8 popular questions about hosting

1. What is hosting?

Hosting is a place where a website is stored, as well as the name of the service that provides such a place.

The computer's browser receives information about the site and its content from the server. The server is essentially a computer that works around the clock 365 days a year and stores website files such as scripts, text, photos, and videos.

After you create a website, you rent hosting from a provider and move the site there. Servers where hosting with your site is located are located in special places - data centers. After transferring to hosting, the site will be available on the Internet to any user.

The cost of the hosting service includes not only renting space on the server but also renting the processing power, RAM, etc., necessary for the normal operation of the site. Large sites (popular online stores, social networks) require more power, so hosting such sites will be more expensive than hosting a website of a small company.

For this reason, hosting services are divided into three main categories:

• shared hosting - for small sites with approximate traffic of up to 5000 visitors per day;
• VPS/VDS - for larger sites with traffic of up to 10,000 visitors per day;
• dedicated server - for very large sites with traffic of more than 10,000 visitors per day.

There are such large sites that require more than one server to store all the information. For such sites, separate data centers are built to store all the servers there. For example, Facebook uses more than 50,000 servers.

2. Can hosting be done on your own computer?

Any hosting provider has special software to ensure that your website runs as fast as possible and is protected from hacking and other malicious actions. Theoretically, you can organize hosting for your website on your own computer, but then you will have to keep your computer turned on all the time and monitor its performance yourself. As soon as your computer turns off, breaks down, or just freezes, the site immediately becomes unavailable on the network. For this reason, we recommend using the services of hosting providers who can technically ensure the constant availability of the site.

3. What are the differences between different hosting plans?

Like home computers, hosting plans differ in their characteristics. Companies that provide hosting services divide them into tariff plans.

The most common differences are:

• the amount of disk space;
• the amount of RAM;
• the number of hosted websites and files;
• the processor time;
• the installed software on the server.

To choose the right plan, as a website owner, you need to know the specifics of its operation and requirements for hosting. To do this, you need to clarify all the details with the developers - specialists who created your website.

4. What is the difference between hosting and a domain?

To access any website, you need to enter its name in the browser's address bar. For example, by entering hostings.info, you will go to our website, hostings.info, which is the name of the site - the domain.

To better understand the difference between a domain and hosting, let's use an analogy. Imagine a house with furniture, where furniture is the files of your website, and the house itself (the place where the furniture - files - is stored) is hosting. In this example, the domain is the address where the house is located. Instead of a city, street, house number, and postal code, you use a set of words and numbers that are part of your domain - the name of your website.

It should be understood that both hosting and a domain are necessary for the full operation of a website on the network. These are two different services that are purchased separately.

5. What is the difference between a domain and a website?

A website is one or more related web pages, and a domain is the address where the website is located. The website's address, or its name, can be changed over time. This is called rebranding. For example, the Facebook website was initially registered under the domain thefacebook.com, but then decided to change its name to the shorter facebook.com, and later acquired another domain - fb.com.

Thus, the unique information of the website, its "identity," remains unchanged, but the website can change its address (domain) where it can be found.

6. What is the difference between virtual hosting and VPS?

When using virtual hosting, your website is hosted on a server alongside hundreds of other websites. You share all the server's resources and capabilities with neighbors who may consume more than their fair share, which can cause your site to "suffer": run slower or experience downtime. Virtual hosting can be compared to a shared apartment, where you only rent a room. You have neighbors who also rent rooms in this communal apartment, but you all use all the resources available in the apartment: the kitchen, bathroom, etc. In other words, the server's resources are shared equally among all tenants. On virtual hosting, you are heavily dependent on your neighbors. For example, if a neighbor's site is hit by a DDoS attack, all other sites on the server may be affected.

VPS - Virtual Private Server also involves hosting a site on a large physical server along with "neighbors," but in an isolated space (container) away from them. For each VPS, its own resources and limitations are allocated, and the reuse of those resources by other clients will not affect the operation of your site. A virtual server can be compared to a separate apartment in a multi-apartment building that belongs only to you. You can safely use all the resources that are available in the apartment at any time and not be dependent on your neighbors (although they are there, but through a wall).

7. What is the difference between hosting and a server?

A server is a large computer that stores websites, and hosting is a service that provides space on this computer to host a website. Without hosting, you cannot connect to the server to place your website on it.

Hosting providers offer, among other things, a dedicated server service, where the user rents not just space on the server to host a website, but the entire server itself and configures it to their needs.

8. What is the difference between hosting and a provider?

As we have previously established, hosting is a service that provides space on a server to host a website. A company that provides hosting services is called a hosting provider. A company that provides internet to your computer is an internet provider. Therefore, a provider is a company that provides its services.