In today’s blog I’m going to talk about Domain names and Web hosting services, how they differ and why they matter. It doesn’t sound very exciting at first, but trust me when I say these two titans have a very substantial role in how the internet functions and how we’re able to view web pages.

1. The Super Duo of the Internet: Web Hosting and Domain Names
In today’s blog I’m going to talk about Domain names and Web hosting services, how they differ
and why they matter. It doesn’t sound very exciting at first, but trust me when I say these two
titans have a very substantial role in how the internet functions and how we’re able to view web
pages.
In the beginning:
Web hosting and domain names both have very specific duties and perform different tasks. A
domain name is the address that points to your specific site that’s on a specific server. It’s what
people can search for, send things to and visit.
Domain names are guided by sets of rules and procedures that are known as the Domain Name
System (or DNS for short). Think of DNS as a very large directory that lists all of the available
and unavailable web addresses. DNS has existed since the late 60’s (during the use of ARPANET)
and has morphed into a very sophisticate, but very necessary record keeping function that we
utilize today.
Web hosting in itself has been around since the beginning of the World Wide Web (circa 1991).
It can be used to host a website, host email, host ftp files and everything in between. Web hosting
services provide the server space, data center and networked resources that allow a website to
be accessible on the Internet. During its infancy it was mainly people who had their own server
at home or those who paid a sizeable fee that had access to web hosting.
It wasn’t until 1995 that web hosting became an easy and ever growing trend for people to use
due to the rise of GeoCities, Angelfire and Tripod. Once web hosting became cheaper and the

2. internet was easier to access, web hosting became a critical step for businesses wanting to
advertise online.
It takes two to make a thing go right:
The most common misconception when it comes to these two is that they are believed to be the
same thing. To put it plainly they are not the same, but they work closely together to achieve the
same goal. In essence you need both a Web host and a Domain name to have a website be
accessible on the internet. Technically you can have one without the other, but if you have a web
host and no domain name (or vice versa) your website probably can’t be easily viewed by the
public.
If it’s a little hazy for you here’s an everyday scenario to break it down. Congratulations! You
purchased a plot of land and you were given the listed property address (Your domain name).
You’re excited so you tell people ‘Hey, check out my place!’ but, when they visit it is still just an
empty plot of land. People get bored of the empty land so you decide to take it a step further.
You contact a building contractor (Web host) and you tell them you want to build an efficient yet
modest home. They guide you into what type of amenities you need (How much bandwidth, file
storage, emails, etc) and they will help place the foundation, walls and roof of your house. You
now have a place to visit at the address you own!
Worth its weight in gold:
Now that I’ve shown you the differences let’s talk about the importance of upkeep. As a website
owner there are two important dates you must keep track of; the renewal date for your web
hosting and the renewal date for your domain name. I cannot stress this enough for new and
seasoned website owners alike.
As of 2014 the DNS lists over 241 million domain names and counting which means at one point
there is going to be someone who really wants to purchase the domain you own. Losing a Domain
has a strict process which is as follows.
If payment is not received via your domain registrar service, it will be suspended the next day.
There is a small grace period that allows the owners of the domain to purchase it an only pay the

3. renewal fees. If the suspension period passes your domain name will go into the redemption
status. What that means is only the owner can renew but have to pay a redemption fee on top
of the renewal fee which can be an amount from the 100 to 200 dollar range.
Read more on http://www.webii.net/blog/2015/02/the-super-duo-of-the-internet-web-
hosting-and-domain-names/