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What is IP Based Web Hosting?

IP Based Web HostingIf you are new to the Internet and are attempting to publish your own website, you may be unfamiliar with the term “IP Based Web Hosting.” There are several “hosts” out there with plug-in templates, so you don’t have to be a whiz at computer technology, but it is important to understand the fundamental concepts of web hosting.

Web Hosts

Not every computer or program is capable of accepting requests from other machines and responding to them on its own. To do this you must have a special program and the capacity to house shared “memory” and tasks among several clients. A virtual web host can be a single computer that has many, perhaps thousands, of websites that depend upon it for the ability to be seen on the Internet as well as to perform certain tasks like providing a virtual shopping mall or perhaps referring clients to several other subsidiary sites. This is called “shared web hosting.” According to the Asian Pacific Network Information Centre, the advantage of this is that all of these clients, or websites, are “located” at the same Internet address, but can use their own names to be found on the Internet.

What is IP Based Web Hosting?

First, it would be useful to define the term “IP.” The letters stand for “Internet protocol,” which is a certain procedure or sequence that must be followed.  An IP address is different from a URL or “uniform resource locator” that helps people find your website on the Internet. You use that address to find the site on any computer. The IP is a series of numbers, separated with dots, that is unique to your machine or device and is linked to your domain, or site name. The IP acts like a phone number that you must dial in a certain order to reach the domain. When someone searches your site name, it is similar to looking for your site in a phone book. When they click on the name, it is changed to your IP, which points them to your computer. When you publish a website, you must find a server, or a host that will house your site. Shared hosts are single computers that house many IP addresses. Dedicated hosts, however, are computers that host only one.

How is it Used?

IP hosts are servers that support many different sites but each one has its own IP. There are also name-based hosts that support several sites on one IP. If you have a complex website with many pages, or if you have a virtual store, the IP host makes it easier for people to find individual pages such as your secure checkout. Each of your pages is a file, not unlike your photos or your favorite music. The files are accessed at your IP through information stored by the server for that unique set of numbers. With the IP address, the Internet directs the searcher to your computer, where you have built your check out page or your cache of favorite recipes.

Related Resource: Freelance Web Developer

Without a host, your system would have to be able to contain memory of all your page interactions, and you would have to configure each response yourself. With the shared hosting common today, and templates for building a site, anyone can have a web presence through IP based web hosting.