What is Domain and Hosting?

Domain Name vs Web Hosting

Difference Between Domain and Hosting

A Domain name is an address of your website that Internet users type in a browser to access your website. Whereas Web hosting is a type of Internet hosting service that provides storage space to individuals or companies to make their website accessible worldwide.

What is a Domain Name?

A domain name is identifying texts which appear as a part of your website’s address. It depends on the domain extension you have used for your website.

You can classify a website category using top-level domains. There are more than 5000 types of top-level domains that you can register. This number is continuously increasing. For example: .pro, .co, .in, .us, .ca, .academy, etc. Although the popular top-level domains are .com, .net, .org, etc.

A domain name is often confused with a website, yet they are two different entities. It is also described as your website name that serves as an address for other people to access your website on the Internet.

Domain names have mainly been divided into two parts separated by a dot. The first part is the brand name, which can combine numbers and letters, like Monster135, whereas the second part is a domain extension like .com, .org, .net, .UK, etc.

What Are the Main TLDs for Domains?

A Top-Level Domain (TLD) is the last section of a domain name or the short part which follows the dot. TLDs are also called domain suffixes.

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is responsible for managing domain names and IP addresses. ICANN categorizes TLDs as follows:

Main TLDs for Domains

  • Country-code Top-Level Domains (ccTLD)
  • Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD)
  • Infrastructure Top-Level Domains (iTLD)
  • Sponsored Top-Level Domains (sTLD)

Types of Domain Extensions

Some of the most popular TLDs are:

  • .com – Commercial
  • .net – Commercial
  • .org – Commercial
  • .edu – Educational facilities like universities
  • .gov – For government agencies/entities
  • .mil – Military

What is Web Hosting?

A web host is an internet hosting service that allows individuals or companies to make their website accessible worldwide. According to your budget and specifications, many hosting service providers offer various hosting services.

Web hosting is the storage and delivery of the files, which make up a website. Website files are hosted on a server that allows the website to be displayed on the Internet. We can think of web hosting as your website’s home and the domain name as the address to get there.

As web hosting services actually host your website, it is the first thing, along with a domain name, that you need before it can be built. Every website on the Internet needs web hosting.

What are the Types of Web Hosting?

There are different web hosting services provided by web hosting companies. Here are four types that are widely purchased by website owners.

  • Shared Hosting: In a shared hosting plan, you share the server with other website owners. That means you share the physical server as well as some software applications with other users.
  • Dedicated Hosting: Dedicated Hosting is a private hosting plan where you get the complete web server. Here, you are neither sharing your server nor resources. However, your purchase hosting cost will be high.
  • Collocated Hosting: In this hosting service, you buy your server but locate the server on the hosting provider’s premises. You will be completely responsible for your server. In these kinds of hosting plans, you also get full control and access rights.
  • Cloud Hosting: Cloud hosting allows you to automatically increase/decrease server resources based on your website traffic. The billing is done on a per hour basis, and there is no fixed cost involved in it.
    It is the most in-demand hosting type for web apps currently in the market, as developers do not need to worry about their hosting infrastructure. The term cloud is derived from the network diagram, where a cloud symbol denotes network infrastructure.
  • VPS Hosting: It is ideal for people who need more than a shared plan but still do not require a dedicated server because of a strict budget.
    VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. This means it is your server, but virtually there are many more VPS’s on a single machine. You can have VPS hosting packages if you want to learn server management.
  • Reseller Hosting: It provides the ability to host multiple domains/websites. Hosting services may be resold to other parties. Reseller hosting accounts share a server with other reseller accounts.
  • Managed WordPress Hosting: WordPress Hosting is a hosting package for people who want to build their sites on the back of the popular WordPress Content Management System (CMS) from WordPress.org. Managed WordPress hosting server providers know the CMS in and out so they can easily troubleshoot your WordPress problems.

What is the Difference Between Web Hosting and Domain?

Difference Between Web Hosting and Domain

The easiest way to understand the difference between domain and hosting is to think of them this way:

If a domain name is your house’s address, then web hosting is the actual house that the address points.

A domain name is an address forwarding service. You need to type the address of the website they wish to visit. It directly points to the IP address, which contains your website.

The main reason behind using a domain name instead of IP addresses is that names are easier to remember than long string numbers. An IP address is a series of numbers, such as 155.155.234.45. This IP address points to the location on the server, which includes your website files.

So, we can say that the domain name points to your IP address, which points to your website. That way, users around the world can easily access your website by just typing your website domain name into their web browser.

How a Domain and Web Hosting Work Together For building a Website?

Domain and web hosting work hand in hand. Imagine that your IP address and the domain name act as an address of your website, and web hosting is the actual house.

Without web hosting, your websites cannot exist on the Internet. A domain name acts as a boundary to sync that points to your web hosting provider.

How a Domain Name and Web Hosting are Co-related?

Domain vs Hosting
Domain vs Hosting

Domain names and web hosting are two different services. However, they work together to create a website. A Domain Name System (DNS) is similar to a massive address book, which is constantly updated and contains information about various domain names assigned to different entities.

There is an address of the web hosting service behind each domain name for storing the website files. Without domain names, people can not find your website, and without web hosting, you can’t build a website.

Important things to consider while selecting the Web hosting Provider

Here are some important things you should focus on while selecting your Web hosting provider:

  1. Customer support: Pre/Post-sales support is a vital factor, as it helps you create and maintain your website efficiently.
  2. Pricing: You should check the pricing and plan to ensure that your company does not need to bear the burden of huge web-hosting costs.
  3. Datacenter location: It is another important factor. Suppose you are looking to buy hosting in your country. For example, You should also opt for a hosting provider who has a data center in the UK or a nearby location like France or Germany.
  4. Hosting Reviews: You should research the web hosting provider and check various sites’ reviews before selecting the hosting service.
  5. Speed: Speed is very much important, especially in the early stage of your website development. If your website responds slowly, it could cost you thousands or maybe millions in lost potential sales. If you want a fast web host, you should select the web host, which meets the requirements of the core web vitals.

Important Things to Remember While Choosing a Domain Name for Your Website

Here are some important things you should remember while selecting a domain name for your website:

  • Evaluate the purpose of your website. For example, you want to create a website for your business, plan for personal use, or create a website for your organization.
  • You need to make sure that your website’s domain name must be unique and not yet registered.
    The domain name should be easy to remember and not too long.
  • Do not buy domain names that are similar to existing sites or what we call trademarked domain names.
  • Avoid including numbers on domain names.

FAQ:

Yes, you need web hosting services because a domain name is just your website’s address, while web hosting is the storage that keeps all your website data. Without web hosting, your website does not have any relevance, and your domain name would point to nowhere.

It depends on most of the time, yes as many domain hosting providers offer a subdomain name that you can use free of cost. However, these subdomains do not make your site look professional, and you cannot make many changes to it.

Moreover, buying a custom domain name allows your website to have its branding. It also helps your website visitors to remember your website’s name.

Yes, you can. In most cases, generally, when you register the domain name, you own the right to use it and transfer it anywhere you want. For example, let us assume that you purchased your domain name from Bluehost and bought your hosting from Greengeeks.

Now, whenever you want to move your domain name to Greengeeks, you can easily do that as all the hosting provider gives the facility and detailed step-by-step instructions to move your domain name.

Yes, but you need to own the domain name and change its settings to point it to the other web hosting company you have purchased web hosting.

You can move your website from one web host to another by just transferring your files and data. You must then edit your domain name settings and set them to your new web hosting service provider company.

Yes, you can. There are two options available for you:

  • Option 1: Never register your important domains with your web hostIt is easy to move to a new hosting provider when you register your domain with a third party. Otherwise, you need to wait for your hosting provider to release your domain. However, this is tricky as they are also losing your hosting business.
  • Option 2: Buy domain and host on the same website.Many website owners do buy their domain and hosting at the same place. This is ideal, especially if you are residing your website at a reputable web hosting provider with a good business track record.

If you have already registered your domain with the hosting company, then:

You have two options.

  • Do nothing.
  • Transfer your domain name to a third-party provider.

Here is how to transfer your domain name from Blue host to Greengeeks.

  • Obtain the Auth/EPP code from the current domain registrar (Bluehost)
  • You need to submit a transfer request to the new domain registrar (Greengeeks)

However, you need to remember that as per ICANN’s Transfer of Registrations Policy, which is less than 60 days old or transferred within the last 60 days, it cannot be transferred. You have to wait at least 2 months before transferring your domain name.

Yes, G sites offered by Google provides free and limited hosting on a fast and reliable network. This tool allows anyone to create simple web sites that support collaboration between different editors. To use this tool, you do not need any programming skills. This page provides a list of free web hosting providers.