Web Hosting OR Internet Hosting
Web Hosting OR Internet Hosting
An Internet host (or webhost) is a body whose role is to make available to Internet web sites designed and managed by third parties.
It provides access to all Internet content deposited in their accounts by webmasters often via an FTP program or file manager. For this, he maintains computers 24 hours 24 Internet (e.g., web servers) via a connection at high speed (hundreds of Mbps), which are installed software, such as: HTTP server (usually Apache), server messaging, database, etc.
Web Hosting Activity
The main activity of the host is to install its Internet servers, the secure (for a wave power, rescued by a generator, an air conditioned room equipped with anti-fire) to maintain them by installing the latest security updates to prevent malicious attacks, to repair them in case of failure to install the software technologies desired by customers or wishes to offer them (such as web programming languages and additional modules in these languages) .
The web hosting is justified by various reasons including:
- The need to secure hosted service,
- The provision by the provider of significant resources (Bandwidth, FTP, etc.),
- Counseling and related support services.
Web Hosting – IP and DNS
When a visitor requests a page from his web browser, it queries DNS servers know the IP address of the server hosting this site. Once he gets the response, the browser will query the server and ask him this page. The web server will then search the page on his or her hard drive (if it is a static page), or the manufacture using a script (if a page dynamic), then send it to the browser, which displays on the screen of the visitor.
It may be important to locate where the host has its servers. Most search engines are also based on the location of servers to perform the optimization of a website.
Web Hosting Categories
Most offers of Web Hosting are grouped into broad categories:
- The shared Web Hosting or shared: Each server hosts multiple sites, up to several thousands, and this in order to share costs. The main advantage is price, the main drawback is that the client is not shared by the server administrator, it is often dependent on the goodwill of the host if he wants a particular technology.
- In some configurations of shared hosting, the user can be administrator of a virtual server where the site is deployed. However, he continues to share system resources with other customers shared.
- Dedicated Web Hosting: The customer then has its own server, and can generally be administered as desired, which is the main advantage of such offers. The supplier server remains the server owner. The drawbacks are the price much higher than shared hosting, and the skills needed to administer the machine properly.
- Virtual hosting via dedicated Hypervisor that provides customers the flexibility of a dedicated (the client manages his machine at its discretion) by providing a virtual machine that uses some of the resources of a server (physical) by virtualization technology (IT).
- Dedicated Web Hosting: dedicated so-called “managed” with “managed hosting dedicated server” or “turnkey” The client has its own server but that service technicians in charge of its management system. This solution is perfect if you have any technical knowledge of his administration. Simply submit its site. This type of Web Hosting is trying to adapt to the needs.
- The host in its data processing center, a space available to the client, so it can place its own server inside (most of the time in special cabinets, racks or appointed “bays”). The host also offers the customer a power cable and ethernet cable and connects it to power its Internet server. This is supposed to be cheaper, since the leasing of the server is not understood, but systems and security badges in the data processing centers can cost more than renting.
Most hosting providers are paying, there are some free, most often they are those calling for their paid services, most feature rich and more efficient.
Businesses face many challenges in terms of hosting infrastructure and applications. Torn between performance requirements for their vital activity and constraints in terms of spending and investment, they often turn to solutions emphasizing sharing and industrialization. Virtualization, the ‘cloud computing’ and SaaS applications are increasingly considered as alternatives they should consider carefully.
The hosting of applications
In 2009, according to a study conducted by Markess International with 150 companies, application areas most affected by external hosting are websites and portals, followed by applications to manage customer relations, human resources , and extranets. To a lesser extent, because more often managed directly by the IT departments, are the messaging applications, security, storage and backup. Followed in descending order of citations, but very dependent sectors of activity:
- The applications of electronic commerce (e-commerce), intranets and collaborative applications including not only email but also features a calendar, task management, etc., Applications and content management;
- The applications of commercial management and sales force management, the ERP (Enterprise Resource Integrated), applications in finance, production platforms and application development.
The hosting of health data
Since 2007, the decision to implement a personal medical record, there is a new category of application hosting: hosting of applications containing data from personal health. This activity is conditioned by the approval to host, issued by a commission studying the applications since 2009. This new work highlights two facts:
- Because of their large infrastructure, hosting providers are now recognized as the most secure of same information,
- If our society is to facilitate access to information, the French government adopts measures to secure the personal data via the identification of buyers, and implementation of latest technologies of encryption and authentication.
Study: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons.
