Web hosting plans are offered by internet service providers (ISP), specialized web hosting service providers and cloud service providers. A web hosting provider creates space on a server, or provides a dedicated server, to host a client’s website or web applications. The hosting provider provides a dashboard where the client can manage their websites and applications. The provider also provides access to resources such as CPU, RAM, bandwidth, security features, email management and more. The service level of the organization’s hosting plan generally dictates the type and amount of resources that the organization can access.

Hosting options vary depending on workloads, the technical requirements of a business or website and business objectives. When choosing a web hosting solution, enterprises can decide between several hosting options including shared hosting, dedicated hosting and virtual private server (VPS) hosting. In deciding, organizations consider whether internal IT operations (ITOps) teams will manage a website or if they expect the service provider to manage it.

Some web hosting companies provide domain registration—reserving the URL address that the organization plans to use—if the organization has not already done so. Some also offer domain name system (DNS) registration, hosting and configuration. DNS, the “phonebook of the internet,” converts human-friendly domain names into internet protocol addresses. DNS makes it possible for users to type a domain name into a web browser and connect with the website and content they are looking for. DNS hosting provides the authoritative name server for a website. This server makes the website available over the internet and connects users to the website.

Think of a web hosting provider as a management company that oversees web pages and offers various hosting tiers that provide different levels of service. Different types of web hosting platforms are available, including free web hosting options.

For example, organizations that require a specific operating system or content management system, operate high traffic sites, need a large amount of storage space or store data that is subject to high regulation and compliance standards will be priced at a higher tier.

For individuals and small businesses building their own sites, free web hosting platforms are an option. But these often come with many limitations on usage, storage space and speed. Organizations need to choose which option is most appropriate for their business.

Depending on the web hosting provider and the plan purchased by the customer, specific features might be included in standard packages, or offered as add-ons and plug-ins. Web hosting features include:

• Storage and compute resources
• Control panel or dashboard
• Bandwidth allowance
• Uptime guarantees
• Security
• Email management
• File transfer protocol
• Content management system
• Technical support

Storage and compute resources

Web hosts outline the disk space and compute resources provided, as well as the scalability of both storage and compute power, in service tiers, enabling customers to choose a level that meets their needs. Organizations whose business involves large data sets or complex computing demands might require more storage and processing power.

Dashboard and control panel

Web hosts provide a centralized dashboard that enables clients to access and manage different aspects of their hosting account and associated websites. A control panel or “cPanel” enables users to change basic system configurations, manage passwords and access and oversee the email accounts associated with a website. These features help clients execute simple tasks, commands and updates without technical support.

Bandwidth allowance

Bandwidth is a measurement of the volume of data that can pass through a network at any particular time. Higher bandwidth generally results in faster websites and improved network reliability. It can also factor into SEO page ranking, which plays a large role in how new users discover a website through search engines. Sites that perform well in search help increase an organization’s online presence.

However, organizations do not want to overpay for bandwidth they don’t need. When determining the necessary bandwidth allowance, IT teams consider expected traffic volumes, data transfer loads and rates and potential spikes, as well as the type of apps and functions their users access on site.

Insufficient bandwidth can cause a site to crash or lead to high latency, negatively impacting website performance and user experience. Organizations that require the utmost possible uptime and high-performance speeds, such as high-frequency trading platforms, might decide that unmetered bandwidth is most appropriate for their needs, with availability and speed trumping cost concerns.

Uptime guarantee

Uptime is a measurement of the amount of time a website is available without a service interruption. It is usually measured as a percentage over a period of time, often a year. Every provider aims to keep uptime as high as possible and different organizations have their own uptime requirements. For example, organizations that rely on the consistent access to real-time information, such as some medical, banking and government institutions, might have more stringent uptime requirements.

While no provider can guarantee 100% uptime, most organizations strive to meet the “five 9s” standard for high availability, meaning an annual uptime of 99.999%. This percentage averages to approximately six minutes of downtime per year.

Excessive downtime for many organizations can mean a loss in sales, a poor customer experience or even regulatory and security risks. The service level agreement (SLA) between a web service provider and customer usually includes an uptime guarantee that outlines the percentage of time a site is expected to be available.

Security features

Web hosting platforms use protocols that protect computer network communications, such as secure sockets layer certificates (SSL certificates), to help keep customer sites secure. It is important for organizations that use shared hosting plans to do their due diligence regarding what security measures are in place in the host’s data center.

When sharing a server, other users’ activity presents a potential risk. Therefore, it is important to have a clear understanding of a web host’s security protocols. Features offered by hosting platforms such as malware detection, automatic backups, distributed denial of service attack protection (DDoS protection) and disaster recovery tools help prevent data loss from major events such as cyberattacks, data breaches or natural disasters.

Email management

Web hosts provide users with domain-specific email addresses. The number of email addresses a host provides varies by pricing plan. Web hosts also connect users to an email server by using the POP3 protocol. The P0P3 protocol enables the checking, sending, receiving and forwarding of emails from a server to a device such as a computer.

File transfer protocol (FTP) access

FTP is a network protocol that enables file transfer between a computer and a server. FTP access enables a website user to download content such as images, videos and PDFs from the site.

Content management systems (CMS)

Content management systems enable website contributors to manage digital content and create and edit web pages from a unified dashboard. CMS platforms such as WordPress offer templates and other tools that simplify web design and maintenance. WordPress websites and other CMS software often feature drag-and-drop tools and similar one-click solutions that enable users to make quick changes to business websites without writing complex code. Managed Wordpress hosting plans offer more features such as page caching reduce page load times and help improve the customer experience.

Technical support

Ideally, a web service provider offers on-demand support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The amount of time it takes a customer support team to respond to questions or issues can impact website performance and overall user satisfaction. If an in-house IT team is not managing an organization’s web pages, having technical expertise from a web hosting provider helps maintain page performance and user satisfaction.

Types of web hosting include:

• Shared hosting
• Virtual private server (VPS) hosting
• Dedicated hosting
   

Shared hosting

In shared hosting plans, a service provider hosts the website along with others on a shared server. Server resources such as CPU, RAM, storage space and web server software are shared and allocated across several sites. Each of these components factor into the speed and quality users experience when using a website. Shared hosting plans tend to be less expensive since resources are shared with other website owners.

The downside of shared hosting is that spikes in traffic to one website can cause other sites on the server to experience higher latency, which can slow site performance. Generally, shared hosting does not offer many opportunities for customizing server configurations.

For personal websites and blog pages, businesses with a relatively low volume of transactions and sites with few security and compliance requirements, shared hosting is often an efficient and cost-effective option. Businesses with higher or more precise demands, e-commerce sites with high traffic volumes and other online businesses might need to explore hosting options that offer greater capabilities.

Virtual private server (VPS) hosting
 

VPS hosting takes advantage of the partitioning capabilities of virtual servers to divide the computing power of a physical server. Like in shared hosting, multiple virtual servers share the resources of the same physical server. However, virtual servers have the unique ability to run on an independent operating system and reserve resources such as computing power, storage and memory for a specific function. This means that the activity of other virtual servers is far less likely to impact the performance of a website with a dedicated virtual server.

Virtual private servers, like shared servers, are a type of multitenant cloud hosting that offers virtualized server resources through the internet via a cloud or hosting provider. VPS hosting offers more configurable system options and controls than shared hosting without the high costs associated with dedicated hosting.

Dedicated hosting
 

Dedicated hosting provides exclusive access to a physical server. Enterprises get full control over system and application software, can customize setup to meet organizational requirements and partition the server to host multiple domains. Because resources are not shared, the demands of other tenants do not impact service and security. This exclusivity also enables IT teams to resolve problems more quickly.

While dedicated hosting provides greater reliability and more customization and optimization capabilities, it is the most expensive model for website hosting. For one, in a dedicated hosting model, one organization is footing the bill for the whole server. In addition, the organization must maintain the server, and possess the in-house technical skill to do so—also costly. Enterprises should be conscious that scaling a dedicated server requires more planning, time and resources that scaling cloud resources in virtual servers. Because of these factors, this arrangement is usually most appropriate for large, established enterprises.

A domain name is a customizable web address that enables users to find websites without having to remember long numerical codes known as internet protocol (IP) addresses. Domain names must be registered through domain registrars, managed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). When a user types a domain name—such as IBM.com—into a search browser, the DNS converts the domain name into the corresponding IP address and directs the user to the wanted website.

Web hosting is a service that stores and manages the files associated with a domain name. Web hosting provides the server on which these assets are stored, and a domain name provides an address where a user can access the website.