Friday, October 2, 2009

Web hosting for idiots: How do websites work?

We visit numerous website each day but do we know how they operate? Probably not, and in reality there is a huge amount that goes on behind the scenes when you visit any website. Here's some basic ideas about what is actually happening.

A website is actually a collection of web pages that link here and there depending on what you click. All the web pages contain text and images which is stored in a different place. The place where all the text and images are stored is called the web server. A web server will have access to the internet which is connected to a certain website. When someone clicks on the website address, it will be link to the web server and download the page onto the screen of the monitor.

In other words, web server allows you to see the text and images through your web browser. Among the browsers available in the market is Internet Explorer, Firefox or K-Meleon.

In some cases, the computer could be turn into a server but it must have a fast internet connection speed. A computer turned into a server must be kept running at all times and will need extra care when managing it. Therefore, many people usually do not choose this way of having their server. They will choose a proper company to have their web server with a web hosting company. Web hosting companies will many servers where they can provide services to thousands of website owners. The main priority is to keep the servers working at all times. Reputable companies such as GoDaddy maybe a little more expensive, but there record for ‘uptime’ i.e. how long do they host sites without having any problems is 99.99%.

For a website to run smoothly, a space on the web server with internet connection is required to store web pages. Space in the web server is calculated in MB. The more MB you require, the more it will cost. Besides that, internet connection which is used to connect the website to the internet is known as bandwidth.  Bandwidth will be the key for surfers to access the website and is counted in GB or MB. The bandwidth provided will be different from different companies. Customer support is also another important thing when it comes to good web hosting company. Companies which provides customer help line is definitely a bonus. Besides that, companies today also provide email support. The ability to explain term in a simple manner is very important because not all customers have a great knowledge about computers.

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