Web Hosting 101
with Patrick McNeilWhy learn the technical side?
• To help your clients solve problems
• To help you work better with your tech team • To better understand how the web works • To help you deal with hosting
Who am i?
• Find me on pmcneil.com
or on twitter @designmeltdown
• I am a writer, designer, teacher and developer
• I have worked in the web community for around 12
years now
• I started in the IT field and my foundation in the
web started with the hardware
• I love to write books, talk about design and teach
3 parts to hosting a web site
• A domain name • DNS
Registering a domain name
There are many ways to get a domain name:
• Through registrars such as Name.com
• Through all-in-one hosting services such as GoDaddy • Through hosted CMS systems such as Squarespace
WHOIS
A query to the registrar database
• Domains are registered in a database • WHOIS lets you search the database
• It's easy; knowing where to start is 90% of the battle.
WHOIS sample
Contact information:
• Registrant • Administrative • Technical • BillingTransferring domains
You can move domains between registrars
• A little work • A little money • Why?
DNS
Stands for Domain Name Services Points a hostname to an IP address
DNS is the glue that
connects a domain name
to a web server
URLs
Stands for: Uniform Resource Locator It is a very specific location on the internet
Protocol Sub domain Domain name File path
A sample URL
What is a hostname
Some examples of hostnames:
• pmcneil.com • www.pmcneil.com • mail.pmcneil.com • www2.pmcneil.com • intranet.pmcneil.com • anything-i-want.pmcneil.com • many.sub.domains.pmcneil.com
Where do you setup DNS
DNS servers are setup via the registrar3 key types of records
There are many types of DNS records
These are the best ones to start with
• Hostname • CNAME • MX Record
Hostname record
CNAME record
Points a hostname to another hostname – an alias
intranet.pmcneil.com
test.pmcneil.com
mail.pmcneil.com
MX records
Used to route email
TTL Trick
Web Hosting
A web host stores the documents that make up your website.
• Web servers are computers connected to the internet at all times. • Each web server (an actual computer) can host dozens, hundreds or
thousands of sites.
• A web host stores your site’s documents and sends them to people's
computers as they are requested.
Types of hosts
Three key types of web hosts:
• Shared • Dedicated • Cloud
Shared hosting
This is your typical $2.99 unlimited hosting plan:
• Least amount of control
• Hundreds and even thousands of sites on a single server • Cheapest option
• Slowest option
• Often they offer unlimited sites • Backups are not trustworthy
• Speed can be impacted by the other sites
Dedicated hosting
This is the most expensive option:
• Your own private server
• A physical computer just for you
• Total control – you can install anything and host tons of sites • Backups are typically an add-on
• Price is based on the server you configure (memory, disk etc) • The ultimate in power and control!
Cloud hosting
A mix of benefits
• Almost always priced per site
• Powerful, reliable and very affordable • Extremely reliable
• Backups are typically an add-on
You get what you pay for
All hosts are not equal:
• Carefully consider the price point • What about backups?
• Consider the business needs • What about security?
What about email
Email has to be hosted as well:
• Often bundled with web hosting (you'll see it in a plan "with X email accounts") • Typically not included with dedicated servers and sometimes with cloud hosting • It can be separated from your web host
All in one hosts
These hosts combine all of these services:
• Domain registration • DNS
• Web hosting • Email hosting
My strategy
Separate the components into three groups:
• Domain registration & DNS • Email hosting
Why?
Benefits to separating the components:
• It lets you shop around.
• You select components based on your needs.
• You select providers based on their key strengths. • Managing many sites and domains becomes easier. • Above all, changes are easier.
Recommended services
Services I use and love:
• Domain registration • Name.com
• DNS
• Via name.com • Email
• Google Apps - http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/pricing.html • Rackspace Email - http://www.rackspace.com/email-hosting/
• Web hosting
• http://www.bluehost.com/ • http://mediatemple.net/ • http://www.rackspace.com/ • http://www.firehost.com/
