Elements Of Web Hosting
|
When you first start out trying to get a site on the Internet everything seems so confusing. Obtuse acronyms flow freely through the 'Beginner Friendly' information sites and definitions can be hard to come across. The main reason for this is that the Internet and the process of getting a website online is really very simple, and once people get past the first stumbling steps they rarely remember the difficulty they once had, which leads to them being unable to understand the next wave of dot com newbies.
So let's begin with defining some of the basic terms that are commonly thrown around when looking for a web host. You'll quickly realize that computer geeks like using big words for simple concepts. What do you expect from a group of people that decided to call half a Byte a Nibble?
Web Host: These are the people that supply your website with somewhere to sit and be accessed from. They're often a wealth of information, so when you're trying to find your feet it will often be worthwhile to contact their tech support and get your questions answered. Because of this, it's important to contact them BEFORE you sign up for any packages to ensure that you'll receive a timely response. Just fire an email their way and see what happens.
Disk Space: This is the same as the space on your own PC's hard drive. Web Hosts will allocate a certain amount of space to your website, usually in Megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB). This determines how much you can store on your site.
Bandwidth: Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be retrieved from your site within the bandwidth period. The bandwidth period is the length of time before your bandwidth gets reset once again, usually about a month. Bandwidth is measured in MB and GB, like disk space. Always find out the consequences of exceeding your allocated bandwidth before you purchase a hosting package.
Domain Name: The domain name is your personal identifier on the Internet. This is what gets typed into a web browser's address bar to reach your site. Some hosting companies will offer a domain for free, while others will have the facilities to provide one for a minimal cost.
SQL (MySQL, SQL Server etc.): Structured Query Language. This is the language used to interact with databases. Chances are that if you don't know about it when you start looking for web hosting, you're not going to need to know about it for at least a little while longer.
HTTP: Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. Basically, how the Internet works. It is the protocol governing the transfer of web pages from one place to another.
HTML: Hyper Text Markup Language. This is (usually) what you'll be using to make your website, whether directly or indirectly. Don't be scared by the name, the 'language' is very easy to learn.
FTP: File Transfer Protocol. This is a method for sending pages and files from your home PC to a server. It is quite simple to use and your host will provide login information if this is the method that they use for file access. Typing "FTP://" into My Computer on a windows box allows you to use FTP as if your server were a regular windows folder.
POP3: This is a common email 'post box' system. It is use to store emails for retrieval.
SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. A common protocol used to send emails.
The beginner will not really need to know too much about the above two email technologies. If they're listed, good. It means you have email accounts with your website (i.e. the email name@yourdomain.com will reach you, somehow)
There are many 'languages' used to enhance websites, such as Java, Perl, ASP, .NET, PHP, etc. If you're just starting out you should try to learn simple HTML first before you worry too much about these more advanced languages. In general they're not too difficult to learn, but you'll want a solid grounding before you tackle them.
The Internet is a wonderful source of knowledge, so whenever you want information just fire up your favourite search engine and type in your problem. The Internet is full of sites about the Internet, so the information you want shouldn't be too hard to find.
Building professional websites takes a lot of time and skill, so many companies hire people to do it for them. If this is the situation that you're in, talk to the designer you're hiring about hosting, as they may have struck a deal with a webhost to provide clients with cheaper hosting packages. Also, the professional designer will know what features you're going to need in a hosting plan.
The world of web hosting is not as complicated as people would like to make out. Just make sure you do a little bit of research before diving in and you'll be less likely to get burned by a shifty 'here today, gone tomorrow' company. Check out the host's rankings on a few Web Hosting Directories, do a search for reviews of the company, contact the support staff before signing up and enjoy the world opened by having your own online presence.
About The Author
Daniel Punch
M6.Net
http://www.m6.net
danielp@m6.net
|
|
|
Unlimited Bandwidth In Web Hosting
Bandwidth explained:Bandwidth is the amount of data transfer that you are allowed to have for a hosting package i.e. Let's say you have a web page that is 48KB in size, now each time a user opens your si...(related: Web Hosting)
Setting Up Your Personal Server
There are many things to consider when setting up your own server. We wouln't encourage a novice for the job. Seek help from web professionals if you have any queries. Here are some web hosting factors to consider when setting up y...(related: Web Hosting)
Choosing Between Free Or Paid Web Hosting
There are a number of things to consider when choosing between a free or paid web hosting service. Setting aside cost for a moment, lets look at some factors that will help you make an informative decision.The very first thing you must consider is the intent or purpose of your website. Are you looking for a convenient way to share photos of family and friends? Or, are you considering something a little more complex such as adding multiple pages with different content on each? How about a website to promote a product or business?<...(related: Web Hosting)
Woe The Web
Finding a good and reliable web hosting company is like looking for the right husband. The word 'right' and 'husband' don't belong together in the first place, many insists! Well, how can I argue with something to inadvertantly correct and incorrect at the same time?So, you've decided to have your own website but don't have a $3000 budget to set it up. You'll be surprised. My first few months into this 'freelancing' world cause me to jump quite a cou...(related: Web Hosting)
Where To Get Cheap Web Hosting
First, to see if you can use cheap web hosting you need to know how much disk space you will need. How large is your website? How many pages, video files, music files, etc. do you need? Second, a cheap web hosting company will need to know how busy your sight will be. If your site is going to have a lot of visitors, cheap web hosting may not be for you. Third, how many email accounts do you need? Cheap web hosting companies do not usually provide many. Lastly, how much are you willing to spend? Cheap web hosting is not as technical as the more expensive web hosting.If you go online, you can find a list of the top 10 cheap web hosting compan...(related: Web Hosting)
How You Pay More For Unused Web Space And Traffic
"2GB web space with 50GB traffic for $5.95 per month!"A luring ad-definitely. In fact this ad makes many smallbusiness owners feel cheated by their present web hosts.This is how the small business owners, who have taken small amount of space (say, 5, 10 or 25mb) calculate and feel that they are paying more :"If 2000MB (2GB) costs $5.95 per month, then 5MB should cost(5.95 x 5 / 2000) = $0.15 only! But my web host charges me $1! A 700% profit!! Oh...I am losing so much money!!"So, if a small business site shifts to the advertised web host, he should get better value for his money. Right?Wrong.Let me explain how:As a small business owner, how many HTML pages do you have in your web site? 5, 10, 15, 25?Experts say that you should not have a page of more than1...(related: Web Hosting)
Free Or Not Free -- Its Your Choice
The internet is one of the world's top sources of information, products and just about anything else you could possibly want. And, if you have spent any amount of time online, you must have noticed that much of it is free.Many home business entrepreneurs get their start online using some of these free resources. In fact, some of them use freebees almost exclusively.So, just what are these valuable assets that attract so many home business newbies? Here are just a few:1. Email - one can get free email accounts just about anywhere (MSN Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Google GMail, Lycos) plus tons of others. Actually, free email accounts can be very useful, but that's another article.2. Autoresponders - there are many free autoresponders (getresponse, and freeautobot, just to name a few). Some are better than ...(related: Web Hosting)
Thinking About Changing To A New Web Hosting Company? 5 Steps To Plan Ahead For The Move
Perhaps your web hosting company has a technical support group that never answers their email, or their control panel is difficult to use. Maybe your website has been having more downtime than uptime. Whatever the reason you are thinking of switching hosts, make sure you have your ducks in a row before making the move.Here are five things to...(related: Web Hosting)
Web Hosting - How To Choose The Right Provider For You
Thousands of companies, tens of thousands of different plans and only a few of them are really suitable for your web site and for your online needs.This is what you are confronted with when choosing a w...(related: Web Hosting)
site-map - Copyright © 2006 | Contact Webmaster | All Rights Reserved. | Web Hosting