What is
web hosting? And how does it work?
Firstly, a website you see online has 2 aspects to it:
1. An address (that is, a Domain Name. e.g. www.MyWebsite.com)
2. A Home (that is, space where the files and images are stored).
Web hosting or web site hosting is the process of providing space on a
server (hard drive) where you can store your files and images; that
server is connected to the internet, so a visitor to your web site can
see it.
A web hosting provider is a business which rents space on its computers
(commonly these computers are called servers).
The person who rents the space then creates their website and uploads
or transfers the web pages (usually referred to as files) and images to
the hosting provider's server. Everyoneone in the world can then can
view the web site when they type in the web address (the domain name)
of the web site. Once they type that into their browser the web site
(or specifically the web page) is sent to the person requesting to view
the site, showing in their browser (such as Internet Explorer or
Firefox) window.
Web hosting (or web site hosting) can be defined as providing / renting
space on a server which allows others to view your web site.
So how does it work?
When a web site is saved on the server it is controlled by the software
on that server. Currently over 70% of all servers on the internet
use the server software known as the Apache server (th eother 30% use a
mixture of systems including Linux and Windows).
When a web site is created/saved on the server, the software is told
where the web site is on the hard disk and the details of the owner's
account. When a visitor types in a domain name (web site address
usually in the form of www.MyWebsite.com) and requests a specific page
using their internet browser, that request is sent to the web hosting
company's server where the website is stored. The server software then
finds the specific site and the page requested, decides which page the
visitor wants to view and then sends that page to the visitor's browser
and the page is then displayed. Basically, the server software is the
go-between for the files on the server and the browser requesting the
web page/s. Server software can process millions of requests daily.
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