What is Web Hosting?

If you have set up a site and you wish other individuals to view it, you must copy your website to a publicly reachable web server.

Where to host your site?

Although you can use your own personal computer as a web server, it is a more conventional practice to let a hosting provider take care of your web site. The main reason for that is the bigger reliability and the better visibility of your site, because web hosting service providers have top-notch hardware and allocate a much higher web traffic usage allowance, which guarantees the speedier access to your website from all around the world.

Web hosting solutions

Choose a web hosting solution, which allows you to register domain names and to create email mailbox accounts. Many web web hosting distributors, like us at WebMediaHosting, offer a free-of-cost domain registration as a bonus if you sign up for an account.

Hosting your website yourself

Hosting your website on your own web server is without a doubt an option, but only in case you have time and the needed proficiency. There are some facets that you have to consider, including the hardware and software costs. To make a genuine, proper site, you will need to invest in some powerful server hardware, because you cannot count on a low-cost personal computer to perform the job. You will also need an uninterrupted high-speed connection without network downtimes, which usually is offered at a rather high price. If you are making use of licensed software for your website, you will have to pay a license tax as well. You may also have to deal with bugs and Trojan horses. You will have to maintain your web server running all the time in an environment where "everything could take place". If you do not have the required technical know-how, you will need to resort to a system administrator to tackle these things on your behalf, which will make the price of hosting your website on your own even steeper than that of a dedicated hosting web server offered by a hosting supplier.

A dedicated hosting server offered by a web hosting company

Leasing a hosting server from a hosting solutions provider is a fine choice if you would like to establish a high resource-demanding site or a corporate portal that has very precise security requirements. The main advantages of using a dedicated server hosting solution are the breakneck-speed connection, the uninterruptible power supply and the extremely powerful hardware. Some web hosting vendors, again like us at WebMediaHosting, offer VPS hosting and semi-dedicated web hosting solutions, which are based on extremely powerful web servers that can be divided among several customers. You can also anticipate them to offer efficient load balancing services and the required data backup servers.

Safety and reliability

Hosting service providers are specialized in supplying web hosting solutions and because this is what they do to earn a living, you can expect them to offer constant website availability, the newest software patches and the best anti-virus software, as well as system administrators available 24-7 to support you in emergency cases.

Select your hosting solutions provider

What you need to take into account when selecting your web hosting accounts provider is the dependability of the offered hosting services. Make certain that the hosting plans provider of your choosing provides a 24x7x365 support service. Do not put yourself in a position where you cannot solve critical issues instantaneously because you have to wait until the next business day. In addition, if you opt for a shared website hosting package, which includes a 24x7x365 support service, this implies that there constantly will be sysadmins available to resolve any critical issues as soon as they show up, which is a very desirable thing.

Everyday data backups

Make sure that your provider offers routine data backups with the offered web hosting services, otherwise you may forfeit some important content in case of a hardware breakdown or because you have erased something accidentally. The availability of routine data backups is typically pointed out in the hosting vendor's Terms of Service.

Bandwidth and data storage space

When selecting your hosting packages provider, pay particular attention to the traffic amount limits. Make certain that you don't have to overpay for unforeseen high bandwidth volumes if your site becomes more popular. There are many hosting firms that offer unmetered bandwidth at present, so the most reasonable step to take is to make sure that you have made the most appropriate decision prior to signing up.

Content restrictions

Give particular attention to the web hosting service provider's content restrictions. If you wish to publish pictures or to broadcast live video or audio, make certain that you can do that. Furthermore, most hosting distributors impose limitations as far as using their services for file hosting purposes is concerned, so if you upload too many files that are not related or directly linked to your web site, your account could get terminated. For this reason, reading the hosting supplier's Terms of Service, regardless of how time-demanding and dull this might be, is very vital.

Electronic mail capabilities

Most hosting service providers today also provide e-mail services with all their website hosting offers. It is not a bad idea to verify if the hosting services provider of your choosing offers such functionalities too, so as to confirm that you'll obtain all the features that you need in return for your cash.