A service that allows you to upload and store a site's HTML documents and related files on a Web server. This makes the files available on the World Wide Web for viewing by the public. Also called site hosting.
Web hosting often closely associated with domain names is web site hosting. The World Wide Web is a massive collection of web sites, all hosted on computers (called web servers) all over the world. Because of the web's uniquely global nature, a web site should be accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Rather than pay to have a 24/7 dedicated Internet connection to an in-house webserver, many people opt to host their sites with a web hosting provider. Web hosting clients simply upload their web sites to a shared (or dedicated) webserver, which the ISP maintains to ensure a constant, fast connection to the Internet.
Web sites are hosted, or stored, on a special computer called a server. A computer that stores Web documents and makes them available to the rest of the world.The complex web of servers consists of computer systems installed with Web-server software and connected to the Internet. These servers can be found in any facility with Internet connectivity.The process of maintaining and operating one of these servers is called Web hosting.
WPPs are typically companies with one or more data-center facilities that are connected to the Internet. Web hosting provided by WPPs can vary widely with respect to service quality and cost. Some providers consist simply of a room in the basement of a house and a tier-1 (T1) line connected to the local ISP. Others, however, are corporations with state-of-the-art hosting centers consisting of redundant fiber paths for high-speed Internet connections, redundant electrical power sources, a dry pipe-fire suppression system, and an experienced operations group, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Types of Web Hosting Web hosting services present in all sizes and shapes. It is useful to break down all services into several "classes" in order to understand the most fundamental differences in pricing and functionality. Each "class" speaks the needs of a particular type of customer.
Shared Hosting This is the most basic and important of all services. The hosting service providers put several web sites on a single powerful machine.
Dedicated hosting This type of hosting allows a webmaster to rent an entire server. This server is not shared with anybody. This is more flexible than shared hosting (see below), as webmasters have full control over the server, including choice of operating system, hardware, etc.
Managed hosting An expanded dedicated hosting service where the web host will manage your dedicated server for you.
Web hosting can be provided on a shared computer environment or on a dedicated computer system. When a Web site consists only of standard HTML code and receives a small number of visitors, shared hosting service is the best solution. When a Web site consists of complex common gateway interface (CGI) scripts and proprietary programs and receives a large number of visitors, dedicated hosting service is the best solution.
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