What Is Web Hosting?
By Michael Guilfoyle, Fri Dec 9th

What is web hosting? If you want to take part in the internet asa business, information resource, directory, or as a hobbyistwanting to share data, information and knowledge with the manypeople and communities on the internet, you have to contain thisin a central spot on the internet. You have to own a piece ofspace in cyberspace. Web hosting empowers you and anyone with acomputer and internet connection to own a piece of cyberspace.In your space, you can have news, bulletins, documents, data,files (your web site) and your own post office (mail server) toaccept mail, all in the context of you or your business. This isyour space and to get this space you either have to own a pieceof the physical internet with a network connection to theinternet backbone and computer(s) operating as server(s)offering access to your files and post office, for people on theinternet to view your web site or send and receive email withyou. The cost of owning a direct connection to the backbone anda server dedicated to a web site and email is out of reach forthe average business and especially general members of theinternet. Even running a web site and mail server on your owncomputer when it is connected to the internet requires a lot oftechnical ability and knowledge. The internet itself has to beyour business for either of these options to be viable. In ourmodern society, for every person in business or with a career inmost industries today, it is imperative to have a place incyberspace, not just to be competitive but to survive. Webhosting companies were born out of this great need to provide anenvironment for the masses to own a piece of cyberspace, tooffer an environment where people could have their piece ofcyberspace on the internet 24/7 without the great cost. Webhosting companies developed a model where they could split upareas on the servers connected to the backbone and ‘rent'this space, cutting the costs across many people sharing theserver and backbone connection to the internet. In a web-hostingenvironment, you are offered a web site to place your files,data, documents, and bulletins for people to access with theirweb browser and an email server for you to send and receiveemail messages. The web host will also provide you a means toget an address for people to get to your web site with a webbrowser and post email to you. To obtain space in a web hostingenvironment you become a member and agree to terms andconditions of renting the space - just as if you were to rent ahouse or commercial premises for your business. Once you agreeand become a member, you are given an access code, a key, toyour piece of cyberspace. This key, in the form of a login andpassword, allows you to connect to the web hosting server andup-load (transfer to) your web site so it can be accessed on theinternet. Your login and password is also used to connect to amail server to create and administer mailboxes to send andreceive email for you, your staff, or family members. Just likewhen you rent a house or commercial premises for your business,you have so many rooms, bathrooms, and floor space to use. In aweb-hosting environment, your area is defined as disk space andnetwork transfer. Disk space is measured in Megabytes (MB) orGigabytes (GB). Megabyte roughly means 1,024,000 characters andGigabyte roughly means 1,024 Million characters. Imagine acharacter as one key on your key board. These amounts determinehow many files, documents, or data you can have on your website. Network Transfer is also measured in Megabytes orgigabytes which determines how much data (how many of yourfiles, documents or data) can be downloaded (transferred to)people accessing your web site. The more people, or the moredata each person accesses on your web site the more data istransferred on the network. The more disk space and networktransfer you use the greater percentage of the web-hostingenvironment you are using - therefore the higher the rent. Justas no office building and home is the same, neither is everyweb-hosting environment. Some offices have stairs, others havelifts, some houses have ensuites, swimming pools, and gardens, -and others do not. Web-hosting environments are much the same,some offer bare structures to do just the basics and othersoffer an array of features and facilities to help you do justabout everything you could ever need or want. Some of thefeatures and facilities likely to be offered are ranges ofsoftware to use, components, databases, and server side scriptprocessing. The similarity of renting an office or home torenting space in a web-hosting environment is even more similar.With some buildings a gardener and/or a guard is available tolook after the gardening or provide security. In a web-hostingenvironment, you have support people to help you do what youneed to do on your web site to make it grow and there are serveradministrators to protect and secure your web-hosting space.When you rent a building there are key parts needed to work orlive in the space, like rooms, offices, kitchens, toilets, andbathrooms. In your web-hosting environment, you will findequally important components that are required to make the spaceworkable. The core components in a web-hosting environment are:Web Server The web server is a relatively simple piece ofsoftware that accepts requests over HTTP (Hypertext TransferProtocol) and delivers HTML pages and Image files. FTP ServerFTP is the means of which a web master can transfer files to andfrom the server. To put your HTML and image files on a serveryou will generally use FTP to upload (transfer to) your files tothe server running the web server. Mail Server The mail serverconsists of two parts POP (Post Office Protocol) and SMTP(Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). POP is where email is receivedinto your mailbox and SMTP is what is used to send and receiveemail between mail servers. Database Server If you are usingserver side scripting on your web server (you use something likeMicrosoft Internet Information Server) then instead of providing‘static' data only on web pages you can provide data froma database allowing your users to search and view the data indifferent and dynamic way. Also, a Database server is used togather data from visitors to your site; orders, feedback,discussions and the like. Each one of the above components aresoftware programs running on servers in the web-hostingenvironment. You can interact with each of these with specialsoftware programs you use on your computer. The main ones being:Web Browser When viewing the web you use a web browser likeInternet Explorer. Many web hosting companies provide a‘Control Panel' to administer your web host account, whichyou use with your web browser. Most allow you to configure mostaspects of your account using a simple web browser. Website/page editor Today many web servers allow editing ofWebPages over HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) based onMicrosoft FrontPage technology. These special editors allow youto essentially look at your web site as if you were using a webbrowser and edit the pages directly as you see them using WYSWIG(What you see if what you get) technology. Most web hostingenvironments support this, and if you are starting out, makesure it is available. One tip: make sure the web host providingthis really does understand this technology - it is the mainarea of which many hacks and security intrusions occur. FTPClient This is a very simple piece of software that allows youto view the server folders and files in your web host account asif they were files and folders on your own computer. You canthen drag and drop files between you computer and your web hostaccount. Email Client If you are on the internet you wouldalready be using an email client to send and receive your email.The most common are Outlook Express, Eudora and Web based mailclients like Hotmail. Database Administration Client The mostcommon databases used with web servers are Microsoft SQL Server(available only on Windows) and MySQL (commonly found on Linuxand UNIX but also available on Windows). SQL Server comes withit's own administration client where you can view yourdatabases, edit them, backup data and do all the administrationfunctions you need. MySQL has an active online community wherethere is a range of administration clients available. Choosing aweb host is, again, similar to choosing a house to live in orcommercial premises to do business. You need to define what itis you require: how much space you need and what features andfacilities you need. If you have been reading this articlebecause this is new to you, then it is likely at this stage youonly need minimal space and basic facilities. Once you haveworked with the basic facilities you will learn more and becomeaware of greater facilities and features and then you can simplemove from one web -hosting environment to another - paying moreor paying less. Moving in cyberspace is much easier, faster, andmore seamless than physically moving house or commercialpremises. Initially you may use the web-hosting environmentoffered by your ISP (internet Service provider), the company youuse

to connect to the internet. But remember these companiesmain business is connecting many thousands of people to theinternet - not managing web hosting environments. You willgenerally find they offer less than basic facilities and minimalspace. If you are just starting out with your first web site thefirst major choice you will be faced with is "Unix" or"Windows". For a person just starting out on the internet, bothare equally capable and will offer the facilities you need tohave your place in cyberspace. If you have a web designer ortechnical person to help you, you only need to consider how muchspace you really need. With this simple idea in mind, when youare just starting out, owning your piece of cyberspace will notcost anymore than $8 per month. Many web-hosting companies willoffer what you need for as little as $3 per month (usually paidyearly). If you are going alone and doing it all yourself youmay want to consider an account with a web hosting company thatoffers and prides itself on it's support and customer service,24/7 support access and the experience, knowledge and skill ofit's server administrators. Remember, these are the gardenersand the guards who take care of your environment. Web hosting isvery simple and straightforward an once you obtain your space incyberspace you will never want to let it go and you can easilymove it where you want as a turtle carries it's shell on it'sback. Always remember you are not stuck in the firstweb-hoisting environment you choose. Web hosting is your spacein cyberspace and it is imperative to have a place in cyberspacein our modern society, just as it is to have an office to dobusiness. Michael Guilfoyle http://www.m6.net/ - 4 web sites,one account, $20 per month - 500MB, 3GB, Unlimited POP, ASP.net,ASP, Unlimited Access DB's - $8 p/mth - Bandwidth from $1.61 perGB, unlimited POP, ASP.Net, Easy upgrade Downgrade

About the author:Michael Guilfoyle http://www.m6.net/ - 4 web sites, one account,$20 per month - 500MB, 3GB, Unlimited POP, ASP.net, ASP,Unlimited Access DB's - $8 p/mth - Bandwidth from $1.61 per GB,unlimited POP, ASP.Net, Easy upgrade Downgrade