website hosting Vancouver

Even though the Internet has become commonplace and available to all, many of its features remain a mystery to many. A lot of people are familiar with the front-end operation of websites – layout, and navigation – but have no idea how they are run. Even some people who would be considered online experts have no idea where to start if the sites they use have problems. Without this knowledge, a simple problem could cause a lot of frustration, to the point of abandoning a site and losing revenue. This article aims to explore a very basic but integral part of website ownership and web hosting in Vancouver. It seeks to define what web hosting really is, why website hosting in Vancouver is necessary to show yourself in the web world, what to look for in a host and some recommendations about web hosts highly appreciated here.

Definition of web hosting

Web hosting is basically finding space on the internet where you “store” your site. From this space, internet users around the world can access your content whenever they enter your key on their devices. You can buy or rent this space, usually with monthly or annual payments, with most web hosts preferring credit card payments, but some web hosts will accept PayPal.

Website Hosting Vancouver involves placing your site and content on a server, which is a powerful computer capable of delivering your content to multiple users who intend to access it.

In common internet language, the web host is used to refer to the company that owns the server computers that host your site. You can talk about “hosting your site on a specific server” or “hosting your site.” by a specific server company ”.

Both statements are technically correct. The beauty of technical language is its attempt to be as close as possible to natural human language. You could say “host” here, it literally makes sense.

Why a website hosting in Vancouver is needed for your site

It is not impossible to host your own site in Vancouver. Many companies have servers on their premises that they use to host their internal communications networks. However, they still use external hosting for their main sites.

Choosing to host your own site requires excellent technological know-how and a strong infrastructure in the form of server computers, an uninterruptible power supply, a static IP address and non-stop maintenance. Here, “strong” can rightly be understood as expensive.

The mistake of making your own website hosting in Vancouver at the end of the day becomes too big and too expensive. If you do not intend to enter the business of becoming a web host, it is better to choose an external web host. Even large companies with internal servers usually use the services of an external hosting company for their main websites.

With the agreement that it is more cost effective to choose a hosting service, how do you choose the right web hosting service for your site?

The characteristics of a good website hosting in Vancouver

In fact, the market is literally flooded.

And, as in all other industries, this should tell you that within them there are those that do not fit the bill. You have probably experienced cases of people complaining that their sites are difficult to access or continue to operate. You may have experienced it with your own site. These are problems that occur when you land an incompetent web host.

To help separate the chaff, you will need to look at a few values ​​and see how each available web host of your choice measures:

Operating time

Running time literally refers to the length of time your site will run; accessible by people who enter your web address on their devices. Of course, an internet problem in the end could cause them to not reach your site, in which case you are not to blame. However, if no one in the world can reach your site, it probably means that your servers, and therefore your site, are defective.

Now, you definitely want to be up all the time, right? This means that you would like a web host with 100% uptime. Relax, your requests are not illogical. Sites that offer a 100% availability guarantee are not really sincere, as they usually round out their uptime and this is not good in technology. This is because each server will need some time for maintenance, during which time the sites hosted on it are guaranteed to go down. However, this time should be minimal, and a good host should give you anywhere over 99.9% guaranteed uptime. With just maintenance downtime, it could reach up to 99,999 percent,

Disk space

This is the amount of space that a web host allocates to you to store your site data. The amount of disk space you need will depend on the nature of your site. Sites that are updated daily, such as site news items will accumulate available disk space faster than those updated monthly. The nature of your data is also a determining factor. Plain text consumes very little space, but once a site goes the way of video, image, and audio files, the amount of disk space required increases significantly.

Whether yours is a company profile, a personal blog, or a company website, modern trends require the use of all of the file types mentioned to convey information, and should therefore be considered when choosing a host. Normally, anywhere above 15 GB of disk space is suitable for a small site. Some web hosting companies will offer you unlimited storage on their advertising pages. However, “unrestricted” is usually limited if you read their details in more detail. You find that once you reach the “normal use of the site”, which these companies define as they wish, your unlimited storage ceases to exist. Always make sure to look at the details before making a choice of web host.

In terms of disk space, there is also the issue of bandwidth.

Band width

This is the size of the data that a web host allows all users of the site: you, co-administrators and visitors, to upload and download in a month. Suppose, for example, that you have a bandwidth of 20 MB. Now, if your entire site is 1 MB in size, when you upload it, you’ve used 1 MB of bandwidth. Each visitor who passes through the entire site downloads 1 MB of data. This means that you can accommodate 19 such visitors. Once the bandwidth limit is reached, your web host will do one of two things:

I. Deny access to multiple visitors

ii. Add extra charge per megabyte used.

The latter is more likely. Some companies will give you unlimited bandwidth, but again it’s important to dig the devil out of the details before making a decision.

You may encounter the terms SSD and RAID as you read about the storage features of web servers. Indeed, these are not terms of great relevance to you as a user of the Website, but we will define them for curiosity. SSSDs (Solid-state drives) are one of two types of drives provided for storage by web hosts. The other is a standard unit. SSDs use flash memory, a feature that helps websites load faster than standard drives.

RAID, similar to “advanced configuration” means the redundant array of cheap disks. It groups several discs into one and determines the read and write speed. There are RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 5. RAID 5 is best because it combines 0 and 1 for higher speeds.

Backups for sites

Remember that servers are computers, only they are bigger than your regular computer. These are susceptible to hacks, disk failures or any other accident that could result in data loss. Ask if the host you intend to choose backs up the file and database. If not, decide to continue or make your own backup plans. Some host companies will back up every 24 hours, making you safe in case of data loss. The host control panel should also allow you to easily download copies of your site’s backup files.

Scalability

Your site will not be where you start after a few years of existence. As its popularity grows, you will find that you make more posts and uploads. The number of visitors and requests to the site will increase. The number of users you need to contribute will increase, as will the number of emails required. As a result, your startup plan may become too small to meet your needs. When this time comes, your web host should be able to allow you to scale to a higher level of storage and bandwidth easily. You need to be aware of this ability of the web host before choosing one as you start with your lower level site.

Mobile application support

A lot of internet configurations are geared towards adapting to mobile usage, the most used device to access the internet worldwide. Applications have become commonplace, complementary to websites. A web host that hosts mobile applications is a plus.

Frame support

How easy is it to install blogging and other frameworks, such as WordPress, on your web host? A good host should provide a quick and easy installation for systems and CMS. I have a tutorial on this if you are interested in starting a WordPress website.

Email functions

While most hosts will provide email accounts within your domain, it’s important to look at the exact nature of this feature and see how it fits your specific needs. How many emails can you have and on what platform do you receive emails. Can I allow you, for example, to integrate with Google Apps?

The more compatibility, the better.

Domains and subdomains

A growing online business may soon require an additional domain or subdomain over time. Managing hosting for each domain is an unnecessary headache when there are hosts that can allow you to have multiple domains on their platform. It should be an easy process from the admin panel to add your domains and subdomains.

Here is my list of my favorite domain registrars.

Customer service

The web is global and so will the requirement for your site to continue to serve visitor requests. As such, you may experience issues that will require you to contact your web host at any time of the day. A good host should be able to be accessed through multiple channels of contact, not just through advertising, but in a real sense. It may seem tedious, but trying to actually contact web hosts on the contacts provided before you establish a working partnership can save you a lot of pain later.

Money back guaranteed

A money back guarantee gives you quite a lot of insurance from the start. Not that you really want to eat your cake and take it, but a host willing to reimburse you if you are unhappy describes an image of the person who is confident in the quality of the services they provide. However, this is not a standard measure of quality, as hosts who have grown in trade and gained a reputation may not see the need to provide such a guarantee.

User analysis

He who feels this knows it. The services of a web hosting company are probably as good as the customers who used them say. Forget the sweet language of advertising and look for web users who have had real experience. Many online forums on the same topic will provide good and honest information about what to expect with certain hosts.

Paid vs. Free

A wide range of free web hosting companies have emerged in recent years. At this time, these free hosts do not provide the same quality of service as paid counterparts.

Of course, there are those customers who become bitter because their pushing nature has not been hosted, but they should be few. Keep your antenna up for sponsored reviews. For each web host, try to see what their common and consistent narrative is.

I spent thousands of dollars on my money to test dozens of different hosting companies. Read my web hosting reviews.

Different types of websites hosting in Vancouver

While web hosting in any form involves placing your site data on a server computer, there are different categories of web hosting in Vancouver. Web hosting services are mainly classified based on the special type of technical service they provide to their customers. Other factors may include the nature and type of servers, their dedicated customer class, and their terms of service.

The three main categories of web hosting are shared, dedicated and VPS hosting, which we will analyze in more detail in this article. Different types of hosting will suit different websites, so it’s important to read each one’s features carefully before choosing which one works best for you.

Shared hosting

Shared hosting causes your website to be hosted on a server that hosts other websites. The server can place anywhere around a thousand websites on the same server. These domains can also have subdomains, which means that at the end of the day a shared server can host between 3,000 and 4,000 websites.

Sites on the shared host share resources on that computer, including processor speed, drive space, and RAM. The behaviors of each site directly affect other sites.

Pro

Low cost

The biggest attraction of shared hosting is its low cost. As mentioned, there are many websites that live together on the same server and share the same resources. As such, these “neighbors” share the cost of these resources, and a hosting plan can be up to $ 3-5 per month.

Constant monitoring

The fact that the behaviors of these sites directly affect each other means that the server company must maintain a constant monitoring of the mentioned computer, in order to ensure that everything works smoothly. Defective sites are reported and owners are informed of violations. This means that if your site is on a shared host, you will be notified earlier of any errors or errors.

Versus

Bad neighbor effect

Resource sharing means again that if a “neighbor” behaves inappropriately, then it will affect the entire population. This means that a place with antisocial tendencies could be too many visitors or a faulty code, could end up swallowing over half of the resources, speed, RAM, etc. and let most other websites suffer. Think of it as a dwelling in an apartment with common rational water, where a resident washes his carpet every day.

Your site may experience downtime due to another careless user hosting their site on the same server as you, despite working non-stop to make sure your code is clean and your content well modified.

Low-end value

When you pay for cheap hosting services, you should definitely expect cheap services. Your web host may work hard to try to keep your system running, but they certainly don’t have that much motivation. Also, with a thousand sites on the server, it will take time to comb through individual sites trying to determine who might be causing the problem. Many troubled sites from time to time mean that your downtime events are amplified.

Who needs a common web hosting plan?

The common plan is not entirely a forbidden area. If you have a very small budget, this might work for you. Again, for low traffic sites, around 30,000 visitors a month, this plan should work perfectly. The nature of your website activity is also a factor. If you do not upload content daily or do not require readers to make repeated trips to your site, then it is. Also, if you are testing your site just now, this is a viable plan. A company profile, a family site, a personal diary and other similar sites will fit perfectly into this plan.

Popular and recommended web hosting companies in this category include Bluehost, Hostgator, Siteground, InMotion Hosting, iPage and A2 Hosting, all charging between $ 3 and $ 5 per month.

Dedicated hosting

As the name suggests, this hosting package is dedicated to a site on the server. The single site occupies the entire resource band on the server computer. This type of hosting service is mainly intended for large sites, which receive huge volumes of traffic exceeding 100,000 visitors per month. Repeated requests require as much RAM as any other site on the same server would have drowned. It is quite expensive, with a fee ranging from $ 100 to $ 2000 per month.

Pro

Dedication

The major advantage of this plan is a dedicated service. Everything in the unit is dedicated to your website, which means there is no risk of the “bad neighbor effect”. As such, any downtime will definitely occur through the fault of your site or a server problem. There is no combing around a pile of sites. For such an expensive amount, you can really expect the hosting company to pay close attention to the maintenance of your website.

Personalization

Being alone, the web host allows you to make specifications about your operating system, memory type, and other items that you think fit your requirements. You are left to do much on your own as you see fit. You could accumulate additional tools and anything else you think of to help your site run optimally.

Versus

The high cost of dedicated hosting is a stop. Well, it shouldn’t be, because it means the package isn’t what you need, and if your site is that big, customer visits should comfortably meet the cost of your subscription. However, sometimes you feel that suppliers take advantage of its uniqueness to overload customers.

Freedom of optimization will require you to have a certain level of computer knowledge or to use the services of an expert. The additional cost can be considered a disadvantage.

Also, in case of hardware failure, you are well and truly ready, and on your own.

Who is this package for?

Great sites, with many visits a day. International news sites and online sales sites may require such a server to stay in position. Also, for sites with special hardware needs or high privacy requirements, this is a good choice.

Recommended web hosts for dedicated hosting include Bluehost, Liquidweb, Hostgator and Inmotion. Read more about the best dedicated hosting providers here.

Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting

This form of web hosting involves renting space for your website on many existing virtual servers in the cloud. It is the newest and most advanced form of hosting and has tried to incorporate the features of shared and dedicated hosting and has eliminated their main weaknesses. It is a shared web hosting service with the benefits of a dedicated hosting service.

The good thing about cloud services is their dynamism, with most charging for what you actually use, rather than a flat rate, no matter what you use. It combines a network of high-powered computers that work together to provide hosting services. The service eliminates the flaws of bad neighbor effects to provide a dedicated server, but at the same time significantly reduces the cost of the service.

The total cost of accommodation varies between 10 and 50 USD per month. If you are looking for a cheap / good VPS hosting, check out our cheap VPS guide here.

Pro

VPS provides excellent security for your site. Due to the amalgamation of several computers, the risk of hardware is very low. Computers function as a series of backups, allowing continuous services even during maintenance periods.

Data security is also improved, as there is no single computer on which to store data.

The package also allows for a uniform growth of your site as you increase your traffic and data.

VPS stands for Virtual Private Server and is probably the most popular upgrade service and can be the best balanced.

They are also easy to configure to fit the needs of your site.

Versus

The only downside to a VPS server is that the monthly costs are just beyond reaching a startup or testing website, which you intend to cover for your own payments.

Who needs a VPS web hosting service?

EVERYONE! This is the best choice of the modern site owner! Of the three categories of web hosting discussed, it should be noted that VPS lists the most advantages. This category, due to the fact that it is the most modern, took lessons from the two predecessors and relied on them to provide the best web hosting model available so far to website owners.

Whether you are a new website owner or an experienced user who has experienced issues and / or wants to improve, this is the choice for you. If you are a small business with growth prospects, VPS will allow you to grow at trouble-free levels. It will take care of increasing traffic, increasing data and the complexity of the website, without having to transfer your files and databases at every step.

InMotion is the most recommended VPS web hosting service.

There are several other web hosting services, but they are all modeled around the three categories discussed above. Other hosting categories include:

WordPress hosting

WordPress is a popular blogging platform. This type of host is quite optimized for the security and speed of the WordPress platform.

Here are my choices for the best WordPress hosting.

Reseller

It is a shared web hosting service that allows you to resell space to third parties. They give you additional software to help you bill your customers, as well as benefits, such as free website templates, to help you attract customers. Control is usually done through Web Host Manager (WHM)

Colocation

This involves buying your own server and taking it to the web host’s location instead of bringing it to your home. It gives you full control of your server, while giving you the benefits of constant power supply and specialized maintenance.

Managed web hosting

The hosts control and maintain the hardware and give you absolute control over the software.

eCommerce-Hosting

Mainly for merchants who want to sell products directly from the site.

Web hosting and website builders

Do web hosts build websites?

Although many new users believe that they do, web hosts do not usually build websites. Some may offer it as an additional and separate package, but it is not their main business. Most specialize in providing hardware and software to support sites to maintain their online presence.

Think of a human host, for example. When you ask someone to host you at home and they agree, what is the next step? That’s right, you’re moving there. The completely created person. I’m not building you in any way. Similarly, build a website, when you are satisfied, show how you would like it to appear to the world, take it to the host company to make it accessible.

From there, take steps to inform potential visitors that you would like to visit or use your site for availability and provide their address.

That being said, there are several companies that specialize in helping you build your website. Building a website from scratch can be a long and tedious process. However, thanks to generous experts and generous web coding companies, there are tools to help you do just that. You don’t have to start from scratch. The chosen web builder will depend on flexibility, cost, themes, responsiveness of themes, price, security, export and restoration of websites, among others.

Here are some popular web tools that can help you, or your chosen designer, build a top website and get into the final stage of web hosting:

Wix

This is one of the most popular web building tools, offering over 500 professional templates with adorable designs. Templates come with a ready-made structure, content and look, allowing you to drag and drop content with what works best for you. This makes it suitable for users who are not particularly good at design.

Another attractive feature of Wix is ​​its dynamism. The tool is regularly updated with new features and designs to respond to the ever-changing web world. It has Wix ADI, which is an artificial intelligence tool that allows you to automatically generate the first design of your website.

Builders have complained about the appearance of ads on the free platform, the difficulty in changing templates and the inability to manage large e-commerce sites.

Over 103 million websites are powered by Wix.

Read my review of Wix.

Weebly

Weebly is appreciated for the beauty and mobile receptivity of its designs. The templates are minimalist, offering a neat overall finish. It also offers the freedom to customize, change backgrounds, thumbnails, etc. without having to interfere with the code. This makes it suitable for builders who are not very familiar with web code. Other builders require codes to change this.

There have been complaints about the limited number of payment platforms supported by Weebly, but this has been addressed by adding PayPal and Apple Pay to supplement Stripe.

Read my Weebly Review

Jimdo

Jimdo is a website builder with teams spread around the world, which makes it suitable for builders whose native language is not English. Allows great code freedom by editing what is on the template. It also has a free, free Jimdo platform with no membership limitation.

Other popular builders include Godaddy, Shopify, IM Creator and Squarespace.

Conclusion

If you have analyzed in detail the world of web hosting discussed above, you are now well informed on this subject and you are ready to set up your web hosting journey. The choice of web hosting area will be informed by a number of factors, from your available budget to the design of your website and the purpose for which it is intended. The more complex and active the website, the more advanced you will need for hosting.

Small and personal websites can be conveniently hosted on the shared web hosting service. However, there will be occasional downtime resulting from the effect of the bad neighbor. This is really a matter of chance. If all the sites on a shared server are clean and maintain a moderate flow of traffic, then things go smoothly. However, once one or more sites have grown and need to move to the next level, other websites on the same server will suffer.

Large, high-traffic websites will require a more dedicated service, probably on a dedicated server or VPS. The dedicated server will give you a more personalized experience and allow you to optimize resources for the best functionality without affecting others.

The VPS hosting category is the most advanced, modern and beneficial web hosting service. It is viable for websites of all categories and offers some of the biggest benefits within web hosting circles.

Remember, there are many other categories of web hosting, but they all come from shared, dedicated and VPS categories.