| There are two components to creating a website: | | | | bandwidth and reliability, will be capable of providing a |
| there's the physical computer where the site is | | | | secure environment, and can provide more robust |
| stored and the domain name that points to its | | | | solutions for busier sites. |
| location. | | | | A domain name is simply a pointer, much like a post |
| You can host a website on any computer that has | | | | office forwarding address. When you enter a domain |
| web serving software installed, even your home or | | | | name into a browser, in the background the name is |
| office PC, but there are a variety of issues with | | | | translated to the underlying IP address where the |
| doing so: | | | | site is physically stored. You actually don't need a |
| - Security issues: opening a computer to receive | | | | domain name to visit a website since if you know |
| inbound Internet requests can be risky without taking | | | | the IP address of the web server, you simply need |
| the necessary precautions to secure the machine. | | | | to enter this in a browser's address bar. But having a |
| - Stability: DSL and cable internet services are not | | | | domain name provides a human-friendly and |
| always stable, and when the service has an outage, | | | | memorable way to reach the site. |
| the website becomes unavailable. | | | | Owning a domain name costs around $10 a year and |
| - Scale: if your site gets busy and receives large | | | | doesn't require any special maintenance. Web hosting |
| numbers of requests, the computer may not have | | | | plans vary widely in price, usually as a month or |
| the capacity to keep up. | | | | annual fee, and serves visitor requests when they |
| Consequently, the vast majority of websites are run | | | | reach your site. You can buy a domain name without |
| on computers dedicated just to serving webpages, | | | | a web-hosting plan, which will reserve the name for |
| provided by web hosting companies. A quality web | | | | your use at a later date. |
| host will have a superior connection, both in terms of | | | | |