A web server stores websites and delivers web pages to viewers upon request. Each server has a unique IP address that identifies its location on the network. Web hosts rent space on their servers for people or businesses to set up websites. When someone connects to the Internet and clicks on a link to visit a website, their browser sends a request to the website’s IP address, which then sends the page in HTML code back to the requesting computer. Selecting a reliable web server with a high uptime and powerful server is important for fast page loading times.
A web server is a computer that stores websites on the Internet and delivers web pages to viewers upon request. This service is called web hosting. Each web server has a unique address, called an Internet Protocol address, which tells other Internet-connected computers where to find the server in the vast network. The Internet Protocol (IP) address looks like this: 69.93.141.146; this address links to a more people-friendly address, such as http://www.wisegeek.com. Web hosts rent space on their web servers for people or businesses to set up their own websites, and the web server assigns a unique web address to each website it hosts.
How a web server works
When someone connects to the Internet, their personal computer also receives a unique IP address assigned by their Internet Service Provider (ISP). This address identifies the location of the computer on the network. When you click on a link to visit a website, such as www.wisegeek.com, your browser sends a request to wiseGEEK’s IP address. This request includes return information and works like a postal letter sent across town, but in this case the information is transferred across a network. The communication passes through several computers on the way to wiseGEEK, each of which routes it closer to its final destination.
When the request reaches its destination, the web server hosting the wiseGEEK website sends the page in HTML code to the IP address of the requesting computer. This return communication travels back through the network. The computer receives the code and the user’s browser interprets the code and displays the page for the user in graphic form.
Selecting a web server
There are several points to consider when selecting a web server. Web servers with consistent records of an uptime of 99.5% or greater are considered reliable. The more powerful the server, the faster it can serve website pages. Slower and smaller servers can result in frustrating lag times for viewers. High traffic can also slow down servers that aren’t powerful enough to handle high volumes of data exchange. This lag time should be a concern for anyone shopping for a web host.
In theory, web servers remain connected to the Internet 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. In fact, they experience occasional downtime due to technical and maintenance issues. Most web hosts have a page dedicated to sharing technical information about their web server, including speed, capacity, network configuration, and other details.
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