Publishing Website

[shaispnoi637]

is purchasing "hosting" necessary when i purchase a domain? I know what a domain is, but I dont know what hosting is...can you guys explain it to me please. On the other note, I have to create a website for couple of businesses/organizations in the near future. Do you guys have any advice as far as purchasing domains and hostings? Do i have to have them purchase domain and hosting for each businesses? Or can i purchase 1 hosting so i can use it for all businesses? HELP
thanks in advance.

 

[StephanieCordray]

is purchasing "hosting" necessary when i purchase a domain? I know what a domain is, but I dont know what hosting is...can you guys explain it to me please. On the other note, I have to create a website for couple of businesses/organizations in the near future. Do you guys have any advice as far as purchasing domains and hostings? Do i have to have them purchase domain and hosting for each businesses? Or can i purchase 1 hosting so i can use it for all businesses? HELP
thanks in advance.

Others may have some thoughts on this that differ from mine so don't take off and do what I say until you get more feedback, okay?

Hosting is renting webspace and bandwidth (data transfer) to enable you to place a website on their server so others can view (that's where the data transfer comes in). This works in much the same manner as using a free service such as goecities, homestead, and some others, except that you pay for it and don't have to place any ads on the site except those you wish to place on it. In addition to webspace you also get other services. Most of these offerings are standard and differ little from one company to the next and usually don't cost anything extra. In another post I advised that you do some research into hosting before buying any service.

If they are separate unrelated businesses not owned by the same person you will have to buy separate hosting for each and everyone. Regardless of who owns the business each will need its own domain name.

As far as purchasing domain names and hosting, I typically advise that you purchase domain names from a service specific to selling domain names and not through the hosting company. Although it's not as much in practice as it used to be a hosting company can hold your domain hostage should you want to change services in the future.

This is a long post and hasn't begun to cover the information out there. The best thing I can advise is research on the net about hosting, what it does, what it doesn't do, and so on.

 

[SiteExpress]

Steph said it all. The only way I differ is, I think it is fine to get hosting and domains at the same place. Depending on the host, most times you can manage both from one simple admin area, instead of having to go to two separate places and login.

Another thing.

there is an advantage to buying a domain and hosting at the same time. Most hosts have the domains automatically setup to direct themselves to your webspace. If you do it separately, you have to go to your domain login and change the DNS to point to your webspace.

 

[StephanieCordray]

This is true and you're probably correct that it is the right step for a newbie. However, there are still a few companies around who "hold hostage" domain names bought through them. I'm dealing with one now and it's a pain in the butt itself.

 

[SiteExpress]

Yes, it is a shame that they do that.

 

[shaispnoi637]

hi steph..what did u mean when you said "However, there are still a few companies around who "hold hostage" domain names bought through them"..anyways, id like to thank both of you for your quick responses. Ive been looking at the hosting plan at godady.com..does the prices sounds reasonable ?

 

[StephanieCordray]

Some hosting companies, when you buy a domain name through them, but later want to change to another hosting company will give problems about letting the domain name transfer away from them... It really doesn't happen as often as it did a few years ago but sometimes there are still problems with some companies.

I have no experience of GoDaddy. I think the prices are reasonable but I don't know if their hosting service is any good.

 

[SiteExpress]

I have some experience with GoDaddy on the issue. I have a client that wanted to transfer her domain to my service. She had it parked at GoDaddy for about 2 years.

She was unsure how to do anything, and ask if I would help, so she gave me her Godaddy login info to help her. There was a panel at Godaddy which allowed he to set the Registrar lock, and then provide a reason. It took about 24 hours for it to become available after unlocking it, but it was pretty simple.

 

[globallink]

I use godaddy to purchase domains and either park them or point them to another hosting company I use. I don't use godaddy for web hosting and haven't had any problems. They are cheap and the support seems pretty good.