If you are on the journey of a Front End Web Developer, as myself, then you should know there are some fundamentals that every developer should know, hint I said every developers–at least I think so, and that is...how the internet works. This lead me to researching for a better understanding of what a web host is, how it works, and why is it even necessary. We will even give some examples of the different types of web host out there.After doing this post I did not even know there where this many types.So lets jump into the topic shall we?First of all
I once heard it was said there are no such things as a stupid question, but today I'm going to prove that statement wrong : ). Have you ever been online, like you are now, you see I try not to disappoint, and heard of the different companies that will host your website for you?Maybe back in the day you seen the crazy godaddy commercials that had no relevance to their service or product and had you inquisitive to go check it out. Its ok you can admit it, slightly embarrassed and confused when you got to their site and found out it was nothing from what you expected. shame shame.I must say they had a good marketing strategy though–touché godaddy.In the end they were just a web hosting provider, probably one of the most well known just based of those commercials, again I say touché .But what is a web hosting provider and what do they host?The first thought that probably comes to your mind is probably someone hosting a special event or a party at a specific location like their house or a clubhouse. Well, if you thought of that I can say your not too far off.According to dictionary.com a host has 2 definitions
Since we are talking specifically about web hosting the 2nd definition caters more to our need. So referring back to the original idea of what a host is let's break it down for the web.Web hosting is a storage system for a company, organization, or individual to place (or store) their websites files for others to access when a site is visited.Does that still sound a little confusing? Ok let me explain it with a story.Let's say Cody wants to host an amazing event but doesn't have the space to host it for all the people he wants to invite. So he goes out does some research and finds a venue where they will allow him to rent out the space for an allotted time and provide more than enough space for his guests to come and relax as well as enough power for the DJ and food caterer to provide the extra services for his event.Cody is now set for his guest to come to his amazing event.Ok so to break this down.The event Cody wants to put on is his website, but he doesn't have the space. So he finds a venue. The venue is the web host that provides the space and power he can rent out to give his event/website the capabilities for his guest to experience. This can be done since the web host has dedicated computers to provide that type of service. Now the host gives a location for all your guest to come and experience your webpage without any hiccups.There you have it hosting explained through your everyday life, but do we know how this works? Well, I'm glad you asked.
Do you remember in the Cody story where I mentioned about computers acting as the venue to host the event? These particular computers are referred to as servers.Side note: Servers can be its own blog post in itself but for a quick intro Servers are, according to lifewire...is a computer designed to process requests and deliver data to another computer over the internet or a local network.What does that mean? So in other words, these servers (computers) are able to connect to other servers to help build a network of computers to give access to all the files and websites out there.There are 3 major components for allowing web hosting and websites to work:
You ready? Now that you know what web hosting is here is the simple version of how it works in regards to the internet.In your internet browser, the application that allows you to gain access to the internet or other webpages, you type in the domain name of the site you are trying to get to. The domain name acts as the address to get to the specific website files. The address is sent out and wait for it...The host is now put into action.The host recognizes the address that was sent out into the world wide web, locates the specific files for that name and pushes out what the visitor is looking for. Do that over a million times a day and you have the internet fully at work. Any site, any form of information or content stored in some form on a server act in this way.So with all these files being passed around the final question to ask is
Well, if you have been paying attention, since I know you have if your read this far, thank you, The internet can simply not work without these web hosts–PERIOD. I mean the only site you would be able to see is from the files located on your local storage system.If you ever coded your own site and wanted to see how it works on your browser this would be an example of how your site works locally.For me when I want to host a site, like my personal blog, I use host gator. They are reliable, great with customer service and affordable for the type and amount of work I do. I highly recommend them for web hosting services. Especially when there are so many options to choose from. I just like to keep it simple. I found one that does what I need, simple, and affordable. Presto!Before we wrap up and wind up. To end this post here is a fun fact.Fun Fact:Did you know they were even different types of web host providers, I just learned some today myself. They range from:
*you can read on it more from the page Free ServersDue to trying to keep this post short I will go into more depth on what these are plus I have to look into some of these since I never heard of some of them before. But there you have it
I hope this helps clear up somethings you may not have understood like myself.
