Understanding Web Internet Hosting Terminology

To understand web Internet hosting and all the terms that are referenced, when you are new to the Internet world, can be a bit overwhelming. Rest assured that process of getting your website on the Internet is really pretty easy once you begin to understand how it works. Hopefully we can make things a bit more user friendly for you by going over some of the basic terminology in web Internet hosting.

Domain Name: Your domain name is how your website will be identified on the web or Internet. When someone is looking for something and does a search on the Internet for a specific word or phrase a list of websites will pop up. When you choose a domain name name be sure to include a keyword or phrase in the title so that more people looking for your offering will find your site.

Web Host: Your web host is where your site will be housed. In order for your site to be seen on the Internet you will need a web host. Before you choose which web host to use, you may want to call their tech support and ask them questions so you can be sure that you choose the right one. Because there are many web Internet hosting providers out there it is best that you do some research ahead of time. Free hosting here is not the best option because you will be limited to what you can do with your site so choose wisely.

SQL (MySQL, SQL Server etc.): This stands for "Structured Query Language". This is what is used to interact with the database. You do not need to know much about this in the beginning however you may want to make sure that the hosting provider you choose has this option.

HTTP: This stands for "Hyper Text Transfer Protocol". This is the protocol which manages the transfer of web pages from one place to another.

HTML: This stands for "Hyper Text Markup Language". This is the workings or back office, so to speak, of your website. This language is what makes your website show text and images. Once you begin to get more in tune with the net you will learn this pretty quickly.

FTP: This refers to "File Transfer Protocol". This is what you will use to send your website pages and files from your home computer to your web Internet hosting servers. It is basically your file transfer tool.

Disk Space: This is the same as the space on your own PC's hard drive. Web Internet Hosts will store a certain amount of space for your website, usually in Megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB). This determines how much you can store on your website.

Bandwidth: Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be retrieved from your site. This is important to know when seeking a web Internet hosting provider. They will usually offer unlimited bandwidth or they will state the total amount that can be used before subsequent charging will begin. If it is not unlimited, find out how much you get before charging begins.


Remember that you don't need to know everything right from the get-go! There are companies out there that offer free website building so you can get your site up right away without any knowledge of technical language. Once you have more knowledge under your belt then you can begin to build your own site to your specifications and needs.

Also remember that the Internet is goldmine of information. If you come across any term that you need clarification on, just pull up your favorite search engine and do a search for anything you want answers to. Looking up information on the net for any web Internet hosting service, will provide you with a plethora of useful and helpful info.

Should You Use A Dedicated Server?

For some finding options for a dedicated server can be hard. If you are not sure what a dedicated server is or whether or not you should be using one, then read on. This option could make a difference on how your website performs.

Simply put, a dedicated server is one that you use solely by itself. What this means is you own the entire server and it is not shared with anyone else. A dedicated server responds to your website and it's needs. You are provided with a connection to the Internet and the necessary things that you require. You should decide if you need this level of service before exploring the several different options that there are.

If you are receiving a high amount of daily web traffic or if your website is performing more sluggish than when you first put it up, then you may want to consider a dedicated server.

There is also the option to have the dedicated server to be managed or not. If you get it managed, then you will have the support that you need should you have any issues. If you choose to have it un-managed, then you will receive everything that you need to get your website up, however you will be on your own for support.

The decision here is ultimately up to you. Just remember that if you do need to move to this level of hosting that you seriously weigh the different option to suit your needs. You will need to have the right specification for this option. If you need more detailed information on the different options, you can research it on the net by just typing dedicated servers in your search box.

Web Hosting Bandwidth, How Much Do You Need?

So what is Bandwidth? It is a term used to describe the amount of data that is transferred from a website. A key thing to know is what the amount of data transfer allowed for a bandwidth hosting package.

For example, if you have a web page that is 48KB in size, each time a user opens your site and visits that page they download 48 KB of information on to their computer. If 100 users view that page one time each then 4800 KB of data has transferred from the web hosting servers on which your files are stored.

Web Page: 48 KB
Number of viewers: 100
Data transferred: 48KB * 100 = 4800 KB

Bandwidth is the term used to describe the amount of data that has been transferred from your website. When choosing a web host, whether or not you should be seeking a high bandwidth hosting package will depend on a few things;

1. The size of your site.
2. How popular your site is

If your site is not very big and you do not have any audio/video downloads and it’s not very popular, meaning the amount of visitors you get, then you do not really require a lot of bandwidth. On average, a web site uses up only 500 MB of bandwidth per month. Or if your site is small but extremely popular then you might have to choose a web hosting package that offers high bandwidth.

If your web site is big, provides audio/video downloads, as well as being a popular site, then you would need large amounts of bandwidth.

Let’s say you have a video file that is 150 MB in size and in a single day a 100 visitors download the file. This means that 15 GB of bandwidth will have been used. If you multiply that by 30 days for the month it comes to 450 GB.

If this sounds a bit to technical for you, no worries. A reputable hosting service should be glad to explain it in more depth. Just be sure to ask them about the amount of bandwidth you are allowed and let them know the type of website you plan to have hosted. You can get more detail information on bandwidth by visiting http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-bandwidth.htm

Linux vs. Windows web Hosting, does it make a difference?

One of the most confusing decisions someone new to web hosting will have to make is which platform their server should be on. There are a number of different choices out there but the main two are

Linux and Windows web servers. There are also a lot of sources of information about hosting, but the majority of them are tainted by the author's biased personal opinion unfortunately confusing the issue.

Having just put in some solid hours researching the topic I have come to the conclusion that in general it quite probably does not matter which server you use. For the majority of people it will be far more important to choose a really good web host than to worry about the server-type that they implement.

Microsoft developed and owns the Windows operating system. Linux is open source and generally free. This means it can often be more expensive to set up and run a Windows server.

However, this fact doesn't really affect you unless you are actually setting up a server for yourself and if you're reading this article then I'm guessing that it's safe to assume you're not.

This article is going to offer information for those trying to decide which hosting company to go with. The cost involved in running a server does not affect the cost of a web-hosting package as much as you may think.

Despite the general opinion that Windows servers are more expensive to run, buying a Windows hosting package can often turn out to be just as cheap or even cheaper than an equivalent Linux hosting package.

Some people naturally assume that because their PC runs Windows they need to buy a Windows hosting package. This isn't true. Access to your web account will most likely be through FTP or a control panel and both servers support these methods.

The main difference is that some of the FTP commands are slightly different between Linux and Windows and some FTP programs will be designed with one or the other in mind.

This means you may occasionally find that when you try and get your FTP program to do something it returns an error message, but it won't happen very often.

Your choice of server platforms should be dictated by the use to which you intend to put it. The majority of web features run fine on both platforms including PHP, mySQL, POP3 etc.

If you intend to create your site using ASP, FrontPage, the .NET environment, Windows Streaming Media, Access, MSSQL, or any of the other Microsoft proprietary technologies then you probably need to use a Windows host.

There is limited support for a number of these technologies in Linux, but they can be expensive and are usually lacking in features. It is probably worth considering the fact that if you use server specific technologies and then change hosts you'll have a much harder time of it than if you use technologies that can be run on any system.

Having it run generic technologies removes the need to focus on specifics and allows you to focus on the quality of service itself.

The reliability and stability of the different platforms have been the topic of many long arguments. The main reason that Windows is seen as being insecure is that it is the most widely used operating system for home PC's.

People spend more time looking for flaws in the most common system. With Linux being the most common server type, it has a surprising number of successful hack attempts made on it.

In the end the security of both platforms comes down to the competency of the system administrators. If you are security minded then you'll do better to make sure that the hosting company is reputable and highly skilled than to worry about the server they use.

In terms of performance there's not a huge difference between the two servers. Linux reportedly performs faster because Windows (as usual) attempts to offer an 'all in one' package instead of the extendable Linux implementation.

You'll generally not notice a difference but if performance is of utmost importance to you then maybe this will influence your decision.

I've come to the conclusion that unless you are specifically using features that are unique to one platform or another your time will be much better spent looking for a really good quality host than a really good quality server.

Developers are constantly improving both Linux and Windows so they should be fairly close in terms of features, security, and reliability for a long time. It's the people implementing them that you should be basing your decision on.

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About the author:

Daniel Punch
M6.Net Web Helpers
http://www.m6.net

Daniel Punch is a writer working at M6.Net: 'The web-hosting company for humans.' M6.Net is working hard to help humanity experience the power and freedom to develop their own part of the Internet,to share their information and connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Helpful Tips On Choosing A Domain Name

Before you sign a contract with a website domain hosting provider, you will first have to choose and purchase a domain name. Although many of the names you may want will already be taken, you will however find a name that will best suit your needs.

The key here is to really be creative with the name that you choose. The more generic the name the more likely it will already be taken. When you do a search for a name if it is already taken the host will return other options including the same name but with a different ending, like .net or .info etc.

Your best bet is to try and get a .com since it is the most popular of domains. If your business name is Heavenly sweets and that name is taken, try names like "Your heavenly Sweets" or "Heavenly Sweets For You" your business name is still there but you added some distinction.

There are endless possibilities on the choosing of a domain name just keep a creative mind and think of things that will create curiosity or brand. With a little thought you will be able to come up with a unique and memorable domain name.

You can often purchase a domain name through a web domains hosting site, or you can purchase it through a private domain name retailer. These companies are very easy to find. Often times, if you type the domain name you want into a search engine, a domain name seller will pop up if the name is not already taken.

In some cases the web hosting provider will give you a free domain name for life with a purchased web hosting package. You can purchase a domain name for a year at a time, or for several years, depending on how much you want to invest in that name.

Another thing to keep in mind is to keep your name short. It is easier for people to remember something like actonit.com then something like whydontyouactonit.com keep it short and simple.

Multiple Website Hosting and Subdomains

If you are battling a delema on how to make the most out of your website by needing to maintain more than just one you may want to think about subdomains. Rather than choosing multiple website hosting, you can create a subdomain instead.

Subdomains are basically a site within a site and some hosting services will give you free subdomain hosting with a paid hosting package. What they are not is additional pages of an existing web site. The web subdomain can have a website all of its own, completely separate from the site located at the main domain.

In order to comprehend the use and purpose of subdomains, you need to be clear on how an Internet domain name works. Every web site that is active on the Internet (and there are literally billions of them now) has a unique domain name.

There can be only one Ebay dot com, for example, on the entire Internet. The domain name, however, is really just a way for people to relate to the site. Internet servers see web site names as unique I.P. addresses. It is the domain name server that translates those numbers into names and back again.

A subdomain is simply a sub name of your web site's domain. The way it appears on the server, the subdomain is a folder or a sub directory located within your domain's root directory. Any sub directory can serve as a sub domain.

For example, if your web site is "www.abccorp.com" and you store the images for your site in a directory called "images," then you could create "images.abccopr.com". As long as you put an "index.html" page in the folder you should be able to pull it up in a web browser that way.

In most cases you will create a new sub directory to be associated with a subdomain and some web hosts do not support subdomains on their servers or put a limit on how many you may associate with your website. This should be a key element to look for when choosing hosting for your website.

The benefits of using a sub is only having to pay for one hosting account and being able to have a completely separate web site, but one that your customers will easily recognize as being associated in some way with your business.

Some companies will set up subdomains for various divisions (abccorp.com may also have sales.abccorp.com or support.xyz.com) and some will use subdomains for various businesses that are all related to the same parent company.

If you don't however want anyone to know that a business is associated with your main domain than creating a subdomain may not be the answer for your. The choice is up to you on how you want to structure your sites and whether or not you need to have multiple website hosting.

The Basics Of Web Hosting

If it is time to finally create a website for yourself or for your business you are going to have to find web hosting services. There are many web Internet hosting companies out there from you to choose from.

Hopefully our site will help you to find a web host in addition to providing you with some useful and important information about web hosts.

One of the first things you will need to decide on is a domain name, or what are you going to call your website or business. You can purchase and register the domain name you choose with a web hosting service or buy it separately then transfer the name when you have chosen your web host. For more information on choosing a domain name see "Helpful Info on choosing a Domain name".

You will also need to know how big your site is going to be to determine the amount of space you will purchase from a web Internet hosting provider. If you plan on only having a small site with no bells and whistles you wont need much space so you can purchase a small package.

If you will be having multiple pages and think that you will be adding additional sites etc, than you should consider getting a package that will give you the room to grow.

Once you have purchased a package you will either pay a monthly fee or you could purchase an annual package and pay for a year up front. Web hosting companies will then issue passwords to allow you access to your website on their servers. You can upload files and pages using their own interface programs, or you can utilize the upload tools built into your web design program.

Once you have created that amazing site you will simply publish it through your web Internet hosting service so that it is visible on the Internet. Most web hosts offer a c-panel (control panel) interface or "back office" if you will, that you will use to make changes to your site, check the amount of visitors you are getting, add pages or transfer files.

This Site for Web Hosting thanks you for visiting and hopes you will find the information we offer very helpful to you in searching for Web Hosting.