The question is “what is hosting?”

Hosting is one of those topics that starts out as a simple question where you’d expect a quick answer but then it quickly turns into an crazy discussion the more you talk about it.

Simply stated, every web page on the Internet is 'hosted' somewhere.

Let me explain that a little further. Lets, first establish that every web page is nothing more than a collection of files of test or scripts, images files, audio files, and nowadays, video files. These files are created and stored on a computer somewhere in the world. It could be the C drive of you computer, for example. At this stage of the process, the web page is not available on the Internet yet as it is not possible for other computers to access your computer to find those files and few them on their monitors. At least, if you have proper security on your computer they should be.

Let me back up a minute. When you make the decision to connect your computer to the Internet, your computer will be assigned an IP (Internet Protocol) address. The format of an IP address is a 32-bit numeric address written as four numbers separated by periods. Each number can be zero to 255. For example, 1.160.10.240 could be an IP address. These numbers identify the location of your computer just as your house and street numbers identify your location so your mail will be properly routed to you. Your computer is now accessible to anyone who knows your IP and your passwords and has the correct software to access your computer. If you computer is turned one, these people could access your files. So our example computer of 1.160.10.240 will send data to an from another computer, say at address 1.185.25.365.

Every time you surf the net, your computer at for example 1.160.10.240 is connecting to another computer somewhere with the files to that site stored on it. The day you browse through 50 sites you have literally connected to 50 different computer addresses in probably 50 different cities around the world. If you think of the telephone network of one phone connecting to another phone number elsewhere, you would get a pretty clear picture of how the Internet connects as well. Just as the phones only connect when the second phone is picked up, you connect on the Internet when your computer links to another computer that is turned on.

If you have a powerful enough machine and the right software, you can host your own website - and the websites of your family and friends, for that matter. However, most of us do not want the world on our computers, nor do we want to be bothered with the maintenance and security issues of blocking unauthorized access.

That’s where hosting comes in. A person or company decides to become a host and offers the service to make it possible for computers world wide to be able to find the files to your website that are stored on their server. The companies providing the space on the Internet are called Web Hosts or Web Hosting companies. As your hosting company they will secure your files on a web “server” which is a computer that is permanently connected to the Internet, thus making your files available 24/7 to the rest of the world.

That's what SLC Hosting offers you - a safe secure place to store your files so that the world can find them. It's just that simple. And we'll be there to help you get your web site up and running.