What Is Web Hosting? Beginner's Guide To Web Hosting Services in 2023
What Is Web Hosting? Beginner's Guide To Web Hosting Services in 2023
While the global web hosting industry was valued at USD 90.64 billion in 2018, it is said to hit over a whopping USD 216 billion by 2025. – Quora
If you are not familiar with buying a web host or running a website, this page can answer some vexing questions.
We'll take you through some pretty advanced concepts right from the start - but don't worry, everything on this page is for absolute beginners.
This guide addresses some big questions: What is a web host? What is a web host? We will also explain:
- What Is Web Hosting?
- How Does Web Hosting Work?
- Types of Web Hosting Services
- How to Choose the Best Web Hosting Service Provider?
- What Is Web Hosting: Conclusion
We’ll also introduce you to some of the best Philippines web hosting services on the market. To save you time, Look at the end of the article in detail.
1. What Is Web Hosting? Web Hosting Explained for Beginners
Web hosting is a service that allows you to access websites or web pages in real-time on the Internet. Just as you need a place to live, so does your online site. The files that make up your Web site are stored in this virtual location on the Web server.
A hosting service provider is an organization that provides the technology needed to host a website. They're kind of like real-world home builders. These Web hosts provide the servers that deliver your Web site to users. To simplify things, a server is a computer that serves web pages. They act as a repository for data connected to the browser.
More Philippines Web Hosting Information:
2. How Does Web Hosting Work?
Let's assume that a Web user enters your website address in their URL. They visit your website and their computer connects to your server. Your site is then delivered to them from the server via the browser.
IP address and domain name
But if there are an infinite number of servers, how does your site appear in front of them?
The server comes with an IP address: a set of numbers used to identify a particular computer. The Internet consists of a huge network of computers connected by cables -- a bit like a spider web.
Here is an example of a fictitious IP address:88.348.88.1.
Do you remember that number? Or. Can you memorize thousands of IP addresses and use them to connect to websites you want to visit? You're welcome.
That's where the domain name comes in. They convert IP addresses into easy-to-remember words and tag each web page with each other. They act like street names and numbers for physical properties. If you want to run a website, you need a domain name and a host.
Buying a domain name usually grants you a one-year license during which you can renew the license. Of course, you can also buy domain names and hosts from the same provider.
This saves you from having to manually match your domain name to a hosting company. If you buy both services in the same place, it's easier to manage and renew.
However, you can also purchase a domain name separately from a registrar like GoDaddy. Domain name and hosting are two separate services. But they worked together to make this site a reality.
The DOMAIN Name Server (DNS) is the directory for storing IP addresses. It is used by the browser when it needs to identify the domain the user is trying to access.
So, for example, when you type websiteBuilderExpert.com, you will connect to the correct server and receive the required site.
3. Types of Web Hosting Services
There are many web hosts to choose from, and it can be a challenge to determine which one is the best fit for your site.
Most web hosts offer different hosting packages for different types of customers - from corporate website owners to individual blog creators.
Ideally, you should start with the simplest hosting solution possible. Once your site gets more traffic, you can upgrade to a more advanced plan.
Let's take a look at some of the most popular hosting types.
Shared Hosting
A shared host means that multiple users share the same server resources, including memory, processing capability, and storage space.
Because of its simplicity and affordability, shared Web hosting is a good solution for small businesses and personal Web sites that don't need advanced configuration or higher bandwidth. Therefore, shared hosting is a good choice for beginners.
Pros
Economical and efficient, it is the ideal choice for small websites
No technical expertise is required
Preconfigure server options
Not responsible for maintenance and server management
Cons
Minimum access to the server configuration
Increased traffic from other sites can affect site speed
Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting
With this type of Web hosting, your site also shares physical servers with other users, but the Web administrator creates a virtual partition for each user. Therefore, a site hosted on a virtual private server will receive the number of resources allocated.
VPS web hosting is a great choice for mid-sized sites, e-commerce stores, and large blogs with rapidly growing visitor numbers.
Pros
Dedicated server space
Increased traffic from other sites does not affect the performance of your site
Root Accessing the server
Highly customizable
Cons
Users need the expertise to manage it
While it is relatively inexpensive, some users may have to hire developers to manage the virtual servers, adding to the overall cost.
Cloud Hosting
This Web hosting solution uses multiple virtual servers to host the site. So if one server experiences high traffic or problems, other servers will take over and keep the site running.
Since cloud hosting relies on clusters of Web servers to run, businesses with multiple sites and large sites, such as e-commerce stores, benefit the most because it provides little downtime.
Pros
Reduce the likelihood of downtime and hardware failure
Load balancing is used to process heavy traffic to prevent DDoS attacks
Scalability - Your site is not limited to resources on a single server
Cons
The root access is not always provided
It is more expensive than VPS and shared hosting
WordPress Hosting
This type of CMS Web hosting service provides a WordPress-optimized server environment to help your site load faster and minimize potential problems. However, sites based on this popular content management system (CMS) can still use other types of Web hosts.
Typically, the best WordPress hosting plans have features such as pre-installed themes, plug-ins for core functions such as caching and security, and other tools.
Pros
Low-cost and beginner-friendly
Optimized the performance of WordPress sites
The customer support team has been trained on WordPress issues
Preinstalled WordPress plugins and themes
Cons
- This is not an ideal type of web hosting for non-WordPress sites
Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated hosting specifies a physical server for each website. With dedicated hosting, you can configure the server, select the required operating system and software, and customize the entire hosting environment to your specifications.
Renting a dedicated server is just as powerful as having your live server, but you can also get professional support from a Web host. As a result, dedicated hosts are ideal for large online businesses that handle a lot of traffic.
Pros
Full control of server configuration
High reliability
Root Accessing the server
Cons
High cost, mostly for large enterprises
Technical and server administration knowledge is required
4. How to Choose the Best Web Hosting Service Provider?
As your site grows, you may need additional storage space, bandwidth, and other types of resources. In this case, you might consider moving to a more advanced hosting solution, such as cloud hosting or VPS.
So make sure your vendor offers a wide variety of Web hosting services so you can upgrade at any time. In addition, several factors need to be analyzed when choosing a Web hosting service provider.
The control panel
Using the hosting Control Panel, you will be able to manage your hosting account without logging into your Web server. Therefore, it is best to use Web hosts, which provide an easy-to-manage user interface for users of all levels.
Our panel allows you to quickly and efficiently manage files, create complete backups and install related applications to your website.
Uptime of the network host
Frequent and unexpected outages due to poorly maintained or unstable Web servers can seriously impact your business and customer trust. Therefore, make sure that the host you choose lives up to its advertised uptime guarantee.
Uptime guarantees and fair terms of service reflect the hosting company's commitment to keeping its systems up and running.
Technical specifications
In addition to choosing a managed service with adequate disk space, processing power, and bandwidth, you should look for other features that help your site run smoothly.
At Hostinger, our servers run on CloudLinux and we use LiteSpeed technology to speed them up.
Online reviews
Research web hosting reviews for in-depth information about different web hosting providers. Most online reviews contain information about uptime and speed, so you can see the actual performance of the provider's server.
security
Make sure your hosting provider has advanced security measures in place to help protect your site from malware or DDoS attacks.
They may include access management, malware detection, automatic backup, and updates.
24/7 customer support
If your site experiences unexpected delays, crashes, or even security vulnerabilities, 24-hour customer or technical support will come in handy. Check whether the host provides supporting resources, such as tutorials and knowledge bases.
Additional services
If a good hosting plan includes free plug-ins and features, such as SSL certificates, corporate E-mail accounts, or a content distribution network (CDN), it can provide value for money.
5. Conclusion: What Is Web Hosting
Whether you are a multinational online giant or a one-man-band photographer, if you have a website, you need to organize and host it.
There's no shortage of options, but it's hard to know where to start. Especially if you're not a tech person. This guide is your starting point for hosting.
We've covered some of the big questions: What is hosting? How does a virtual host work?
With these basic hosting tips, you can now compare the best web hosting services and make informed decisions for your site.