Web Hosting

Static, container and serverless deployments.

Web Hosting is taught here in 14 lessons, running from Static versus dynamic hosting through to Security hardening, cost control and migrations. Each lesson takes one topic, shows the working code, and links onward to the next, so the course can be read straight through in order.

Lessons

1. Static versus dynamic hostingWhat actually differs between a prebuilt site and one rendered per request, and how to choose between the hosting models.
2. Build and deploy workflowsFrom a clean checkout to a live URL: reproducible builds, atomic release, previews and rollback.
3. Custom domains and TLSPointing a domain at your host, choosing between apex and www, and getting certificates that renew themselves.
4. Hosting models compared: VPS, PaaS, containers and serverlessShared and VPS hosting, platform as a service, container hosts and serverless functions, the real limits of each, and how to match a model to a workload.
5. Choosing a host: cost, lock-in and supportReading a pricing page properly, egress and request billing, regional availability, SLA and support terms, portability, and a short evaluation checklist.
6. Configuring Nginx and Apache as a reverse proxyServer blocks and virtual hosts, proxying to an application server, forwarding the real client details, compression, caching rules, and a minimal hardened configuration.
7. Environment variables, secrets and configurationPer-environment configuration, keeping secrets out of the repository, runtime injection, rotation, and the build-log leaks that expose values.
8. Containers on a budget: Docker and managed container hostsA small production image, compose for local parity, registry and tag discipline, health checks, and what managed container platforms add.
9. Serverless and edge functionsPackaging and triggers, cold starts, stateless design, edge runtime limits, background work, and the pricing shapes that surprise people.
10. Databases, object storage and backupsManaged database options, connection pooling from serverless, object storage and signed URLs, backup schedules, and actually testing a restore.
11. Email, cron jobs and background workersTransactional email providers and the DNS records they need, scheduled jobs and their alternatives, worker processes, queue basics, and delivery monitoring.
12. Monitoring, uptime and log managementHealth endpoints, uptime checks and alerting, log aggregation and retention, error tracking, and the difference between uptime and correctness.
13. Scaling: load balancing, autoscaling and stateless designHorizontal versus vertical scaling, sessions and shared state, target-tracking autoscaling, draining connections, and load testing before launch day.
14. Security hardening, cost control and migrationsWAF, DDoS protection and security headers, patch policy, least-privilege access, rightsizing and egress savings, and moving a live site between hosts.

More in Building a Website

SEO Basics Domains & DNS CDNs & Caching Accessibility

FAQ