The definition of web hosting – technical and layman definition |
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We’re going back to the basics today by defining what web hosting actually is. It’s actually quite hard to find a good definition of web hosting so I’m going to give you my technical definition. I will also give a couple good definitions that the layman can understand.
Every time someone asks me what it is that I do, I always have a hard time explaining to them what web hosting actually is. I always say something similar to:
ME: “I provide people with hard drive space on my web servers so that they can have their website online and viewable by other people.”
And almost always the persons’ response is “so you build websites or something?”
Then I will continue to go on for another couple minutes trying to find the best way to explain it to them until they eventually understand.
Help from other people to define web hosting
It was becoming apparent to me, that I was simply unable to provide a good explanation to the layman as to what web hosting really was. I guess my explanations have become tainted by years of working in the web hosting industry – too much jargon and I was assuming too much when describing to the person my job.
So I decided to get some help at www.webhostingtalk.com and I got some great definitions that are much easier to understand than mine.
- “Providing websites a home to live.”
- “Space for your sites on the internet.”
- “A business that allows customers to operate their own website without having to have their own computer running 24/7″
- “I have a computer that displays websites online. Customers pay to put their site on my computer so that their sites display online.”
It’s funny to me that there are so many ways to describe web hosting, some ways a lot more efficient than others. I think the above 4 definitions are the easiest to understand regardless of the persons background with website development/internet.
Got a better definition for web hosting?
Please share your definition with us. I am always looking for different ways to define my field of expertise that is simple for newbies to understand.
Mar 7th, 2009 at 7:29 am
Web hosting is very similar to desk top publishing of the mid 80’s its the ability to put printed text on the internet.
Jun 16th, 2009 at 2:46 am
Ha.ha,ha!i liked your four definitions they are so easy to understand!in Wikipedia i read this definition which was so difficult for the normal person to understand that the web hosting is a process in which the sites are operated by a particular servers the servers can be of any type virtual or any other type!I know this was the technical definition but i liked your definitions it will help normal people to understand the concept of web hosting!Thanks for this info!
Jul 28th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
it’s true some people may become quite confused with what web hosting really is… and the definitions you got from webhostingtalk.com pretty much makes it as easy to understand it as it can get…
Jul 29th, 2009 at 2:28 am
That is a really good way to define web hosting. Thanks – this will save me time when trying to explain it to people.
Aug 18th, 2009 at 12:13 am
Hey Dan,
I’ve been following your blogs for quite sometime and I must say that you’ve a crystal clear understanding of technical concepts related to web hosting.
For many non-technical netizens, this post would serve quite well in understanding what actually web hosting is. I have a website which is hosted on LimeDomains but frankly speaking, I did not know what really web hosting is.
Thanks to you for enlightening me on the same!
Aug 19th, 2009 at 1:56 am
This is a very informative blog post. I have run into many people that are very clueless as to what web hosting and domains are all about. I understand it is a whole different world, but a little time needs to be taken to do some research. This blog post is a simple explanation that most people would be capable of understanding. Happy web surfing!