// websites

What Is Web Hosting?

Web hosting is the infrastructure that makes a website available on the internet. A hosting provider supplies the computing resources needed to store, run and serve website content to visitors.

// definition

Hosting is where a website runs

Web hosting is a service that provides server resources for websites and web applications.

These resources can include storage, processing power, memory, networking, databases and software.

When someone visits a website, the hosting system delivers the required content to their browser.

// simple model

A website needs somewhere to live

Website files ↓ Web hosting ↓ Internet ↓ Visitor's browser

Without hosting or some equivalent server infrastructure, the website files may exist on a computer but would not normally be publicly accessible to internet users.

// server

Hosting normally involves servers

A server is a computer or software system that responds to requests from other computers.

For a website, a web server may receive a request such as:

GET /about

It can then return the appropriate HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images or generated content.

// request

What happens when someone visits a website?

User enters domain ↓ DNS finds destination ↓ Browser connects to hosting server ↓ Browser requests page ↓ Server processes request ↓ Server returns content ↓ Browser renders website

This process can happen in a fraction of a second.

// domain vs hosting

A domain and hosting are different

A domain is the human-readable internet name.

Hosting is the infrastructure that serves the website.

freelancecoder.uk ↓ Domain name Web server / platform ↓ Hosting

You can buy a domain without buying hosting. You can also move a website to different hosting while keeping the same domain.

// important distinction

Hosting is not the website itself

Website

The pages, code, images, content and application logic.

Hosting

The infrastructure used to store or run that website.

Domain

The name people use to reach the website.

DNS

The system that connects the name to the service.

// static hosting

Some hosting simply serves files

A static website may consist primarily of:

index.html styles.css script.js logo.png

The hosting platform can send these files directly to visitors.

No server-side programming language necessarily needs to run for every page request.

// dynamic hosting

Dynamic websites can run application code

More complex hosting can execute code before producing the response.

Browser request ↓ Web server ↓ PHP / Python / Node.js ↓ Database ↓ Generated HTML or JSON ↓ Browser

This allows a website to generate different content depending on users, data and application logic.

// storage

Hosting provides storage

A website may need space for:

HTML CSS JavaScript Images Videos Documents Databases Backups

// resources

Hosting also provides computing resources

Resource	Purpose
CPU	Processes application instructions
RAM	Temporary working memory
Storage	Stores website files and data
Bandwidth	Transfers data across the network
Database	Stores structured application data

// shared hosting

What is shared hosting?

Shared hosting places multiple customers or websites on the same underlying server infrastructure.

Server │ ├── Website A ├── Website B ├── Website C └── Website D

Resources are shared between multiple hosted sites.

This can make shared hosting inexpensive and simple, although it normally offers less isolation and control than dedicated environments.

// vps

What is VPS hosting?

VPS stands for Virtual Private Server.

Virtualisation divides physical server resources into separate virtual environments.

Physical Server │ ├── VPS 1 ├── VPS 2 ├── VPS 3 └── VPS 4

A VPS generally gives the customer more control over the server environment than ordinary shared hosting.

// dedicated server

What is dedicated hosting?

Dedicated hosting gives one customer access to an entire physical server or dedicated hardware environment.

It can provide substantial control and predictable resources but is generally more expensive and requires greater technical management.

// cloud hosting

What is cloud hosting?

Cloud hosting uses computing resources provided through larger distributed cloud platforms.

Instead of thinking only in terms of one physical server, applications can use virtual machines, databases, object storage, load balancers, serverless functions and other cloud services.

Application │ ├── Compute ├── Database ├── Storage ├── CDN └── Networking

// managed hosting

Managed hosting reduces administration

With managed hosting, the provider handles more of the technical infrastructure.

Server Updates Security Backups Monitoring Performance

The exact level of management depends on the provider and hosting plan.

// hosted platforms

Some platforms include hosting automatically

Services such as blogging platforms and website builders often hide much of the hosting infrastructure from the user.

Create website ↓ Platform stores content ↓ Platform runs servers ↓ Platform serves website

The site owner can concentrate on the website while the platform manages most of the underlying hosting.

// blogger example

Blogger includes hosting

A Blogger site does not require you to rent and configure your own web server.

Google operates the hosting infrastructure while the site owner manages the posts, pages, template and domain configuration.

Custom domain ↓ DNS ↓ Blogger ↓ Google hosting infrastructure

// wordpress

WordPress can be hosted in different ways

WordPress software can run on many hosting providers.

A managed WordPress platform may handle most server administration automatically, while self-managed WordPress hosting can give the site owner much more control over the environment.

// web server software

Hosting may run web server software

Common web server technologies include:

Apache Nginx Caddy IIS

These systems can receive HTTP requests and return website content to users.

// database hosting

Dynamic websites often need a database

Website ↓ Application code ↓ Database

A hosting plan may provide databases such as MySQL or PostgreSQL, or the database may run on a completely separate service.

Smaller applications may also use file-based databases such as SQLite.

// https

Hosting often provides HTTPS support

Modern websites generally use HTTPS to encrypt communication between the website and its visitors.

Browser ⇅ Encrypted HTTPS connection ⇅ Hosting server

Many modern hosting platforms can automatically issue, install and renew SSL/TLS certificates after a domain has been connected correctly.

// bandwidth

Hosting transfers data to visitors

Every time someone loads a page, data travels from the hosting infrastructure to their device.

HTML CSS JavaScript Images Fonts Video API responses

This data transfer is commonly described in terms of bandwidth or traffic.

// cdn

A CDN can work alongside hosting

CDN stands for Content Delivery Network.

A CDN can cache copies of website resources on servers in multiple locations.

Origin hosting ↓ CDN network ↙ ↓ ↘ London Paris New York

Visitors may receive cached resources from infrastructure closer to them rather than retrieving everything directly from the origin server.

// uptime

Hosting affects website availability

If the hosting infrastructure becomes unavailable, visitors may be unable to reach the website even though the domain itself still exists.

Domain working + DNS working + Hosting unavailable ↓ Website unavailable

Domain registration and website availability are therefore separate issues.

// backups

Backups are an important part of hosting

Websites can contain code, images, databases, user content and configuration that may be difficult to recreate.

Good hosting arrangements should consider how that information can be backed up and restored.

// email

Website hosting and email hosting can be separate

A domain can send website traffic to one provider while email is handled by another.

example.com │ ├── Website │ → Web host │ └── Email → Mail provider

DNS records determine which services handle each type of traffic.

// self-hosting

You can technically host a website yourself

A computer connected to the internet can potentially run web server software and serve a website.

However, public hosting requires consideration of networking, security, reliability, backups, power, software updates and availability.

For this reason, most public websites use specialist hosting infrastructure.

// hosting types

Common hosting models

Type	Basic idea
Shared	Multiple websites share infrastructure
VPS	Virtual server environment
Dedicated	Dedicated server resources
Cloud	Resources delivered through cloud infrastructure
Managed	Provider handles more administration
Static	Primarily serves pre-built files

// mental model

The web stack becomes easier to understand

Domain ↓ DNS ↓ Hosting ↓ Web server / application ↓ HTML + CSS + JavaScript ↓ Browser

Each layer performs a different job.

// summary

The infrastructure behind the website.

Web hosting provides the server resources and network infrastructure needed to make websites available on the internet. The domain gives the website a name, DNS directs requests, and the hosting environment stores or runs the website and delivers its content to visitors.

// internet

What Is a Web Domain?

A web domain is the human-readable name used to identify a location on the internet. Instead of remembering a numerical IP address, people can enter a name such as freelancecoder.uk into a browser.

// definition

A domain is an internet name

A domain name is a name registered within the Domain Name System, or DNS.

It gives people and software a memorable way to refer to websites, servers, email services and other internet resources.

For example:

freelancecoder.uk

// why domains exist

Computers and humans identify things differently

Internet systems communicate using numerical network addresses such as IP addresses.

Humans generally find names easier to remember.

Human-friendly: freelancecoder.uk Machine address: 216.239.32.21

DNS provides the system that connects domain names to the technical resources behind them.

// dns

DNS connects domain names to internet services

DNS stands for Domain Name System.

When someone enters a domain into a browser, DNS can be used to determine where that request should be sent.

freelancecoder.uk ↓ DNS ↓ IP address or another hostname ↓ Web server ↓ Website

// structure

A domain has different parts

Consider:

freelancecoder.uk

freelancecoder

The registered name chosen for the domain.

.uk

The top-level domain at the end of the name.

// top-level domain

What is a TLD?

TLD stands for Top-Level Domain.

It is the final part of a domain name.

.com .uk .org .net .dev .io .info .xyz

// country domains

Some TLDs represent countries

Country-code top-level domains are known as ccTLDs.

TLD	Country or territory
.uk	United Kingdom
.pt	Portugal
.fr	France
.de	Germany
.es	Spain

// subdomains

A domain can have subdomains

Consider:

www.freelancecoder.uk

Here:

www ↓ subdomain freelancecoder.uk ↓ registered domain

Other examples could include:

blog.example.com shop.example.com api.example.com docs.example.com

Different subdomains can point to different services.

// root domain

What is the root or apex domain?

The domain without a subdomain is often called the apex domain or root domain.

freelancecoder.uk

By comparison:

www.freelancecoder.uk

contains the www subdomain.

// domain vs url

A domain is not the same as a URL

A domain might be:

freelancecoder.uk

A complete URL might be:

https://www.freelancecoder.uk/contact

The URL contains additional information.

Part	Example
Protocol	https://
Hostname	www.freelancecoder.uk
Domain	freelancecoder.uk
Path	/contact

// domain vs website

A domain is not the website itself

This is an important distinction.

Domain → the internet name Website → the pages, files and application Hosting → the infrastructure that serves the website

You can own a domain without having a website attached to it.

You can also move a website to another hosting provider while keeping the same domain name.

// registrar

Domains are registered through registrars

A domain registrar is a company authorised to register domain names for customers.

When a domain is available, you can register the right to use it for a particular registration period.

Choose domain ↓ Registrar ↓ Register domain ↓ Configure DNS ↓ Connect services

// registry

Registrars and registries are different

The registrar is normally the company through which the customer manages the registration.

The registry operates the database and infrastructure for a particular top-level domain.

Registrant ↓ Registrar ↓ Registry ↓ Domain Name System

// nameservers

Nameservers tell the internet where DNS records live

A domain is normally assigned authoritative nameservers.

These servers provide DNS information for the domain.

Domain ↓ Nameservers ↓ DNS records ↓ Website / Email / Other services

Changing nameservers can effectively move responsibility for managing the domain's DNS records to another provider.

// dns records

DNS records control where services point

Record	Common purpose
A	Points a name to an IPv4 address
AAAA	Points a name to an IPv6 address
CNAME	Aliases one hostname to another
MX	Directs email delivery
TXT	Stores text used for verification and policies
NS	Identifies authoritative nameservers

// a record

An A record can point a domain to a server

freelancecoder.uk ↓ A record ↓ 216.239.32.21

An A record maps a hostname to an IPv4 address.

// cname

A CNAME can point one name to another

www.freelancecoder.uk ↓ CNAME ↓ ghs.google.com

This allows the www hostname to reference another hostname instead of directly containing an IP address.

// email

Domains can also be used for email

A domain is not limited to websites.

The same domain could also support addresses such as:

hello@example.com support@example.com accounts@example.com

DNS records can direct email traffic to a mail provider independently of where the website is hosted.

// https

A domain can be protected with HTTPS

HTTPS encrypts communication between a browser and a website.

http://example.com ↓ https://example.com

HTTPS normally uses a digital certificate associated with the domain or hostname.

The domain and the SSL/TLS certificate are separate things. Registering a domain does not itself create the website, although many hosting platforms automatically provide HTTPS certificates after the domain is connected.

// dns changes

DNS changes may not appear everywhere immediately

DNS information is cached by resolvers and other systems.

When a record changes, some systems may continue using the older cached information until it expires.

Old DNS record ↓ Record changed ↓ Caches expire ↓ New record becomes widely visible

This process is commonly described as DNS propagation.

// ttl

DNS records have a TTL

TTL means Time To Live.

It tells DNS resolvers approximately how long a record may be cached before it should be refreshed.

TTL: 3600 3600 seconds = 1 hour

// registration

Domain registrations must normally be renewed

A domain is generally registered for a defined period.

To continue controlling the domain, the registration normally needs to be renewed before it ultimately expires.

Register ↓ Use domain ↓ Renew ↓ Continue using domain

// ownership

"Buying" a domain is really a registration right

People often say they have bought a domain.

More precisely, they have registered the right to use that domain according to the rules of the relevant registry and registrar for as long as the registration remains valid.

// transfers

Domains can usually be transferred

A domain can often be moved from one registrar to another without changing the domain name itself.

Registrar A ↓ Domain transfer ↓ Registrar B

The website can remain on the same hosting platform if the DNS configuration continues pointing to the same destination.

// one domain

One domain can connect many services

example.com │ ├── www.example.com │ → website │ ├── api.example.com │ → API │ ├── shop.example.com │ → online store │ └── email@example.com → email service

DNS makes it possible for these services to be hosted in completely different places while sharing the same domain.

// domain + hosting

The domain and hosting can come from different companies

You do not normally have to register a domain with the same company that hosts the website.

Domain registrar ↓ DNS ↓ Website host

This separation is one of the most useful features of the Domain Name System.

// mental model

A simple way to think about domains

Domain

The memorable internet name.

DNS

The system that tells software where services are.

Hosting

The infrastructure that stores or runs the website.

HTTPS

The secure encrypted connection used to reach it.

// summary

A human-readable internet address.

A web domain is a registered name used to identify internet resources. DNS connects that name to websites, servers, email systems and other services. The domain, DNS, hosting and website are separate components that work together to make an internet service accessible.