Basic definitions

Hi guys,
The following information is for all of the novices in web hosting world. It's adapted from some website which i don't remember.

1.Difference between shared hosting and dedicated hosting-
The primary difference between dedicated and shared hosting is how the web server is used. With Shared web hosting, the web server is shared between many different websites. With dedicated web hosting, the web server is dedicated to your web site. Both services have their advantages and disadvantages.
Dedicated hosting is any day expensive than shared hosting.

2.What is disk space and bandwidth transfer?
The disk space that you contract for from your web hosting company is the disk space that you will use for your web site (and website logs if you have logging enabled). You can determine how much disk space you will need by looking at the amount of space that your website is using on your own machine.

If you got lots of pictures or other image files there will be a need of more disk space.

Bandwidth or data transfer, refers to the amount of data that has been transmitted by your web server to visitors of your website. For example, if you have one page on your web site that is 10kb large, and that page has one image on it that is 90kb large you will transfer 100kb of data for every user that views that website. So, 10 users would mean that you used 1,000KB of bandwidth.

Bandwidth and disk space needs vary tremendously based on the type of web site that you are hosting and the volume of visitors to your web site. Largely text web sites do just fine with several hundred megabytes of diskspace and bandwidth. We suggest that you speak with your web hosting company and have them help you select the right plan for you.

What's the difference between Managed hosting and colocation hosting?

Managed hosting is similar to dedicated hosting, but you get more service and support. Specifically, the web hosting company will watch over your server, troubleshoot problems, perform regular backups, install patches, etc. The specific services offered by managed hosting companies vary, so make sure you account for this difference as you compare prices.

Colocation is a form of dedicated hosting. If you collocate a server, you provide the hardware and the colocation provider installs it for you in their data center. They take care of making sure that you have a consistent Internet connection and ensure that you have power to your server. You handle everything else with the server. You usually pay for the rack space (the space that your server takes up) and the bandwidth that your server consumes. Colocation is a service that is generally used by more sophisticated users.

Why it is not possible to host website on computer at home?
You can host your web site at home, but it often sounds easier than it actually is and usally doesn't make the most sense.

There are several reasons why it isn't a great idea to host your web site at home:

Not allowed by most ISPs. Many consumer broadband ISPs do not legally allow you to host a web site unless you upgrade to their business ISP service. Some ISPs employ technology to prevent you from hosting a web site on your computer (such as port blocking). To upgrade to a business ISP may cost $20 to $50 a month additional.
Dynamic IP allocation Many broadband ISPs now employ dynamic IP allocation, so your computer gets a new IP address every time that it connects to the Internet. This makes web hosting challenging (although not impossible).
Slower upstream speeds. DSL (and sometimes cable modem service) provide different upstream and downstream bandwidths (since most users usually receive information, not send it)
Reliability. Web hosting companies work to make sure that your web server is always up and running, and that your web site is always connected to the Internet. Nearly all web hosting companies have backup power supplies, and backup Internet connections.

Why You Need A Domain Name


On the World Wide Web your domain name is your own unique identity. No two parties can ever hold the same domain name simultaneously; therefore your Internet identity is totally unique. If you have a business site on the Internet your domain name is your own online brand and in a sense you can use your domain name as your online business card. With your own domain name your web site, and e-mail addresses for example will have that professional look, being unique to your business. Many people often miss the importance of having and then keeping their domain name until they lose it. Once this happens they soon realize that they have lost their whole online identity.

How does a domain name work?

To understand why you need a domain name you first need to know how a domain name works.

A domain name is an addressing construct, used for finding and identifying computers on the Internet. Computers use Internet Protocol (IP) Addresses, which are a series of numbers used to identify each other on the Internet; however, many people find it hard to remember IP Addresses. Because of this, domain names were developed so that easily remembered names and phrases could be used to identify entities in the Internet instead of using an IP Address.

For example, the domain name M6.net identifies the company M6.net. When a user types the domain name M6.net in their browser or sends an email to M6.net, the Domain Name System (DNS) will translate the domain name into IP numbers. These are then used by the Internet to connect the user to M6.net’s web presence.

What should I use as a domain name?

You can use a word or phrase as a domain name. When thinking of a domain name, think of catchy words or phrases that are easy to remember and that will bring more traffic to your site. Try to use a domain name that is relevant to your web site. If your web site is a business site, it is a good idea to use the companies name as the domain name or if your site is a personal site try to think of a domain name that is related to the topic of your web site.

Also try to keep your domain name as short as possible, around 5 to 20 characters is fine. The shorter the domain name the easier it will be to remember.

One thing to keep in mind is assumed spelling issues; if you think up a ‘clever’ domain name such as 1luv4u.com – One Love For You (dating service), people may type in oneloveforyou.com believing this is the domain name; or oneluv4u.com, or 1love4you.com etc. This leads to brand problems. In this case the “oneloveforyou.com” name would be best. Another unfortunate example: Flo Office Supplies – flooffice.com?

How do I acquire a domain name?

There are two main ways you can get a domain name. You can either register your domain name yourself or you can get your web host or ISP (Internet Service Provider) to register it for you.

To register a domain name yourself you will need to choose a Registrar. A Registrar is an ICANN accredited domain registration company. There are hundreds of Registrars on the Internet nowadays. The market is becoming increasingly competitive; which means that you can purchase domains names for a low yearly fee.

Most web hosting companies will offer domain registration services to their clients. When you register a domain name through a web host they will register your domain name for you through their own approved registrar. An advantage to having your web host register your domain name for you is that, they have probably done this process many times before; they have all the necessary information ready at hand. This process will save you time and, as long as you give the ‘correct’ domain name desired, there will be no unfamiliar dealings with Registrars.source

Choosing Your Top Level Domain


Once you have figured out a name for your ‘domain’ it can be really confusing trying to decide on what should go after the “dot” (i.e. com, net, org, etc…) in your domain name. This part of the domain name is referred to as a top-level domain (TLD) and knowing the difference between each top-level domain is important when choosing your domain name.

Below are the descriptions of the best known top-level domains:

.com – This is the most popular TLD. It is used mainly for US commercial organizations. BUT, in its capacity, it represents the highest standing for any domain name. Anyone can have a ‘.com’, but it is more difficult to think up a unique name that hasn’t already been registered.

.net – This is the second most popular TLD. It generally describes the entity owning the domain name as a network and is used mainly by organizations that provide network connection services.

.gov – Generally used for government agencies.

.int – Intended to be used for sites relating to International Treaties or containing international databases. For this reason, it is not widely used.

.mil – Mainly used by military organizations of the US government.

.org – In general, non-profit organizations tend to use this extension.

.name – This is a new TLD and is intended to allow individuals to register their names (i.e. firstname.lastname.name) as a personal domain name on the Internet.

.biz – This is a new TLD for businesses; ‘.biz’ is intended to be an alternative to the ‘.com’.

.info – This is also new, and is freely available to anyone with a business, government or non-commercial site.Source:M6.net/articles

What is domain parking?
Domain parking is where you want to register a domain but do not necessarily want to activate it as a web site or mail server,you just want to register the domain for use at a later date.

What is domain alias?
Domain alias and multiple domain concept are same.
An alias is a secondary name that refers to an original, so a domain alias is simply a second name for your domain.

What is multiple domain hosting and subdomains?
With multiple domain hosting you can use the same account with a host for two domains or more. Lets assume that you have registered two domains: www.m-6.com and www.6-m.com. With multiple domain hosting you will be given one directory/folder on your webhost server where you would upload your HTML files/pages.But the webhost company will configure your website so that if someone types m-6.com or 6-m.com into their web browser, that person will be taken to the one and same site. In other words, both domain points to your one web account on your server.

Subdomains are the third level domains in the sense they are used to organise your website content. They are just folders under your root directory but to access them a special url is used.
For instance, http://www.m-6.com is a regular URL without a subdomain.
http://features.m-6.com is an URL with subdomain"features".
Here the
.com is the first level domain
m-6 is the second level domain
features is the third level domain

Why should I keep my domain name registered?

If you loose your domain name you can loose your whole online identity.

Because you can only register a domain name for a year or so, you will need to make sure that you renew it before the expiry date. Once your domain name expires you will no longer own that domain name. Your Registrar will then own it and be able to sell your domain name to the highest bidder. To make sure you don’t loose your domain name you will need to make sure you renew your domain name at least two weeks before it expires.

Also make sure that your information is registered properly, especially if you didn’t register your domain name yourself. Ensure that your information is displayed as the registrant, administrative and billing contacts; most importantly make sure that the email addresses for these contacts are ACTIVE. When you receive any information about your domain name, such as renewals, price changes, etc… an email will be sent to this email address. If you can’t receive any mail from the email addresses listed under the domain names contact then you are at risk of not receiving important notifications about your domain names, which could result in loosing your domain name.

People often miss the importance of having their own unique domain name for their web sites. A domain name represents you, your company and your online presence; as does a ‘business card’. If you don’t have your own domain name you won’t be able to promote your own online identity and web site on the World Wide Web.

Do you need Managed Hosting?

Before you think about managed hosting you will first need to decide whether or not you need a dedicated server. You will need a dedicated server if you have a high-traffic web site. If you only have a small web site with low traffic levels then a shared hosting arrangement should be fine. A dedicated server is more expensive to rent and more difficult to operate than a shared hosting solution but if your business depends on a steady service then you should seriously consider renting a dedicated server.

The only disadvantage with dedicated web hosting is that you will have to do a lot of the server administration yourself, and to do this you will need to possess some technical skills; hence the demand for managed hosting. If you fall into this category of needing a dedicated server but you need your host to provide system administration services such as security, firewalls, monitoring and reporting services, and data backup then most likely you will need managed hosting.

How do you find Managed hosting packages?

Many web hosts who once provided only shared and dedicated web hosting are now beginning to offer managed services too. A good place to start looking for managed hosting is through web hosting directories and search engines, by doing a search for managed hosting you should receive a good list of managed hosting providers. Another key place to start is by contacting hosts who are offering dedicated hosting and ask them if they can provide a managed hosting arrangement as well.

Companies providing managed hosting will either offer managed hosting per item or in a pre-configured plan. Per-item managed hosting gives you the freedom to pick and choose what services you need or do not need; on the other hand, a pre-configured plan will include the dedicated server and the managed hosting services at a monthly fee.

What should I look for in a managed hosting provider?

When choosing a managed hosting provider it is a good idea that your host provides the following qualities:

Reliable and fast support – a good way to find out the response rate and the quality of the services offered by a web host is to send them an email before you sign up with them. If you receive a good response from your web host then this should give you a good indication of the services they are offering.

Freedom – its important to have as much freedom as possible and having the ability to choose from a wide range of services is essential. With managed hosting you might decide that you don’t require firewall support, its important that your web host will provide you with the option of selecting exactly what you need and what you don’t need. Also having the ability to pay monthly is a huge advantage. It will be less of a drain on your budget and you can avoid any expensive yearly contracts.

Fast and reliable connection – You should find out exactly what sort of connection the web host has to the Internet. By asking the web host they should be able to send you their network and connectivity details, you might even be able to find this out on their web site. Also find out where the web hosts Network Operations Center (NOC) is located, it is an advantage for the web host to have its NOC located in the USA as the USA has the fastest and most reliable internet connection in the world.

Competitiveness – When searching for a managed hosting provider it is important to do your research. Each web host will be offering different managed hosting services all at different rates, you might find that one web host may offer one attractive managed hosting service while another doesn’t. However, as many more web hosts are beginning to offer managed hosting, a new competitive market is developing and the prices for managed hosting are becoming much more affordable with many more services being offered

Managed hosting is ideal for the new online businesses person, looking to build a large online business, and wanting to avoid the extra time and resources spent in-house on managing their dedicated servers. In-turn, managed web hosting has provided a profitable outcome to many online businesses by preventing a waste of valuable resources spent on high skilled employees; months of staff training; and, costs of hardware and software.Source:m6.net/articles

When you rent a building there are key parts needed to work or live in the space, like rooms, offices, kitchens, toilets, and bathrooms. In your web-hosting environment, you will find equally important components that are required to make the space workable. The core components in a web-hosting environment are:

Web Server

The web server is a relatively simple piece of software that accepts requests over HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and delivers HTML pages and Image files.

FTP Server

FTP is the means of which a web master can transfer files to and from the server. To put your HTML and image files on a server you will generally use FTP to upload (transfer to) your files to the server running the web server.

Mail Server

The mail server consists of two parts POP (Post Office Protocol) and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). POP is where email is received into your mailbox and SMTP is what is used to send and receive email between mail servers.

Database Server

If you are using server side scripting on your web server (you use something like Microsoft Internet Information Server) then instead of providing ‘static’ data only on web pages you can provide data from a database allowing your users to search and view the data in different and dynamic way. Also, a Database server is used to gather data from visitors to your site; orders, feedback, discussions and the like.

Each one of the above components are software programs running on servers in the web-hosting environment. You can interact with each of these with special software programs you use on your computer. The main ones being:

Web Browser

When viewing the web you use a web browser like Internet Explorer. Many web hosting companies provide a ‘Control Panel’ to administer your web host account, which you use with your web browser. Most allow you to configure most aspects of your account using a simple web browser.

Web site/page editor

Today many web servers allow editing of WebPages over HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) based on Microsoft FrontPage technology. These special editors allow you to essentially look at your web site as if you were using a web browser and edit the pages directly as you see them using WYSWIG (What you see if what you get) technology. Most web hosting environments support this, and if you are starting out, make sure it is available. One tip: make sure the web host providing this really does understand this technology – it is the main area of which many hacks and security intrusions occur.

Some more special softwares:


FTP Client

This is a very simple piece of software that allows you to view the server folders and files in your web host account as if they were files and folders on your own computer. You can then drag and drop files between you computer and your web host account.

Email Client

If you are on the internet you would already be using an email client to send and receive your email. The most common are Outlook Express, Eudora and Web based mail clients like Hotmail.

Database Administration Client

The most common databases used with web servers are Microsoft SQL Server (available only on Windows) and MySQL (commonly found on Linux and UNIX but also available on Windows). SQL Server comes with it’s own administration client where you can view your databases, edit them, backup data and do all the administration functions you need. MySQL has an active online community where there is a range of administration clients available.

Various terms related with Email accounts

POP Email
POP stands for Post Office Protocol. POP is a standard client/server protocol for sending and receiving email.

The emails are received and held on your internet server until you pick it up with a client email program, like Outlook, Outlook Express, Netscape Messenger, etc. POP email programs are built into Netscape and Internet Explorer browsers (i.e. Microsoft Outlook Express).

IMAP Email
IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol. IMAP is another standard protocol for sending and receiving email.
Unlike POP whcih was designed to support email access on a single computer, email stored on an IMAP server can be manipulated from many computers.


Web-based Email
Web-based email services enable you to access email via a web browser. You log into your email account via the Web to send and retrieve email.
Examples of web-based email services are Yahoo! Mail and Hotmail.

Email Forwarding
With it you can have multiple email personalities. With email forwarding, you can setup aliases for other email accounts.

Introduction to FTP


FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol and is a standard application protocol that uses the Internet’s TCP/IP protocol to transfer files from one computer to another.

FTP is a very common process today. FTP is commonly used to transfer web pages from the creator’s computer to the server where the web site is situated. Also FTP is used to download programs and files to your computer from a server.

How do I use FTP?

To use FTP you will need to install FTP software on your computer. There are many freely available FTP programs on the Internet such as, FTP explorer (http://www.ftpx.com) and Smart FTP (http://www.smartftp.com).

How do I connect with FTP?

Follow the steps below to connect to a server, to upload files using FTP Explorer:

1.Open FTP Explorer.

2.Click on the connect button on the toolbar or select connect from the Tools menu.

3.In the Profile Name text, enter a name to give your FTP connection.

4.In the Host Address text box enter the address of the server you are connecting to (this can either be the DNS entry or the IP Address).

5.Enter the Port number that the server accepts FTP connections on (the default port for FTP is 21).

6.Tick the Use PASV option, if your computer is behind a firewall, which does not allow external FTP connections.

7.Tick the Use Firewall option if your computer is located behind a firewall.

8.Either enter a user name for the FTP login or tick the Anonymous option (the anonymous option will only work if the server is set up to allow anonymous FTP connections – if this is selected go to step 10).

9.Enter the user’s password in the Password text box.

10.In the Initial path text box, enter the path on the server, where you want your connection to start at – this is optional.

11.In the Attempts text box enter the number of times to try the FTP connection if fails, you will need to have at least 1 in this text box.

12.In the Download path you can specify the path on your computer where to save the files downloaded from the server – this is optional, you can specify this later if you like.

13.To establish the connection with the server click on the Connect button.

How do I upload files using FTP?

Once you have established your connection with the server the next step is to upload your files to the server. The following describes how to do this:

Go to the path on the server where you want to upload your files to.

In the Tools menu click on the Upload button.

Select the file or files that you want to upload (to select more than one file hold down the CTRL key).

NOTE: You can also upload files by dragging and dropping them to the directory/folder on the server.

Click on the Open button. Your file will now be uploaded to the server. (You will see this uploading process in the dialog box.)

It looks like hosting britannica. Good resource for customers also.

Good stuff it will definately result helpful for the newbie.