CHAPTER 19. FIRST WEBSITE 199
I recommend that you keep them separate. This lets you shop around and
change providers later, in case things do not work out perfectly the first
time around. (I am on my third webhost.)
19.1.1 Registrar
Domain Name: You will need a domain name, which you get from a
registrar. Normally you pay them money. They register your domain name
and give you full control over it. We talk about domain names more in
section 19.3 (page 201) below.
DNS:They also tell everyone the actual network address where your website
is located. This service is called DNS, Domain Name Service. It connects
your domain name with your webhosting location.
The network address, also called an IP address, is assigned by your web-
hosting provider.
19.1.2 Webhosting Provider
Hosting is not the same as registration. Hosting provides storage space and
network access for your website.
The two main options are shared hosting and dedicated hosting. Shared is
lots cheaper. That is what we will talk about here. Dedicated hosting gives
you more responsibility and costs a lot more money.
You need a place for your webpages. The easiest thing is to pay someone for
shared hosting space. It may cost around $5 or $10 per month. It gives you
a control panel or shell access so you can create and update your content.
Webhosting gives you space in thecloudto store your webpages. It also
pays for the network traffic that goes to and from your website.
http://ask-leo.com/how_can_i_find_a_good_web_host.htmlis a nice
article by a friend of mine that covers important aspects of this question.
http://www.w3schools.com/hosting/provides an unbiased discussion and
background information.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_hosting_servicegives a Wikipedia
treatment of the subject.
You can do a Google search for “web hosting” to see alternatives that exist.