This article will discuss the basic mechanics of web hosting and explain how all the separate components come together to give everyone the opportunity to publish information on the Internet.
Web hosting can be compared to a flea market or shopping mall. A large amount of space is purchased and then rented out to other individuals or companies. This rented space is then used by these other individuals or companies in order to sell their services and products.
Purchasing a web hosting package is also the process of one company purchasing space and renting it to others to use. The difference is that the space is on a hard drive of a web server. A web server is nothing more than a high-end computer that has particular software which interprets requests from your browser.
These web servers are then connected to the Internet using data cables. The large data cables that circle the world are called trunk lines. Trunk lines are really many cables bound together which increases the speed data flows through them. Trunk lines take their name from trees which have a trunk and many branches. These large data cable extend out from central points. This creates what looks like a web and is where the term World Wide Web comes from.
Web hosting companies will pay to have access to these high speed trunk lines or what they are more commonly known as, backbone networks. They will then offer this access to their customers.
There are many different technologies layered on top of one another. All of these technologies must work in unison in order for a web page to show up on the Internet.
You have the two computers at either end. On the opposite end you have the web server that is housed at your web hosting company. Typically, web servers will have more RAM, multiple faster CPUs and a much larger data storage capacity than your computer at home.
Then there is your personal computer with all of its hardware and software. This includes your Internet browser which parses and displays the data sent from the web server.
When you enter a domain name into your browser it transmits that request to the Domain Name Servers at your ISP, or Internet Service Provider. The IP address associated with the domain name is then attached and forwarded through the different networks until it arrives at your web hosting company. At your hosting company a router, with its firewall and traffic logging abilities, receives the request.
The router then forwards the request to the appointed switch. For high-end data centers the switch will often be mounted inside the rack of web servers. This ensures less data cable needs to be used and will help keep the switch cool since server racks are usually air conditioned.
The switch then forwards the request on to your web server which is then pointed to the appropriate folder by the web server software. The software reads the information from the folder and then sends that to your web browser. The browser must then decipher and display the information based on a certain protocol.
Almost instantly the whole process is done and a wealth of information is provided to you.
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