Ever Wonder Where a Website Lives?

One of the most common questions about websites is Where are they physically located?.

Believe it or not, websites are stored on computers. These computers, called web servers, are a bit different from desktop computers because they are highly specialized for web hosting. But if you really wanted to, you could actually host a website on your own computer, which would enable you to avoid recurring hosting fees.

If it’s free, why don’t people host websites on their own computers?

Some people do host their own websites, however, there are several reasons why you should leave web hosting to the professionals.

First, professionally managed web servers have an uptime guarantee. This means that your website will be accessible almost 100% of the time. As for hosting a website on your own computer, your machinery will not be able to maintain this high degree of uptime. And every time you need to reboot your computer, your website will be inaccessible.

Second, professionally managed web servers have the latest in software and security. There is quite a bit that goes into making a website run well, especially if your website is complex and features programming code and databases. Professionally managed servers ensure that all of the software is kept up-to-date. Additionally, there are special measures taken to ensure that a server is not vulnerable to attack. And should an attack occur, your data and files are generally backed up so that they can be easily and effortlessly restored.

Third, professionally managed web servers have sufficient capacity to handle requests. If your website is not popular, then you don’t have to worry about your server or computer being overwhelmed by web requests to see your website. But if it is popular, then your server or computer needs to be able to handle traffic. It is unlikely that your computer will be able to do this.

And finally, professionally managed web servers save you time and heartache. When it comes down to it, there are more important things for you to do than manage your own web servers which, in and of itself, could be a full-time job. After all, you’d have to be on-call for hardware mishaps, security issues, software upgrades, and more! And given the low cost of web hosting packages, it is more cost-effective for you to pay for shared or managed hosting.

Need help finding a web host?

A good web host is crucial to the success of your website or online business. So it is important to do your homework before selecting one. To see a few of our suggetions or to learn about a few criteria for finding a good host, see our articles Web Hosting We Like and Heartily Recommend and How To Choose a Host for Your Website.