All About Hosting

Hosting

What is Hosting?

After getting a domain name, you need to direct it to a host computer that is permanently connected to the Internet on a fixed address. All devices connected to the Internet are given IP addresses. The most widely used IP addresses can be represented by four numbers between 0 and 255, separated by dots. The Gizagoo website is at IP Address 84.203.122.69. Typically when you connect to the Internet from home, your service provider will allocate you a different IP address each time you connect. For your website you need a host computer, running a web server, at a fixed IP address. When you purchase a hosting package, you are allocated space on such a computer and the hosting company directs any requests for your website to the correct location. If your domain name is not at the same host, you need to open the DNS control panel (access is provided by the domain name seller) and type in the IP Address of your host. If you get the domain name and hosting from the same provider, this will be done automatically for you.

Selecting a Hosting Package

There are some free hosting packages available, but like everything you get what you pay for. Typically free hosting is provided on an address like http://www.provider.com/yourdomain or http://yourdomain.provider.com. In this way you are piggybacking on their domain, rather than having one of your own. Some free hosts will place advertising on your site and some are pretty unreliable, both for your uploading of files and for visitors to your site. Search engines generally rank them lower too, so it will be difficult to attract new visitors. For the sake of a little money each month, you are better off using a reliable host.

Hosting providers generally have different hosting plans, giving different amounts of space, varying numbers of email address etc. Some packages limit the amount of traffic your site can receive. The table below shows some of the common attributes listed and gives a guide on what you will need.

Feature	Comments
Linux or Windows	Unless you have any particular requirements, it doesn't make any difference whether the hosting is on a Windows or Linux machine.
Disk Space	This is the amount of space your files will take up. Most websites are less than 20MB. Do not pay for more unless you know you are going to exceed this, perhaps with a lot of video or other large files.
Data Transfer	This is the volume of data (traffic) that flows in and out of your website. Most providers provide generous or unlimited data transfer. The transfer includes people (and spiders) looking at your pages and your transfer of files. Most new websites do not generate a huge amount of traffic. 2Gb per month should be enough for most light sites. If you have to choose, start small and use the tools provided to check what you are using. Do not pay monthly for more than you need.
EMail Accounts	Most hosting packages give a number of email accounts, with some amount of storage space per account. You should get at least 20 email addresses with 1 Gb for each account with your hosting. Remember too, that the email account can be hosted elsewhere.
Databases	If you plan on using a CMS, you need at least one database. We recommend Joomla or Wordpress with a MySQL database.
Programming	If you plan on using a CMS, some programming language like PHP or ASP will be required, Both Wordpress and Joomla, like so many others, use PHP.
Panel / Scripts	Almost all hosting comes with cPanel or some other utility, which allows a lot of control over the files on the host computer. It is also used to set up CMS systems, FTP accounts etc.
Others	Don't pay extra to get all the bells and whistles. If you don't know what something is you probably don't need it.

Where do I get Hosting

Many suppliers sell hosting with varying amounts of space, data transfer and email addresses. We sell hosting with unlimited space, data transfer and email addresses on our shop at shop.gizagoo.com for €4.49 per month or just €3.99 per month if you do not need email.