In order to display your Web pages in a browser, they have basically to be on a Web server which is permanently connected to the Internet. A Web server is a computer running in a datacenter of a Web hosting company also called Web hosting provider.
Free hosting
A free hosting service offers you a place on a Web server for your Website. Free hosting provides usually a so called “sub domain name”. This name can be like yourdomain.freehost.com. Some free hosts force you to have their advertising on your Website or blog. Free hosts have some limits on usage and generally ask you to upgrade to their premium plans, so you will probably end up with a paid hosting service.
Paid hosting
The paid hosting service is offered by a Web hosting company. A basic package (shared) is available for 60 $ per year ! This normally includes all the necessary elements to run a nice dynamic Website or a blog. No advertising will disturb your magnificent design, nor will it slow down your Website or blog.
Shared hosting
Your Website is placed on the same physical Web server beside other Websites. This can be problematic when other Websites on the server consume system resources and impact your Website’s performance in a negative way.
Shared Web servers are a good starting point for hosting your Website. This service normally includes backup from the hosting company, click and build CMS services and some useful applications and tools.
The price range for shared hosting is from 2$ / month to 10$ / month
Dedicated hosting
The user gets his own physical Web server, you can choose your operating system. Dedicated Web servers are allocating all of the system resources to your Website, so you have 100% of the Web server’s performance for it.
Root server : The user is responsible for the server’s administration
Managed server : The hosting company is responsible for the administration
The price range for dedicated hosting is from 30$ / month to 400$ / month
VPS hosting
The user gets his own VPS (virtual private server). Virtual Web servers fall somewhere between shared and dedicated.
Shared because : multiple VPS are hosted on one physical server.
Dedicated because : No file or data access occurs between VPS clients, because they are kept separate. If needed, one VPS can be rebooted without affecting an other VPS on the same physical machine.
Root server : The user is responsible for the VPS’s administration
Managed server : The hosting company is responsible for the administration
The price range for VPS hosting is from 10$ / month to 30$ / month
Cloud hosting
The user gets his own cloud (virtual) Web server, you can choose your operating system.
Cloud Web servers utilize multiple Web servers connected together in a cluster. Customers utilizing a cloud platform will benefit from these multiple servers, because they will receive “unlimited” storage, maximum bandwidth, managed load balancing and no ties to a specific piece of hardware. A cloud hosted Website may be more reliable, because other servers in the cloud can compensate when a single server goes down.
Root server : The user is responsible for the cloud server’s administration
Managed server : The hosting company is responsible for the administration
The price range for cloud hosting is from 10$ / month to 700$ / month
Administration for dedicated, VPS and cloud servers
Dedicated, VPS and cloud Web servers are not so easy to mange, because you have to know the basics of administration, security, monitoring and performance tuning for the installed software. This concerns basically the Linux operating system and the Apache Web server. Eventually you have to know how to install a CMS “by hand”.
Security : SE Linux, IPtables, Suhosin for PHP, Anti malware, anti DDos…
Performance : Apache, PHP, CMS
Don’t forget the BACKUP for the installation and the data !!!
Hosting companies
Hosting criteria
- 99% uptime guarantee
- Web server backups (daily)
- unlimited : domains, e-mails, traffic
- Security (SSL…)
- Speed (page load must be under 3 sec)
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