Task 2
Web-hosting
Web hosting is the physical placement of web pages on a server. It is a virtual counterpart to the lease of the premises, but space is leased on the disk, which is calculated in megabytes. The quality of the site depends on the quality of the hosting, so it is important to choose the right hosting for the site that meets the criteria of reliability and stability.
Depending on the country of location, the hosting may be, for example: Ukrainian (technically, site is located in Ukraine), American (in the USA), etc.
Hosting can be divided into free and paid.
Free Hosting
Free hosting involves providing your hosting provider with free disk space to host your site on the Internet. Free hosting usually exists due to the advertising that is placed on site pages. This advertisement can be in the form of banners, text links, advertising frames, pop-ups, although there are free hosting sites that do not place any advertisements on the sites.
Respected companies usually do not use free hosting services because it has features that are unacceptable for a serious internet project.
Pros of free hosting:
- Hosting is attractive enough for low-budget, amateur or temporary sites.
- It is in high demand amongst novice developers or newly created communities.
- Cons of free hosting:
- The small amount of space provided to the site.
- Low reliability and stability of the server platform.
- Slow loading of sites.
- The presence of advertising.
- Often, there is no support for PHP, databases, and other data that is required for the site to function properly.
- Absence of guarantees of qualitative and constant rendering of services.
Thus, free hosting is suitable if you are a beginner developer needing to host a low-value, small and static HTML project. For more serious projects, if the site is aimed at long and stable existence, it is worth considering reliable and fast commercial hosting.
Paid hosting
In paid hosting, the site owner pays a certain amount for the use of the disk space and the services provided to it.
- Hoster technical support.
- The speed of operation is several times higher than that of free hosting.
- Stable server performance.
- Ability to use server scripts and databases.
- No advertising.
- Independent choice of a domain name.
Free hosting in Ukraine
Hosting Access. FTP-client
There are two types of hosting access to remotely manage your own resources on the Internet:
- Access via web interface. This is a visually handy tool provided by the developer host company.
- Access via a dedicated FTP client.
An FTP client is special software that simplifies user access to FTP servers. All data received from the server through an FTP client is displayed as a list of files and folders in a manner similar to the display of local resources on a computer.
A file manager, browser, or standalone FTP client can play the role of such a tool. To say unequivocally that will be better for a particular user is difficult, because everything here depends on the tasks and advantages.
If you are too lazy to spend time learning new software, then it is quite possible to limit yourself to the usual file manager (of course, provided that FTP support is implemented in it), in which all operations with files and folders on remote servers are performed in the same way as on local computer. However, the capabilities of file managers in terms of working with FTP servers is limited to the minimum necessary, although it is sufficient to download files from the server and upload them to the server, as well as to remotely rename and delete files / folders and edit text files.
Standalone FTP clients are usually much wider - they provide file downloading / uploading in a more secure mode (by supporting appropriate protocols, different encryption options, etc.) and at a much faster speed. The latter is achieved through the multithreading of downloading and compressing files on the fly. In addition, the process of downloading / uploading files to FTP clients is more convenient, as they often implement one or another option of quick access to frequently visited FTP servers, connection to several servers at the same time, scheduling, etc. may be provided.
Regardless of how the FTP server communicates: via an FTP client, through a browser or file manager, you will need to log in. You must enter a username and password to authorize on the FTP server.
FileZilla
WinSCP
SmartFTP
Total Commander
FTP-access through the browser
Warning: It is not recommended to connect to ftp via a browser, as there are too many holes in any browser that allow intruders to penetrate the site. If ftp access is from a browser, you should first install an antivirus on your computer and, if possible, a firewall.
To connect to the ftp server via a browser, you must specify: login, password and IP address. The hoster sends this information to the mail after activating the account (purchase of hosting services). You need to enter the above data into the browser command line and connect to the site.
It looks like this:
ftp: // Your_Login: Your_password @ server_ address
An example of this address is:
ftp: // vasya: password@77.88.21.3
ftp: // petya: parolcheg@site.ua
If you enter the correct data and the connection to the server is established, the browser will open a root directory of the site, which displays a list of site files.
You can use a simpler record:
ftp: // server_ address
In this case, after entering the server address (IP address or domain address), the system will prompt you to specify a login and password.
Here's an example of a root folder for a site after connecting to an ftp server through a browser:
Зазвичай, файли сайту зберігаються в папці www чи public_html.
FTP-access using standard Windows tools
Standard Windows functionality makes it easy to access an FTP server. It is enough to open any folder (for example, "My Computer" on the desktop) and in the address bar instead of the path to this folder write the path to the FTP server like the rules of access through the browser.Workflow
- Read the hosting information and choose the appropriate site.
- Sign up for a site, create an account and domain address. See the cPanel dashboard. Explore other features of your chosen hosting.
- Install a specialized FTP client, familiarize yourself with the interface.
- Install basic browsers, get acquainted with the principles of operation and their features.
- Open FTP access to the server in different ways: through an external FTP client and through an internal file manager. Download the test page and open it through your browser.
- FTP access to public archives through various clients and browsers. Evaluate the capabilities of different clients.
Report content
- Name and purpose of laboratory work.
- Specify the selected hosting and registered domain address. Screenshots of the sequence of work with a brief description of each of the steps.
- In conclusion, evaluate the ease of use of the administrative panel and the available services. Evaluate the usability and capabilities of different FTP clients.