Web Hosting Tutorial For Beginners
If you’re beginning on your blog, web hosting may appear to you as something very complex and technical. However that once you’ve got an understanding of the basics then you won’t think like that.
Following this piece,, you will be aware of everything you need to be aware of regarding web hosting (that bloggers should be aware of).
What Is Web Hosting?
Simply put simply, web hosting is the process by which a web hosting service (web hosting company) helps create a website that is accessible to the general public.
Here’s what is a web hosting service allows you to accomplish:
- Space for saving (store) your images, files as well as other forms of media. (Disk space)
- Lets users access your saved files/images/media if you request. (Bandwidth)
To accomplish this, the web host utilizes what is known as a ” server‘.
What’s A Web Hosting Server?
Servers are computers that store files and media. server is a type of computer that stores media files and also serves media and files upon request.
It is available 24/7 (UpTime) and is able to serve requests to many visitors (know as “clients”) simultaneously.
If 100 people come to your blog simultaneously every one will be able to visit your blog.
If you post a blog article and save it on the server of your web hosting server and then it can be accessed by anyone who visits your blog.
Operating System Of The Server – What Does That Mean?
Because the server functions like an actual computer, it operates on an operating system called Server OS. There are generally two well-known operating systems that are:
- Windows operating system, namely IIS (Use only when you require ASP as well as ASP.Net on your website).
- Linux-based operating system (Open source therefore free) (CentOS as the largest and most well-known)
You would have realized it, you can see that the Linux operating system has the highest famous of the two since it is an open source.
Of all Linux software programs that are based on Linux, CentOS is the most well-known. The majority, if but not every web hosting companies utilize CentOS.
Linux can run PHP, which is the programming language utilized by WordPress and a variety of different free CMS’s (Content management systems) such as Joomla as well as Drupal. This is the reason why you require a Linux-based server for running these CMS’s.
From now on we will concentrate on Linux-based servers.
Web Server Software Program – What Is It?
An web server software is installed over an OS in order to make the system behave as it is a server. To make it clear the server is running on a Linux operating system such as CentOS and on top of that it is installed a server application is installed.
The most popular web server software applications are listed below.
- Apache HTTP server software (Open source)
- Litespeed
- Nginx
- lighttpd
It is not within our scope to explore the distinctions between different types of software systems.
It’s sufficient to suggest that when you start your blog you should best to use Linux hosting which comes with Apache HTTP server. The majority of hosting businesses offer this service and you don’t have to be concerned about this.
The second best alternative is “Litespeed”. If properly configured it is a server software is very safe and more efficient when compared to Apache.
We will talk more about these later in the second section of this article.
These details are only intended to provide a rough understanding. It is not necessary to ‘by heart’ know these.
What Is Web Hosting Storage Space And Bandwidth?
As we’ve discussed as previously mentioned, as we have discussed earlier, a web hosting firm provides storage space for your images and files as well as bandwidth that makes your images and files accessible to the general public.
Let’s take a look at these issues in more in depth:
1.) Storage Space: Your blog posts, images, media files (videos, podcasts etc. ), WordPress installation, themes, plugins and so on. All of them are stored on the server.
The more data you save the more space you’ll have.
In general, hosting businesses provide ample storage space. Some offer an unlimited amount of storage (known as ‘unmetered’ use).
You don’t need to be concerned about this.
2.) Bandwidth: Every when a user visits your site, they use server resources. This is due to the fact that the server has to transfer all media files/images/files to the user’s computer.
The resources utilized to serve files in this manner are measured as bandwidth.
The more people you are hosting the more server resources you will require and , consequently, you’ll need more bandwidth.
When you are comparing web hosting it’s logical to know the amount of bandwidth each service offers and for what price.
Bandwidth can be measured as Bytes and the value will usually be stated by gigabytes (Gigabytes) as well as TB (Terrabyes).
How much bandwidth do I need?
Bandwidth requirements are different according to the kind of content you post posted on your site.
For instance If your blog posts contain only simple text, your bandwidth consumption will be much lower. However when your blog has high-resolution pictures (self hosted photos) the bandwidth requirements is extremely high. If your blog is self-hosted videos, bandwidth requirements will increase to the point of being unsustainable. This is why it’s an excellent idea to host your videos on an online service such as Youtube.com and Vimeo.
It is impossible to determine your bandwidth needs before taking a look. It’s the moment you finish hosting your website that you are able to find out the amount of bandwidth you’re using and if you’re in need of more.
However, for blogs that are regularly updated the bandwidth requirements will usually be in line with what your web hosting service offers.
What Is Server Response Time?
The server response time is the amount of time it takes for the server to respond to a request. That is, the amount of time required by the server for loading a web page on the client’s browser.
Rapider response times are a sign of a reliable hosting business.
You can determine the speed of your website’s response by using a tool such as bitcatcha.com or Pingdom.com
Notice: Remember that this is not the same as ‘ site load time or page speed. The time it takes to load a website is based upon the server response time as well as the dimensions and design of your site. If your website is filled with unoptimized media (like images that are not optimized) it may take more time for loading.
You can verify your website’s page speed using Google’s Page Speed Insights tool.
Does Server Location Matter?
Certain hosts have servers in different countries or locations and give you the possibility of selecting one of them.
Always pick a location where you believe the majority of your site’s visitors are most likely to be.
If your blog is targeted at people from all over the world it is not necessary to be concerned about this. If your blog is primarily local, look to the web hosting firm that has servers within your country.
What Is Server ‘Up Time’ And ‘Down Time’?
Servers are exposed to heavy load on a daily basis. Apart from regular client-based requests servers may also be subject to cyber attacks, or get into other, resource-intensive demands. This is the reason they need prompt maintenance and backup plans.
If there are no these plans, servers could experience continuous down-times.
When the web hosting server goes down your website will stop functioning. That is, your site visitors won’t be in a position to access your site.
This is the reason it is crucial to choose a reliable hosting company that will guarantee 99.9 percent up-times.
In fact, even the best servers can suffer from small downtimes, like just a few minutes now and every now and. It is not possible to fix it. However, if you find that your web hosting firm is constantly experiencing interruptions, it’s time to think about the possibility of a new solution.
Monitoring down-times There is no way to feasible to manually monitor down-times and, therefore, you must utilize a tool like uptimerobot.com or Statuscake.com
These services will be monitoring your website and send you an email when your website goes down. Then, you can contact the web hosting company to notify them of the issue and ask them to correct the problem to fix it quickly. the issue quickly.
What Are MySQL Databases?
An MySQL Database is required if you intend to manage an online site with an CMS (Content Management System) such as WordPress.
One wordpress installation needs one MySQL database.
A CMS similar to WordPress makes use of WordPress’ MYSQL database for storing and retrieving information to create dynamic pages.
Databases are not needed when you intend to operate an online website that is static and does not use any CMS.
If you do not use the CMS will mean that you’ll have to manually upload or update your content onto your server. static websites are generally best when you don’t expect to add more than 5-10 pages to your website , and when you don’t plan on updating your site often.