Basic Web Hosting

Web hosting companies provide space on their computers for many of the websites that people encounter while using the Internet. They also offer other services that allow website owners to send and receive email, make changes to their web page and operate online stores. Similar to how people use their home computer to store documents or other files such as pictures and music, web hosts use specialized computers called servers to store the text and image files that make up their customers' websites. Web hosting companies use their servers and other equipment to allow people to access their customers' websites as well as send and receive information from those sites.

Many people use web hosts because they do not want to or can not handle these responsibilities on their own. In theory, anyone could host their own website from their home or office computer, but the computer would have to stay connected to the internet 24 hours a day so people could access your site around the clock. Also there would be a need for a fast, powerful internet connection so many people at one time could view this site. Also there is special equipment and software to process the information different visitors' type into online order forms, to translate internet address numbers into the domain names and to keep safe from hackers that might connect to the computer to change damage or kill files. A good web host provides these and many other services so the customer does not have to mange such tasks on their own. A good web host can take care of all the behind the scenes, technical aspects of serving up web sites to online surfers and shoppers.

Several web hosting companies can help insure websites by staying up and running properly 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year. It will do this by keeping its servers in a well-built and secure building called a data center. Any decent data center will feature security measures, climate control, fire protection and back-up power to ensure that its servers keep operating even in an emergency or disaster. Also web hosts will regularly back-up the information on its data center servers to guard against unexpected data losses and will regularly check for computer viruses al0ong with other potentially harmfully agents. Hosting uptime refers to the percentage of time the host is accessible on the internet. Many providers state that they aim for a 99.9% uptime, but there may be server restarts and planned or unplanned maintenance in any hosting environment.

Because there are so many different types of websites- person and family sites; business sites with basic information about location, products and services; news sites with stories and reports that can change minute by minutes; complex sites with audio, video or interactive games; advanced and massive sites for e-commerce- web hosting services are not "one-size-fits-all." The range of hosting plans and services that someone can find are practically endless.