{"id":12,"date":"2021-07-05T14:31:54","date_gmt":"2021-07-05T14:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/obambu.com\/guide\/?p=12"},"modified":"2021-07-30T10:22:53","modified_gmt":"2021-07-30T10:22:53","slug":"what-is-web-hosting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/obambu.com\/guide\/what-is-web-hosting\/","title":{"rendered":"What is web hosting?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In essence, web hosting<\/strong> is a service that allows people and organizations to make their website accessible on the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a website to be visible on the internet, it has to have a dedicated “space”<\/strong> on a web server to store the files that make uo the website (text, code, images…). When a hosting provider assigns that space on a server to a client, it is hosting the website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To furthermore understand what web hosting is, we also have to talk about domain names:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a domain name and what does it have to do with web hosting?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The domain name<\/strong> is basically your site\u00b4s address on the internet (eg. yourdomain.com). It is essential for any web page to have a domain name assigned to the web they\u00b4re hosting, so visitors can identify and access the page easily. For this reason, web hosting and domain hosting go hand in hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do you need web hosting?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To build a website you need web hosting to store your site\u00b4s files and a domain name to access those files on the internet. This means that 9 times out of 10, you\u00b4re going to have to rely on a web hosting company<\/strong> to give you the server space and domain name.                                      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u00b4ll see later on in the article that you can find free web hosting but private hosting is the best and cheapest way to build a good and professional site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you have a website without web hosting?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

All of the websites you see on the internet need some type of hosting (so no, you can\u00b4t). Although It is possible to host your own server, it’s a very complicated and expensive endeavour to undergo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For small, medium and even large businesses the cheapest and best thing to do is to have a hosting provider<\/strong> take care of your site’s web hosting. For a small amount of money, you can rely on web hosting companies to take care of maintaining the servers that run your website, saving you a lot of time and money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do i need web hosting for wordpress?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

WordPress <\/strong>is a great option to launch your website. It’s a free open software and one of the best and most used content management systems (CMS) that makes it very easy to build, customize and grow your site. You have two options of building your site using wordpress, wordpress.com or wordpress hosting<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WordPress.com<\/strong> is a blog and website service which uses the open WordPress software, is free to use and includes free hosting with all accounts. You can also choose to host a wordpress page via a private web hosting provider of your choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seems like an easy decision which one to use right? Well\u2026 there’s a catch to the story (quite a few actually). The thing about WordPress.com is that although it’s easier to use, the free version covers a limited capacity <\/strong>and only has access to a few customization options (and doesn’t let you change the code for further customization). But it still comes with free web hosting<\/strong> right? Yes and no. Let me explain:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 When you create an account, your site is on a subdomain containing \u201cwordpress.com<\/em>\u201d in the domain name, similar to having an account on Tumblr or Typepad. If you want to have the \u201cwordpress.com<\/em>\u201d domain name removed you\u00b4ll have to pay extra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, with hosting <\/strong>your WordPress page,\u00a0 you have free access to the wordpress software <\/strong>and you\u00b4ll be able to customize your website as you wish with the option of changing the code for further customization options. With the downside of having to pay for a hosting service and domain name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, do you need web hosting for wordpress? Technically, no. But the limits you have using the free wordpress.com service versus the endless options that come with hosting a wordpress site shouldn’t be overseen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, hosting a wordpress site<\/strong> gives you more freedom to tailor your website’s design and content to your will. But hey, the choice is up to you and what suits your business the most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does web hosting work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you buy a web hosting package<\/strong> what you are doing is basically renting a small portion of a server that you are sharing with other websites. On this server you\u00b4ll store all of the files that are necessary to render your website (code, images\u2026). When your web storage<\/strong> and traffic demands increase you rent more server capacity or even an entire server.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After you buy a web hosting service, you\u00b4ll get access to the server via an interface like cPanel<\/strong> which makes it easier to upload the web files to the server. Another way to do this is to install a content management system (CMS) like WordPress.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another important thing you need to do is to register a domain name<\/strong>. This will be your site’s address which will let the web browser know where your page files are and allow people to view and access your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the main features of a web hosting plan?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you buy any hosting plan, it includes a series of basic features:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disk space<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Hosting companies offer a specific amount of space in which you can store your site\u00b4s files. Before you buy any sort of hosting plan<\/strong> try to determine the quantity of space you think you\u00b4ll need to avoid paying for unused space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Email accounts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

They are a common feature in web hosting plans<\/strong> when you are hosting a domain name<\/strong>. There are three types of email accounts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Forwarding mail accounts:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

They\u00b4re used to re-send email messages<\/strong> delivered from one email address to other different email addresses. They\u00b4re useful if you\u00b4re employing another company to filter your emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-Aliases accounts: <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

 It\u00b4s similar to a forwarding account with the difference that you can collect emails that are sent to addresses  that aren’t recognized by your mail server. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

-POP3 accounts: <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

It\u00b4s the oldest form of email account. In these accounts, email is delivered to a server and the client regularly downloads the email to the user’s computer. Once the message is received, it is deleted from the server. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FTP access (File transfer protocol)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0It is the way you transfer your site\u00b4s files to the server. You use FTP<\/strong><\/a> to access the server and upload, receive or send files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Is web hosting free?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are free hosting services but as all free things in life it comes with its limitations. Free web hosting <\/strong>only lets you host a limited number of websites (normally just one) and comes with severe bandwidth capacity and storage restraints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does this mean? Well, it’s pretty probable that your website will take ages to load and that you can’t upload all of the files that you want for your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are other good options for free hosting services<\/strong>: companies like Wix will let you create a free website with decent storage and bandwidth. The downside is that you will have a subdomain containing \u201cwix.com<\/em>\u201d and showing ads on your free website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although finding a free web hosting service can be a good and cheap way of learning how to create and build your first website, private web hosting<\/strong> offers the best tools and resources for you to create a good and professional website for your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What types of web hosting are there?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are many types of web hosting<\/strong> to offer but the main and most used ones are the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shared hosting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

it\u2019s the most basic and used type of web hosting. In shared hosting, a lot of websites \u201cshare\u201d the same server occupying a dedicated space they pay to their hosting company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Pros:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n