Introduction to Web Hosting
How does the Web work? How can I make my own Web Site?
What is a Web Host? What is an Internet Service Provider?
What is the World Wide Web?
The Web is a network of computers all over the world.
All the computers in the Web can communicate with each other.
All the computers use a communication standard called HTTP.
Web information is stored in documents called web pages.
Web pages are files stored on computers called web servers.
Computers reading the web pages are called web clients.
Web clients view the pages with a program called a web browser.
Popular browsers are Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.
How does a browser fetch a web page?
A browser fetches a page from a web server by a request.
A request is a standard HTTP request containing a page address.
An address may looks like this: http://www.darling.com/page.htm.
How does a Browser Display a Web Page?
All web pages contain instructions for display
The browser displays the page by reading these instructions.
The most common display instructions are called HTML tags.
HTML tags look like this
this is a Paragraph
.What is a Web Server?
The collection of all your web pages is called your web site.
To let others view your work, you must publish your web site.
To publish your work, you must copy your site to a web server.
Your own PC can act as a web server if it is connected to a network.
Most common is to use an Internet Service Provider (ISP).
What is an Internet Service Provider?
ISP is a shortcut for Internet Service Provider.
An ISP provides Internet services.
A common Internet service is web hosting.
Web hosting means storing your web site on a public server.
Web hosting normally includes email services.
Web hosting often includes domain name registration.
Summary
If you want other people to view your web site, you must copy your site to a public server. Even if you can use your own PC as a web server, it is more common to let an Internet Service Provider (ISP) host your site.
Included in a Web hosting solution you can expect to find domain name registration and standard email services.
You can read more about domain name registration, email and other services in the next chapters of this tutorial.
Web Hosting Providers
If you want your web site to be visible to the world, you have to store it on a web server.
Most small businesses and companies store their web site on a server provided by an Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Hosting Your Own Web
Hosting your web site on your own server is always an option. Here are some problems to consider:
Hardware Expenses
To run a "real" web site, you will have to buy some powerful server hardware. Don't expect that a low cost PC will do the job. You will also need a permanent (24 hours a day ) high speed connection to your office, and such connections are expensive.
Software Expenses
Don't forget to count the extra cost for software licenses. Remember that server licenses often are much higher than client licenses. Also note that some server software licenses might have limits on number of concurrent users.
Labor Expenses
Don't expect low labor expenses. Remember that you have to install your own hardware and software. You also have to deal with bugs and viruses, and keep your server constantly running in an environment where "everything could happen".
Using an Internet Service Provider
Renting a server from an Internet Service Provider (ISP) is a common option. Here are some advantages:
Connection Speed
Most providers have very fast connections to the Internet, like full T3 fiber-optic 45Mps connections equivalent to about 2000 traditional (28K) modems or 1000 high speed (56K) modems.
Powerful Hardware
Service providers often have many powerful web servers that can be shared by several companies. You can also expect them to have an effective load balancing, and necessary backup servers.
Security and Stability
Internet Service Providers are specialists on web hosting. Expect their servers to have more than 99% up time, the latest software patches, and the best virus protection.
Things to Consider
24-hour support
Make sure your Internet service provider offers 24-hours support. Don't put yourself in a situation where you cannot fix critical problems without having to wait until the next working day. Toll-free phone could be vital if you don't want to pay for long distance calls.
Daily Backup
Make sure your service provider runs a secure daily backup routine, otherwise you may lose some valuable data.
Traffic Volume
Study the provider's traffic volume restrictions. Make sure that you don't have to pay a fortune for unexpected high traffic if your web site becomes popular.
Bandwidth or Content Restrictions
Study the provider's bandwidth and content restrictions. If you plan to publish pictures or broadcast video or sound, make sure that you can.
Email Capabilities
Make sure your provider fully supports the email capabilities you need. (You can read more about email capabilities in a later chapter)
Front Page Extensions
Make sure your provider fully supports FrontPage server extensions if you plan to use FrontPage to develop your site.
Database Access
Make sure your provider fully supports the database access you need if you plan to use databases from your site. (You can read more about database access in a later chapter)
Hosting Capacities
Make sure you get the disk space and the traffic volume you need.
How Much Disk Space?
A small or medium web site will need between 10 and 100MB of disk space.
If you look at the size of HTML pages, you will see that the average size is very small. Maybe even smaller than 1KB. But if you look at the size of the images (button, gif, banner, jpg) used inside the pages, you will often find images many times larger than the page itself.
Expect each HTML page to take up between 5 and 50KB of disk space on your web server, depending on the use of images or other space consuming elements.
If you plan to use lots of images or graphic elements (not to mention sound files or movies), you might be needing much more disk space.
Make sure that you know your needs before you start looking for your web host.
Connection Speed
Visitors to your web site will often connect via a modem, but your host provider should have a much faster connection.
In the early days of the Internet a T1 connection was considered a fast connection. Today connection speeds are much faster.
1 byte equals to 8 bits (and that's the number of bits used to transport one character). Low speed communication modems can transport from about 14 000 to 56 000 bits per second (14 to 56 kilobytes per second). That is somewhere between 2000 and 7000 characters per second, or about 1 to 5 pages of written text.
One kilobit (Kb) is 1024 bits. One megabit (Mb) is 1024 kilobits. One gigabit (Gb) is 1024 megabits.
Before you sign up a contract with any hosting provider, surf some other web sites on their servers, and try to get a good feeling about their network speed. Also compare the other sites against yours, to see if it looks like you have the same needs. Contacting some of the other customers is also a valuable option.
Hosting Email Services
Hosting services should include proper Email Accounts and Email Services.
Email Accounts
Hosting solutions should include email accounts for each person in your company. Email addresses should appear like this:
jack@mycompany.com
Most common is to use first name or first initial and last name.
POP Email
POP stands for Post Office Protocol. POP is a standard client/server protocol for sending and receiving email.
The emails are received and held on your internet server until you pick it up with a client email program, like Outlook, Outlook Express, Netscape Messenger, etc. POP email programs are built into Netscape and Internet Explorer browsers (i.e. Microsoft Outlook Express).
IMAP Email
IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol. IMAP is another standard protocol for sending and receiving email.
The emails are received and held on your internet server until you pick it up with a client email program, like Outlook, Outlook Express, Netscape Messenger, etc.
IMAP represents an improvement over POP because email stored on an IMAP server can be manipulated from several computers (a computer at home, a workstation at the office, etc.) without having to transfer messages back and forth between computers. POP was designed to support email access on a single computer.
Web-based Email
Web-based email services enable you to access email via a web browser. You log into your email account via the Web to send and retrieve email. Being able to access your email from any browser anywhere in the world is a very attractive option.
Examples of web-based email services are Yahoo! Mail and Hotmail.
Email Forwarding
Email forwarding allows you to have multiple email personalities.
With email forwarding, you can setup aliases for other email accounts like
postmaster@mycompany.com should be forwarded to peter@mycompany.com
sales@mycompany.com should be forwarded to mary@mycompany.com
Mailing Lists
Some service providers offer mailing list capabilities. This is a valuable plus if you plan sending out email to a large number of users.
Web Hosting Server Technologies
This section describes some of the most common hosting technologies.
Windows Hosting
Windows hosting means hosting of web services that runs on the Windows operating system. You should choose Windows hosting if you plan to use ASP (Active Server Pages) as server scripting, or if you plan to use a database like Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server. Windows hosting is also the best choice if you plan to develop your web site using Microsoft Front Page.
Unix Hosting
Unix hosting means hosting of web services that runs on the Unix operating system.
Unix was the first (original) web server operating system, and it is known for being reliable and stable. Often less expensive than Windows.
Linux Hosting
Linux hosting means hosting of web services that runs on the Linux operating system.
CGI
Web pages can be executed as CGI scripts. CGI scripts are executables that will execute on the server to produce dynamic and interactive web pages.
Most Internet service providers will offer some kind of CGI capabilities. And many will offer preinstalled, ready to run, guest-books, page-counters, and chat-forums solutions written in CGI scripts.
The use of CGI is most common on Unix or Linux servers.
ASP - Active Server Pages
Active Server Pages is a server-side scripting technology developed by Microsoft.
With ASP you can create dynamic web pages by putting script code inside your HTML pages. The code is executed by the web server before the page is returned to the browser. Both Visual Basic and JavaScript can be used.
ASP is a standard component in Windows 95,98, 2000, and XP. It can be activated on all computers running Windows.
Many web hosting providers are offering ASP, as it is becoming a more and more popular technology.
Chili! Soft ASP
Microsoft's ASP technology runs only on Windows platforms.
However, Chili!Soft ASP is a software product that allows ASP to run on UNIX and some other platforms.
JSP
JSP is a server-side technology much like ASP developed by Sun.
With JSP you can create dynamic web pages by putting Java code inside your HTML pages. The code is executed by the web server before the page is returned to the browser.
Since JSP uses Java, the technology is not restricted to any server-specific platform.
FrontPage
FrontPage is a very common web site design tool developed by Microsoft.
FrontPage allows users to develop a web site without any deep knowledge of web development. Most Windows hosting solutions support FrontPage server extensions for users that use FrontPage to develop their web site.
If you plan to use FrontPage, you should look for a Windows hosting solution (meaning not Unix / Linux).
PHP
Just like ASP, PHP is a server-side scripting language which allows you to create dynamic web pages by putting script code inside your HTML pages. The code is executed by the web server before the page is returned to the browser.
Cold Fusion
Cold Fusion is another server-side scripting language used to develop dynamic web pages. Cold Fusion is developed by Macromedia.
Secure Server
A secure server can transmit data encrypted.
If you plan to do online credit card transactions, or other types of web communication that needs to be protected against unauthorized access, your web host must provide a secure server.
Web Hosting Database Technologies
SQL Server or Oracle for high traffic database-driven web sites.
Access or MySQL for low traffics database-access.
Web Databases
If your web site needs to update large quantities of information via the web, you will need a database to store your information.
There are many different database systems available for web hosting. The most common are MS Access, SQL Server, and Oracle.
Using the SQL Language
SQL is the language for accessing databases.
If you want your web site to be able to store and retrieve data from a database, your web server should have access to a database-system that uses the SQL language.
SQL Server
Microsoft's SQL Server is one of the most popular database software for database-driven web sites with high traffic.
SQL Server is a very powerful, robust and full featured SQL database system.
Oracle
Oracle is also a very popular database software for database-driven web sites with high traffic.
Oracle is a very powerful, robust and full featured SQL database system.
Access
When a web site requires a simple database solution, Microsoft Access is a very popular option.
Access is not well suited for very high-traffic, and not as powerful as Oracle or SQL Server.
Web Hosting Types
Hosting can be FREE, SHARED or DEDICATED.
Free Hosting
Some service providers offer free web hosting.
Free web hosting is best suited for small sites with low traffic, like family sites or sites about hobbies. It is not recommended for high traffic or for real business. Technical support is often limited, and technical options are few.
Very often you cannot use your own domain name at a free site. You have to use a name provided by your host like http://www.freesite/users/~yoursite.htm. This is hard to type, hard to remember, and not very professional.
Good: Bad:
Low cost. It's free. No domain names.
Good for family, hobby or personal sites. Few, limited, or no software options.
Free email is often an option. Limited security options.
Limited or no database support.
Limited technical support.
Shared (Virtual) Hosting
Shared hosting is very common, and very cost effective.
With shared hosting, your web site is hosted on a powerful server along with maybe 100 other web sites. On a shared host it is common that each web site have their own domain name.
Shared solutions often offer multiple software solutions like email, database, and many different editing options. Technical support tends to be good.
Good: Bad:
Low cost. Cost is shared with others. Reduced security due to many sites on one server.
Good for small business and average traffic. Restrictions on traffic volume.
Multiple software options. Restricted database support.
Own domain name. Restricted software support.
Good support
Dedicated Hosting
With dedicated hosting your web site is hosted on a dedicated server.
Dedicated hosting is the most expensive form of hosting. The solution is best suited for large web sites with high traffic, and web sites that use special software.
You should expect dedicated hosting to be very powerful and secure, with almost unlimited software solutions.
Good: Bad:
Good for large business. Expensive.
Good for high traffic. Requires higher skills.
Multiple domain names.
Powerful email solutions.
Powerful database support.
Strong (unlimited) software support.
Collocated Hosting
Collocation means "co-location". It is a solution that lets you place (locate) your own web server on the premises (locations) of a service provider.
This is pretty much the same as running your own server in your own office, only that it is located at a place better designed for it.
Most likely a provider will have dedicated resources like high-security against fire and vandalism, regulated backup power, dedicated Internet connections and more.
Good: Bad:
High bandwidth. Expensive.
High up-time. Requires higher skills.
High security. Harder to configure and debug.
Unlimited software options.
Your Checklist
Before you choose your web host, make sure that:
The hosting type suits your current needs
The hosting type is cost effective
Upgrading to a better server is a possible solution
If needed, upgrading to a dedicated server is possible
Before you sign up a contract with any hosting provider, surf some other web sites on their servers, and try to get a good feeling about their network speed. Also compare the other sites against yours, to see if it looks like you have the same needs. Contacting some of the other customers is also a valuable option.
Web Hosting E-Commerce
If you are selling a product or a service, e-commerce might be a smart way to do business.
Internet Commerce
E-Commerce is about selling products or services over the Internet.
If you are selling a product or a service, e-commerce might be a smart way to do business. Over the Internet you can reach a large number of customers.
E-Commerce Systems
It is not a very good idea to build your own e-commerce system. Some (larger) companies might do it, but we will not recommend it if you run a smaller business. Building an e-commerce system is a complicated process, with the potential for a lot of errors.
You might buy a ready-to-use system and run it on your own server. Many systems are available on the market today, and most of them will cover your basic needs for order management and processing. But again, if you are not familiar with hosting your own web site, starting with an e-commerce site is not the right thing.
The best solution, in our opinion, is to find a hosting provider that offers an e-commerce solution.
Hosting Providers
E-commerce covers a very huge range of products. With different hosting providers you will find anything from very simple to very complex solutions.
Most providers will offer a simple and inexpensive solution that allows you to run your own "virtual store".
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