What is hosting? And why you need to pay for it?

Perhaps one of the least understood areas of web marketing is the subject of hosting.

What we are going to try and do here is explain what hosting is, why you need it and why you’re always going to be expected to pay for it.

In order to better understand hosting, it is first necessary for you to understand a little about websites which will shine a light on the reason why you need hosting.

Files Files Files

Firstly, it is necessary to understand that websites are not some mystical aura floating in the depths of cyberspace. Websites, in fact – apps, systems and platforms too – are comprised of physical files. Just like the files on your computer containing your Word and Excel documents they are stored in a file structure on a server somewhere.

It is that file structure that a web browser (Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox etc) renders into displaying as a website. Pulling content, images, videos and so on from the server and into the place your web designer has instructed them to. And just like that a website appears on your screen.

But those files are not on “the internet” they are on a server, a physical box server that sits in a data centre being kept running 24/7.

Space

So, as with files on your computer, your phone or tablet they take up space. Taking the new knowledge you have about websites being comprised of files on a server, it stands to reason that those files will also take up space. Space, in the server and storage sense – not the vastness of the universe sense – is limited. Therefore, any given server can only ever have space to hold a set amount of files. The bigger your site, the more files and the more space it uses up.

Servers, have to be kept running 24/7 because people are accessing the internet worldwide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So, these servers need electricity to power them, they need cooling systems to keep them from overheating, they need a building to keep them in and people to check them and monitor them. They need security, both cyber and physical to prevent unauthorised or malicious access and of course this all costs money.

Rent

So, imagine that you are a company that owns a data centre full of servers. You need to pay for your building, the power, the security, the backups the cooling, the maintenance and much more besides. How do you make that money back? You rent out the server space.

Who do you rent the server space out to? Web developers, app developers, CRM system developers and those with enough savvy to develop their own websites, apps, systems etc. They’re your servers. so you can set the prices and the space provided for those prices, just as you would if you ran a warehouse and you were renting out shelf space. You’re renting space for others to store their property, in a warehouse it would be physical goods, on a server, it’s their website files.

So if you are using a web developer or an agency to build your website or app or system, the chances are they’re using one of these data centres to store your files. They’ll be paying the server company for that space. As such, they’re going to pass the cost on to their clients – you.

That is what hosting is, and that is why there is a cost attached to it.

What Affects the Price of Hosting?

Some companies will charge you as little as ￡8.00 per month for hosting, others will charge you ￡100.00 or more per month. So, why the difference and what is that extra money going on?

Again, the first factor is almost always going to be space. The larger your website, the more space it requires and therefore the more space you’re going to have to rent on the “shelf” as it were. Other factors are a little more complicated, but we’ll try to keep them simple.

Firstly is something called Bandwidth, simply put and very basically, this is a limit on the number of visitors that can access your site at any one time or over the course of a set period of time. Each person accessing your site is essentially loading all the files, calling them from the server and rendering them on their browser. This all uses up bandwidth. If your site is likely to experience high visitor numbers then you’ll need more bandwidth than the average site.

Speed is another factor, some servers are set up to have faster loading times and optimise your site for load speed. This means even in busy periods your site shouldn’t slow down or lag when visitors are exploring it. The more visitors there are at the same time, the more chance there is that speed will be effected. Servers optimised for speed, especially for larger or high visitor number sites will often cost more.

The final point to explain here is security, all server companies will have security measures in place, that is a given. Some, of course, will have more security than others. Depending on the sensitivity of your website, app or system and the data it stores, you may need or want a higher security level for your servers. Security requires updates and maintenance, server companies will employ cyber security technicians to ensure their firewalls are up to date and their software is also current. All of which beefs up security, but of course, ups the cost of the hosting.

Service levels and dedicated servers and many more factors can come into it, but generally those are the main metrics that drive the cost of hosting.

Want to update your hosting?

Visit our website: https://razoredge-media.co.uk/ or contact us on 01376 440023.

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