Nowadays, it is easy to establish your presence on the web through a website. Many people outsource the job of site creation to external companies who charge huge fees. You can host a website without any external help if you learn the steps involved in the process, which is examined below
Domain Registration
In order to host a website, you should first register a domain from any of the domain registrars. ResellerClub & GoDaddy are the top registrars, who provide domain registrations at a cheaper rate. Almost all domain orders are instant and activated for usage immediately after its registration.
You can also register domains through various service providers but you are advised to ask for the domain control panel. It is through this control panel you can manage your domain and also will be able to transfer the domain to another registrar if there is a need in future.
Web Hosting
Once you registered a domain, you should find a web hosting provider. If you are beginner you can start with a shared hosting account. This means that your site will be hosted with many other domains without compromising speed. Advanced users usually opt for Virtual Private Servers (VPS), which is a semi dedicated option for those who can’t afford dedicated servers.
A VPS is usually costly than a shared hosting account but users will have more rights. It is more or less a dedicated server but will be partitioned and shared among other users. If you purchase Windows VPS, you can login to remote server using Remote Desktop Services.
You can install services such as databases after logging into the server. On the other hand if you make use of Linux VPS, you can access the server from the command line using tools such as puTTY.
If you are planning to provide web hosting for your clients and friends then you should purchase Reseller Hosting package. It will enable you to create separate accounts for each domain.
Points to Note
A Windows VPS consumes more resources than a Linux VPS. Hence, you have to purchase a VPS with more RAM. It is not possible to burst RAM if the allocated memory exceeds the limit in Windows. If you want to host a site with ASP, ASP.NET combined with SQL Server then you should purchase a Windows VPS.
A Linux VPS is more resource friendly if you make use of CentOS and Lighttpd server. Apache consumes slightly more memory but will be suitable for sites with less traffic. Linux VPS is cheaper than Windows VPS.
This is because it makes use of open source utilities such as PHP, MySQL. Windows VPS is costly because of licensing issues especially that of Windows Server, SQL Server. However, Express editions of SQL Server are free and will be suitable for beginner level sites.