An Introduction To Web Hosting

Web hosting is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to provide their own website to be accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own for use by their clients as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center. Web hosts can also provide data center space and connectivity to the Internet for servers they do not own to be located in their data center. There are many free and paid providers offering these services and they come with many different features and in a wide range of applications.

Customers need to evaluate their individual requirements of these applications to best choose what kind of hosting to use. Such considerations include database server software, scripting software, and operating system. Most hosting providers provide Linux-based web hosting which offers a wide range of different software. A typical configuration for a Linux server is the LAMP platform: Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP/Perl/Python. The web hosting client may want to have other services, such as email for their business domain, databases or multi-media services for streaming media. Customers may also choose to use Windows as the hosting platform instead of Linux. Windows customer still can choose from PHP, Perl, and Python but may also use ASP .Net or Classic ASP.

Web hosting packages will often include a Web Content Management System, so the end-user doesn't have to worry about some of the more technical aspects. These Web Content Management systems are beneficial for the average user, but for those who want more control over their website design, this feature may not be adequate.

Most modern desktop operating systems (Windows, Linux, Mac OSX) are also capable of running web server software, and thus can be used to host very basic websites. There are also many active web hosting message boards and forums that may provide feedback on what type of web hosting company may best suit an individuals needs.