Web Hosting

Web Hosting

* The Web is a network of computers all over the world.
* All the computers in the Web can communicate with each other.
* All the computers use a communication standard called HTTP.
* Web information is stored in documents called web pages.
* Web pages are files stored on computers called web servers.
* Computers reading the web pages are called web clients.
* Web clients view the pages with a program called a web browser.
* Popular browsers are Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.
* A browser fetches a page from a web server by a request.
* A request is a standard HTTP request containing a page address.
* An address may look like this: http://www.someone.com/page.htm.
* All web pages contain instructions for display
* The browser displays the page by reading these instructions.
* The most common display instructions are called HTML tags.
* HTML tags look like this

This is a Paragraph

.
* The collection of all your web pages is called your web site.
* To let others view your work, you must publish your web site.
* To publish your work, you must copy your site to a web server.
* Your own PC can act as a web server if it is connected to a network.
* Most common is to use an Internet Service Provider (ISP).
* ISP stands for Internet Service Provider.
* An ISP provides Internet services.
* A common Internet service is web hosting.
* Web hosting means storing your web site on a public server.
* Web hosting normally includes email services.
* Web hosting often includes domain name registration.

If you want other people to view your web site, you must copy your site to a public server. Even
if you can use your own PC as a web server, it is more common to let an Internet Service
Provider (ISP) host your site.

Included in a Web hosting solution you can expect to find domain name registration and
standard email services.

Internet Service Providers are specialists on web hosting. Expect their servers to have more
than 99% up time, the latest software patches, and the best virus protection.

Things to Consider

24-hour support
Daily Backup
Traffic Volume
Bandwidth or Content Restrictions
Email Capabilities
Front Page Extensions
Database Access

What is a Domain Name?

A domain name is a unique name for a web site, like microsoft.com and w3schools.com.
Domain names must be registered. When domain names are registered they are added to a
large domain name register, and information about your site
- including your internet IP address
- is stored on a DNS server.

DNS stands for Domain Name System. A DNS server is responsible for informing all other
computers on the Internet about your domain name and your site address.

Common Hosting Technologies
Windows Hosting
Unix Hosting
Linux Hosting
CGI
ASP - Active Server Pages
Chili!Soft ASP
JSP
FrontPage
PHP
Cold Fusion
Secure Server

Database-driven web sites
Web Databases
Using the SQL Language
SQL Server
Oracle
Access
MySQL

Hosting can be FREE, SHARED or DEDICATED

Your Checklist
Before you choose your web host, make sure that:
* The hosting type suits your current needs
* The hosting type is cost effective
* Upgrading to a better server is a possible solution
* If needed, upgrading to a dedicated server is possible

Web Hosting E-Commerce

Your Checklist

* How does it handle customers?
* How does it handle product catalogs?
* How does it handle orders?
* How does it handle inventory?
* How does it handle back orders?
* How does it handle shipment?
* How does it handle accounts?
* How does it handle billing?
* How does it handle payment?
* How does it handle foreign currency?
* How does it handle credit cards?
* How does it handle taxes?
* How does it handle security?
* How does it handle integrity (encryption)?

Also check if the most time-consuming tasks are automated. Look for automated billing, invoice handling, accounting, and report generation.

Before you sign up a contract with any hosting provider, surf some other e-commerce sites on their servers. Find out how it works. Actually try some shopping and see if you get a good feeling. Also compare the other sites against yours, to see if it looks like you have the same needs. Contacting some of the other customers is also a valuable option.