Speed is the name of the game right now. When it comes to your digital connections, clients, audiences, and Google’s bots want and demand efficiency which translates to secure websites, that load fast onto a screen, and are easy to navigate through, domainnetworks. What hosting service you end up subscribing to weighs heavily on these and many more factors. That choice, what you invest in, will be critical to your success.
In the online theater, players usually refer to hosting services as “digital real-estate,” and there’s a good reason for that metaphor. Web hosting is basically where you will park your site. It’s the house, or property, people will ultimately enter to get a look at your, well, stuff. Your pics, your article, your video collection, your products, your everything. And, today, thanks to the advances in technology, users can opt between purchasing access to a shared apartment complex, or a Malibu cliff-side mansion. Each with its pros and its cons. Your digital zip code – your hosting – will be one of the key decisions that will ultimately define how well your website functions. The good thing is, that if you need to move, for whatever reason, it’s fairly simple. You can always grab your “stuff” and set up shop in another neighborhood. In this domainnetworks article, we’re going to talk about web hosting. Give you an idea of what exactly it is, and what options are currently available to you.
What is web hosting?
Your content, your often classified files – HTML, CSS, or images, your stuff, needs space — a home. Somewhere to grow and to be housed in. A server. Web servers are huge, highly dynamic computers that usually run websites. It stores info, component files, software, and critical tools needed to process and run a website.
Meanwhile, web hosting is the process by which a company gives you access to a server. It allows individuals and organizations to make their websites accessible through the world wide web.
In essence, it is a service that allows you to store your website files on a server so that people can access them online.
Web hosting services are used by individuals, small businesses, large corporations, and organizations with high-traffic websites.
A web hosting service has a couple of objectives:
- Store your files on their server.
- Allow users access to your files.
- Take care of certain set-up issues.
- Manage technical issues.
- Give their clients security features.
- Give their client’s website key maintenance services.
How exactly does web hosting work?
Let’s begin by considering your digital files. All those pics, articles, videos,and website designs are first organized and encoded on folders that reside inside your computer. To give your clients, your visitors, access to these files you would have to grant them 24/7 entry into your hard drive. Not only that, but you would also need to convert your hard drive so it follows specific internet protocols.
According to domainnetworks Suddenly, your computer would have to dedicate itself to that task — and only that one. It would, in essence, stop being a computer as you know it, and transform into a server. Since this means a huge investment in hardware, software, and expertise, most people outsource this task and hire a web-hosting service — a snippet of space in someone else’s computer. A virtual space to showcase their websites. When this happens, your files travel from your computer to that hosting server. You keep a backup on your computer.
There are 4 types of hosting services available right now
- Shared.
- Cloud.
- VPS.
- Dedicated.
Types of Hosting Services and Products — a list by domainnetworks
Shared hosting
Shared web hosting is a hosting service where many websites are stored on the same server. This is the most common type of web hosting.
A shared web host’s server is used for hundreds of websites. This means that if one website on the server becomes overloaded or experiences a problem, it can affect the performance of other sites on the same server. It’s the equivalent of a shared hostel room — everyone uses the same bathroom, A/C unit, and quite possibly towels.
It also means that bandwidth and other tools are being shared by hundreds, even millions of websites at a time. Most small websites, due to budget constraints – or simply because they don’t need the power and energy of a more sophisticated or complex hosting service – opt for this type of hosting service.
Cloud Hosting
Cloud web hosting is the latest trend in the hosting industry. It has been around for a few years now and it has become popular for various reasons.
Over the last decade, we have seen a significant shift in how companies store and manage their data. This makes cloud web hosting an attractive option for smaller businesses as they do not need to invest in expensive hardware to host their website.
It allows access to sites via cloud resources. In this type of hosting customers have exclusive rights over certain resources — they are not shared. It’s much more expensive than shared hosting.
VPS Hosting
VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. It is a type of web hosting that splits a physical server into multiple virtual servers. Into an apartment complex. One single server is divided into distinct subsections — each with its resources.
VPS hosting is an excellent choice for those who want to host their website, but don’t want to invest in their server. The VPS service provider takes care of the hardware and maintenance while you deal with the software and content.
VPS hosting can be used by people who want to host their sites and need a bit more speed, and by companies who need to host many different sites on one server.
Dedicated Website Hosting
Dedicated hosting is a type of website hosting that provides the best performance for websites with high traffic or resource-intensive needs.
There are many benefits to using dedicated hosting for your website. For example, it has higher uptime and better data security than shared hosting, which can be beneficial for businesses with sensitive information. Dedicated hosting also allows you to have more control over your server, which can give you more features and functionality.
These types of servers only house one website and give that site complete autonomy over ALL resources.
DomainNetworks —What’s the best hosting for you?
Choosing the right hosting company is not an easy task. You need to consider many factors such as features, pricing, support, and more.
The first thing that you should do is to determine your needs. What are your requirements? Is it a shared or a dedicated server?
Once you have determined what your needs are, start looking for companies that offer those services and features. You can find them by doing some research online or asking someone who has experience with web hosting — or by dropping us an email at domainnetworks.
