What's A Web Host Beginners Guide

Web Hosts Explained

What Is A Web Host?

Web hosts provide space for setting up a website so that it can be viewed on the internet. Most web hosts offer several plans that vary in price depending on what's included in the plan and for how many years you sign on. Some even offer free web hosting.

When shopping around for a web host you may come across some terms that are unfamiliar, but have no fear this article will help to explain.

Unlimited Bandwidth?

Bandwidth is the amount of data transferred from websites to the people viewing them. The amount transferred depends on how much traffic the website gets and the file size of the webpages being accessed, including any images they may contain. Since most people don't know how much bandwidth their site will need, some hosts provide unlimited bandwidth with all their plans so there's no need to worry if a site will use too much.

Addon Domain?

Many web hosting plans allow the user to setup multiple websites with different domains (website address) in the same web hosting account. Each additional domain that is added to the account is referred to as an addon domain. How many addon domains can be included in an account depends on the web host and/or the price of the plan.

Shared Or Dedicated Server?

Most websites are located on what are called shared servers because it keeps the price of web hosting low. Think of it like a bunch of different web hosting accounts kept on the same computer. Dedicated servers on the other hand are much more expensive and are used by huge, high traffic sites that need to be located on their own server so they will run properly and not interfere with other websites.

Linux (Unix) or Windows?

While shopping around for web hosts you may have noticed that some offer a choice between Linux (Unix) and Windows hosting. This is the operating system web hosts use to run servers and has nothing to do with your computer's operating system. You DO NOT need Windows hosting just because your website was built on a Windows computer. The majority of web hosting accounts are on Linux (Unix) servers because it is the least expensive to maintain and so the savings are passed on to the customer in the form of affordable hosting.

What About The Domain

Nearly all web hosts offer domain registration along with web hosting and some even offer a free domain as long as you host your website with them. But you do not need to register your web address with the web host, you can register it separately at a domain registrar, then set it up to work with your web hosting account.

Web hosts also offer the option of transferring a domain, this means moving a domain from the registrar to the web host and is NOT the same as connecting a domain to a website. If you already have a domain and want to keep it where it is, choose the option to use your own existing domain when buying web hosting (some web hosts might phrase it a bit differently).

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