Web Hosting Glossary - Terms Defined

1.What exactly is web hosting?

Everything that is available on the internet exists on servers. Servers are networks of computers that store accessible information and are online 24 hrs a day. Every word, image, audio/video file that is on the internet is “hosted” on a server. If you don’t run your own server (most people don’t), then you’ll need to purchase hosting from a provider. Think of it as renting space on the internet, to do with as you please. You can find free hosting on the internet, but they will usually place their own advertisements on the web pages you create. Below, we’ve listed the Top 10 Web Hosting Companies with the best ranked at #1. Hosting is rated according to reliability, customer support, features, and price value.

Rank	Web Host	Visit Host	Price	Disk Space	Bandwidth	Score	Review
		Visit Site	$4.95	1,500GB	15,000GB	96%	BEST OVERALL
2		Visit Site	$4.95	1,700GB	17,000GB	95%	GREAT VALUE
3		Visit Site	$6.95	1,500GB	15,000GB	89%	BUSINESS HOST
4		Visit Site	$4.95	1,700GB	17,000GB	88%	HIGH QUOTAS
5		Visit Site	$4.95	600GB	6,000GB	87%	BEGINNER
6		Visit Site	$6.95	1,500GB	15,000GB	86%	TOP SUPPORT
7		Visit Site	$4.95	1,500GB	15,000GB	86%	LOW PRICE
8		Visit Site	$5.77	1,500GB	15,000GB	85%	EXPERIENCE
9		Visit Site	$6.95	1,500GB	15,000GB	84%	FEATURES
10		Visit Site	$7.95	600GB	6,000GB	83%	GOOD START

2. How does paid hosting work?

There are three different ways to purchase web hosting. The most popular and cost effective is shared hosting, also known as virtual hosting. In this scenario, your own content is hosted on the same server as several others. Think of it as renting an apartment in a huge apartment building. A person visiting a website has no way to determine how it is hosted, so this is a perfectly acceptable option that is considered professional. However, if you anticipate high volumes of traffic to your site, you might want to consider a dedicated server. When you have a dedicated server, it means that all of the server’s resources are utilized for just you. It is still run by the hosting company, but it’s reserved for you. The last option is to get a co-located server, where you own the server, but you pay the hosting company to house it and connect it to the internet.

3. How can I host my site from home?

While it’s doable, it is not recommended for most users. Many ISP’s will not allow you to do so without upgrading to a more costly business plan. It is also difficult to provide sufficient bandwidth to make your website easy to navigate. In addition, there are numerous security risks involved with allowing anonymous internet surfers to access your home network.

4. How much will I pay?

The cost of hosting depends entirely on the amount of resources you want available for your site. Packages usually start under $5/month for about 50mb storage space and 2g/month bandwidth. With upgrades in storage and bandwidth, the cost will go up accordingly.

5. Which web host should I use?

There are several factors that will determine which web hosting company is in your best interests. First you must determine, or at least come up with an approximation of how much storage space and bandwidth you’ll need, in order to determine the host with the right pricing plan for you. Another important factor is whether or not the host offers SSL, which you’ll be needing if you plan on selling things or collecting personal information on your site. Also, whether the host offers Windows, Linux, or both types of servers is considerably important, since certain scripts and databases are incompatible with one or the other. You may also want to consider the intangibles, depending on the type of site your are building.

6. After selecting a hosting provider, what’s next?

The next step is to create an account with the hosting provider. Usually payments are made by credit card on a month to month basis, but you can often get substantial discounts for buying blocks of hosting in advance. Some companies accept alternate forms of payment, including E-checks and PayPal. After you’ve got the account all setup, they’ll instruct you on how to upload your files. In most cases, you’ll need an FTP client (file transfer protocol) to do this. Many free FTP clients are available, and some hosting companies provide their own. If your domain was registered with a different company, you’ll need to take note of the hosting company’s nameservers. You’ll need to contact the company your domain is registered with, and request that the nameservers associated with your domain be transferred to that of your new hosting company. You should be able to do this online. Depending on several factors, the transfer might take as long as 48-72 hours to take effect.

7. How much space do I need?

The amount of disk space you’re going to need depends heavily on the type of site you’re making. Every page on your site will take up disk space. If you have a lot of images, or especially audio or video files, they will use up a significant amount of space. Also, any sort of database will occupy a good portion of your disk space. It’s always advisable to get a little bit more space than you need, so it will be there when you need it.

8. What is bandwidth?

The amount of web traffic a site can facilitate is its bandwidth. As with storage space, the amount that you’ll need depends on the type of site that you’re designing. It also depends greatly on how much traffic you anticipate. It’s important to ensure that you have the proper amount of bandwidth. The last thing you want is to get a surge of traffic, only to have your website stop responding. You’ll also incur extra charges for any bandwidth overages that might occur.

9. Domain name? What’s that?

A domain is sort of like virtual real estate. Web surfers type in a domain name and are then taken to that site. Domain names consist of two different parts. The main part is usually the name of the business, person, etc. The second part is the extension, such as “.com”, “.net”, etc. This is also referred to as the top-level domain, and it used to identify the type of site. For instance, “.gov” is reserved for government owned domains, and “.edu” is for educational institutions. Most countries have their own top-level domains also.

10. What’s SSL?

SSL refers to a Secure Sockets Layer. Its main application is to ensure security and privacy for financial transactions made online. If you’ve ever shopped online, then you were protected by a SSL at the point of check out (hopefully). If you plan to eventually sell your web site, you’ll need to offer SSL. You’ll also need a SSL certificate, which can be purchased from companies such as Verisign for about $100/year. You should also check to see if the web host offers a static IP address. It will make the SSL setup process much easier.

11. What is Java/Perl?

There are multiple types of programming languages that may be used to make any given website. They fall under one of two categories: client-side, and server-side. Languages such as Java, JavaScript and Flash are of the client-side variety. While some hosts claim to “feature” them in their plans, in reality their support is determined by the computer of the visitor. Perl and PHP are examples of programming languages on the sever-side. Whether or not you need support for them will depend on the type of site you’re running.

12. I run Windows on my computer, do I need a Windows-based server?

The type of operating system you use on your computer has nothing to do with the type of software that your server uses. Unix/Linux based servers commonly run websites developed with Windows software without any problems. However, depending on the types of scripts you will be running on your website (if any), it may be easier to write the scripts on a computer using the same software as your server. If you’re going to be using databases, their compatibility will also be affected by your choice of server software.

13. What are the “intangibles”?

Intangibles are basically all of the smaller aspects of a hosting provider that may or may not have an impact on how it suits you and your needs. Always be sure to read through their terms and conditions carefully, there may be a couple surprises in there. It’s also a good idea to shoot an e-mail to their customer support and see how long it takes to get a reply. You need to know that it’s a reliability company that will be there for you when you need them. Several hosting sites maintain user forums for discussion. These are great places to get a general sense of how people feel about their service. It’s also a great way to network with fellow webmasters.

14. How do I track my visitors?

Most all web hosting companies offer some sort of tracking tools for your sites, ranging from the bare minimum to the more in-depth. The more advanced tools will often come with an additional fee. Visitor stats are an invaluable resource because they will help you fine-tune and optimize your site, to improve the way it is received by your visitors. Google offers a useful free tracking tool called Google Analytics.