What is Web Hosting?

If you have already created a website or are familiar with how the internet works, you may have heard about Web Hosting. But, do You know what is Web Hosting?

In this article you will find:

• What is Web Hosting?
• How Web Hosting Started
• The difference between a BIG Server and a Shared Hosting
• Shared Hosting
• BIG Server
• The Web Hosting Control Panels
• cPanel
• DirectAdmin
• Things you can do with Web Hosting

What is Web Hosting?

Web Hosting is nothing more than a service to ensure you have 24-hour access to web functionality. Like for example, keep a page online. Or, keep a database server running on the web.

When you make a website and want to keep it online, so that other people can see it, you will have to publish your documents through a web hosting service. Generally, hosting services are offered by specialized companies. These companies have multiple servers and offer various plans for different user needs. When you buy hosting, you are basically renting space inside a server.

There are several companies in the world that offer their servers and various features. Each brings its characteristics, so it is up to the user to identify the best opportunities. It is common to find several types of hosting services, the most common being shared hosting and dedicated (BIG) servers.

At Copahost we offer several hosting services to meet any needs you need, with quality and safety!

How Web Hosting Started

Website hosting was born around the beginning of the word Wide Web. However, it was definitely not as advanced as we see it today. The Internet and website hosting services are probably one of the biggest technological inventions to date.

In 1991, with the e-commerce revolution, the companies began to study and perfect themselves to offer web hosting so that all internet users could have their web pages online. At first, this service was costly and complex, so it was generally used by large companies. Over the years, the service has become increasingly cheap and simplified, so it has become popular until it is affordable to anyone interested in maintaining an online page.

There are several types of web hosting services. It has become easy for anyone to understand this concept, and thus offer their electronic services.

The web hosting service has come a very long way since 1991, and it continues to develop day by day. With new technologies and features that meet the needs of consumers, these services are increasingly being simplified, more efficient, safer and faster.

The difference between a BIG Server and a Shared Hosting

When you are looking for a hosting service, it is very common to wonder what each type of service is all about. Among the hosting services, the most common are shared hosting and dedicated server hosting, or BIG Server.

In shared hosting, you will share the space of a server with several other users. Already in Big Server services, you guarantee a server exclusively dedicated to you. In the image below, a visual example of how they work:

It is important to know the characteristics of these services before making the decision.

Shared Hosting

The shared hosting space is the one with the most demand today and serves the most internet users. It is the service that has the budget-friendly option to quickly get your website running. However, it is also a lower quality service than a Big Server.

Limitations include limits on storage and bandwidth. The performance of your website is largely affected by the needs of the other websites, as you will be sharing the same server resources. This hosting service is ideal for websites that do not require a lot of bandwidth, disk storage or CPU consumption.

BIG Server

Big Server is a more expensive service, but superior to Shared Hosting. You will have a server fully dedicated to your applications. Hardware is provided by the data centre and is fully dedicated to your server. In this hosting, all server configurations are allowed for the user. The user can customize it to best suit their needs. It has higher bandwidth and disk space. Despite being a service far superior to shared hosting, it is necessary to have good knowledge to be able to control and change the server functions. However, many current hosting companies already offer these services to assist their customers.

The Web Hosting Control Panels

A Web Hosting Control Panel is a tool used to manage your web hosting plan. With it, you can:

• Manage domains;
• Install applications;
• Create and manage email accounts;
• Upload your website files;
• And many other functions.

These functions can be performed by logging in to your service server. However, more technical knowledge is required to accomplish this. The Control Panel is intuitive and simple to use. Therefore, its use is highly recommended, especially for novice users.

There are several control panels available. cPanel is the best known and most used in the world. DirectAdmin is a very popular option today. So, let’s know a little about them.

cPanel

cPanel is one of the most popular website hosting control panels. Available for Linux OS only. It has both a graphical hosting interface and a server management interface through Web Host Manager (WHM).

Because these environments work together, you can manage your site with any of them. Because of this, it fits perfectly with both novice users and developers who prioritize a complete custom system.

CPanel has many functions. All of them are shown on one page. Therefore, this makes the user experience comfortable. You don’t have to access multiple menus to find what you want.

In addition, all features have descriptions that indicate what they do. And finally, in virtually every option you can create anything with just one click.

The main functions offered by cPanel are:

• Domain Settings;
• Email creation and management;
• Settings for Email Functions;
• Files (Log) about visitors and errors;
• cPanel File Manager
• Database creation and management;
• Security: IP blockers, anti-leech protection, and password protected directories;
• Server performance monitoring;
• Backup Creation and Automation;
• User Manager and FTP user creation;
• Many tertiary applications and tools to extend functionality.

DirectAdmin

DirectAdmin is one of the easiest, fastest and most stable control panels to use. His interface is very user-friendly, and also very cheap. This is available for Linux and also for BSD systems.

At the top, the options are categorized and localized. This control panel also supports multiple access levels (Administrator, User, and Reseller).

In addition, it also has embedded tools that block spam. Apart from that, it is also possible to view complete usability statistics for each feature.

Basically, it has many options and functions. For example DNS management, database creation and management, reseller account creation and management, backup creation, and so on.

But its main peculiarity is simplicity. Because of that, to use this Control Panel,  You don’t need to be a technology expert.

GoDaddy

GoDaddy is a web hosting company from the USA, founded at the beginning of the 2000s. Originally GoDaddy used to offer domain name registrations. Nowadays it offers simple web hosting plans with a very limited control panel and features.

Bluehost

Bluehost is a more corporate company, offering limited speed web hosting plans. Even though it offers cheap web hosting services, whenever you try to pay it month by month (or even yearly) you will get a negative surprise with its real cost.

Only Copahost offers real and competitive prices. Of course, paying more months in advance will give you a great discount.

Google Domains

Google Domains is something relatively new in the market. By the middle of 2015, it started providing domain name registration services. It doesn’t currently provide competitive web hosting services. Its control panel is still under development, and it’s a bit confusing.

If you are planning to register a domain name, the best option is Copahost. By paying your hosting plan one year in advance, you get one year of free domain registration.

Things you can do with Web Hosting

It is possible to accomplish several things with web hosting. Maintain an online website and email services are the most used functions. But, you can use hosting for other things like:

• Web Page Creation;
• Custom Email Creation;
• Database creation and maintenance;
• Virtual Stores (e-commerce);
• Application Creation;
• Install Applications;
• Use PHP, HTML, JavaScript and other common tools.
• Game Servers;
• Streaming Applications;
• Use a secure HTTPS server;
• Installation of WordPress, Joomla, Magento and another CMS;
• Debugging errors in your application
• Other functions involving web applications.

Free web hosting: does it still exist?

A decade ago, there were many web hosting companies for free. Such free hosting plans worked in a very limited way. In the past WordPress was just growing, and we didn’t have a real need for high CPU processing like nowadays. Today, there isn’t any good free web hosting company opened. All the companies offering such plans or are very limited, or else, simply won’t deliver what they are promising.

GoDaddy’s domains: a cheap promise and a tricky future

In the past, GoDaddy used to announce domain registrations for as low as 0,99$ per month. This offer used to trick many customers, as they had to pay ICANN fees that were way higher than this price. By browsing the internet, there are several complaints about this policy – and it made GoDaddy review this and end this offer.

Our suggestion is: never go for such improbable offers. Always try to know the company’s history before ordering their services.

Conclusion

So now you know what it is, how it works and what a web hosting is for. We recommend that you seek the service that best suits your needs. Check everything you will need to put your HTML page or application on the web. After that, identify the best plan for this. Lastly, choose the plan and company that suits you best and best fits your profile.

Check out Copahost web hosting plans! We offer plans for various user-profiles and you’re sure to find one that fits your needs.