This question is most likely frequently asked by people easing into the website creation processes, as we at Navitas Design actually broadcast this service we know a lot about how web hosting works.
Web hosting is in definition the process of a company large or small that keeps the precious files of your website tucked away on their machines, most companies allow for these machines to be online 24/7 so there’s never a chance of the site going down. All web hosting companies require a fee for your commitment of their services, at Navitas we charge a fee as we do host all of our customers websites using a specially tailored service.
This service allows for your website to be connected to the internet at all times usually through data bases or through online file depositories. If you were to try and host your own website by yourself you would need a lot more equipment and a deeper wallet, the typical web hosting equipment includes:
- A physical web server ( a large machine consisting of more than one ‘boxes’ holding sufficient space for lots of data)
- A permanent connection to the internet (whether this be through the server or through a computer that is running 24/7, bare in mind your electricity bill on this one)
- You will need to make sure that your ISP (Internet Service Provider) e.g. BT, TalkTalk, or Sky, allows for you to run web hosting.
- You’d need to have all the skills of running maintenance on both your physical machines and the files you keep on your server, this including anti-virus protection, firewalls, and configuring your server.
As you might have just found there is an awful lot of knowledge and basics that you will need. This is why 90% of businesses turn to third party web hosting companies for help and ease of access. At Navitas we can provide the following essential make-up for hosting your website:
- 24/7 Support
- 24/7 FTP accessibility (allows you to go into your websites files and make any changes)
- Multiple E-mail accounts
- A control panel accessible online
- Updates of how much attention your website receives
- A secure and sealed data base system (so your website doesn’t get hacked)
- Special server applications such as PHP ( a type of language used for writing up websites) and SQL (Structured Query Language, which is used to manipulate or change around your data base). Which most hosting services do not provide other than us.