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What is web hosting Web hosting simply means that the
web pages or files that make up your web site reside on the hosting
company's server. That web server provides the rest of the world with
access to your web site through fast, dedicated Internet connections.
The World Wide Web has become the
single fastest growing scientific phenomenon in recorded human history.
Like the Oklahoma Land Rush, everyone's racing to stake a claim out on
the electronic frontier. According to the Internet Index Issue #27,
ninety-eight percent of the words in Webster's English Dictionary have
been registered as domain names. That's a lot of real estate. In 1899
all you had to do was put a stake in the ground. These days it's a
little more complicated but we're here to help.
Registering a Domain Name
Domain name hosting means that the domain name you have purchased
points to the web site that is being hosted by your web hosting
provider, so that your site can be accessed by typing your domain name
into a web browser. If you want to set up and use e-mail at your domain
name before your web site is up, this requires set up of your web
hosting account. At that point, web hosting is in effect (as well as the
charges that go along with it) regardless of the status of your web
site. Instead of a stake in the ground, the territory of the web is
marked by domain names. A simple analogy for how domain names work is
your phone book. For computers to communicate with one another, they
have to be directed to the correct "location" on the web, which is
specified by a number like 201.168.22.111. Most of us can remember the
phone numbers we call all the time but if someone asked us for the
number of Microsoft so they could check on the latest Windows updates,
we'd probably be lost.
Functioning like a phone directory, a name resolution service was
developed that allows a name to be associated with the unique number
that's assigned to a web site. It's easier for most of us to remember
names than numbers. So when you register a domain name, a record is
created for it. When your site is hosted, the hosting company assigns an
address to your domain name. Your domain name record is updated with the
unique number that corresponds to your new web hosting space and that
allows other people to be able to find your site using your domain name
instead of having to remember all those numbers. A web surfer simply
types in the name and the domain resolution service takes over. A DNS
server looks up your number and sends the visitor to see you, so to
speak.
These days registration of a domain name is almost totally automated.
You simply choose the name you wish to register, choose a registrar and
sign up. You don't need a "home" for your name like you would have in
the old days (say around 1995). Registrars will "park" your name for you
until you need it. This allows you to come up with the perfect name and
register it before someone else does, even though you may not be ready
to actually host anything at the moment. As long as you are listed as
the registrant in the domain name record, you own the domain name, even
if there's no site there, and even if the registrar's tech support
people are listed as contacts in the record.
Determine Your Site Requirements
Once you've made the decision to launch a site, you are suddenly
faced with a whole new set of decisions to make - what will the site do,
who will manage it, will it be updated regularly, will you build it
yourself, will you sell things, will you collect email addresses, do you
want streaming media, will you provide downloadable files, do you like
the color blue? The questions can seem endless and in some cases,
senseless.
You owe it to yourself to educate yourself to the greatest extent
possible about the technology that you feel your site may require. The
jargon may be a little intimidating, and to be truthful, no one needs to
know what CGI stands for. But knowing whether or not you need CGI
scripts to operate your site is something you definitely have to learn.
In the old days (you guessed it - 1995), most of the web was static.
That means you put something up on a web server in HTML and it stayed
that way until you changed it. Under that arrangement, "webmasters" were
in high demand, since you had to know how to manipulate HTML at least a
little bit to get things to work. These days, technology exists that
enables just about anyone with a browser to update a web site. Some of
these technologies allow web content to be pulled from a database, so
instead of editing a site, all the owner has to do is change the data in
the database, which is usually easier than remembering to close your
font tags. Other technologies allow interactive online catalogs,
automatic credit card validation, continuously updating news, streaming
music and video broadcasts and even ad banners that know your name.
Once you know enough about your project to know what technologies you
need, you can narrow down your search for hosts who offer those
technologies.
Web Hosting Options Consideration
When it comes to hosting options, more is not necessarily better.
Sometimes a hosting company who devotes their efforts to a niche market
will have more tools of the type you need despite offering fewer overall
options for site hosting. If you don't need database services, then a
company who only offers simple Front Page site hosting may be perfect
for you. Some hosts separate everything into individual "options." which
are sold a la carte, as add-ons to a basic hosting plan. Other hosts
offer all-inclusive packages that cover most of what the average web
site needs, with options to add-on specific technology support as you
need it. Still others seem to offer everything you could possibly want
as part of every single account.
If you do need specific technologies, be sure to read all the Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQ) files a host may provide online. Be sure you
understand how the technologies you need actually work - it's not
uncommon to see hosts touting "Flash support" as a hosting feature.
There are no server components required for Flash movies to work on a
site - the support is provided by the browser. This just gives the
hosting company another "option" to make their list of features longer.
But if you want to stream audio or video, you will need server-based
software to assist you.
Contact tech support via email and ask about a specific technology -
bring up a problem you may have had in the past and ask them if they've
ever encountered it. See how long it takes before you get a real
response (not an autoresponder). Call the tech support number and see if
real people answer the phone. Time how long you sit on hold before you
get a real person.
If you're shopping by price, remember that you get what you pay for.
More often than not, you can get a discount for paying quarterly or
yearly in advance. If this is an option, consider it carefully - how
hard will it be for you to cancel (if you can) if you are not satisfied
with the service? Will the company refund your money if you're not
happy?
Check the fine print on transfer limits, storage limits and email
services. Will the company notify you when you've maxed out your
transfer limit or will they just start charging you by the megabyte for
additional download traffic? Remember that every single "call" to a page
on your site generates a download - a "hit." There's a hit for the page
request and a hit for every separate element that comprises the page -
all those nifty navigation buttons that change color when you mouse over
them - if they're graphic-based, that's two hits for every button. All
these downloads apply toward your transfer limit. If you plan to use 200
Mb of storage (most sites use nowhere near that amount of space), so
people can download MP3s or graphics or some other kind of files from
your site, you're going to have to be concerned with the transfer limits
if you expect any measurable traffic.
The rules of good website building stipulate that any single web page
should "weigh" no more than 30-35K. Using that as a guide, you can
estimate the storage space you'll need for the pages themselves, plus
any downloadable files you might want to share. A graphics-intensive
site would have "heavier" pages than a text-based site, so take that
into account when you're looking for hosting space.
Summary
In short, if you can carry out most of these steps and find a host
whose answers and services fall into your personal comfort zone on these
kinds of important issues, you'll have a short list of companies worth
making additional inquiries about. You can check their client list, ask
for references, look up testimonials and more simply by using your
browser. Most reputable hosts keep a list of clients on their own web
site specifically for this purpose. Don't be afraid to make a few phone
calls if you're considering a large investment in hosting services, like
collocation or dedicated servers. Send a few e-mails, ask friends about
experiences they've had. By the time you're finished, you will have
enough solid information to make your hosting choice with confidence.
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