Web hosting is a service that serves your website to anyone that visits it. While it's possible to host your own web site from a computer at your house, it's generally better to choose a web hosting provider that stores your web site on fast servers in a data center with fast connections. When you visit any website, your computer is actually connecting to another computer that sends the files to your web browser, which then renders those files into web pages that you view. There are many different types of web hosting plans, including:
- Shared hosting - Usually recommended for new websites, as it's the most economical way to start a website. Your site is placed on a server with other websites to share the resources.
- VPS hosting - Recommended for more advanced users, and those needing to install specific packages or software not provided by shared hosting. Your website is placed on a server with other websites, like shared hosting, but usually there's less websites per server. Also includes root or admin access to its own operating system installation in a virtualized environment.
- Dedicated servers - When you get a dedicated server, your website(s) get access to the full server, since it's not shared with any other users. Also includes full root or admin access like a VPS. This is the recommended route for websites with lots of visitors (traffic) or custom requirements not available in a shared hosting environment.
- Reseller hosting - This service is geared for webmasters, or others, who want to resell their own web hosting service. It's also a good option for those with multiple websites, as it makes it easier to manage many websites under one control panel.