a huge collection of web site where all the sites are hosted on computers called web servers all over the world. A web site is available 24×7 where one can pay to have 24×7 keen internet connection to an in-house web server. Many people choose to host their sites with a web hosting provider. Web hosting clients simply upload their web sites to a shared or dedicated web server, which ISP maintains to ensure a steady fast connection to the Internet. A server is a unique computer where web sites are hosted, and stored and makes them available to rest of the world.

Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server for hosting a website. They own huge space on the server, which they assign it to their customers offering Internet connectivity, usually in a data center.

The most basic is webpage and small-scale file hosting service, where files can be uploaded via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or a Web interface. The files are regularly delivered to the Web. Many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer this service for free to their subscribers and also get such hosting cheaply. Web page hosting is usually enough only for personal homepages. Complex website uses more wide-ranging package to offer database support and forum’s etc. These facilities permit the customers to write or install scripts for applications like forums and content management. For e-commerce, SSL is also necessary. The host also offers a Web interface control panel (e.g. cPanel, Hosting Controller, Plesk) for running the web server and installing scripts as well as other facilities like e-mail.

Types of Web Hosting:-

Free Web Hosting Service: Extremely limited when compared to paid hosting. This is typically an advertisement-supported web hosting service.

Shared Web Hosting Service: In this, Web site is placed on the same server as many other sites which may range from a few to hundreds or thousands websites. All domains share common server resources, such as RAM and the CPU and IP.

Reseller Web Hosting: This service allows clients to became web hosts themselves. Resellers are those who take affiliate with as a provider and serve as web host.

Virtual Dedicated Server: Here a server is shared into virtual servers. Each user feels like they’re on their own dedicated server, but they’re actually sharing a server with many other users.

Dedicated Hosting Service: In this, the user gets his/her own web server and gains full control over it. The user gets the root or administrator access according to Linux or Windows hosting.

Colocation Web Hosting Service: It is similar to the dedicated web hosting service, but the user owns the server. The hosting company offers physical space for the server and takes care of the server.

Clustered hosting: This service uses multiple servers, hosting the same content for better resource utilization. This make the website easily manageable and fast.

Specific Web services: The other web services are as follows:

File hosting service: hosts only files not web pages.

Image hosting service: hosts only images.

Video hosting service: hosts only video.

Blog hosting service: hosts blogs only.

Features:-

The features that web hosting companies are offering are receiving absolutely regular nowadays. The following are some of the common features seen in most web hosting plans:

Control Panel: Control panel is an edge where you can access your site on the web server, allowing you to set up and then update and modify your web site. Though cPanel is the most popular control panel, some hosting providers modify their own so that they can upgrade and expand it.

Diskspace: A enormous popularity of sites that don’t have tons of graphics, sound and video clips or downloadable files simply fit in 50 MB of disk space. You should constantly confirm if the host has a superior plan in case you need to upgrade.

Bandwidth: Bandwidth is the amount of data transmitted or received through a unit of time. In web hosting, bandwidth is keen when visitors make requirements for files on your web site and download them to their personal computers.

Email Account: With POP3 email accounts you check email from Outlook, Netscape Mail, Eudora or any other Email Software.

Scripting Language: As all our top 10 listings are using Unix and Linux Platform, Php, Perl and CGI are the languages we are talking about here. It is best to select a host that supports the latest version to expand the latest web technologies for the fee that you pay.

Database: If Your web site is going to store a lot of data that should be dynamically accessible (like user accounts, stock prices, maps, interactive news, message boards and forum etc.), you’ll need to look for an account that offers a database. MYSQL is a powerful and most popular database program that offers a database. MYSQL is a powerful and most popular database program that runs on the Linux operation system. It is able to handle million of entries all at once. Its flexibility and speed allow you to also store logs and pictures. MYSQL is designed to scale well under heavy traffic conditions and is ideal for database-intensive or e-commerce-enabled web sites.

Customer Service/ Support:

Even though, if you are a professional or a beginner in web hosting, you require a web host with good customer support system.

Knowledge Base: This is mainly essential for those who want to search for quick answer without seeking direct assistance from customer support staff. Due to the enormous database, typically it’s searchable. Web hosting providers will even make your life easier by making a video tutorial guiding you step by step in setting up your new account. Very helpful for beginner.

Receptive customer service staff: Direct customer supports are explained as follows:

1. Email Support

2. Phone Support

3. Web Host / Live Chat support

Other Factors:-

Price to Disk Space / Price to Bandwidth Ratio: Generally, if you require more disk space and bandwidth, the monthly price will be more expensive.

Popularity: A web host might have the best feature accessible, supreme customer support and consistency in place but without an effective marketing plan, it will go out of business. If a web hosting provider does not have sufficient members and stable growth of new members, it’s very hard to carry on in this highly competitive industry.

Reliability, Speed and Uptime Guarantee: If your web host does not guarantee at least a 99% uptime, leave the web host now!

To ensure highest uptime, installation of redundant back-up systems is necessary. Each web host has their own management systems to reduce downtime. “Redundant” means that if any of the Internet connections get interrupted, the alternate Internet connection will take over.

As for speed, although routing, web server set up and local area networks play a part in determining the speed of a site, the major importance of how quick your site is depends enormously on the types of network connections. A number of hosting providers still connect to the Internet through T1, or T3 connections. Our top 10 hosts are using OC (optical Carrier) lines.

A T1 line will provide data transfer rate of 1.5 Mbps (megabits per second), whereas a T3 line can furnish data transfer rates of 43Mbps. OC-1 offers to a circuit that transmits 51.85Mbps. Higher levels are multiples of that speed. Ultra-High Speed OC3 and OC12 lines provide 155Mbps and 622Mbps respectively. Some hosting providers have connections to main internet backbones at the speed of OC48 (2488Mbps) and OC96 (4976Mbps).

More Top 10 Hosting Articles