Anyone who creates a website should know, and probably knows, that just creating a set of web pages, or even a single page, is not enough to make a website appear on the Internet. In order to give a website a presence on the Internet, two things are critical. We are talking, of course, about a domain name and a server (hosting). A domain name is literally the “address” of a website, and hosting, respectively, is its “residence”, that is, the hardware on which all data is stored. And without them, the website will just be a set of data on the hard drive of the creator, rather than a full-fledged and functional unit on the Internet.
What is domain name and how it works
A domain name, or domain, is the textual name (address) of a web site on the Internet that is entered into the address bar of your browser. A domain is a unique identifier that corresponds to a particular website. Why do we need a domain name? The answer is simple: for the convenience of Internet users. So, you do not have to remember the numeric IP address, and it is enough to know the domain.
In order to create a website, it is required to select and register (lease) a suitable free domain name from one of the local or international domain name registrars. It is not possible to buy a domain forever, its lease is paid for and renewed annually (or every two years). At the same time, it is necessary to run a Whois search to find out whether the domain name is not occupied.
By doing a Whois lookup, you can not only find out if a domain name is in use, but also find out when it will become available so that it can be taken over if the current registrant will not renew ownership. There are two ways to do this. The first way is to check manually, through several different Whois database access services belonging to the desired domain zone. The second way is automatically, through special services, such as www.host-tracker.com/en/ic/whois-check, to have a more up-to-date result.
What is web hosting and how it works
Hosting is a service that provides websites with web server resources to provide an Internet presence. Machine resources include disk space for storing data, as well as RAM and a CPU for work. Hosting companies place their web servers in specialized data centers, which meet the requirements for high-speed access to servers over the Internet and have backup power supplies that allow the equipment to work even when the power is off.
Technically, a web server is software that receives user requests sent from browsers and provides responses in the form of HTML pages, files, media data, etc. Also, a web server is a physical device that runs the above software. Depending on the purpose and workload of the site, the choice is made among the five main types of hosting, different in terms of available software, functions and hardware resources.
- Shared hosting – one server hosts several hundred sites managed by different users. And all sites share common server resources.
- Virtual dedicated hosting or VDS – different sites are hosted on the same physical server, but each is located on its own separate virtual server. Therefore, the sites do not influence each other.
- Dedicated server – one site is provided with all the resources of a separate physical server without any restrictions within the hardware capabilities.
- Cloud-hosting – the site is used and hosted on several different physical servers at once, united in a cloud cluster. When the site is allocated only a specific amount of necessary hardware resources.
- Colocation – the physical servers of the site are located on the territory of the hosting provider. That is, in fact, this is a lease of data center placement for the installation of website’s hardware.
How to connect hosting service and domain name
A domain name can be registered with a company that provides hosting resources to your site. In this case, the process of linking the domain to the hosting, as a rule, occurs automatically after the registration of a new site. However, if the domain name was registered using another provider, it may need to be manually linked to the hosting.
To associate a domain name with a hosting, name servers are used, which are provided by the hosting provider. To do this, the names of DNS servers are specified in the domain name settings. The process of manually linking a domain to a hosting may vary depending on the provider.
What is website and web hosting monitoring
In order for the hosting, and with it the site that you have placed on it, to work stably, it is necessary for the webmaster to constantly monitor its condition. Otherwise, if there are problems, the webmaster will not be able to quickly respond to them and eliminate the cause. Most webmasters usually use a variety of special programs to monitor sites. However, they often do not have all the necessary data at a moment’s notice, and they can never figure out exactly what happened at any given moment.
Moreover, to understand the essence of the problem and its source, the webmaster should look through the logs and look for the problem. And then write a report to the hosting owner. That is a lot of time-consuming and time-consuming tasks. That’s why many webmasters use automated systems to monitor sites on a daily basis while they are working. For example, webmasters can use the best website tracker on host-tracker.com/en and all its extensive tools.
Most effective website and hosting monitoring toolkit
HostTracker is one of the top notch services among others and can do all the website monitoring routines that webmasters can set up with just a few clicks. This convenient web monitoring service will allow webmasters to set up a set of monitoring procedures that will be performed around the clock. All you need to do is register and set up everything you need. And all this will work automatically, without wasting time on manual procedures.
This particular toolkit includes a huge number of different diagnostic utilities. From a basic ping and port check service – host-tracker.com/en/ic/port-check – to a DNSBL scanner. It even includes website database and content integrity checking procedures. And, of course, the system has a set of tools for the webmaster to test and verify server performance and stability, both software and hardware.
All of this, combined with worldwide coverage, allows full website monitoring using more than 140 access points around the world. In addition, the system uses an instant notification system to alert webmasters when problems occur. It can even make voice calls or send SMS if the responsible user is offline on messengers. Thanks to this, the webmaster doesn’t have to look into the reports himself. It also allows the webmaster to respond quickly to problems that arise.
