Part 2 - Bringing Yourself Online

What is a Web Host?

A web host is a company who makes your website accessible via the Internet. The host does this by storing your website on a powerful computer (a server) which is connected to the Internet via a data connection capable of transmitting and receiving information at a rapid rate. As all servers are connected by similar means, when a web surfer wishes to see your website, the server sends them the information they requested through a complex network of telephone cables, fibre optic cables and even satellites. Although the connection to the computer which stores the web site you wish to view may be many thousands of miles away, this request only takes milliseconds!

Maintaining a web server is a difficult and time-consuming task. By working with a web host, you no longer have to worry about that aspect and can focus on building and promoting your website. Essentially, you will be renting space on the web host's server for your website. This not only saves you the headache of running your own server, it is far less expensive than purchasing one!

How do I decide what hosting I need?

The first thing you probably want to do is take a quick crash course in the basics of hosting lingo:

• Webspace/Storage - The amount of disk space your website files will use.

• Bandwidth - The amount of data (from files) transferred to web surfers when they visit your website.

• Hit - A file sent from the server to someone viewing your webpage. On average, 15,000 hits are equal to 1000 megabytes of bandwidth.

• Domain - The web address used to access your website (in our case, www.ThinkHost.com)

• Mailbox - An email account that receives email for an address at your domain. (ie. yourname@yourdomain.com)

• FTP - The method used to transfer files directly to our server.

• (Server Side) Scripting - The ability to use programs written using the programming languages mentioned (PHP, Perl, C++, etc.) Message boards, guest books as well as online forms all use scripting.

These are the basic terms you should be familiar with when selecting a package. As your site grows, you will find that the it is only the amount of storage and bandwidth that you will need more of. In general, other requirements (like scripting) tend to be the same for both large and smaller sites.

Why should I choose ThinkHost?

ThinkHost offers a great range of affordable, quality packages to suit every purpose, from hobbyists to business start-ups to e-commerce enabled organizations that may already have a well established site. To learn more about the reasons you should choose ThinkHost web hosting solutions, we invite you to review our "Why ThinkHost?" pages and to also read what our clients have to say about us. 

Want to learn more about web site hosting?

Read on and learn how easy it is to have your first website up and running in  Part 3. of this series!