What does it really mean when you tell me
you're 'HOSTING' your website?

No matter what you've heard or read before regarding the subject of Hosting, the information that follows will give you a more firm grasp of what "hosting" really means to you, a potential website owner.

Any website, whether it's a simple one page site or a multi-page monster, 'typically' resides on the Hard Drive of a computer that has a High Speed connection to the Internet. Your website may share this Hard Drive with other websites and, if that is the case, you're using what is called 'Shared Hosting.' More on Shared Hosting later... On the other hand, individuals and businesses can obtain their own private (dedicated) server(s) that they purchase, lease or rent for Privacy or Security reasons.

NOTE: The computer and Hard Drive that contains website files is typically called a SERVER. It is called a Server because... it "Serves Up" the website's files to the internet and specifically to the browser window of the user who keys the website's address into the address bar of their browser, be that Internet Explorer, Firefox or others...

There are TWO main parts to the hosting equation and the FIRST is: The Website Address or the "Domain Name" of the website. A Website Address or Domain Name is commonly referred to as the URL which is short for Uniform Resource Locator. The URL resides on a Domain Name Server which is a special server that only hosts Domain Names. To learn more about Domain Name Servers and how they figure into the equation, look HERE.   If some of these terms are strange to you, keep in mind that these are terms that engineers came up with many years ago and they have become Industry Standard Terminology... so to make your life easier... learn these terms well and your challenges will be reduced greatly.

The SECOND, and possibly the most important part of the hosting equation, will be the actuall website files that are hosted on the server that makes them accessable to the client or site visitors. The ability of any Hosting Company to reliably display the website's pages to its customers or visitors can make or break the owner(s). That is why it is imperative to assure that the company that you choose to host your website is reliable. Look for statistics on Their Home Page that tell you what there Guaranteed Up Time is! I personally expect that MY websites will be up ALL the time. How else can I believe that you could be reading this page if my website was not online? A good number to expect to see (for reliability) is 99.9% or better.

Why would a hosting company go off line? Improvements in technology have reduced the outages that were problems in as little as the past four or five years. Today, Un-interrupted power supplies assure power if the electric company has problems or if weather interferes. That gives the hosting company time to fire up their back-up generators to provide long term power, if that is required.

Reliability of equipment that is available today has improved tremendously over past years and failures of Servers are less likely to occur. Still, you should always have a current "Backup" of all your files and it is SO helpful if the hosting company keeps backups of everything so they can reinstall all your files for you and get your site back up in case something does happen, out of the ordinary. Look for that feature when you're searching for a Hosting Company.

In today's world... in 2010, the worst threeat to your website may be in the form of cyber terrorists. If you depend on your website for your income, consult with your hosting company to learn how they protect YOUR data from hackers and cyber terrorists. Some hosting companies are much more dilligent than others. For instance, some do not offer all the options to do the "one click installs" that you will find on some of the more "popular" hosting sites. Do your due dilligence. Your finances may depend on it!

In the opening paragraphs we referred to Shared Hosting. The only drawback that we see with this Hosting method is the possibility of other websites on that same Hard Drive, at the Hosting Facility where YOUR files are stored, becoming infected with a virus or being attacked... and as a result... your files might be at risk. In today's world, that is a real consideration you should address before making a long term committment with any hosting company.

Another reason that users can experience outages is a major disruption of the internet itself. It is not unheard of for a contractor, in a construction project, to mistakenly cut a cable that can knock out a big area of a Country (or Countries). These accidents are certainly beyond your hosting companies ability to defend against and we just have to wait for things like that to get repaired. However, some hosts have taken steps to have duplicate hosting centers on opposite sides of the world and in such cases, much of the world would still be seeing your material. This is a feature offered by one of our preferred Hosting Companies.

So, you see, your Hosting Company acts on YOUR behalf as your "HOST" and "Serves-Up" your website pages from their Servers to your Visitors or Clients.



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