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What is Web Hosting and How is it done?

Web hosting is the process of uploading the files that run a website, from a local computer on to a web server. After this,the servers resources like RAM,hard drive space, and bandwidth are allocated to the websites using it. It is done after buying a domain name. Usually it is recommended to get your domain hosting from the same company, if you are just starting out. This will ensure that your domain is seamlessly and conveniently configured with your hosting account.

The best hosting services available in the market right now include Bluehost, Hoststagor, Hostinger,Inmotion, Hostwinds, Dreamhost, Greengreeks and Domain.com

The division of resources depends on the plan that you choose which basically depends on how much resources your website needs to run and how muh traffic it will attract.

How To Do It?

Decide the type of website that you want You will typically find 2 type of websites:

  • Static or Basic Websites- These are simple websites with a few webpages whose information does not undergo a lot of changes. You can build them on your local computer using a software like Dreamweaver and then upload the files to the server using any FTP software such as FileZilla. Whenever you make changes on your website, you will have to make the changes on your local computer and then upload them to the server.

  • Dynamic Websites- These websites contain info that changes depending on the time of the day, the type of viewer, the country etc. They make use of both client side and server side scripts to create and update their content. These are used by the e-commerce and social media websites of the world.

Choose your hosting server

There are mostly 2 types of hosting platforms:

  • Linux Hosting: which allows running scripts written in PHP, Perl, Python and other Unix-originated languages.
  • Windows Hosting:which allows running ASP scripts utilising .NET and other Microsoft technologies, and supports Microsoft SQL server and Access database.

Select your web hosting plan

There are the few basic types of hosting that you should be aware of:

  • Shared hosting: It is a hosting service where many websites reside on one web server connected to the Internet. This is generally the most economical option for hosting, as the overall cost of server maintenance is spread over many customers.
  • Virtual Private Server: A virtual private server is a virtual machine sold as a service by an internet hosting service. The virtual hosting server also works in a virtualized environment but some CPU cores are dedicated for it, which is not the case for VPS.
  • Dedicated Server Hosting: A dedicated hosting service is a type of Internet hosting in which the client leases an entire server not shared with anyone else.
  • Cloud Hosting: It offers multiple virtual servers to work together to host a website or a group of websites. It is specially used to handle sudden traffic spikes. It is not limited to a single server and the resources allocated to it can shrink and expand dynamically depending on the traffic that the website gets.

Change your DNS Address

After you have purchased your web hosting you will get Name Servers. To get your website up and running you need to change the Name Servers of your domain. It is one of the most essential steps to get your website up and running.

Upload your website

You can now upload the site to your account by connecting to the server using either control panel's file manager or an FTP client after which your website will go live.