What is Web Hosting?

The web hosting industry is massive on the Internet. The number of companies providing web hosting service probably number in the tens of thousands, if not more.

There is so much confusing information, terminology, and acronyms involved in the industry. It can be very difficult to understand when you are new to it.

The goal of this guide is to explain this information to you in an easy to understand manner.

What is web hosting?

Web hosting is really nothing more than computers connected to the Internet, with specialized software running on them to communicate in a way your web browser understands and can display information to you.

There are millions, or maybe even billions, of computers connected to the Internet running web sites. These computers can be anywhere, even in your own house.

Computers find each other on the Internet through something known as an IP Address. For example, with the address of someone’s house, there is the address number, street name, city, zip code, etc, which tells people where to find that person.

A system such as this is needed for the Internet too. This is where the IP Address comes in. It is a set of numbers (ex. 192.168.1.15) computers on the Internet use to find each other.

What does an IP Address have to do with Web Hosting?

This IP address is needed for people to find the computer where a web site resides. Now, typing in a string of numbers to find a web site would be too difficult to remember. This is where domain names, such as “google.com” come in. There will be more information on domain names later.

So, you type in google.com into your web browser. Your web browser then sends a request to a domain server, which is a computer that translates domain names into IP addresses. Once your web browser has the IP address, it can go out and get the site to display to you.

Web Hosting Companies

Putting a computer out on the Internet to run a web site is very expensive. This is where web hosting companies come in. They allow your web site to exist on their computers connected to the Internet in exchange for a monthly fee.

These companies handle all the power requirements, Internet connections, support staff for problems, and generally everything to make sure the computer with your web site on it stays connected to the Internet and available.

Thus, the web hosting industry is a bunch of companies who maintain large numbers of computers connected to the Internet with web site software running on them.

Do I need web hosting?

You need web hosting if you want to put your own web site on the Internet. Buying web hosting service from a company rents space on their servers. The web site you put there will be accessible from anywhere in the world.