Hosting in essence is giving a website a home. It’s the physical location where all of its data can be stored and accessed. To elaborate, servers are the physical location where your website information is stored. A server may be located anywhere in the world, but the data will be stored all the same. The main elements of website hosting are: Servers, bandwidth, disk space, memory, and last but not least security. Next, we will explore each of these elements a bit more in depth. For more information about the basics of web hosting click HERE.

Servers are your website’s home. They are the physical location, near or far, where all the data is stored. Additionally, your website contains a domain name. Domain names are the name for your website that gives easy access to the data on the internet. For example, moduet.com is our domain name! Servers are essential for hosting a website. They act as the backbone for every website function. You can access more information about web hosting and an in depth look at domain names from MoDuet.

Next we will explore bandwidth. Bandwidth is the amount of information flowing through your servers. Some websites require more bandwidth than others. Increased bandwidth ensures your website’s content gets delivered to customers and visitors quicker. This can be seen as the water pipes to your home. The larger the pipes, the more water (information) will be able to flow through. Your website’s contents, number of visitors and many other factors all require different amounts of bandwidth. Knowing the amount of bandwidth you’ll need when hosting a website can seem tricky. However, many businesses offer different plans to fine tune your website’s specific needs.

Continuing on down the rabbit hole of website hosting we have arrived at disk space. Disk space allows you to store more information on your server. Each file stored on the website will take up some amount of space. Text files will take up the least amount of space, while video and audio files each will contain a larger file size. This makes disk space an important variable in web hosting. If you want to keep lots of images or videos you’ll need more disk space. If you’re mostly text-based, disk space becomes less important.

Next stop, memory. Memory, or RAM, is essential for your website because it allows the website to execute the processes needed to perform the different tasks on a website. For example, loading a video, new page, clicking on an image, etc. all require memory to function. The amount of processes your website needs to perform will determine the amount of memory you need for your site.

Last, but most definitely not least, we’ve arrived at security. Security is exactly what it sounds like. What security system do you have for your home? Is your data being protected? These are important questions for hosting your own website. Without good security, malware or hackers may gain access to the data stored on servers. Additionally, these threats can impede the functions of your website partially and sometimes even shut your website down entirely. Fortunately, many website hosts contain security plans to help prevent that from happening.

Finding the right plan when hosting your website is key. Understanding the above elements will help you determine the exact plan or specifications you will need when setting up with your new host. Knowing the purpose of your website, what you want to add to it, and many other factors will all play a role in these specifications. MoDuet offers several different plans for different website owners. Feel free to review these plans and please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’d like more information or have any additional questions!