Chapter 3

Serving Up Your Site

IN THIS CHAPTER

Bullet Understanding the different types of hosting

Bullet Breaking down the pros and cons of various hosts

Bullet Reading the legal fine print

Bullet Deciding whether you’re ready to be your own host

Bullet Paying attention to security

One of the many decisions you make when you’re starting a website is where to host it. You might be wondering what a host does and why you even need one. A host site provides a place (a server) for your website and all the files that make up your site to reside. That host provides an address so that others can access it by using the Internet.

There are many different options available when choosing how to host your website, including doing it yourself (not advised!). The biggest concern usually comes down to the amount of access you want or need to the server and the additional services provided. An increasingly critical part of any hosting solution is the security of the server. It’s essential that your website’s host, your business, ...

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