Mar
26
2010

Hosting and Registration Basics

Registering your domain name

Registration is like getting your business name set up with your local government (but it’s a thousand times easier). Registration is separate from web hosting. Web hosting and domain registration are two different services and products. There are a lot of registrars out there and all of them, without exception, sell you crap you don’t need. Supersize what? I recommend getting your registration with GoDaddy.com and do NOT get their hosting, email, or any other package. Most of the upselling is totally unnecessary and there’s much better stuff out there for similar costs. There is no difference in the quality of registration at $10.00 or $35.00. GoDaddy has a better user interface to manage your registration. Register.com and Network Solutions (I’ve been at both recently) make it difficult for even a web savvy geek like me to get something done. That is on purpose and I find it slimy!

Web Hosting

The next step is hosting. Hosting is like renting your storefront. Your host has a bunch of servers located in a physical location on this planet. On one of those servers, in your own section, is where your files are stored — files that when viewed by a web browser (Internet Explorer, FireFox, Safari, Camino, etc.,) will be your website. If you work with me, I recommend hosts for you. Ideally it’s best to consult with your developer/designer beforehand. Some developers only work on LAMP and others don’t. I only work on LAMP servers and I love cpanel which makes it easy for you to move your site from one host to another and back it up. Most people get shared hosting because it’s cheaper (and perfectly fine for most small business needs) than dedicated hosting.