When you build a website, you obviously need a platform to place the website on. This platform is known as hosting. This platform is a simple base on which an entire website is given adequate space to function well. The machine used for storing websites and giving them 24/7 broadcasting time is called as “server”.
Web hosting requires money, which means that you pay for the server space you use. The servers used are not your typical computers; rather they are strong, large and have super high hard drives to store a high level of data. A company that gives web hosting may have more than one server to cater to the needs of web hosting.
Every website that is registered, has its own domain name, provided by the host and this is a unique address. This address will be what people will type to reach your site.
When we talk about web hosting, there are various categories to it.You could be given services depending upon the website being home based, commercial/professional base or educational base. Whatever the purpose of the website, there are specific tools and packages to cater to that need.
Paid hosting is an optimal choice, as compared to web free hosting, because you don’t have to face endless advertising banners, and you pay for what you want on your site. These are mostly quite irritating for website visitors and could put people off from visiting your site. Secondly, when you go for free hosting, you do not have your own domain name, rather it becomes the second half of the server’s extension. With this limitation, your website would not be considered as professional and visitors always want to opt for a site that has its own domain; also if you aim to make it a high achieving site, it cannot be built on a free host. It is suggested, that you pay money and get your site registered with your own domain name, if you ever want to earn from it.
Besides the free web hosting service, there are a number of other services such as clustered hosting (many servers hosting one site, for better distribution of data) and a simple home server.
Web hosting services are plenty and to understand what services would meet your requirements, a proper and thorough research is compulsory on your part. Better yet, if you would discuss the pro and cons of each hosting with any experienced professional. Well known hosting companies offer customer services that cater to the needs of customers and help them with their queries of choosing a web hosting.