What Is Hosting? How It Works, Hosting Types and How to Choose

What is hosting? Hosting (web hosting) is the service of keeping a website’s files, databases and e-mail on a server that is connected to the internet 24/7. When a visitor types your domain into a browser, the request reaches that server and your pages are loaded from it. In short, the domain is your site’s address and hosting is where your site “lives”.

This guide explains what hosting means, how it works, how it differs from a domain, the main hosting types, the difference between Linux and Windows hosting and the criteria to check when choosing a hosting plan.

What does hosting mean?

To host means to provide a home for something; web hosting is renting the server space a site needs to stay online. You could publish a site from your own computer, but it would have to stay on all the time and have a static IP address, enough bandwidth and proper security. Hosting providers offer this infrastructure ready to use in data centers, so you only manage your site.

How does hosting work?

Opening a web page takes well under a few seconds and follows these steps:

1. Domain lookup: The visitor types yourcompany.com. Using the domain’s nameserver records, the browser asks DNS which IP address the site is on.
2. Connection to the server: The browser connects to the hosting server at that IP address; if there is an SSL certificate, the connection is encrypted over https.
3. Building the page: The web server software on the server (LiteSpeed, Apache, Nginx or IIS) handles the request. On dynamic sites such as WordPress, PHP code runs and the content is read from a MySQL/MariaDB database.
4. Response: The resulting HTML, images, CSS and JavaScript are sent to the visitor’s browser and the page is displayed.

Every link in this chain affects speed: DNS response time, the server’s distance from the visitor, disk type, web server software and caching. That is why the same site can load at noticeably different speeds on different hosting.

Domain vs hosting

These two are often confused. A domain is your site’s name on the internet (e.g. yourcompany.com) and is rented yearly through a registrar. Hosting is the server space where the site’s files are stored. A site needs both to be online: the domain’s DNS records point to the hosting, and the hosting answers requests for that domain. You can buy them from different companies; buying both from one place makes DNS and SSL setup easier.

What are the types of hosting?

Hosting types differ in how server resources are shared and who manages the server:

Type	Resources	Management	Best for
Shared (web) hosting	One server shared by many accounts, each with quotas	Server by provider, site by you	Company sites, blogs, small online stores
WordPress hosting	Shared, configured for WordPress	Provider	WordPress sites
Reseller hosting	A large quota split into sub-accounts	Provider + you (WHM)	Agencies, people who resell hosting
VPS / VDS	Virtual server; on a VDS resources are dedicated to you	You, with root/Administrator access	Busy sites, custom software, game and bot servers
Cloud server	Cluster infrastructure with shared storage	You	Growing, downtime-sensitive projects
Dedicated server	The whole machine is yours	You	High traffic, large databases, virtualization

If you are curious about virtual servers, see our what is VDS guide.

Linux hosting vs Windows hosting

Linux hosting is the standard choice for PHP, MySQL/MariaDB and applications such as WordPress, Joomla and OpenCart; most websites run on Linux servers, usually managed with a panel such as cPanel, Plesk or DirectAdmin. Windows hosting is required for applications built with ASP.NET, .NET Core, Classic ASP and MSSQL databases, and runs on the IIS web server. If you do not know which language your site uses, ask your developer: PHP means Linux hosting, ASP.NET means Windows hosting.

What is included in a hosting plan?

• Disk space: Space for site files, databases and e-mail. Disk type (NVMe, SSD, HDD) matters as much as capacity; NVMe disks make database queries noticeably faster.
• CPU and RAM quota: On shared hosting, the processor and memory limit each account can use. When traffic grows, this is the first limit you hit.
• Inodes: The limit on the number of files and folders in the account. Cache plugins that create many small files can use up inodes quickly.
• Traffic (bandwidth): The monthly amount of data transferred from your site to visitors.
• E-mail: Mailboxes on your own domain (name@yourcompany.com) and the hourly sending limit.
• Databases: The number of MySQL/MariaDB (Linux) or MSSQL (Windows) databases.
• SSL certificate: Required for the site to open over https; many providers include Let’s Encrypt certificates for free.
• Control panel: The interface where you manage files, e-mail, databases, DNS and SSL.
• Backups: How often the account is backed up and how backups are restored.

What to check when choosing hosting

1. Your site’s technology: Choose Linux for PHP/WordPress and Windows for ASP.NET/MSSQL.
2. Server location: If your visitors are in Turkey, a data center in Turkey lowers latency (ping) and speeds up page loads.
3. Disk type and web server: NVMe disks and an efficient web server such as LiteSpeed make a real difference, especially for WordPress.
4. Resource quotas: Look beyond disk space at CPU, RAM and inode limits.
5. Included services: Are SSL, site migration, backups and security (WAF, malware scanning) included or extra?
6. E-mail terms: The number of mailboxes and the hourly sending limit matter if you will use business e-mail.
7. Technical support: Find out which channels support is available on and at what hours.
8. Upgrade path: When your site grows you should be able to move to a bigger plan or a VDS without losing data.

How do you put a site on hosting?

1. Point the domain: Change your domain’s nameserver records to the ones your hosting provider gives you. DNS changes can take a few hours to propagate.
2. Install the application or upload files: Install an application such as WordPress in one click from the panel, or upload your finished site to the public_html folder with the file manager or FTP.
3. Create the database: For dynamic sites, create a database and user in the panel and enter these details in your site’s configuration file.
4. Enable SSL: Once the domain points to the hosting, install the SSL certificate and redirect the site to https.
5. Create mailboxes: If you will use e-mail on your domain, create the accounts in the panel.

What do Sunucun hosting plans include?

Sunucun’s Linux web hosting plans run on the LiteSpeed web server and NVMe disks; you can choose the PHP version with PHP Selector and install more than 400 applications, including WordPress, in one click. All hosting plans include a free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate, free site migration and free weekly backups. On Linux plans there is no limit on the number of mailboxes, MySQL databases or FTP accounts; a sending limit of 50 e-mails per hour applies. Free backups are an extra convenience; you remain responsible for backing up your data. For several sites see cPanel hosting, for WordPress sites WordPress hosting, and for ASP.NET and MSSQL the Plesk-based Windows hosting plans. Yearly purchases get a 15% discount.

Frequently asked questions

Can a website be online without hosting?

No. For a site to be reachable on the internet, its files must sit on a server that is always on. That server can be a hosting account, a VDS or a dedicated server.

Is hosting the same as a server?

With shared hosting you use only part of a server and the provider manages it. When you rent a server (VDS, cloud or dedicated), you get full control over the operating system and software.

Which hosting is enough for a small site?

For a single company site, blog or brochure site, an entry-level shared hosting plan is usually enough. You can upgrade as traffic grows.

Can I move my hosting to another company?

Yes. Site files, databases and e-mail are copied to the new hosting, then the domain’s DNS records are pointed to the new server. Many providers do this migration for free.

When should I move from hosting to a VDS?

If your account regularly hits CPU or RAM limits, you need software that requires root access, or you want to configure the server yourself, a VDS server is the better choice.

To choose the right plan for your site, compare our hosting plans or ask our 24/7 technical support team.