Domain Name Web Hosting

A domain name is the name you use when you enter a web address so that you can visit a website; a typical example of a domain name would be ‘example.com’. In order for any domain to work, web hosting is needed so that the DNS for the domain is able to resolve and so that there is a server where the domain owner can upload web pages for their domain. In basic terms, domain name web hosting allows you to host your website and all other services needed to ensure that your domain functions correctly under one easily managed domain name web hosting account.
Domain name web hosting comes with a control panel in most cases, which allows you to manage any part of your domain name web hosting account with ease. The two main control panels in the market for domain name web hosting are cPanel for Linux hosting, and Plesk for Windows hosting; however, your web hosting provider may use their own control panel system on their servers which may be different from Plesk or cPanel. If you are after domain specific hosting, then both allow you to manage just the core services of your account such as DNS hosting and mail forwarding, if it is part of your account.

If you want physical web hosting for your domain name, then hosting can come in two forms, dependent on the web host of course: Linux and Windows. Windows and Linux are two different operating systems, and Linux itself has many subsidiaries meaning that it can come in many different forms; each different form of Linux is known as a ‘distribution’, the most popular of which in the web hosting world are CentOS and Ubuntu. Other examples of Linux distribution include Gentoo, Slackware and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Microsoft Window domain name web hosting mostly comes hosted on Windows 2003 Servers, although some hosts have started offering Windows Server 2008 web hosting.

Basic domain name web hosting normally just consists of an account that allows you basic DNS hosting, and in some case to setup email forwarders if you are just using the domain concerned temporarily. The main DNS server used in basic domain name web hosting and web hosting in general is called ‘Bind’ (Berkeley Internet Name Domain), which also better known as ‘named’ in some cases. Web hosts using Microsoft Windows might use the Microsoft equivalent in some cases, Microsoft Windows DNS Server, although there is a Windows version of Bind/named available for general use.

More advanced domain name web hosting accounts that actually allow the physical hosting of web pages normally allow the hosting of web pages and scripts developed using server side scripting languages with databases. This is where the choice of Linux and Windows domain name web hosting comes into play. If you have developed a website using PHP and MySQL, then you are normally able to choose between Windows and Linux web hosting, since both technologies are support by both hosting platforms. If you have developed your website using either classic ASP or ASP.NET with a Microsoft SQL Server database, then you can only choose Windows domain name web hosting because all are Microsoft technologies.

As with any type of web hosting, domain name web hosting accounts are hosted on a physical server to ensure reliability of your website and the other accounts that are hosted on the same server as you. If your website is very popular, then you may need to consider a VPS server or a dedicated server for your domain name hosting needs so that you don’t affect the performance of the hosting server, and in turn the other websites hosted alongside you.

A VPS hosting server is a cheaper solution than a dedicated server, and provides you with guaranteed resources and a dedicated environment for your use only. However, you are still sharing the main physical hosting servers with other users which means that you can be affected by their actions, and vice versa.

A dedicated server is normally the most expensive type of web hosting that is available to the general consumer. However, unlike any other type of domain name web hosting, it provides you with the best reliability since you are not sharing the server resources with anybody else unless you wish to. Dedicated servers are also physical servers unlike any other forms of web hosting, which on the whole are virtual.

Domain name web hosting is something that can be very basic, up to something that can get very complicated in the terms of a dedicated hosting server. Domain name web hosting is open to everyone, from those who just have the budget to purchase one domain name and want to host off the basic free hosting that may be free with the domain to those who have massive budgets and whole server farms to serve their domains.