When it comes to building a website, a few things need to happen. First, you need to have an idea for what it will be about, and what its content will be. Then you need to design and build it using one of the best website builders. Finally, you need to organize the best web hosting, so that everyone can access it. But what is web hosting?
Websites are made up of a series of different files. Some are images and videos which you might have taken yourself or had done professionally, but most are special types of text documents containing code. When you build a website, all of these files exist on someone’s computer, just like you might store Word documents or PDFs.
When you want the website to be accessible to the general public, you need a special type of computer called a web server. This is essentially another computer, but with higher specifications than most personal computers, and with a dedicated, high-speed link to the internet.
We explain below what web hosting is, and what you need to know.
IP, IP, IP, hurray
The dedicated link to the internet is known as a static internet protocol (IP) address. Most home internet connections have dynamic IPs, which means they change periodically. For ordinary home usage, this isn’t a problem. For a web server, though, it can lead to downtime and the websites hosted on it being inaccessible.
Static IPs avoid that risk, and allow web servers to use the file transfer protocol (FTP). This enables you to easily move files from one computer to another, such as when you upload files for a website from the computer they were created on to a web server.
Having a static IP also means the server can have a secure sockets layer (SSL) certificate, which we cover in our article looking at how you can evaluate and improve your website security.
The process of setting up static IP addresses and configuring computers to be web servers is called web hosting. A whole industry has formed around the business of selling web hosting services, which is essentially like renting disk space on these specially configured computers.
Web hosting is usually sold on a subscription basis, which also covers the cost of the power required to run the computers and the bandwidth they use.
Computers with superpowers
Web servers are stored in large, specially built structures called data centers, which are temperature-controlled and extra secure. A data center will have many rooms, filled with rows upon rows of computer towers side by side. It’s on these special computers that all the files that make up a website are stored.
As mentioned, a web server is similar to a home or work computer, but with more power and a faster internet connection. You can actually use your own home computer to run a web server, but it’s unlikely that the websites hosted from it will be as fast as those stored on dedicated hosting computers.
It’s also not something we’d recommend for those who don’t have a large amount of time to devote to the task. Running a web server is a complicated and time-consuming pursuit that requires specialist knowledge. That’s why hosting companies have their own DevOps (software development and IT operations) specialists, who ensure that web servers are always online, secure, and performing at their peak.
Website owners are better off focusing their efforts on the content and marketing of the site and leaving the hosting to companies who specialize in that area. Yes, you have to pay for web hosting, but doing so will actually save you time and money in the long run.
This is an adapted excerpt from an eBook called "The ultimate guide to web hosting", first published by TechRadar Pro in association with Planet Hippo.
Further reading on web hosting and website builders
If you want to learn more about the differences between website builders and web hosting, and how WordPress differs from both, read our comparison feature pitting web hosting vs WordPress vs website builders.
Our articles outlining how to choose a web hosting service, giving tips on buying a web hosting service, and noting what to avoid when choosing a web hosting provider will help with web hosting; for website builders, learn how to build a website from scratch, how much it costs to build a website, and how to choose a domain name.
