Understanding how a website is set up is an essential piece of knowledge for anyone looking to start their own website or web application. While is it not essential to understand the setup process down to the most minute detail, it is important to understand the services that must be performed in order for a website to be both operational and secure.
In this article, we will discuss the following items that must be acquired in order for the world to see your website. They are a hosting plan, a domain name, and a TLS certificate.
Hosting
In order for a website to go live, a hosting plan must be secured. This is probably the most essential step in the entire setup process. No hosting, no website. It’s as simple as that.
With the vast litany of hosting companies in existence, combined with the plethora of hosting packages, choosing how to host your website can be intimidating to say the least. The good news is that all hosting companies are in reality just doing the same thing: providing your website a server so it can be granted access to the Internet. And by choosing a hosting plan, all your doing is choosing a server that can handle the needs of your business. Let’s further discuss this in the next paragraph.
Choosing a server can be likened to choosing a car: while nobody wants a slow car, does everybody need a truck or van? Of course not, the car must make sense for the business, and it’s the same for servers. Are you a big business that needs a server to handle heavy traffic, or a smaller business whose website is more or less text on a page? If you’re the latter, then don’t be afraid to go for a cheaper option. Fiber optics (which make connections to the web faster) are becoming more common place, and servers are always getting upgraded. The takeaway here being that your website should be plenty fast enough, even on a cheaper plan.
Another point to keep in mind when choosing a hosting plan is the technology that your website or web application will be written in. If you plan on working with a web developer, then it’d be best to first consult with them on what hosting plan to select, as they will know the best one to fit the job. If your web developer has the necessary resources and skill set, then they could self-host your website, bypassing the need for a hosting company entirely.
While we won’t discuss self-hosting too deeply (as it’s a topic worthy of it’s own article), the choice between a hosting company and self-hosting mainly boils down to convenience vs control. A hosting company will eliminate the need to self-administer the server. Additionally, hosting companies often have the best access to high network bandwidth, and can also provide other benefits such as server hardware maintenance, security patches and OS updates. Self-hosting on the other hand, will offer the greatest flexibility, but will also require more administration, responsibility and oversight.
With all that being said, it’s time to discuss the second essential item that your website will need: a domain name.
Domain Name
A domain name is something that you’re already familiar with. Nasa.gov, wikipedia.org, and randomforestweb.com are all domain names. Domain names exist for human convenience because the alternative of typing in an IP address into the url bar is something that nobody wants to do.
Domain names can be purchased from a hosting company, and may come for free for the first year when you purchase a hosting plan. Domain names and hosting plans can also be purchased separately from either the same company or different companies. However, keep in mind that if you were to buy each service from different companies, then you would have to route the domain name to the company from whom you bought the hosting plan.
While hosting plans can be paid either monthly or yearly, domain names are a once per year purchase. If you’re a new business, than it would wise to secure your domain name as quickly as possible, lest someone else take the name before you do.
Lastly, let’s discuss the TLS certificate.
TLS
TLS is something that you can inspect for yourself right now. Look at the url bar at the top of the page. Notice the lock icon on the left-hand side to the left of the domain name? That lock icon is letting you know that this website has a TLS certificate. Feel free to click it to verify it’s authenticity if you so wish.
TLS (Transport Layer Security), or how it was formerly called, SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), enables encrypted communication between a web browser and a web server. This is an essential feature meant to ensure that sensitive information such as bank cards, addresses, passwords, etc. isn't stolen by hackers. In lieu of not having a TLS certificate, “Not Secure” will instead be in it’s place discouraging potential customers to explore your website. Summing-up, while a website can still be setup and accessed without a TLS certificate, it is not good practice to do so, and thus a TLS certificate should be held in the same regard as a hosting plan and domain name.
TLS certificates like domain names may be free for the first year with purchase of a hosting plan, and typically is also a once per year purchase. Free TLS certificates can be acquired from letsencrypt.org, but not every hosting company supports this type of service. This topic, like self-hosting, is worthy of further discussion in another article.
Summary
In order to set up your website or web application, you will need a hosting plan, domain name, and a TLS certificate. All three services can be easily bundled into one package, or purchased separately with the TLS certificate being able to be acquired for free.
If you have any questions regarding any of the things written in this article, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
