What is Web Hosting? And How Does It Work?

February 25, 2022

creatives media, domain name, Enhancing Your Business, web development

What is Web Hosting? And How Does It Work?

Web Hosting

Web hosting provides a secure place to store online content. The code, images, videos, and text that comprise a website all have to be stored somewhere. Without a stable digital repository, none of us could consistently access content on the web. That makes hosting one of the most critical parts of developing an online presence for anyone. From huge companies to small-scale personal accounts.

It also allows users to store content offsite, reducing local storage costs and the associated physical footprint. It also makes it easier to build a genuinely durable web presence, with built-in advantages like back-ups for security and support.

Some web hosting happens locally via personal computers or servers, but cloud-based third-party providers are used more frequently. Once you start searching for a hosting service, you should be able to find a wide range of both free and paid options to consider.

Types of Web Hosting Services

Shared Hosting

With shared hosting, multiple users share the same server resources, including memory, processing power, and storage space.

Because of its simplicity and affordability, shared web hosting is an excellent solution for small businesses and personal websites that do not require advanced configuration or higher bandwidth. Hence, shared hosting is an excellent choice for beginners.

Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting

With this hosting type, your website also shares a physical server with other users, but the web host creates a virtual partition for each user. Thus, sites hosted on virtual private servers get an allocated amount of resources.

VPS hosting is a great option for medium-sized sites, eCommerce shops, and large blogs with a rapidly growing number of digital visitors.

Cloud Hosting

This hosting solution uses several virtual servers to host sites. Thus, if one server experiences high traffic or a problem, the remaining ones will take over and maintain the website operating.

Since cloud hosting relies on a cluster of web servers to function, businesses with multiple websites and large-scale sites like eCommerce shops can benefit the most from it, as it provides little to no downtime.

WordPress Hosting

This type of service provides a WordPress-optimized server environment to help your site load faster and minimize potential issues. However, other types of web hosting still work for websites based on this popular content management system (CMS).

Typically, WordPress hosting plans come with features. Such as pre-installed themes, plugins for core functions like caching and security, and other tools.

Dedicated Hosting

This type of hosting dedicates a physical server to each digital website. As a result, it allows you to configure the server, choose your desired operating system and software, and customize the entire hosting environment to your specifications.

Renting a dedicated server is just as powerful as having your own on-site server, but with the added benefit of getting professional support from your web host. Thus, dedicated hosting is ideal for large online marketing businesses that deal with heavy traffic.

How to Choose the Best Web Hosting Service Provider?

As your website grows, you might need additional storage space, bandwidth, and other types of resources. In that case, you may consider migrating to a more advanced hosting solution such as cloud hosting or VPS.

Therefore, make sure that the provider offers a variety of web hosting services so you can upgrade at any moment. Additionally, there are several factors to analyze when it comes to deciding between hosting providers.

What’s the Difference Between Web Hosting and a Domain Name?

After choosing where to store your website files, the next step to set up your website is to purchase a domain name. Domain names act as the digital website’s digital identity, allowing people to easily access it.

A domain name usually consists of a website name and a domain extension such as .com, .org, .net, or .xyz..

To get started, decide on a name, and check its availability.

By Ziad Abdallah

Get In Touch