Web Hosting for Non-Geeks

Web hosting companies provide space on their computers for many of the Websites you encounter while surfing the Internet. They also offer other services that allow Website owners to send and receive email, make changes to their Web pages and operate online stores.

Just as you use a home computer to store documents (things like resumes, copies of holiday letters to friends, or personal records) and other files (scanned photos of your pets, a copy of your business logo and maybe a music clip you downloaded from the Internet), Web hosts use specialized computers - called servers - to store the text and image files that make up their customers' Websites. And, just like you use your computer and modem to connect to the Internet and check email, Web hosting companies use their servers and other equipment to allow surfers to access their customers' Websites and send or receive information from those Websites.

People use Web hosts because they don't want to - or can't - handle these responsibilities on their own. In theory, you could host your own Website from your home or office computer ... but your computer would have to stay connected to the Internet 24 hours a day so people could access your site around the clock. You would also need a fast, powerful Internet connection so many people at a time could view your Web pages.

You'd need much more, too. It takes special equipment and software to process the information different visitors type into your online order forms, to translate Internet address numbers into the domain names we're more familiar with (216.115.109.6, for example, translates into Yahoo.com), and to keep safe from hackers who might connect to your computer to change, damage or kill files. A good Web host provides these and many other services so you don't have to manage such tasks yourself.

A good Web host can take care of all the behind-the-scenes, technical aspects of serving up your Web pages to online surfers and shoppers ... which gives you more time and freedom for managing and promoting your online business.

The right Web hosting company can help ensure that your Website stays up and running properly 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 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 backup power to ensure that its servers keep operating even in an emergency or disaster.

A good Web host will also regularly back up the information on its data center servers to guard against unexpected data losses, and will regularly check for computer viruses and other potentially harmful agents.

Because there are so many different types of Websites - personal and family sites; business sites with basic information about location, products and services; news sites with stories and reports that can change minute by minute; complex sites with audio, video or interactive games; advanced and massive sites for e-commerce (Amazon.com, for example) - Web hosting services are not "one-size-fits-all." The range of hosting plans and services you can find are practically endless.

At their most basic, though, Web hosting services can be divided into several categories: shared, dedicated, colocation and managed. Within those categories, you also will usually have a choice of operating systems (software) used on the server that is hosting your Website. The most common operating systems, or OSs, are UNIX and the Microsoft-based Windows.

Following are explanations for some of the more common Web hosting terms:

Shared hosting: Typically for a Website with a relatively small amount of data and simple requirements: email, online forms and basic text and images. In a shared hosting plan, your Website files are stored on the same computer, or server, along with the files for many other similarly sized Websites. In a way, shared hosting is like renting an apartment in a large building with many other people like yourself. And, just as no one is allowed to enter your apartment without your permission, the other Website owners on your shared server can access only their own little piece of hosting real estate.

Dedicated hosting: Best for Websites with massive amounts of data, heavy traffic or other complex needs. Dedicated hosting provides these types of Websites with their own, individual server, shared with no one else. To use our real estate analogy again, dedicated hosting is like renting a house, rather than an apartment. Like a rented house, the dedicated server is occupied by you alone, although you don't actually own the server itself.

Colocation hosting: An option for businesses that own their own server or servers, but don't want to house them in their own building or manage the network connections needed to link their servers to the Internet. In colocation hosting, you are responsible for managing and maintaining your own servers and software; the colocation company that runs the data center handles the rest: networking, building security, climate control, etc.

Managed hosting: A broad term that describes additional services some hosting companies provide to keep your Website and servers running properly. Managed services are usually designed for colocation or dedicated hosting customers who want someone else to take care of the daily requirements for data backup, virus protection, server monitoring (conducting regular tests or measurements to make sure the server is up and running properly at all times), security, and so on.

UNIX: An operating system developed by Bell Labs in the 1970s. It's an open-source program, which means programmers and computer operators can use it freely without having to pay a license fee to those who developed it. It's also popular because it works with many different computer hardware types.

Windows: An operating system developed by Microsoft. Common versions used by Web hosting companies include Windows NT and Windows 2000.