Web Hosting

What is web hosting and who is it for?

Web hosting means renting the disk space, CPU and memory allocation, database and email infrastructure a website needs on a server that is already set up. Server installation, operating system updates, network connectivity and hardware maintenance are handled by the provider; you only look after your site.

LIONFIN web hosting plans use the shared model: several customer accounts live on the same powerful server, and each account gets a defined share of resources. Shared hosting keeps costs low while the provider takes care of everything below your application.

These plans are the right starting point for:

• Small businesses: a company website with a few pages and email addresses on your own domain.
• Bloggers and content creators: regular publishing with WordPress or a similar content management system.
• Freelancers and agencies: a portfolio, a campaign page or a handful of client sites.
• New e-commerce ventures: small shops whose product count and traffic are still modest.

No server administration skills are required: you manage the site from a control panel without touching a command line, firewall or web server configuration.

What is included in a web hosting plan?

Every web hosting plan comes with the core components needed to launch a site and run it safely. Plans differ in the amount of each component, not in what is included.

• NVMe storage: files and databases are kept on NVMe drives, which have far lower latency than classic SATA SSDs. The many small reads made while a page is generated get faster.
• Free SSL: a certificate for your domain is installed automatically and renewed before it expires, so your site loads over HTTPS from day one.
• Daily backups: a copy of your account is taken automatically every day, so you can roll back after a faulty update.
• One-click app installs: PHP applications such as WordPress, Joomla, OpenCart and PrestaShop install without uploading files or creating a database by hand.
• Email on your domain: create addresses such as [email protected] up to the plan’s mailbox count and quota.
• MySQL databases: for content management systems and custom PHP applications.
• Unmetered traffic: there is no monthly data transfer charge based on visitor numbers; the real limits are CPU, memory and disk allocation.
• Defined CPU and memory allocation: each plan gets a set number of cores and amount of RAM, and higher plans get more.

The current number of sites, mailboxes, disk space and databases for each plan is shown in the plan table on this page.

How do you choose between the Economy, Popular and Professional plans?

The fastest way to pick the right web hosting plan is to count how many sites you will publish, then how many mailboxes and databases you need. For most small sites disk space is not the first resource to run out; the number of sites and mailboxes usually matters more.

If you are unsure, start with the smallest plan that meets your needs. You can watch your resource usage in the control panel and move to a higher plan as you approach the limits. Work out disk, site count and database needs one by one before you order, and the choice becomes straightforward.

One caveat: “unmetered traffic” does not mean unlimited resources. When a site gets a sudden surge of visitors, the bottleneck appears in the CPU and memory allocation long before traffic, so if you expect growth it makes sense to choose the next plan up.

Web hosting, or WordPress, Linux, cPanel or Plesk hosting?

General web hosting is a balanced option for sites that run on PHP and MySQL without depending on a specific application or control panel. If your project relies on a particular technology or panel habit, a specialised hosting type is more efficient.

The most common dilemma concerns WordPress sites. The web hosting vs WordPress hosting comparison sets out the differences between a general plan and a WordPress-specific plan in terms of caching, updates and staging.

Which applications run on web hosting?

Web hosting plans run almost every application written in PHP that uses a MySQL database. With the one-click installer you can launch the most popular content management and e-commerce software in a few minutes.

• Content management: WordPress, Joomla, Drupal.
• E-commerce: WooCommerce, OpenCart, PrestaShop. For shop-specific needs see OpenCart hosting and PrestaShop hosting.
• Forums and communities: PHP-based software such as phpBB and MyBB.
• Custom PHP projects: PHP and MySQL applications you wrote yourself or your agency delivered; MySQL databases are created from the control panel.
• Static sites: sites built from HTML, CSS and JavaScript files do not even need a database.

Some technologies are not a fit for this plan. Projects using ASP.NET and MSSQL run on a Windows server. A Node.js process that must stay up permanently, a queue worker or a WebSocket server does not belong on a shared environment; for those, look at the options on the Node.js hosting page or a virtual server. Web applications written in Python have their own roadmap on the Python hosting page.

What determines web hosting speed?

On the hosting side, three things decide how fast a site is: disk latency, the CPU and memory share allocated to your account, and the server’s network connection. On the application side, caching, image sizes and the number of plugins matter just as much.

On LIONFIN infrastructure files are stored on NVMe drives, which shortens time to first byte (TTFB), especially for database queries and PHP applications that read many small files. On the data center side, 600 Gbit/s of total upstream capacity and 24/7 NOC monitoring aim to keep the network from becoming the bottleneck.

What you can do yourself:

1. Use page caching; in WordPress a caching plugin noticeably reduces server load.
2. Compress images before uploading them and prefer modern formats such as WebP.
3. Delete plugins and themes you do not use; every plugin is extra code that runs on every request.
4. Choose a current PHP version; newer versions usually run the same code faster.
5. Track speed regularly with TTFB and Core Web Vitals measurements.

How is web hosting kept secure?

Web hosting security has two layers: the provider protects the server and network layer, and you manage the application layer (CMS, plugins, passwords). When both sides do their part, most attacks get nowhere.

On the infrastructure side, the LIONFIN network performs network-level DDoS filtering with the RouteFence firewall, and servers are monitored by 24/7 NOC and SOC teams. Each account runs with user permissions isolated from the others, so a neighbouring account’s files cannot be accessed.

What is expected from you on the application side:

• Enforce HTTPS: free SSL comes installed; redirect all traffic from HTTP to HTTPS.
• Keep software up to date: updates to your CMS, themes and plugins close most security holes.
• Use strong, unique passwords: panel, FTP, database and admin passwords should all differ, and turn on two-factor authentication wherever you can.
• Delete unused installs: forgotten test installations are among the most frequently exploited entry points.

If you notice anything suspicious, open a support ticket from the customer panel; the team will help review the access logs.

How do backups work and how do you restore a site?

Web hosting plans back up your account automatically every day, and the copy includes your files, databases and email accounts. These backups are used to return a site to an earlier day after a faulty update, a deleted folder or a broken plugin.

Stating clearly what you want restored and to which date speeds things up: “database only, yesterday’s backup” or “the public_html/wp-content/uploads folder as it was three days ago”. Restoring the whole account can also roll back emails and orders received after that date, so restoring only the affected part is usually safer.

A provider backup is an important safety net, but it should not be your only copy. The recommended approach for critical sites is the 3-2-1 rule: three copies, on two different media, with one copy in a different location. In practice that means downloading your own backup from the panel before big changes and keeping it on your computer or in cloud storage.

How do you connect a domain to web hosting?

The easiest way to connect a domain to web hosting is to change your domain’s nameservers to the LIONFIN nameservers listed in your service details. DNS records, email records and SSL validation are then configured automatically.

1. Change the nameservers: if your domain is registered elsewhere, enter the addresses you were given in the nameserver fields of that registrar’s panel. If the domain is with LIONFIN, this step happens automatically.
2. Wait for propagation: the change can take a few hours to spread across the internet because resolvers cache old records.
3. Check that SSL is installed: once the domain points to the server, the free certificate is issued automatically.
4. Create your mailboxes: set up accounts in the panel and add them to your phone and computer over IMAP.
5. Install your application or upload your files: use the one-click installer or FTP.

If you do not want to change nameservers, you can also publish the site by pointing only the A record to the server IP; in that case you must edit the MX records for email separately.

How is email managed on a web hosting plan?

Email accounts on a web hosting plan are created in the same panel as your domain and let you use a professional address such as [email protected]. The number of mailboxes and the total email quota are listed in the plan table, and you can distribute the quota between accounts as needed.

You can use the accounts in three ways:

• Webmail: read and send from your browser with nothing to install.
• IMAP: with Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird or your phone’s mail app; messages stay on the server, so all your devices see the same mailbox. Encrypted connections use port 993 for IMAP and 465 or 587 for SMTP sending.
• POP3: for people who want to download messages to a single computer and delete them from the server; not recommended if you use more than one device.

For your messages to stay out of recipients’ spam folders, your domain’s SPF, DKIM and DMARC records must be correct. If your nameservers point to LIONFIN, the MX record is set up automatically and you only need to check the SPF and DKIM records in the panel.

When your email use grows, for example when you need large per-user quotas, archiving or many accounts, moving email off the website onto email hosting or a business email service frees up quota and improves security.

How is LIONFIN web hosting infrastructure monitored and supported?

LIONFIN web hosting servers run in a data center in İzmir, Türkiye, with a cold-aisle layout kept at 18–24 °C, and are monitored by 24/7 NOC (network operations center) and SOC (security operations center) teams. The availability target set for the infrastructure is 99.99%; this is an operating target, not a guarantee.

In practice this means:

• Early warning: disk, CPU, memory and network metrics are collected continuously; when an anomaly appears on a server, work often begins before customers notice.
• Network capacity: 600 Gbit/s of total upstream capacity aims to prevent a single congested link from affecting every site.
• Network-level protection: the RouteFence firewall filters volumetric attack traffic before it reaches the server.
• Support: you report issues through 24/7 support tickets in the Support section of the customer panel; tickets are recorded, so past conversations are never lost.

Servers are located in Türkiye, which makes them a natural fit for visitors in Türkiye and the surrounding region. See our data center for more on the facility.

When is web hosting no longer enough, and what should you move to?

Web hosting falls short when your resource allocation regularly hits its limit, when you need to install software at server level, or when you need processes that run continuously. Spotting these signs early prevents slowdowns on a busy campaign day.

• If you often hit resource limits: when the CPU, memory and concurrent process graphs in the panel are constantly at the top, move up a plan first.
• If you want to escape neighbour effects entirely: business hosting plans, whose resources are not shared with other accounts, come with priority support.
• If you need to install your own software: Redis, Elasticsearch, a custom PHP extension or background worker processes require a VPS server with full root access.
• If you want to sell hosting: reseller hosting is the right product for opening separate panels for your customers.

Because the move happens within the same infrastructure, the support team helps you plan the migration of your site and email.