What is hosting? Basics, types and tips for choosing a provider

If you want to create a website, you need more than just a good idea and a nice design – you need a place where your website can be stored and accessed. This is where hosting comes into play. But what exactly is hosting? And why is it so essential for your online presence?

This article will give you a clear introduction to the topic of web hosting. You’ll find out what the term means, what types of hosting there are and how to find out which hosting is right for your project. Whether you’re just starting out with your website or want to change your hosting – we’ll help you get the big picture.

What is hosting?

A hosting provider provides you with the necessary storage space, server performance and technical infrastructure so that all the content on your website – text, images, videos or databases – can be accessed reliably and securely. Depending on what you need, there are different hosting services that vary in terms of performance, price and usability.

What is hosting needed for?

A reliable hosting service not only ensures accessibility and loading speed, but also data security, regular backups and often even protection against hacker attacks.

Without hosting, there is no website – and without good hosting, your performance will suffer. A strong foundation is crucial, especially if you want to grow your project or present yourself professionally.

Who needs web hosting?

Anyone who wants to run a website also needs web hosting. This includes

• Self-employed and freelancers with their own portfolio website
• Companies that want to be visible online
• Agencies that manage websites for clients
• Bloggers or content creators with their own platform
• Operators of online shops
• Associations, organisations or educational projects

Even if there are free hosting offers, their performance is usually not sufficient for professional or growing projects. At the latest when loading times, security or support become important, you cannot do without a high-quality web hosting service.

The difference between domain hosting and web hosting

Domain hosting is often confused with web hosting – but the two fulfil completely different tasks.

• The domain is the address of your website – for example www.deinprojekt.de. It ensures that your website can be accessed in the browser.
• Hosting, in turn, ensures that content can actually be accessed behind this address – i.e. the actual website with all its files, functions and databases.

The two are inseparable: Without hosting, your domain remains empty. And without a domain, your website is online – but nobody can find it.

How does hosting work?

To help you understand exactly what happens in the background during hosting, we explain the most important technical basics step by step.

1. domain registration

Before your website can go online, you need a domain – i.e. a unique Internet address such as deinprojekt.de. This domain must be registered via a so-called domain hosting service.

When registering, you secure the rights to your desired domain and link it to your web hosting service. Many hosting providers offer domain hosting directly – this saves you time and simplifies administration.

The domain later directs visitors to the server on which your website is stored. Without a registered domain, your site would only be accessible via a cryptic IP address – not particularly memorable.

2. server, storage space and data transfer

At the heart of every hosting solution is the server – a powerful computer that stores your website files and delivers them to your visitors’ browsers every time they access the site. It therefore takes over the provision of your content in real time – so that users can reliably access your site at any time. Depending on the hosting model, you get more or fewer IT resources.

3RD DNS

DNS stands for “Domain Name System” – and is a central element in web hosting. It ensures that your domain is linked to the correct IP address of the server.

When someone enters your domain in the browser, the DNS server asks where exactly this website is located – i.e. on which server it is stored. The DNS entry provides the answer and forwards the call.

You can think of DNS as the Internet’s telephone directory: It translates the domain name into the “right number” so that the browser knows where to find your site.

4. website security through SSL certificate

Security is a key issue when hosting websites – and an SSL certificate is indispensable. It encrypts the data transfer between browser and server and thus protects against eavesdropping attempts or manipulation.

You can recognise an active SSL certificate by the small lock in the address bar of your browser and by the fact that the domain begins with https://. Without SSL, browsers may mark your website as “insecure” – this discourages visitors and can have a negative impact on your Google ranking.

What types of web hosting are there?

Not all web hosting is the same – depending on your requirements, budget and technical experience, there are various hosting models that differ greatly in terms of performance, flexibility and costs. In this section, we show you the most important types of hosting and explain which model is best suited to whom. You will also be provided with the alternatives so that you can keep an overview and make an informed decision.

Shared hosting vs. dedicated hosting

Shared hosting is the classic hosting service – and the cheapest way to get started with website hosting. Here you share the server resources (e.g. computing power, memory, bandwidth) with many other websites.

The model is suitable for smaller sites with manageable traffic – such as personal blogs, simple portfolios or landing pages.

Advantages:

• Ideal for small projects with a small budget
• Hardly any technical effort – quickly ready for use
• Quick start to gain initial hosting experience

Disadvantages:

• Slow loading times with high traffic
• Hardly any options for customisation

Alternative: If you need more performance or want full control over your hosting model, a dedicated server (i.e. your own physical server) is the better choice.

WordPress hosting vs. standard web hosting

With WordPress hosting, you get a hosting environment that is specially optimised for WordPress websites. This includes things like one-click installation, automatic updates, caching solutions and technical support that is familiar with the CMS.

Advantages:

• Fast and stable – specially optimised for WordPress
• You don’t have to worry about updates, maintenance or security
• Security features are often already integrated

Disadvantages:

• Less suitable if you want to use a different CMS
• Not the best choice for very individual requirements or setups

Alternative: With classic standard web hosting (without WordPress focus) you have to set up many things yourself, but you get more leeway – for example for customised setups with other CMSs.

VPS hosting vs. managed hosting

VPS Hosting stands for “Virtual Private Server”. Here you get virtual resources that belong only to you – even if the physical server is shared with others. This gives you significantly more control and performance than with shared hosting, without having to rent an entire server.

Advantages:

• Full control over the system and own configuration
• Powerful performance – ideal for medium-sized to large websites
• Resources can be flexibly adapted to increasing requirements

Disadvantages:

• Technical expertise is required
• Setup and maintenance are mostly your responsibility

Alternative: If you prefer to hand over the technical effort, managed hosting is an interesting option. Here, the provider takes care of server maintenance, updates and security – often for an additional charge.

Cloud hosting vs. classic hosting

With cloud hosting, your website is not only hosted on a single server, but distributed across a network of several servers (“cloud”). This ensures high reliability and flexible scalability – perfect for websites with highly fluctuating or constantly growing traffic.

Advantages:

• Scalable resources according to requirements
• High reliability
• Good performance with high traffic

Disadvantages:

• More complex than other server hosting options
• Partly confusing price structure

Alternative: Classic hosting runs on a fixed server. This is easier to understand, but less flexible – especially with rapid increases in traffic.

Reseller hosting vs. affiliate hosting

Reseller hosting is aimed at anyone who wants to offer hosting themselves – for example, agencies or web designers. You book larger hosting packages with a provider and pass them on – with your own branding and often your own pricing.

Advantages:

• Ideal for agencies with multiple client projects
• Build your own hosting brand
• Management via centralised interface

Disadvantages:

• Technical responsibility lies with you
• Limited control over infrastructure

Alternative: If you don’t want to sell yourself, you can rely on affiliate hosting. Here you advertise hosting providers such as Raidboxes and earn money through commissions – without any technical effort.

Free vs. paid hosting in comparison

Save money or go for quality right away? In this section, we compare free and paid web hosting – with a view to performance, security, support and flexibility. So that you can make a decision that suits your project and your goals.

Free hosting – for absolute beginners with very simple projects

Free web hosting services seem attractive at first glance: you get storage space, sometimes even a subdomain and can basically put your website online – completely free of charge.

But this is precisely where the limits lie: Storage space, bandwidth and technical freedom are usually severely limited with free hosting offers. Functions such as SSL certificates, regular backups or e-mail inboxes are often missing. In addition, adverts, long loading times and poor performance are not uncommon.

Typical application scenarios:

• Private test sites or hobby projects
• First steps with CMS systems such as WordPress
• Websites without professional requirements or traffic

Paid hosting – for anyone who takes their website seriously

If you are planning to run your website professionally – for example as a company, freelancer or agency – there is no way around a paid web hosting service. Here you get significantly more storage and performance, reliable support, technical security and more customised options.

One major advantage is the freedom of choice: you can choose between different types of hosting such as shared hosting, VPS hosting, cloud hosting or specialised WordPress hosting – depending on your project and your requirements.

Typical advantages of paid hosting offers:

• Own domain and professional e-mail addresses
• SSL encryption and backups included
• Better loading times and higher security
• Support from hosting experts
• No provider branding on your website

Criterion	Free hosting	Paid hosting
Costs	0 €	from approx. € 7 per month
Domain	Subdomain (e.g. yourname.host.xyz)	Your own domain (e.g. yourname.com)
Advertising	often faded in	No advertising by providers
Storage & bandwidth	Very limited	Individually scalable
Performance	Often slow	optimised for fast loading times
Support	mostly only FAQs	Personal support & help
Security & Backups	often not available	Regular updates & backups
Flexibility	severely restricted	Full control over settings

The selection criteria for your web hosting

Not every web host offers what your project really needs – and with so many providers to choose from, it’s easy to get lost. Use these criteria to find out exactly what is important: from loading time to support, from security to sustainability.

1. bandwidth and website traffic

How much traffic do you expect – now and in the future? Your hosting solution should offer enough bandwidth so that your website remains stable even with many simultaneous accesses. This can be particularly important for online shops or highly frequented blogs.

2. storage space and performance

Do you need a lot of space for media, videos or databases? Pay attention to the type of storage: SSD (instead of classic HDD) offers faster loading times. The response time of the server and integrated caching functions also have a noticeable effect on the performance of your website.

3. security features

Good website hosting not only protects against downtime, but also against attacks. Website operators who process personal data or operate online shops should pay particular attention to basic security features:

• Free SSL certificates
• Regular automatic backups
• Malware scans or firewalls
• Two-factor authentication (2FA)

No professional web hosting provider should be without these basics.

4. customer service and support

If something goes wrong, you want help quickly – not after three days. Take a closer look at the hosting provider:

• Is there 24/7 support (also in German)?
• How do you reach the team – just by ticket or also by chat or phone?
• Are problems dealt with quickly and in a solution-orientated manner?

5. price-performance ratio

Of course, the price also plays a role – but more important is: What do you get for it? Pay attention to the ratio of functions, performance and support. More expensive hosting often saves you time, nerves – and even money in the long term. This is because you don’t have to constantly deal with outages or technical problems.

6. sustainability

More and more users are paying attention to where and how their website is hosted. Green hosting relies on green electricity, energy-efficient infrastructure, sustainable data centres and carbon offsetting. For many companies, agencies and website operators, this has long been a key decision criterion if they value environmental awareness and responsibility.

Conclusion: Good hosting is more than just technology – it’s the foundation of your website

Whether you are building a simple portfolio site or implementing a complex WordPress project – your hosting will determine how fast, secure and reliable your website runs. And whether you achieve what you set out to achieve: visibility, trust and success.

The hosting market can quickly become overwhelming, especially for beginners: shared hosting, cloud hosting, managed hosting, low-cost providers, a full range of features. What do you really need? And what is just marketing?

The important thing is: the right hosting is not the cheapest, but the one that suits your requirements. You should know how much traffic you expect, which technical features are important to you and how much responsibility you want to take on yourself – or not.

If you use WordPress and want hosting that takes care of the technical side of things for you instead of opening up new construction sites, then you’ve come to the right place. With managed WordPress hosting from Raidboxes, you no longer have to worry about updates, backups or security. Instead, you can concentrate on your project – we’ll take care of the rest. Start now for free.

Raidboxes vs. competitors

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• Raidboxes vs. Mittwald

Frequently asked questions about hosting

What exactly does hosting mean?

Hosting – or web hosting – means that your website files are stored on a server that is connected to the internet. A hosting provider ensures that your website is accessible at all times – including storage space, performance, security and support.

How much does hosting cost?

The costs for hosting vary greatly depending on the provider and scope of services. Simple shared hosting packages often start at five euros per month. Professional WordPress hosting or cloud hosting can cost significantly more depending on requirements – but is worth it in the long term.

What is a domain and what is hosting?

The domain is the address of your website (e.g. www.deinprojekt.de). Hosting, on the other hand, ensures that content can also be accessed at this address – i.e. texts, images or databases. Domain hosting and web hosting are inextricably linked.

Is free hosting worthwhile for my website?

Free hosting can be sufficient for simple test sites or hobby projects. However, it is not a good solution for professional websites – you lack security, support and important functions. A reliable web hosting service pays off in the long term.