As you probably know, a web host provides a service whereby a server holds all the data of your website and allows people to access it over the internet. There are various details of web hosting which you might not have come across, however, and they are worth considering before you select a web host to handle your website.

Once you’ve bought web space, you’ll be given a username and password with which to access and upload to your web space. If you have a mail server, you will also use this login to access your mail and administrate your email accounts.

You will have a limited amount of storage space on the host’s server, and also a data transfer limit. The former is the number of megabytes of data that you can store on their server; this will be the content of your website. The latter is the amount of data that can be transferred between your site and your visitors within a given period.

Web hosting environments offer a whole range of different packages and services. Some are very bare-bones and allow you lots of freedom, whilst others are feature-rich. Additional features offered include various pieces of software, databases, script processing and so on.

Core components in a web hosting environment include:

- Web Server. This is software which accepts requests for HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) and delivers HTML pages and any other data.

- FTP Server. FTP is the means by which a webmaster can transfer their data to and from the server.

- Mail Server. The mail server consists of two parts: POP (post office protocol) and SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol), which deal with your inbox and with the transfer of emails between mail servers.

- Database Server. If you are using a database, and allowing users to interact with it, the database server will come into play. It can also be used to gather data from your visitors.

You can interact with these components via the following routes:

- Web Browser. Some hosting companies offer a browser-based control panel and email service. This can be extremely useful and offer you a lot of flexibility and accessibility.

- Web Site Editor. Many hosting companies nowadays offer FrontPage editing features over HTTP. These editors allow you to make changes to your site in a WYSIWYG interface, via a browser. You should be careful that your host has good experience with this feature, as it can be a source of security issues.

- FTP Client. This is a simple piece of software with the capability to upload your files to your server. You can also view the folders on the server and add or remove files.

- Email Client. You might use Outlook or Thunderbird to send and receive emails, and if your host provides a POP3 account, this email address will be no different.

- Database Administration Client. The most common databases in use are Microsoft SQL Server and MySQL. The former comes with its own administration client; MySQL has an active online community with various clients available for download.

Author: Natalie Catchpole

For more information on domain names and domain name registration questions please feel free to contact Domainmonster.com support team who will be happy to assist you.