How does hosting work in huge companies

How do huge companies host their websites.
(THE ONES THAT DO NOT USE THEIR OWN SERVICE)
Do they like ask a person to run commands.
Or, is it completely different from how individuals or small groups/companies do it.
Thanks

I’m not sure what you are asking.

First of all, most large companies have their own IT departments that set up and maintain their web sites. But that’s not the same as hosting. Hosting has to do with putting it on a server that is accessible to the internet and setting it up so that the url points to the server so it can “serve” the files and data it needs to. This can be done on the companies own servers or in a hosting services like AWS or any of many others. If they’re a company doing active development on their product, they probably have some kind of a CI/CD pipeline to help.

Smaller companies might have some cookie cutter website options like WordPress or Wix.

But these are all generalizations and from someone that isn’t an expert on this subject. Maybe someone else will have a better insight.

Was that what you were asking?

Sorry for being unclear.
I was unsure if they have like a lot of people working to host to website.
Or just a person asked to host the website, the person would run commands.
Got what I’m trying to say.

Yeah, I think it depends on what the site is. I mean, I’ve seen some companies with “crappy” sites, because they don’t really need much - it’s simple static information that doesn’t change much. They probably have a few devs handling it or contract it out. I’m sure there is a rainbow of possibilities.

The two companies for which I’ve worked had large websites with lots of dynamic data and were actively developing their sites, trying to stay ahead of the competition. For those, they had a large team of in-house devs maintaining and building the sites and they handled all the administration. One of them uses an external service to host the frontend and to run the servers, but it’s all built and maintained by in-house people. A lot of this is in a CI/CD pipeline, but often there is a point where a human has to “push a button”. Occasionally someone has to type in a command at a terminal. (I mean for that specifically - I of course am typing commands in the terminal all day as I develop.)

But again, there is probably at least one example of every setup you can think of.

Thanks a lot I got it now!
What is this CI/CD pipeline

1 Like

Thanks a lot! 20 characters

Getting web hosting is a crucial part of having a website live on the internet. The “hosting” aspect of web hosting is a service that companies offer where they’ll store your website’s files, which can then be accessed by a web browser.

These files are essentially stored on a giant computer, known as a server.

If that sounds a little complex, don’t worry; by the end of this post you’ll have a better understanding.

Below you’ll learn about web hosting basics, the benefits of using web hosting, the different kinds of hosting available, and finally, the things you should look for when choosing a web hosting company.

How Does Web Hosting Work?

Your website is just a collection of different files. When you create a website you need a place to store all of these files. That place is your hosting company’s server.

On this server, you’ll store your website’s media, files, databases, and anything else required to properly render your website. Exactly how much storage you have will depend on the hosting plan you choose (more on this below).

If you’re just getting started online, then you’ll probably just be renting a portion of a server that you’re sharing with other websites. As your storage and traffic needs increase, then you may need to scale up to renting an entire physical server—or at least using the resources of one, with a cloud or VPS server.

When you sign up for a web hosting package you’ll usually get access to the server via a solution like cPanel. This makes it easy to upload your files to the server. Or, you can install a CMS like WordPress to easily build out your site.

In order to have a fully functioning website, you’ll also need to register a domain name. Once you purchase this you’ll point it towards your server, which lets the web browser know that this is where your files are located.

Then, when a person types in your domain name or clicks on a link to your site, the web browser gets the files from the server and displays them for the viewer. All of this should happen in a few seconds or less. If this process takes too long, then you either need to speed up your website or consider switching hosts entirely.

Web Hosting and Datacenters

Web hosting and datacenters get confused a lot. They’re kind of the same thing. But, technically, they’re different. The term web hosting refers to the service you pay for that hosts your website’s files, so they can be displayed on the internet.

The most crucial element of a datacenter is the network of servers. A server is actually kind of similar to the desktop computer you might have sitting on your desk, only they’re more powerful.

The term “datacenter” refers to the actual technical infrastructure used by the hosting company to provide the hosting service. Beyond servers, this will typically include things like backup supplies, security measures, connection devices, air-cooling systems, and a lot more.

Different Kinds of Web Hosting

Most web hosts will offer various forms of hosting packages. Each type of hosting will cater to different website needs. For example, a site that gets millions of visitors per month will have different requirements than a site that was built a few weeks ago.

Here’s a breakdown of the most common forms of web hosting packages out there today:

Shared Hosting
Shared hosting is easily the most common form of hosting. It’s also probably the most suitable style of hosting for a lot of website owners. With a shared hosting plan, you’re sharing the physical server environment with dozens to hundreds of other websites. And sometimes even more.
However, the server is partitioned, so your site is secure from other websites using the same server. Since you’re effectively splitting server resources with other users of the same server your costs will be very low.

Websites that have low to moderate traffic levels will be fine using a shared host. Since this is the most beginner-friendly option you’ll be able to manage your hosting environment, install a CMS, set up email, and a lot more, all without any technical skills.

VPS Hosting
Do you know what VPS hosting services are? VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. This style of hosting relies upon something called “virtualization”. This allows you to use the resources of multiple different servers, but it all acts like it’s a single server. So, essentially you can tap an entire network of servers and scale those resources up or down as your needs change.

A VPS server acts like a dedicated server, but you’ll still be using servers that are shared with other users.

VPS hosting can be great for website owners who want the resources of a dedicated server, but don’t have the budget for one. VPS hosting can be cheaper and more flexible.

Cloud Hosting

The rising adoption of e-commerce platforms and the emergence of disruptive technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of things (IoT), and Blockchain, drive the cybersecurity market in Cloud hosting.

Cloud hosting is a relatively newer form of hosting. However, it’s risen quickly to become one of the premier forms of hosting available today. In case you don’t know what cloud hosting is, it’s when your website is hosted on multiple different servers simultaneously.

The physical servers are partitioned into cloud clusters. This is beneficial because if one of the servers becomes overloaded, then the traffic will be automatically routed to another cloud server within the cluster.

With cloud hosting, you get an extremely reliable form of hosting. Plus, it’s very flexible and can be scaled up or down in real-time, so you only pay for the server resources you’re currently using.

Dedicated Server Hosting

Dedicated hosting is exactly like it sounds.You’ll get access to the resources of an entire physical server. Dedicated hosting is generally the most expensive as you’re not splitting server costs with other websites (as you do with shared hosting).

This style of hosting is usually reserved for websites that either receive a very large volume of traffic or require a unique server configuration. Since you have access to the entire server you’ll be able to run whatever software configuration your website requires.

With dedicated hosting, you’ll get incredible performance and enhanced security. However, you might need the technical skills, or the team behind you, to effectively manage your server environment.

Beyond dedicated hosting, you also have the option of managed hosting. Where you can have the hosting team help to manage and optimize your server for you.

Here are a few reasons you don’t want to self-host your own website:

  • You’re responsible for power outages. If the power goes out in your neighborhood due to weather or a fallen tree, then your website will go down as well.
  • Your internet probably isn’t fast enough. When you pay for internet the speeds are usually measured by the download speed. But, when you’re hosting a website your biggest concern is upload speed. Even if you have super high download speed, your upload speed probably won’t be fast enough.
  • Regular maintenance can be a hassle. Running servers is no joke. Most hosting companies have massive IT teams that tend to server issues, both on a hardware and software level. If you’re running your own server and it breaks, then you’ll have to diagnose the issue, order any parts, and fix it yourself. All the while, your website will be offline.
  • Your IP address isn’t stable. Your home internet connection probably uses a dynamic IP address, which means that it changes over time. You want a static IP address, so the IP address always remains constant. This is usually only something your hosting company can provide.

Here’s how a web hosting company solves all of the above issues:

  • They have power backups. The power supplies at web hosting companies are not only always on, but they have backup generators to ensure your site stays online, even if power is cut to the main datacenter.
  • Incredible speeds. Web hosts are equipped to handle millions of concurrent visitors across their server network.
  • A dedicated maintenance staff. Maintaining a network of servers is no joke. Most web hosts have a dedicated team whose sole job is to keep the servers running with the latest hardware and software components.
  • Finally, you have a static IP address. This means that your IP address will remain the same for the length of time you use the same hosting company.

Thanks a lot. A lot of my doubts are clear now.
But this isn’t related to how big companies host their websites.

This topic was automatically closed 182 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.