Earlier web hosting was meant to hire computer memory for one’s website. However, with technological advances and a decrease in hardware prices, hosts have provided increasingly ready-made features to attract potential clients. Microsoft Windows is one of the operating systems commonly used on servers by web hosts. It supports advanced technologies like Cold Fusion that are required to create and maintain dynamic websites. Managed host servers may also provide services like ASP, ASP.net Access, and MS SQL support to maintain websites. Linux and UNIX servers are meant for clients who require websites based on open-source technology, such as PHP and MySQL. It ensures better data security compared to other technologies. The easy availability and open knowledge about the codes help in upgradation and customization. Unlike Windows, it does not require renewal of license frequently. A list of tools has become an accepted standard for web hosts. These include CGI, Ruby (RoR), Perl, PHP, MYSQL, etc. These enable the webmaster to maintain and upgrade their websites without worrying about unsupportive platforms. Often, hosts provide easy-to-set-up functions that are common to all websites. These include incorporating PayPal services, mail servers, virus prevention, etc.

To see why the Internet and open source are a good fit for each other, we first have to look at the origins of the Internet as we know it today. Before the mainstream explosion of the web in the 1990s, the Internet was still very much the domain of universities, colleges, laboratories, and governments. It was still mainly under research, which gives us our first clue because the scientific community has long valued the open cooperation of its members. Initially, all software was open source simply because nobody had the idea of charging money for it. Sir Tim Berners-Lee, widely recognized as the father of the World Wide Web (before this, there was just “internet”), created the first web server while working at CERN running his HTTP protocol. His system was NeXTStep – a derivative of Unix and the BSD operating system. The web browser which first popularized the World Wide Web was Mosaic by NCSA, built on a Unix system and released as open source. So there was open source and Unix at the very beginning. Both of the major web browsers in use today, Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox can trace their roots directly back to the Mosaic web browser. As for the World Wide Web, one need only consider that to this day, directory paths for website URLs follow the forward-slash (/) convention of Unix file systems rather than the back-slash () of DOS systems.

1. A Surprising Twist in the Tech World On the desktop, for home and office users, Microsoft Windows still has the highest market share, followed by Apple, Linux, BSD, Solaris, and other niche systems. This landscape dramatically changes once we shift our focus from the single-user desktop to the World Wide Web. In the realm of the web, free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is either in the top position or rapidly ascending. 2. Apache: The Web Server Titan Apache, the open-source server software package, has the most significant market share, not just by a small margin but by a vast percentage. Apache’s HTTP Server is a remarkable success story, which began in 1995. In those days, most web servers ran on the NCSA HTTPd. However, eight developers started working on patches for the NCSA code to enhance its functionality. Over time, this work evolved into the Apache HTTP Server, which now powers an impressive 24.7% of all active websites, according to W3Techs. 3. Linux: From Obscurity to Ubiquity The most popular Unix-like system Linux has a sizable chunk of the server market. Its versatility extends to communication devices like routers, smartphones, and GPS systems. Linux’s story began with Linus Torvalds, who released the first kernel in 1991. It wasn’t a significant competitor initially, but the open-source nature of Linux made it a platform that developers and tech enthusiasts embraced. Companies like IBM and Red Hat started to invest, and today Linux runs on everything from supercomputers to home appliances.

The control panel is one of the most critical features of any web hosting service. The right control panel can make website management easy, simple and straightforward and give you access to various features and functionality to manage your website like a pro. What is a Control Panel? A control panel, in essence, is an in-built tool that you can use for managing and maintaining your website and administering all the basic jobs, such as adding domain names, viewing visitor statistics and disk space, and uploading and editing any files or content on your website. The control panel can also be used for several important tasks, such as handling databases, making backups, creating email accounts, installing scripts, filtering and securing your website against spam and much more. Different web hosting providers offer different types of control panels – here are some of the most popular ones that you should consider: 1. cPanel Thanks to its numerous features and unmatched functionality, cPanel is considered the most popular and user-friendly control panel in the industry. Many video tutorials and guides are also available online to facilitate users with cPanel. Because of its widespread use and comprehensive features, it is the default control panel for most hosting plans in the market.

Having a dedicated business email comes with an array of benefits. You can communicate more effectively, get generous disk space, schedule team tasks and appointments, meet with your team members, and collaborate seamlessly. It also presents a more brand-centric, credible and professional image of your business. cPanel-based hosting offers one of the simplest, easiest and quickest ways to set up as many email addresses as you want in minutes. Use them to your advantage in sharing data and information whenever and wherever you are, and stay connected with your colleagues and customers. Here are the five simple steps to set up a new email address in cPanel for your website and get one step closer to the many advantages it offers! Step 1: Log in to cPanel cPanel is a comprehensive tool for web hosting that is available with a vast majority of web hosting plans and offers simple functions and menus for managing your website like a pro. Getting on to the cPanel dashboard is the first step if you haven’t already. To do so, 1. Access the user dashboard of your website by typing http://www.yourdomainnamehere.com/cpanel or http://www.yourdomainnamehere.com:2083 2. Enter your username and password 3. And done! You will arrive at the user dashboard with a handful of icons and menus that you can use for various actions, from setting up email accounts to filtering your website against spam, etc.