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The first (and most important) step in putting your pages online is finding someplace on the Web to put them on display — a host. In general, you have two choices for hosting your pages:
- Pay someone else to host them.
 | The word host is used in the Web industry to mean a Web server set up to hold Web pages (and related files) so they can be accessed by the rest of the world. This chapter uses host as both |
- Noun: The physical machine that holds the Web pages
- Verb: The act of serving up the Web pages
 | You aren't stuck with your hosting decision for life. If you find hosting your own pages overwhelming, you can move your files to a service provider (or vice versa). To decide which hosting option is best for you, consider your needs for the next year, but plan to review your needs in a few months. |
Hosting your own Web site
You can set up your own Web server and host your Web pages yourself. To do this, you need:
- A computer designated as your Web server: Web servers are often dedicated to this task, leaving word-processing and other activities to a different computer.
- Web-server software: Common Web-server software packages include Apache and Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS), called Internet Information Services in Windows 2000 and later.
| In the Web world, the term Web server refers to both |
• A dedicated computer (the actual hardware)
• Web-server software
You can't use one without the other.
- A dedicated Internet connection: Your Web server isn't useful or reliable if it's connected to the Internet only when you fire up a dialup connection.
If hosting a Web site yourself sounds a little complicated and expensive, you're right. Not only do you have to pay for the equipment and dedicated Internet connection, but you also must know how to set up and administer a Web server and keep all the pieces working 24/7. Consider using a hosting provider.
Using a hosting provider
A hosting provider manages all the technical aspects of Web hosting, from hardware to software to Internet connections. You just manage your HTML pages. Back when the Web was young, hosting provider options were scarce, and what was available was expensive. The times have changed, and needs have grown, so reasonably priced hosting providers are abundant these days.
If you decide to let someone else host your pages, you have two choices for how much you pay:
- Nothing: Some services actually host your pages for free. That's it; you pay zip, zero, nada to get your pages on the Web. What's the catch? You must pay in other ways, usually with advertising attached to your page.
- Something: Most Web-hosting services, however, charge you a fee, from a few dollars a month to triple digits a month. The trick to making the most of your hosting funds is to find just the right hosting service to meet your Web site needs.
Getting your own domain
A domain name is the high-level address for any given Web site. Examples of domain names are microsoft.com, apple.com, w3c.org, and dummies.com.
You might want your own domain name (hence your own domain) that reflects your business name (or even your personality). If you don't get a domain name of your own, your pages will be part of someone else's domain name — usually your hosting provider's domain name. For example, a personal Web site hosted without a domain name at io.com has a top-level URL of
http://www.io.com/~lanw
With a domain name of lanw.com, the same Web site would be hosted at
http://www.lanw.com
One's easier to remember than the other. Is that a good enough reason to have your own domain? Maybe . . . maybe not. The bottom line is that businesses or other entities that want to maintain a constant Web presence should probably invest in a domain name; hobbyists or enthusiasts don't need one.
| Any good hosting provider can give you detailed instructions on how to register a domain name in the provider's system or attach your domain name to your Web site on its computers. If you're changing from one hosting provider to another, your new provider should help you transfer your domain. Most providers either give you this information up front or have online help that will walk you through it. If it isn't immediately clear how to set up your domain, ask for help. If you don't get it, change providers. |
Moving files to your Web server
After you secure a Web site host or decide to put up your own Web server, you need a way to move the HTML pages you create on your local computer to the Web server. This isn't a one-time activity either. As you maintain your Web site, you need to move files you've built on your local computer to the Web server to refresh your site.
How you move files to your Web server depends entirely on how your Web server is set up. Normally, you have a couple of transfer options:
- The File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
- A Web interface, provided by your hosting provider, for moving and managing files
Via FTP
Of these two options, FTP is almost always a possibility. FTP is the standard for transferring files on the Internet, and any hosting provider should give you FTP access to your Web server. When you set up your Web site with your hosting provider, the provider usually gives you written documentation (either on paper or on the Web) that tells you exactly how to transfer files to your Web server. Included in that information is an FTP URL that usually takes the form ftp://ftp.domain.com.
You can use an FTP client such as WS_FTP (www.ipswitch.com/Products/WS_FTP/) or CuteFTP (www.globalscape.com/products/cuteftp/index.asp) to open a connection to this URL. Your provider will give you a username and password to use to access your Web-server directory on the FTP site. Then you can move files to your Web site using the client's interface. It's really that easy. If you want to grab a copy of a file from your Web site and modify it, you just
1. Use the FTP client's interface to download a copy.
2. Make your modification.
3. Use the FTP client's interface to upload the file.
| Each FTP client's interface is different, but they're all pretty straightforward. |
| You might not need a separate FTP client to move your files to your Web server: |
- Most newer Web browsers, such as current versions of Internet Explorer and Netscape 6, have some FTP capabilities built in. You can easily upload and download files. (You might not be able to make or delete directories.)
- Many Web utilities, such as Dreamweaver, have file-management capabilities.
Via your hosting provider's Web site
In the interest of usability and reducing technical support calls, many Web hosting providers have built Web pages that help you upload and manage your Web site files without using a separate FTP utility or even the FTP tools inside HTML editors. Most of these tools let you manage your site in various ways, such as
- Uploading and downloading files
- Creating and deleting directories
If you already have a hosting provider, find out whether it has a set of Web-based tools for managing your site.
Keep the following in mind while you decide on a provider:
- Read the provider's documentation before you start to transfer your files. Every provider's interface is different.
- Most providers who have Web interfaces won't stop you from managing your site with FTP.
| Use FTP if the provider's interface is cumbersome or if you prefer FTP. |
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