Hosting and domains

8 questions

Which type of hosting to choose?

Shared — cheap, resources are shared.
VPS — your virtual server.
Dedicated — physical server.
Cloud — scalable (AWS, GCP).
For starters, VPS is enough.

How to register a domain?

Choose a registrar: Namecheap, Cloudflare, reg.ru.
Check domain availability.
Register for a year+.
Specify DNS servers of the hosting.
Configure A and CNAME records.

What is an SSL/TLS certificate?

Encryption of the connection (HTTPS).
Let's Encrypt — free.
Certbot for automation.
Wildcard for subdomains.
Mandatory for SEO and trust.

How to configure DNS records?

A — IPv4 address.
AAAA — IPv6 address.
CNAME — alias to another domain.
MX — mail servers.
TXT — verification, SPF, DKIM.

Hosting and domains: how to choose a VPS and perform basic server administration?

Start with the requirements in the 'Hosting and domains' topic: what should work, what are the limitations in terms of budget/performance/security. Then choose a solution.

Hosting and domains: how to set up HTTPS via Let's Encrypt and auto-renewal?

Practice for 'Hosting and domains': create a checklist (installation, configuration, backup, updates) and go through it once — this reduces the number of 'mystical' problems.

Hosting and domains: how to correctly configure DNS for a website and email?

Answer for 'Hosting and domains': updates and backups are more important than fine-tuning. Automate backups and enable 2FA.

Hosting and domains: how to transfer a website between hosts without downtime?

For 'Hosting and domains': it is useful to look for the original source (documentation, release notes) and reproduce the problem with a minimal example.