TABLE OF CONTENT

The domain name

This is your website's identity: www.domainname.com!

When you start a website project, the first thing you should do is think about the domain name! Is it available?

In Belgium, for example, you can check the availability of the domain name you want to purchase on the DNS Belgium website, which lists domain names ending in .be, .brussels and .vlaanderen. You can also check with domain name providers such as Gandi, for example.

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🔥 Domain names are not free! When you purchase one, you pay a fee proportional to the length of time for which you are purchasing it. You may have to renew it every year, or less frequently.

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Hosting

Once you have acquired your domain name, you will need to host the site when it is finished. Hosting is literally where your site is stored. In other words, when someone clicks on a link to a page on your website, the search engine will look for the information on the server where the website is hosted in order to deliver the requested information.

There are many hosting solutions available. There are a few well-known major hosting providers (OVH, Infomaniak, Scaleway, etc.) but also a myriad of others. Each provider has its own selling points – available data volume, pricing, allocated power, storage location (the geographical location of the servers, in Europe or elsewhere, for example, affects the legislation that applies to the management of hosted data), environmental commitments, etc.

Shop around and choose the hosting provider that best suits your needs.

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🔥 Hosting your website is a paid service, usually billed annually or monthly.

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The importance of choosing the right hosting provider

Creating an eco-friendly website requires more than good intentions, and choosing the right hosting provider is crucial. According to the RGESN (Référentiel Général d’Eco-conception de Services Numériques, a French publication), hosting accounts for 14% of a website's environmental performance. It is therefore essential to choose a hosting provider that minimises the environmental impact of your website.

Criteria for choosing an eco-friendly hosting provider:

• Use of green energy: Although this is a good start, beware of greenwashing. The use of green energy is a minimum requirement.
• PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness): This energy efficiency ratio should be less than 2. In Europe, the average is 1.8, but some providers offer ratios close to 1, which is excellent.
• WUE (Water Usage Effectiveness): This water usage ratio is crucial, especially when it comes to server cooling. Best practices include free cooling (cooling using ambient air) and other innovative methods such as adiabatic cooling.
• Reuse of waste heat: Check how the hosting provider reuses the heat produced by the servers, for example to heat buildings or water.
• CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) policy: Check whether the hosting provider has initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint, such as encouraging soft mobility among its employees.

Source: WhoDuNit Academy - please note, content accessible upon registration - https://masterclass. whodunit.academy/view/courses/creer-et-gerer-un-contenu-web-responsable-sur-wordpress/2576454-lexique-et-referentiels/8267760-quelques-mots-sur-l-hebergement-et-le-design

→ Go to chapter II. First time on Minos - Configure your website