What Is Website Hosting? Explained For Beginners

Website hosting is an online service that allows you to publish your website or web application on the Internet. When you sign up for a hosting service, you usually rent a space on the server where you can store all the files and data necessary for the proper functioning of your site.

A server is a physical computer that works without interruptions so that your site is accessible all the time for those who want to visit it. Your hosting is responsible for maintaining the server, protecting it from malicious attacks and transferring your content (text, images, files) from the server to the browsers of your visitors.

How does website hosting work?

When you decide to launch a new site, you will need to find a hosting company that will provide you with resources on the server. Your hosting provider stores all your files, resources and databases on the server. Whenever someone enters your domain name into the address bar of their browser, your host transfers all the files necessary to service the request.

You need to choose a hosting plan that best suits your needs and purchase it. In fact, web hosting works the same way as renting a home, you need to pay rent regularly to keep your site up and running.

DreamIT Host is provided you best quality web hosting Australia so you can try and decide if our service is really right for you. In addition, you can start with our most affordable simple plan, designed specifically for small projects. When your site begins to grow, and you need more resources on the server, you can go to one of our advanced plans, without delay.

In fact, you don’t even need any programming knowledge to perform regular site management tasks. Hosting accounts have a graphical user interface where you can manage all the settings of your site. For example, you can upload HTML and other files to the server, install content management systems such as WordPress, access your database and create backups for your site.

In addition to providing server space for your site, hosting providers can also offer other services related to site management, such as:

* SSL certificates (https:// protocol is used for site security)
* Email Hosting
* Page Constructors
* Developer Tools
* Customer support services (usually with online chat)
* Automated backups (data backups)
* 1-click program installers

Different types of hosting

Most providers offer several types of hosting to meet different customer needs. Here are the most commonly provided types of hosting:

* Shared Hosting
* VPS hosting
* Cloud Hosting
* WordPress hosting
* Dedicated Server Hosting

The larger your site, the more server space is required. It’s best to start small - with a shared hosting plan, and when your site gets bigger, switch to a more advanced plan or change the type of hosting. Hosting providers usually offer more than one hosting plan for each type of hosting.

Shared hosting

Shared hosting is the most common type of web hosting, and it is a great solution for most small projects and blogs. When you hear “web hosting,” most often the speaker implies shared hosting. Shared hosting assumes that you, together with other clients of your hosting, use server resources. Web sites located on one server share their resources, such as memory, computing power, disk space and others.

Advantages:

* Low cost
* Convenient for beginners (does not require special technical knowledge)
* Configured server
* Clear control panel
* Server maintenance and administration are performed by the support team

VPS hosting

With VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting, you still share the server with other users, but your provider will give you a separate section on the server. This means that you get the allocated space on the server and the reserved amount of processing power and memory. In fact, VPS hosting can be great for medium-sized business projects with fast-growing sites.

Advantages:

* Dedicated resources on the server
* Traffic flows to other sites in no way affect the performance of your site
* Root server access
* Easy scalability
* High customizability

Cloud hosting

Cloud hosting is currently the most reliable solution on the market, as it works literally smoothly. Cloud hosting provides you with a cluster of servers. Your files and resources are replicated on each server. When one of the cloud servers is busy or has any problems, your traffic is automatically routed to another server in the cluster.

Through this program, you're able to create loyalty because if your customers purchase cheap web hosting out of you, they are going to probably use your services again whenever they will need to redesign their websites. They are also likely to refer clients to you especially in the event that you continually provide them with services.

Advantages:

* Short or absent downtime
* Server crashes do not affect your site
* Resources are allocated on demand.
* Pay as you use (pay only for what you use)
* More scalable than VPS

Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated hosting means that you have your own physical server, which is designed exclusively for your site. Thus, dedicated hosting gives you incredible flexibility. You can configure your server as you wish, select the operating system and software that you want to use, and customize your entire hosting environment to suit your needs.

In fact, renting a dedicated server is equivalent to its own local server, but comes with professional support from your hosting provider.

Advantages:

* Full control of your server configuration
* High reliability (you do not share the resources of your server with anyone)
* Full Root Access
* High security