Host

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What Does Host Mean?

A host is a type of Web server that stores, serves and manages websites and/or Web-based applications and services. It is a remote server that provides the collective hardware, software, storage and networking capabilities for hosting websites.

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A host may is also known as a Web host.

Techopedia Explains Host

A host acts as a replacement for an in-house Web server and is the basic building block behind Web hosting services. A host is built, delivered and managed by a hosting service provider that rents out host(s) some portion of its computing power by sharing those resources among several websites/users.

A host functions as a typical Web server but is generally shared and has a different delivery/access mode.

Key components of a host are:

  • Hardware: This includes the computing server, storage and other critical components of a Web server
  • Software: A basic operating system with specialized Web hosting and management software
  • Networks: Interconnectivity, data routing and other types of networking
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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.