What is Hosting and Domain?

To create a website, you must have a domain name and a web hosting plan. But what is a domain name? What is web hosting? They are not the same?

Editorial Team 01 March 2022

Creating your own website can be very exciting! It's about you. Your design, your style, can be exactly what you imagine it to be. However, the complexities involved have the potential to make the process a bit tricky. And for beginners, the terms can also be a bit confusing.

To create a website, you must have a domain name and a web hosting plan. But what is a domain name? What is web hosting? They are not the same? There should be a clear differentiation between the two before you start building your own website.

To make it easy, let's go by parts:

What is Hosting?

Hosting, also known as web hosting or web hosting, refers to a physical server where people's websites are stored.

It is like the home of your website, it stores your files, images, videos, documents, HTML, etc.
The term usually refers to the company that rents the server and the space to store your website and provide connectivity so that other users can access the saved files. In most cases, these hosting companies also take care of the work of server maintenance, updates, backups, recovery, updating and monitoring of services, etc.

Web hosting and domain names are closely linked. They are two different services, but they work together to make websites possible.

Features

The following are the features you can expect from a hosting provider:

  • Control Panel. All hosting plans should offer you a control panel to manage your services, the most used is cPanel.
  • FTP to upload and/or download files. Using FTP provided by the hosting service allows you to upload files from a local computer to the web server. If you create your website and build it using HTML files, you will be able to transfer them from your local computer to the web server, which would allow other users to access your website over the Internet.
  • Supports WordPress , Joomla and/or Site Builder. WordPress is a website that serves as a creation tool. It provides content management and is also a powerful blogging system that is a convenient and straightforward way to manage a website. Hosting services will let you know almost immediately if your system and plans are compatible with WordPress.
  • Databases. Hosting services offer database services, such as MySQL, for dynamic pages, such as online stores, blogs, content managers such as WordPress, etc. .

How can my online business benefit from a web hosting service?

An online business has great potential to benefit from a hosting service. A web hosting service is required to publish your website online. The thing about web hosting services is that you tend to get a lot more than you asked for. Since web hosting is necessary to build your site, at the same cost you can get a lot more, like in-house technicians who make sure the client's website is up and running full time. Everyone wants their website to be successful! Also, when professional help is required, website owners can always contact hosting company support to deal with such troubleshooting and focus on their website and business.

And what is domain?

A domain refers to the address of your website. For example, www.apple.com, www.disney.com, etc.

In order to have a website, in addition to hosting, it is necessary to have a domain.
A domain is a unique name that gives your business or website a very own identity, and that must be associated with the name of your company or business. Said name of your site ensures that everyone knows what it is about. Once you have registered, no one else can register the same name.
If hosting is like your home, your domain name is the address of that home, but instead of a numbered address or street name, there is a set of words or numbers used to name the website.

If you want to have a website that can be accessed by other users over the Internet, a domain name is a must.
Some things to consider for a domain:

  • There are different extensions. Domains can be .COM, .NET, .ORG, .INFO, .PIZZA and dozens more.
  • They must be renewed annually. You must renew your domain every year, the registration of a domain is not permanent
  • They are regulated by ICANN, an international entity.
  • No it is possible to register domains with well-known brand names, unless you have express permission from said companies.

Conclusion: Hosting and domain, one for the other

Web hosting and domain names are closely linked. They are two different services, but they work together to make websites possible.
We recommend you purchase both services from our company, we offer the best infrastructure!

One of the reasons beginners tend to be a bit confused between web hosting and domain registration is that the same service provider often offers both services in one package. Most domain registrars that conventionally only offered domain name registration now provide hosting services. Several web hosting companies also offer the ability to register a domain name for users. One tactic they use to attract new customers is also by providing domain names at a low cost to customers.

It is through web hosting that visitors can see the content of your website when they enter their domain name.
The domain name system works like a big address book that is continually updated . Behind every domain name is the address of the web hosting service that stores the website's files.

Without a domain name, it would not be possible for anyone to locate your website, and without web hosting , I wouldn't even be able to build a website.


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