Websites, web servers and hosting

A website is a collection of related web pages under one domain name. Its first page is the home page.

Web pages are of two kinds:

• a static page shows the same content to everyone, until its code is changed;
• a dynamic page is built by the server for each request, so it can be different for each user (like your bank balance).

A web server stores web content and delivers it when a browser asks for it. If the requested page is missing, it sends the familiar Error 404 (Page Not Found).

Hosting a website, step by step:

• get web space from a hosting provider;
• register a domain name (a domain must be registered before it can be used);
• upload the website's files to the server;
• map the domain name to the server's IP address.

The DNS (Domain Name System) translates domain names, which people remember easily, into IP addresses, which computers use. Pages, server, domain, DNS.