Do You Know How Web Hosting Work?

This may seem somewhat complicated however; it is a relatively easy process.

Once a website owner has chosen their domain name, it is time to set up the nameservers or DNS. Nameservers point your viewers to the correct website when the domain name or URL is typed into the address bar. As many websites can be hosted on the same server this is a very important way to keep everything organized and in working order. Many times the company where the domain name was bought will maintain all of this information however, there are also companies who specialize in DNS services.

Now that you have a domain name and have the nameservers correctly routing visitors to the website, it is time to talk about hosting. Websites are composed of many different files including HTML files, CSS files, images and other documents. In order for these files to become a viewable website, they have to be stored within a computer that is properly linked and connected to the Internet. These kinds of computers are often called servers as they provide the website to visitors once they “place their order” by typing the website address into their web browser. When you pay a company to store your websites files on their server, you are purchasing website hosting.

Here is a basic overview of how website hosting makes viewing a website on the Internet possible.

A visitor types in the domain name into the address (URL) bar located on their web browser. Next, the nameservers make sure the visitor is directed towards the server containing the website files. That server then provides all of the website files to the visitor in the form of a viewable website.

These are all very important pieces of the Internet. It can seem complicated at times, however it is simply a chain reaction that keeps the Internet alive.