At The Digital Studios, we are often asked to clarify what we mean when we talk about domain name and web hosting.
These are both key features of a typical support package but what exactly do they refer to? Well, let’s get straight to it with this simple breakdown of both of these key terms.
Domain name
The domain name is the name of the website that you type into the URL bar on a web browser. For example, if your business was called James’s Chocolate Cafe you would ideally want your website to be something along the lines of “https://jameschocolatecafe.com” or a close variation of it. The domain name can consist of letters, numbers and hyphens.
Different types of domain names
Domain names are available in many different extensions. The most popular one is .com. There are many other options like .co.uk, .org, .net, .tv, .info, .io and more. Some will be particularly related to certain sectors of work such as the ac.uk is linked to educational institutions and .org linked to charitable bodies.
Hosting
Web hosting allows you to publish your website on the internet by providing storage for your website files. How are you meant to choose to host your website? Luckily, The Digital Studios are prolific blog posters and we previously posted some advice about our favoured solutions for web hosting which can be found here.
How is domain linked with hosting?
When a user enters your website’s domain name into the search bar, an answer is provided by your hosting provider.
Here are some important factors to consider when you choose a hosting provider:
Usability. Make sure that the dashboard for managing your hosting account (which is set up by your hosting provider) is user-friendly and offers a wide range of features.
Speed. Choose a web hosting company that guarantees uninterrupted operation and offers high upload speeds.
Hosting Plan. Ensure you have awareness of any additional modules and payments which may be included within the hosting plan.
Support. Choose a hosting company with a reliable support service, which can provide you with rapid, high quality assistance, in case of technical problems.
Be mindful of the fact that there are a range of hosting options available to you such as:
- Shared Hosting
- Virtual Private Server Hosting
- WordPress Hosting
- Managed Hosting
- Dedicated Hosting
- Cloud Hosting
- Reseller Hosting
Let’s look more closely at some of the hosting options…
Shared Server
This is a simple and cost-effective type of web hosting which is a great choice for SMEs and website first-timers. Shared hosting simply refers to websites which exist on the same server as other websites, sharing the same resources. It works fine because the majority of websites don’t need an entire server to themselves.
Virtual Private Server (VPS)
When using a VPS, your website will continue to share a server with other websites but within this hosting system, the server is divided into virtual parts. Users can only access their own dedicated virtual space (which others can’t) thus providing more security, with less investment.
Dedicated Server
This type of hosting is the most expensive and provides high security. You have full control over the web server and your website will be the only one on it.
Cloud Server
Cloud hosting provides the best productivity at a reasonable price. This type of hosting is based across multiple remote servers, with each server performing its own duties. Consequently, if one server fails, the other servers can be employed to take over those duties.
Managed Server
A managed server provides extreme built-in caching, free professional site migration and offers additional, powerful, tools such as email, staging and backups. There is also the useful added benefit of having 24/7 support available.
And finally…
If you need help or assistance with the hosting of your website have a look at our Website Hosting page for further details or get in touch for some advice.
