What is Web Hosting? It's Features, Types! Web Server

Have you ever heard of the term 'Web Hosting'? Well, I am 99% sure that you heard of the term 'Hosting'. Web Hosting is different from Hosting. Hosting a show, Webinar, etc. is different from Web Hosting. In Web Hosting, there is no host. As the term suggests, Web Hosting is somewhere related to the Web. So, many of you guess that the term 'web' is also included in the keyword 'Webinar', then how is it different from it? You are guessing wrong. Let me clarify to you.

Web Hosting is an online service that permits you to host or publish your website, store, etc. on a specific Web Server. The website which you are reading currently is also somewhere hosted on the planet. When you buy a Web Hosting, the hosting provider rents you some space on the server or rents you the full server according to your requirements & budget, where you can store all your crucial files & data of your website.

What Exactly is a Server?

A server is a computer that is responsible for the communication of the web user's browsers to your site from anywhere on the planet.

When the client's computer requests website data from the server, it delivers the website data such as text, images, videos & website data (like HTML, Databases, etc.). The web server communicates with the web browser using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The Web Hosting provider is responsible for the maintenance & uptime of the server.

But don't you think that there is an address of the website, through which the user connects to the server. Yes, there is an address of your website, which is labelled as Domain. Ex- https://google.com , https://www.edupediapublications.org , etc. If you don't host your website on a domain, then your website address is in the form of an IP address. The user has to enter the IP address in the browser to connect to your website. The IP address is hard to remember, that's why we used the domain as a website address.

If you don't know much about Domains, then you can read our other articles -

What Is a TLD? Top-Level Domains Explained

How To Buy A Domain Name: Domain Registration Guide

What are the basic features included in Web Hosting?

1. DISK SPACE -

A disk space, which is also known as web space, refers to the amount of space aligned by the Web Hosting provider to the buyer. The buyer can store all website data such as code, images, videos, & other files related to the website. Web space is generally scaled in MegaByte (MB) & GigaByte (GB).

2. BANDWIDTH OR DATA TRANSFER -

Many of us believe that the term Bandwidth & Data Transfer are the same entity, but they are different. Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transferred at a time. While on the other hand, Data Transfer is the actual amount of data transferred at a particular time. While purchasing a Web Hosting plan, you should make sure that your website size & the amount of monthly visitors you have is completely reliable with the plan.

3. FTP ACCESS -

FTP, also known as File Transfer Protocol is used to transfer your website data from your computer to the server. It is also used for downloading your website files from the server to your computer. It can also be used for manually backing up your website to your computer.

4. E-MAIL ACCOUNTS -

It is the common feature of Web Hosting. It allows you to create a branded email address according to your domain. You can also send emails through various methods, i.e. POP & IMAP.

Types of Web Hosting?

There are many types of Web Hosting -

1. Shared Web Hosting
2. Managed Hosting
3. Dedicated Hosting
4. Colocation Web Hosting
5. VPS (Virtual Private Server)
6. Reseller Hosting

There are more types of Web Hosting, we will talk about all of them in future posts. We will also talk about all features in detail, how to manage it. So, don't forget to bookmark this website (or page).

Thanks for reading!