What is web hosting?
If you want to take part in the internet as a business,
information resource, directory, or as a hobbyist wanting to
share data, information and knowledge with the many people and
communities on the internet, you have to contain this in a
central spot on the internet. You have to own a piece of space
in cyberspace.
Web hosting empowers you and anyone with a computer and
internet connection to own a piece of cyberspace. In your space,
you can have news, bulletins, documents, data, files (your web
site) and your own post office (mail server) to accept mail, all
in the context of you or your business. This is your space and
to get this space you either 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 your files
and post office, for people on the internet to view your web
site or send and receive email with you.
The cost of owning a direct connection to the backbone and a
server dedicated to a web site and email is out of reach for the
average business and especially general members of the internet.
Even running a web site and mail server on your own computer
when it is connected to the internet requires a lot of technical
ability and knowledge. The internet itself has to be your
business for either of these options to be viable.
In our modern society, for every person in business or with a
career in most industries today, it is imperative to have a
place in cyberspace, not just to be competitive but to survive.
Web hosting companies were born out of this great need 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 without the great
cost. Web hosting companies developed a model where they could
split up areas on the servers connected to the backbone and
‘rent' this space, cutting the costs across many people
sharing the server and backbone connection to the internet.
In a web-hosting environment, you are offered a web site to
place your files, data, documents, and bulletins for people to
access with their web browser and an email server for you to
send and receive email messages. The web host will also provide
you a means to get an address for people to get to your web site
with a web browser and post email to you.
To obtain space in a web hosting environment you become a
member and agree to terms and conditions of renting the space -
just as if you were to rent a house or commercial premises for
your business. Once you agree and become a member, you are given
an access code, a key, to your piece of cyberspace. This key, in
the form of a login and password, allows you to connect to the
web hosting server and up-load (transfer to) your web site so it
can be accessed on the internet. Your login and password is also
used to connect to a mail server to create and administer
mailboxes to send and receive email for you, your staff, or
family members.
Just like when you rent a house or commercial premises for your
business, you have so many rooms, bathrooms, and floor space to
use. In a web-hosting environment, your area is defined as disk
space and network transfer.
Disk space is measured in Megabytes (MB) or Gigabytes (GB).
Megabyte roughly means 1,024,000 characters and Gigabyte roughly
means 1,024 Million characters. Imagine a character as one key
on your key board. These amounts determine how many files,
documents, or data you can have on your web site.
Network Transfer is also measured in Megabytes or gigabytes
which determines how much data (how many of your files,
documents or data) can be downloaded (transferred to) people
accessing your web site. The more people, or the more data each
person accesses on your web site the more data is transferred on
the network.
The more disk space and network transfer you use the greater
percentage of the web-hosting environment you are using -
therefore the higher the rent.
Just as no office building and home is the same, neither is
every web-hosting environment. Some offices have stairs, others
have lifts, some houses have ensuites, swimming pools, and
gardens, - and others do not. Web-hosting environments are much
the same, some offer bare structures to do just the basics and
others offer an array of features and facilities to help you do
just about everything you could ever need or want. Some of the
features and facilities likely to be offered are ranges of
software to use, components, databases, and server side script
processing.
The similarity of renting an office or home to renting space in
a web-hosting environment is even more similar. With some
buildings a gardener and/or a guard is available to look after
the gardening or provide security. In a web-hosting environment,
you have support people to help you do what you need to do on
your web site to make it grow and there are server
administrators to protect and secure your web-hosting space.
When you rent a building there are key parts needed to work or
live in the space, like rooms, offices, kitchens, toilets, and
bathrooms. In your web-hosting environment, you will find
equally important components that are required to make the space
workable. 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 the means of which a web master can transfer files to
and from the server. To put your HTML and image files on a
server you will generally use FTP to upload (transfer to) your
files to the server running the web server.
Mail Server
The mail server consists of two parts POP (Post Office
Protocol) and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). POP is where
email is received into your mailbox and SMTP is what is used to
send and receive email between mail servers.
Database Server
If you are using server side scripting on your web server (you
use something like Microsoft Internet Information Server) then
instead of providing ‘static' data only on web pages you
can provide data from a database allowing your users to search
and view the data in different and dynamic way. Also, a Database
server is used to gather data from visitors to your site;
orders, feedback, discussions and the like.
Each one of the above components are software programs running
on servers in the web-hosting environment. You can interact with
each of these with special software programs you use on your
computer. The main ones being:
Web Browser
When viewing the web you use a web browser like Internet
Explorer. Many web hosting companies provide a ‘Control
Panel' to administer your web host account, which you use with
your web browser. Most allow you to configure most aspects of
your account using a simple web browser.
Web site/page editor
Today many web servers allow editing of WebPages over HTTP
(hypertext transfer protocol) based on Microsoft FrontPage
technology. 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 (What you see if
what you get) technology. Most web hosting environments support
this, and if you are starting out, make sure it is available.
One tip: make sure the web host providing this really does
understand this technology - it is the main area of which many
hacks and security intrusions occur.
FTP Client
This is a very simple piece of software that allows you to view
the server folders and files in your web host account as if they
were files and folders on your own computer. You can then drag
and drop files between you computer and your web host account.
Email Client
If you are on the internet you would already be using an email
client to send and receive your 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) and MySQL (commonly found
on Linux and UNIX but also available on Windows). SQL Server
comes with it's own administration client where you can view
your databases, edit them, backup data and do all the
administration functions you need. MySQL has an active online
community where there is a range of administration clients
available.
Choosing a web host is, again, similar to choosing a house to
live in or commercial premises to do business. You need to
define what it is you require: how much space you need and what
features and facilities you need.
If you have been reading this article because this is new to
you, then it is likely at this stage you only need minimal space
and basic facilities. Once you have worked with the basic
facilities you will learn more and become aware of greater
facilities and features and then you can simple move from one
web -hosting environment to another - paying more or paying
less. Moving in cyberspace is much easier, faster, and more
seamless than physically moving house or commercial premises.
Initially you may use the web-hosting environment offered by
your ISP (internet Service provider), the company you use to
connect to the internet. But remember these companies main
business is connecting many thousands of people to the internet
- not managing web hosting environments. You will generally find
they offer less than basic facilities and minimal space.
If you are just starting out with your first web site the first
major choice you will be faced with is “Unix" or
“Windows". For a person just starting out on the internet,
both are equally capable and will offer the facilities you need
to have your place in cyberspace.
If you have a web designer or technical person to help you, you
only need to consider how much space you really need. With this
simple idea in mind, when you are just starting out, owning your
piece of cyberspace will not cost anymore than $8 per month.
Many web-hosting companies will offer what you need for as
little as $3 per month (usually paid yearly).
If you are going alone and doing it all yourself you may want
to consider an account with a web hosting company that offers
and prides itself on it's support and customer service, 24/7
support access and the experience, knowledge and skill of it's
server administrators. Remember, these are the gardeners and the
guards who take care of your environment.
Web hosting is very simple and straightforward an once you
obtain your space in cyberspace you will never want to let it go
and you can easily move it where you want as a turtle carries
it's shell on it's back. Always remember you are not stuck in
the first web-hoisting environment you choose.
Web hosting is your space in cyberspace and it is imperative to
have a place in cyberspace in our modern society, just as it is
to have an office to do business.
Michael Guilfoyle
http://www.m6.net/
- 4 web sites, one account, $20 per month
- 500MB, 3GB, Unlimited POP, ASP.net, ASP, Unlimited Access
DB's - $8 p/mth
- Bandwidth from $1.61 per GB, unlimited POP, ASP.Net, Easy
upgrade Downgrade
About the author:
Michael Guilfoyle
http://www.m6.net/
- 4 web sites, one account, $20 per month
- 500MB, 3GB, Unlimited POP, ASP.net, ASP, Unlimited Access
DB's - $8 p/mth - Bandwidth from $1.61 per GB, unlimited POP, ASP.Net, Easy upgrade Downgrade
