Imagine you have a physical store. For people to find and visit your store, you need to have it in a location that’s accessible to everyone. That’s what web hosting does for your website.
Just like a physical store needs a street address for people to find it, your website needs an address too – that’s your domain name (like www.yourwebsite.com).
But having a domain name alone isn’t enough. You also need a place to actually set up your websites – and that’s where web hosting comes in. This blog will explain everything from what is a web hosting service, its types and how it works
What is Web Hosting?
Web hosting provides the online space and technology to store all the files and information that make up your website. So, web hosting explained in simple terms, It’s like renting space for your store. Without this hosting space, your website would just exist on your personal computer, and no one else would be able to find or access it.
When you purchase a web hosting plan, the hosting company provides you with server space, bandwidth (the amount of data that can be transferred), and other resources necessary to keep your website up and running. This makes sure that your website is always up and running, loads fast, and stays safe.
How Does Web Hosting Work?
Web hosting works by storing your website’s files, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and multimedia content, on a server. These servers are strong computers that are always online and linked to the internet. This means that people from all over the world can view your website.
When someone types your website’s domain name (e.g., www.example.com) into their web browser, the browser asks the web hosting server to get the website’s files. After the server sends these files back to the user’s browser, the browser shows the website on the user’s screen.
Thanks to web hosting companies’ fast internet connections and strong computers, this process takes almost no time at all. Some web hosting examples include HostGator, AWS, Google Cloud, etc.
Types of Web Hosting Services
After understanding the meaning of web hosting, let’s explore some different types of web hosting, each designed to different needs and budgets. Here are some of the most common types:
Shared Web Hosting
Shared hosting is like renting a small room (space for your website) in a large apartment building (the web server). Just like in an apartment building, you share the building’s resources (such as storage space, internet bandwidth, and processing power) with other tenants (other websites hosted on the same server).
The advantage of shared hosting is that it’s very affordable web hosting for beginners because the cost of maintaining the server is divided among many website owners. It’s a great option for small personal websites, blogs, or basic business sites that don’t have a lot of visitors.
However, just like in an apartment building, if one tenant uses too many resources (e.g., hosting a website that gets a high amount of traffic or consumes a lot of storage space), it can slow down other websites too on the same server. Additionally, you don’t have much control over the building’s (server’s) settings or configurations, as the manager (hosting company) manages those.
Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting
With VPS hosting, a single powerful computer (the server) is divided into multiple “virtual” rooms (virtual servers) using special software. Each of these virtual rooms acts like its own separate computer, with its own operating system and dedicated resources like CPU power and memory (RAM).
When you get a VPS, you’re essentially renting one of these private virtual rooms within the larger server. While the server itself is shared with others, the resources allocated to your virtual room are reserved exclusively for your use. This means that other users on the server cannot affect the performance of your virtual room (your website).
Additionally, with a VPS, you have administrative access (like being the owner of your room), which allows you to install software, customize settings, and make configuration changes as you see fit, just like you would on a dedicated personal computer.
Dedicated Server Hosting
A dedicated server is like that big house but for your website or application. With a dedicated server, you get an entire physical server computer all for yourself. None of the server’s resources, like processing power, memory, or storage space, have to be shared with anyone else’s websites or applications.
This setup ensures maximum performance and reliability for your website because you don’t have to compete with others for the server’s resources. It’s like having a personal supercomputer dedicated solely to your needs.
However, just like having a big house all to yourself is more expensive than sharing one, dedicated server hosting is the most costly option in web hosting. It can cost thousands per month, depending on the server’s specifications and your requirements.
Cloud Hosting
Instead of storing all your important documents and files in just one house, you make copies and distribute them among your friends’ houses. This way, if something happens to one house (like a fire or a break-in), your files are safe because they’re also stored in the other houses.
Cloud hosting works in a similar way, but instead of friends’ houses, it involves a network of interconnected computers (servers) located in different places. Your website files are not stored on just one server but are redundantly stored across multiple servers in this “cloud” network.
So, if one server goes down or encounters a problem, your website automatically switches over to another server in the cloud.
WordPress Hosting
It’s a type of web hosting service that’s designed and optimized for running websites built with WordPress, which is a popular website platform used by millions of people worldwide.
When you choose WordPress hosting, the hosting provider takes care of setting up the server to work seamlessly with WordPress. They pre-install WordPress on the server, so you don’t have to go through the hassle of installing it yourself.
It’s like having all the tools already there and ready to use. WordPress hosting makes setting up and running a WordPress website much simpler and more optimized right from the start.
Best Web Hosting for Small Businesse
For new small businesses, the best web hosting options are usually shared hosting or WordPress hosting.
Your website is kept on a server alongside other websites under shared hosting. This makes it very affordable, but if there’s a lot of traffic to the other websites on the same server, your website might run a bit slower.
WordPress hosting is optimised for WordPress websites, to make sure it runs smoothly. The pricing is flexible, with different plan levels to fit different budgets and needs.
The main benefit of these hosting options is that they’re very user-friendly. You don’t need a lot of technical skills to get started. The hosting provider handles software updates and security for you automatically. This allows you to focus on actually running your small business, not dealing with complex website technicalities.
As your business grows over time, you can easily upgrade to more powerful hosting if needed. But for new, web hosting for small businesses, shared or WordPress hosting provides reliable hosting at a reasonable cost.
Web Hosting Price
Web hosting prices totally depend on the type of hosting, the hosting provider, and the features included. Here’s a general idea of the pricing range:
- Shared Hosting: ₹149 – ₹249 per month
- WordPress Hosting: ₹249 to ₹399 per month
- VPS Hosting: ₹699 to ₹2799 per month
- Dedicated Server Hosting: ₹9,269 to ₹1,599 per month
- Cloud Hosting: ₹539 to ₹899 per month
Conclusion
So, when you understand what a web hosting service is, it provides the computers (servers) that store your website files and make them accessible online. When starting a new online venture, understanding the web hosting meaning and importance is vital for ensuring your website is accessible and functional.
The most common are shared hosting (multiple websites on one server), VPS hosting (virtual private server with dedicated resources), dedicated hosting (an entire server for your site), cloud hosting (using a network of servers), and WordPress hosting (optimised for WordPress sites).
Cheap hosting options may seem appealing at first. However, they may not provide the best performance or security features. With a suitable hosting plan, you can concentrate on building your business without worrying about technical details.
