What is Web Hosting - a Quick and Dirty Guide

Contributed by Carpesomediem

Web Hosting: Overview

Web hosting is one of the most important features developed on the internet. It was created to allow all individual web pages, even contained within one web site, to be hosted properly on the internet for consumption to the mass public. Without this technology and ability, the internet would be devoid of any pages, information or communication. It just wouldn't exist!

Many companies offer cheap, affordable hosting for public and private use. For a fee, you, too, can have access to your very own web site on the internet. However, many services are also available for free so that everyone can stake a claim on the world wide web. One just needs to seek out these services, to use this technology, and to take up just a fraction of the infinite space the internet has to offer. As more servers are added, so too will more room for pages and as technology advances, who knows?

What is the Purpose of Web Hosting?

The purpose of web hosting is to allow a web site to be "housed" on the world wide web through the internet using a web server as a port to hold these pages in cyberspace. Basically, web hosting is the glue that holds the internet together. Without it, their would be no internet. Essentially, renting a house is much like hosting a web page on the internet. Web hosting also serves as a gateway for individuals and companies to host their own web pages for the public to view, purchase items and services from and generally learn from through articles, documents and other items for reading.

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