Professional Documents
Culture Documents
For Beginners
! by Sean Ramsey
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Getting started with web hosting can be an overwhelming experience, and that’s why I
wrote this guide--to help the complete beginner break into the world of web hosting with
as little frustration as possible.
I’ve tried to make this guide as simple and easy to follow as possible, even for people
without a lot of computer experience. I’m always working to make it better, so if you
come across something you think could use improvement let me know by going to
sitemakersguide.com/contact or emailing me directly at sean@sitemakersguide.com.
Thanks,
Sean Ramsey
This is what a server does. A server is a specialized computer that stores (hosts) your
website’s files and sends (serves) them to people who visit your site.
A server can be just about any computer with an Internet connection. In fact, you can
use your home computer as a server. However, there are all sorts of risks involved with
using a personal computer for web hosting, and this is where web hosting services
come in.
A web hosting service is a company that manages servers. When you sign up for a
hosting plan, you are paying them for the right to use one of their machines. You are
A good web host also ensures that their servers have up-to-date software, constant
power, and regularly scheduled backups.
• The server is the computer where you put your website files
• You host your website on a server
• The hosting service is the company that manages that server
• The terms hosting service and web host usually mean the same thing
You should know heading in to this section that shared hosting is probably going to
be your best choice. Most beginners will never need dedicated or VPS services, but
it’s still good to understand how they work.
Shared hosting
Shared hosting means that you share a server with other customers. One server is split
up into a bunch of virtual partitions, with each hosting account being assigned to a
particular partition.
Shared hosting plans are cheap (starting at around a few dollars a month) and easy to
use. Most shared hosting plans are very full-featured and allow you to host unlimited
websites.
The biggest issue with shared hosting is the “shared” part. Since you’re splitting server
resources with other customers, your site’s performance can vary due to activity of
other sites on your server. If a site from a different account experiences a sudden spike
in traffic, you might notice slower page loads for a short period of time.
Additionally, if your site begins receiving tens of thousands of visitors a day, then you
may begin to run into some problems on a shared hosting plan. It’s usually easy to
upgrade, so this isn’t something you should worry about.
Dedicated hosting
With dedicated hosting, you are essentially leasing an entire server from the hosting
company. Nobody else will be allowed to use your machine. Your website will load
extremely quickly at all times, and unless you are receiving insane amounts of traffic
you’ll never have to worry about performance. You’ll also have the ability to make all
sorts of tweaks to how the hardware runs, and you’ll be able to install custom software.
Dedicated servers are good for large companies, high-traffic websites, and complex
web applications that need a lot of processing power.
Dedicating hosting is expensive, with most plans starting at around $140/month, and
there’s a lot more you need to know about hosting when you’re in charge of your own
server. There’s very little chance you’ll need dedicated hosting for your first site.
VPS servers are split among a very small number of customers. Shared hosting servers
will usually have a much larger number of users on the same machine.
As with dedicated servers, VPS hosting is not necessary for the majority of new
websites.
Reseller hosting is typically only used by web developers who use it as a way to sell
hosting accounts to their clients. As an individual or small business, you won’t need this
kind of hosting.
The truth is that is that web hosting costs are about the same no matter where you look,
so it’s most important to consider service and reliability when evaluating a hosting
service.
There are lots of review sites for hosting companies, but many of these are just fronts
for people trying to make affiliate sales.
I think the best and most honest advice comes from forums, so I highly recommend you
spend some time browsing site like DigitalPoint or WarriorForum where you’ll find
mostly unbiased opinions on hosting providers.
History
The Internet’s low barriers to entry make it all too easy for shady people to set up
legitimate-looking hosting services overnight. Hosting companies that have been around
a long time can usually be relied on to provide quality service.
I tried hosting with Namecheap (my preferred domain registrar) for a while and was
disappointed with the service and performance. I still register all my domains with them,
but I don’t use their hosting. I would also recommend steering clear of GoDaddy and
Yahoo!.
Check forums
I know I mentioned this earlier, but it bears repeating. I think forums are the best place
to get honest advice on web hosting providers. DigitalPoint, WarriorForum, and Web
Hosting Talk are all good sources of information.
The directions below apply to my preferred web host (HostGator) but it won’t be much
different for other hosting companies.
1. Go to HostGator.com
The Hatchling plan only allows one site while the Baby allows unlimited websites. If
you’re just making one site, choose Hatchling ($8.95/month). If there’s a chance
you’ll want to make more sites in the future, select Baby ($9.95/month).
If you want to register a domain with HostGator, you can do it now. They currently
charge $15/year, which is a bit higher than the $10 average.
5. Fill out the billing information form and click Create Account.
Once you’ve purchased your hosting package, you should receive a welcome email.
This email will contain important information about using your hosting space, so be sure
to keep it. I also recommend copying it to a text document on your computer for easy
reference.
2. Choose a registrar
However, there are a couple of potential stumbling blocks you should be prepared for:
Contact Information
When registering a domain, you’ll be asked to provide four kinds of contact information:
• Registrant
• Administrative
• Technical
• Billing contact
Most of the time, you’ll put your information in all of these fields. The only reason they’re
there is because some large organizations have different people handing different
aspects of their website.
Private registration
Almost all registrars offer some sort of privacy protection for your domain. This is
generally a good idea, because otherwise your personal information, including phone
number and address, will be visible to anybody who uses a WHOIS lookup tool such as
DomainTools.
If you don’t have hosting, then now is the time to get it. I cover web hosting in the
next chapter.
Note that when you edit your domain’s nameservers, the changes do not take effect
instantly. It takes some time before every computer on the web becomes aware of your
changes. This is why your domain might not be accessible on your web host
immediately after you modify your nameservers.
Terminology note
Something to keep in mind is that the phrase “buy a domain” is a little misleading. The
registrar doesn’t own any domains, so you’re not buying a domain from them.
Instead, you’re paying them to register a domain in your name. You are essentially
hiring them to do the paperwork.
“Buy” and “register” generally mean the same thing unless you’re talking about
acquiring a domain that has already been registered to somebody else. In this
scenario, you truly are buying the domain from that person.
When you buy a domain, it will not be pointing to anything. That is, your domain does
not know what to do when somebody visits it. This is why you need to “point” your
domain to your web host.
These are instructions are for domains registered with Namecheap.com. If you are
using a different registrar then consult HostGator’s DNS guide.
1. Check your hosting welcome email to find the nameservers. They should look
this:
ns1.hostgator.com
ns2.hostgator.com
7. Copy and paste the nameservers from step one into the first two fields
It can take up to 48 hours for the changes to take effect, so if you find that you can’t
access your cPanel or view your site, use the alternate addresses provided in your
welcome email. These alternate addresses will look like this:
http://74.52.128.210/~somtin.
cPanel
cPanel lets you do things like add email accounts, create new databases to hold info for
dynamic pages, manage files, and more. Think of it as an operating system for your
server.
Logging in to cPanel
The welcome email you received from your host after buying a hosting package should
contain a link to the cPanel login for your site.
Most of the time, cPanel is accessed by visiting a URL with this format:
www.yoursite.com/cpanel
12.23.345.67
12.23.345.67/cpanel
Once you’re at the cPanel login page, enter the username and password provided in
your welcome email and you’re all set.
Using cPanel
cPanel provides dozens of tools you can use to manage your site, but don’t let this
overwhelm you. Beginning webmasters will only need a handful of these features.
Change Password
Pretty self explanatory, but still good to know. Since your default cPanel password is just
a string of random numbers and letters, you may want to change it to something more
memorable.
This should be a no-braner by now, but you need to create a secure password. If
somebody hacks into your cPanel, they can do severe damage.
Email Accounts
This tool is used to create new custom emails like bill@yourdomain.com. You’ll also
have the ability to set passwords and storage limitations for existing accounts.
File Manager
The File Manager is just what it sounds like: a tool for uploading, editing, and deleting
files on your server.
File Manager is great for adding or editing a small number of files, but if you’re plan on
working with larger groups of files then you should probably use FTP.
It works a lot like the Windows Explorer, with a file tree on the left and the actual files on
the right:
Most of the files you’ll be working with are located in the public_html folder.
Be careful when working in File Manager. You can easily delete an entire site with
the click of a mouse (trust me, I’ve done it). Getting your deleted files back can be
difficult or impossible, so make sure you know what you’re doing.
The only time beginning webmasters will need to work with databases is if they are
manually installing a content management system like WordPress—and even then this
interaction will be limited to creating the database and adding user.
Add-on Domains
If your hosting package allows you to host more than one site—and most do—you’ll use
this tool to add new domains to your hosting space.
Redirects
There may be times when you want a certain domain or web page to point to another
domain or web page. You can do this easily with cPanel Redirects.
WordPress
WordPress is an extremely popular content management system. A content
management system (CMS) is a framework that makes it easy for webmasters to add,
edit, and remove website content.
WordPress is used by tens of millions of websites. It’s free, easy to use, and highly
customizable. While WordPress was originally designed as a blogging platform, it’s so
powerful and flexible that countless non-blog sites use it as well.
The Site Maker’s Guide includes an additional 50 pages packed with information
designed to help beginning webmasters understand how websites work and start
building sites now. Visit www.sitemakersguide.com for more information.
Thanks,
www.sitemakersguide.com/web-hosting-ebook