The History of Web Hosting
The internet is one of the greatest forms of technology in existence, with more than fifty million websites interconnected in a web of information. Technically in order to take a look back at the history of web hosting, we need to look at the history of the internet as well.
In August of 1962, J.C.R. Licklider was known for his many articles that were written about the “Galactic Network” which was based on the concept of computers being interconnected so that anyone that has the use of the internet can log on to different websites and find out information. At this time, Licklider was attending MIT where he was going to the ARPA which was the Advanced Research Projects Agency to tell of his ideas. The creation of the ARPA was actually around the same time as the creation of NASA. Both organizations were formed to help Americans catch up with the technology of the Russians.
Early forms of the internet were based on a concept know as packet switching. This concept is based on the idea of having network data that had the ability to be sent through electrical phone lines as tiny packages of information. This concept forms the basis for the way we use bandwidth. Using these small packets of information, connections would be used only when the packets were sent through them. When there were no packets being sent, the line would have free space to use for other activities. This free space is the open bandwidth. Paul Baran would later create the actual networking design that forms the foundation for the modern day internet.
In the year 1965, two men by the name of Lawrence G. Roberts and Thomas Merril had started the first, but extremely slow computer. The only way that made it faster was by the use of a packet switching method by Paul Baran. When 1969 came around, they had finally successfully linked computers at UCLA. This is where web hosting first began to make its big break. After this, over the next two years, nineteen more hosts would be added to the network. In 1991, a very important year for the development of the internet, hosting would move onto the big stage. From this moment on, the internet was only going to get bigger.
Since the networking of multiple computers, web hosting has increased its abilities along with the advancements of technology and has dropped in price. With the quickly changing technology, smaller and more powerful servers have replaced old ones. These advances have enabled web hosting companies to house thousands of servers in a small amount of space. This makes the upkeep and updates simple, and once again has lowered cost. You can now get inexpensive web hosting and it is much less complicated to do now. With the numerous companies nowadays that offer web hosting, it is up to you to search and choose what will be best for your web site’s needs.
What’s the future of webhosting? Highly managed solutions, cloud hosting, grid hosting, … We’ll keep you posted of new stuff on this blog!