Question: Which hosting should I use?
Answer: Actually the answer to this question is really the assignment which has 3 parts; (1) registering a domain, (2) purchasing hosting, (3) connecting the domain to the hosting. The most popular hosting among students is;
- GoDaddy – allows for seamless connection of domain registration and hosting and runs low-cost specials.
- AWS EC2 – The free tier of this hosting allows for the creation of an AMI (look it up) that you may feel comfortable with as hosting. You will still need to handle items (1) and (3) above.
Question: How do connect my domain name to my host?
Answer: This is a major part of the assignment and it totally depends on the host that you selected (and your domain registrar). If both are from the same company it will likely be automated. In the case of AWS, you will be given a default (non-registered) domain and you will need to point your registered domain to your hosting virtual server. You will need to research and possibly use the discussion boards to figure this out.
Question: How do I get files from my computer to the host?
Answer: Almost universally the answer to this is FTP (File Transfer Protocol). You will need an FTP client on your local machine, and you will need the host server ready to accept files via FTP. There may be some configuration between the client and the server to ensure files end up in the correct location. FileZilla https://filezilla-project.org/ provides a configurable client that allows you to automate most of this.
Question: Do I need to learn FTP?
Answer: Yes (and no). You do not necessarily need to know the FTP language as FileZilla makes this drag/drop. However, any IT professional that does not how to use FTP will be likely for some serious embarrassment – it is considered to be so fundamental to what we do and know that it is rarely mentioned.