Web Hosting
To get your site live on the web for the world to see, it must be loaded onto a computer that is permanently connected to the internet, called a server. While it is possible to create/connect your own server, it is not always cost effective. There are a large number of companies, easily accessible on the internet, that provide this ability to web designers. They are called web hosts. Web hosts, like phone companies, each have their own cost plans and perks. Be sure to research important factors before choosing an ISP. Some of these factors include:
- Support - Make sure your Internet service provider offers 24-hours support. Don't put yourself in a situation where you cannot fix critical problems without having to wait until the next working day. Toll-free phone could be vital if you don't want to pay for long distance calls.
- Backups - Make sure your service provider runs a secure daily backup routine, otherwise you may lose some valuable data.
- Traffic - Study the provider's traffic volume restrictions. Make sure that you don't have to pay a fortune for unexpected high traffic if your web site becomes popular. 1-5GB a month is typically appropriate for small to medium websites. The traffic is the amount of information transferred to users.
- Bandwidth - Study the provider's bandwidth and content restrictions. If you plan to publish pictures or broadcast video or sound, make sure that you can. Most sites need between 10 and 100MB. If including sound and movies, you will need much more.
- Email - Make sure your provider fully supports the email capabilities you need. This includes the number of accounts and the amount of storage space allotted.
- Databases - Make sure your provider fully supports the database access you need if you plan to use databases for your site. You want to check on the number of databases allowed in your plan.
Hosts come in three generic varieties: Free, Shared(Virtual) and Dedicated. Here is a quick rundown of each type:
- Free - Free sites are, as in the name, of no cost. They are typically good for family, hobby, or personal sites. Free email is often an option as well. Unfortunately, for a business, the perks are limited. Most often, there is a longer, more generic domain name, there are few add-on software options, and there is limited security, databases and support.
- Shared(Virtual) - Virtual hosts are of low cost as they connection/hardware cost is shared with other clients. These type of sites are good for small businesses with average traffic. Virtual hosts often offer software addins, unique domain names and good technical support. Some of the bad, is that there are typically restrictions on traffic, databases and support. Also, since several sites reside on the same server, there are some increased security risks.
- Dedicated - Dedicated service means there is a single, dedicated server for the site. This is good for large businesses with high traffic. Dedicated servers often offer multiple domain names, powerful email solutions and databases and strong support. However, these types of servers are often expensive and require more knowledge of programming and networking.
Domain Names
A domain name is the unique name that points to your location on a server. This name is an alias for the servers IP address. An IP address is 4 numbers from 0-255, separated by a '.'. A computer's IP address is unique and defines the network and host that connects the computer to the internet. This information is typically enough to locate a computer in a general location. To look up your IP address, you can go to
http://whatismyipaddress.com.
Domain names are easier to remember than IP addresses, so each domain name is mapped to an IP address. This mapping is created when the domain name is registered - no two sites can have the same domain name. Also, remember that domain names should be unique, meaningful, short, clear and easy to type and read.
Domain names are typically followed by an extension. We are familiar with many of the common extensions: .com, .edu, .net. Here is a list of some domain extensions with their common useage:
- .com - short for commercial and used for businesses
- .net - short for network and is commonly used by companies involved with the internet
- .org - short for organizations and is primarily used by non-profits
- .biz - used for small business web sites
- .info - used for web sites that contain significant, credible resources
- .mobi - used for sites easily viewed on mobile devices
- .us - for american web sites
- .tv - used for rich content multimedia web sites. Often used in the entertainment industry
- .name - used for personal web sites
These are only a few of the more common extensions. There are hundreds of them, with new extensions being released every year.