What is web hosting? And how does it work?

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Understanding web hosting does not have to be a complex task–once you know some basic information.

What is web hosting? And how does it work?

Simply put web hosting, or web site hosting, is the process of creating an internet web site and allowing others around the world to view the web site. A web hosting provider is basically a business which rents space on its computers (commonly these computers are called servers.) What happens is that after a web site is created, it is uploaded or transferred to the hosting provider’s server. The hosting provider then allows the world to view the web site when someone types in the web address (or domain name) of the internet site. And then the site (or specifically the page) is sent to the person requesting to view the site. Essentially, web hosting can be defined as providing space on a server which allows others to view your web site.

So how does it work?

When a site is on the server it is controlled by the software on the computer; i.e., the server software. Currently over 60% of all servers on the internet use the server software known as Apache server. What happens is that when a web site is created on the server, the server software is told where the web site is on the hard disk and the details of the account. Then when a user types in a domain name (web site address) and requests a specific page from their internet browser, that request is sent to the web hosting provider’s server where the web site is located.

The server software then finds the specific site and page requested in its list of details, and figures out which page the user wants and then sends that page to the user’s internet browser where the page is displayed. Basically, the server software is the intermediary between the files on the server and the browser requesting the web pages. Server software can process millions and millions of requests each day.

Contributed By: e3Servers