When setting up a website, there’s nothing better than a complete guide on hosting. After all, a website doesn’t work without hosting and here at tiiny host we take it seriously.
One fine day you wake up and realize that you need a website. But you’ve never heard of website hosting. Usually, this need appears so suddenly, that it is necessary to write it down in order to organize itself.
At first, you may not know exactly what you want to do. However, be sure: you want a website.
In fact, the digital world may seem like an unknown universe. Many terms and concepts are poorly understood, many codes, programs, and processes confuse a beginner’s mind.
So, before you go looking for a miracle solution, learn about what will really impact your decision.
To make a website, you need to know your needs well before deciding which hosting service will be the best for your project.
Related article: Answers to Some of The Most Important Web Hosting Questions
Okay, but what is Website Hosting?
Site hosting works like a real estate agency. This is where your website will live on the internet. These are the folders where your files are stored - website files (HTML, PHP, etc.), images, applications, etc. Likewise, hosting a website involves the database that stores its content - texts, links, and comments; and it’s also the connection that makes it all available online.
Choosing a good server is like choosing a good home on the internet for your website. It is a choice that must take into account all your needs and how they need to be met.
Sites are hosted on servers. In summary, a server is a very powerful computer dedicated to keeping your website up and running. The website servers are located inside Data Centers, places with perfect conditions to ensure that everything works well. When you hire a hosting plan, what you get is space inside the servers.
Types of website hosting
Imagine that you are looking for a place to live. You go to a real estate agency and are faced with different options and types of housing, right? With website hosting, it works the same way. However, you will not have to choose between an apartment, a republic, or a house, but between the following types of accommodation:
- Shared Hosting
- Cloud Hosting
- VPS Hosting
- Dedicated Hosting
Each of them has characteristics that will meet the different needs in the market. Your website can be personal, from your company, a virtual store, a web system, a professional portfolio, in short, there are countless possibilities that will fit into the types of hosting mentioned above.
To choose the type of hosting ideal for your website, there’s nothing more important than knowing each one of them and knowing what types of needs they can meet.
Shared Website Hosting
Shared Hosting is often the gateway to the hosting world for new website owners. It is a way to obtain the maximum performance possible from a physical server. With shared hosting, different sites reside on a single machine and share resources among themselves. As a result, customers are able to achieve good performance without having to invest a very high amount of money.
How Does Shared Hosting Work?
This type of hosting uses the same Apache, MySQL, and messaging server instances to make different websites work. Specific RAM and processor space is granted in order to define a number of sites.
Shared hosting relies on virtual hostnames so that each site is separate. Webmasters can choose a dedicated IP address or share the IP with other sites.
It is as if you were to live with other people in a building (server) where there is only one water tank (IP) for all apartments (websites). Thus, the apartments share the same building, which in turn provides the same water source for everyone.
Pros and Cons of Shared Hosting
There are two reasons for the popularity of shared hosting: the price and the simplicity of use. Generally, the prices offered in the market are very attractive, in addition to allowing new users to launch a website easily. On the other hand, shared hosting can offer limited resources and little control to website administrators in terms of development.
Performance and Value of Shared Hosting
Shared hosting usually offers domains, disk space, and unlimited broadband, but always be wary when the offer is very generous. In other words, there are services that limit users in another way or you can pay dearly on your contract renewal.
In fact, there is a limit on the number of sites, files, and accesses to make it profitable for the servers, so stay tuned for service contracts. As long as the sites do not require a lot of resources, shared hosting can be the perfect option for those just starting out.
Cloud website hosting
Also known as cloud hosting, it differs from traditional hosting in that it allows access to applications and websites via cloud resources. It’s like you have a house in a gated community.
Unlike shared hosting, in cloud hosting each customer has exclusive resources for their use, not interfering with another customer.
Cloud Pros and Cons
Cloud hosting allows you to combine the advantages of a dedicated server and those of a shared server: autonomy, performance, and security at a lower price. If access to the configuration base is allowed, it is possible to have the same autonomy as a dedicated server.
In addition, performance is optimized in relation to shared hosting, since the server is virtually divided and resources are not shared with other users.
Regarding the price, it is something that may not be so attractive, even though this reality is changing. Another possible con is that to use this type of hosting, the webmaster will need to have advanced knowledge in Linux, as the functions are optimized in this operating system in relation to the online control panel.
VPS website hosting
The acronym VPS comes from the English Virtual Private Server, which in Portuguese means Virtual Private Server. This type of hosting divides a physical server into several other virtual servers (or VM - Virtual Machine), in which each site is hosted in a dedicated way. But, in fact, they are sharing a server with other users.
VPS is recommended for those who need greater control at the server level, but do not want or cannot invest in a dedicated server.
How does VPS Hosting work?
With this type of accommodation, you will have a very flexible and interesting experience in terms of price. This is because this technology allows the server to adapt resources according to the user’s needs - when the demands are high, it is possible to increase the capacity of the server, but without paying for it permanently.
VPS Hosting happens similarly to an electricity bill, you pay for what you consume and when you need it. For those who need to store data online without it mixing with thousands of other users, the right choice is a dedicated cloud server. That way the hosting service gets even more personalized.
Pros and Cons of VPS Hosting
First, maintaining a physical IT structure can be costly within a company. VPS hosting will lower the price as it does not rely solely on physical computers.
In addition, a VPS hosting adapts to the user’s needs, which makes flexibility and adaptability great strengths. If your site happens to receive a large amount of traffic suddenly, it will be possible to make more resources available to serve that traffic - this is temporary, without having to pay much for space that will not be used later.
Despite having many advantages, some companies may not offer access to basic server configurations, which is necessary to change manual configurations and installations.
Dedicated Website Hosting or Dedicated Server
The name says we are talking about a server 100% dedicated to a user. It consists of a web server and can have the operating system that the customer wants. It is generally indicated for sites and projects that have a high volume of traffic. This is because they require more space in the database and require greater performance.
Back in the real estate metaphor, you can understand a dedicated server as a building where there is only one resident. All the resources of the building will be available only to one resident, which allows him to fully enjoy the housing.
Pros and Cons of Dedicated Hosting
It seems difficult to find negative points on a dedicated server since it will have all it’s capacity available to a single user. However, this option will have higher prices and will require a certain level of knowledge from the developer, which may not be as interesting for smaller sites and companies.
Think about the advantages and disadvantages of living alone in an entire building: you may even have more freedom, but you will have to bear the costs and maintain and clean the environment yourself.
Webhosting Properties
- Domains
- DNS
- Operating system
- Storage
- Database
- Traffic, Bandwidth
- Safety
- Backup
- Uptime
- Support & Service
How to create a website and host it
So far you have already learned about various aspects that will influence your choice for a hosting service. Now you must think about how to create a website that meets all your needs and those of your customers.
There is no rule about how you should create your website. Currently, there are several ways. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, everything will depend on your project and what features you want.
Among the options for creating a website, we highlight:
Create a website using a website builder; Create a website on a content management platform (CMS) like WordPress; Create a website by hiring a professional, freelancer, or agency.
The first option allows you to make a complete website, including adaptable for cell phones but limits the flexibility of content.
In the second option, it requires certain technical knowledge, but that does not make this task impossible.
But then, what is the best website hosting service?
Selecting a website hosting service is a simple task, but it can seem complex if you are a beginner. There are several terms that will be seen for the first time. However, articles like this can play a key role in decision making.
Before looking for the ideal hosting service, let’s review a little bit about what we learned in this article? First, we found out a little about each type of hosting. Then, we saw what are some fundamental properties of web hosting.
If you still have any questions, get in touch. It is very important to feel safe to hire a hosting service for your website.
