What is Web Hosting?

The definition of web hosting is when an organization provides a service where people can have their own online internet identity. If you want others to see your website you will need one of these and depending on whether it is a commercial site or not will dictate how much you pay but it is possible to have this at no charge (with restrictions). Many types exist, some provide free hosting but with these types you pay the price of having restricted facilities that usually allow the likes of blogs, email and basic websites to be accessed. However, if you're planning to expand you should shift to a paid service as free web hosting only gives you limited space and sub-domains for your site. Initially, the majority of users decide on paying for a shared server with their hosting company. Once you are comfortable with the service level then it might be worth upgrading to a dedicated server. Websites require a domain name (not necessarily supplied by the web hosting company)otherwise no-one will be able to find you; once this has been done your domain will be allocated a specific amount of space for you to store your website, etc. The good thing about having your own web hosting package and domain means that all your email addresses will contain your domain name in them and not that of the free service provider you may have been using previously. People who are serious about their internet presence will want to have their own identity and to prove the point; you will never see a company using someone else's domain in their email address. The amount of data that is viewed on your site each time someone accesses it is called bandwidth; it is an extremely important aspect to consider and the main reason why buying the cheapest hosting package is not always best.If you only have a small site that does not have much on it then this probably won't concern you but as soon as audio, video and hi-resolution images are incorporated, it becomes more of a concern. Some people use their own home computers for web hosting but there can be serious security and reliability issues here so it is best to look for a professional company to supply this service.

Francisco Segura owns and operates http://www.softwaretestingworld.com Software Testing