An interpretation of website hosting
As its name hints, web hosting is a solution, which involves hosting online content. There are various varieties and types of web hosting, based on the mission and on the functions. In spite of that, they all pertain to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible through the World Wide Web. A host is in fact a web hosting service that is connected to the World Wide Web and has its very own IP address, which permits people to get access to it through the World Wide Web. The web server's architecture and its system resources depend on the type of web hosting service it will be used for.
What are the different forms of hosting?
Depending on the application, the professional hosting service may be:
File Storage Web Hosting - this form of web hosting permits the users to stash their files on a certain web hosting server. With the customary file web hosting solution, the files that are deposited may only be accessed by the customer that's using the service. This hosting solution mainly pertains to backups of personal computers , documents, private files and even other web hosting servers. This solution may also involve certain restrictions in terms of the web space and the root privileges. There may also be web traffic quota limitations, but that depends on the particular web hosting service provider.
Warez Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting service is very similar to the previous hosting service type. However, in contrast with the file web hosting service, the warez web hosting service is used for distributing copyrighted work without being given the go-ahead by the licence bearer. In short - it is related to the criminal distribution of files and documents. There are many approaches for this to be realized, but the two main ways are - via plain HTTP downloading and via P2P connections. The first approach involves either some web page, or, most commonly, simply a directory on a hosting server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thus download licensed documents free of charge. The second approach entails a P2P connection, using the so-called Torrent servers, through which users transfer files between each other. There are just a few site hosting firms that allow that type of hosting on their servers, chiefly owing to all the legal entanglements that it presupposes. Typically such web sites are hosted on private dedicated servers that are registered by 3rd party corporations either in the Middle East or in Asia.
Electronic Mail Web Hosting - this solution is used with both shared website hosting and dedicated hosting servers, based on the client's wish. If you wish to launch your very own private SMTP mail server, then you will need either a VPS web hosting server or a dedicated web hosting server that offers the level of access needed to carry out such an operation. For routine electronic mail web hosting ends, however, you can avail of a regular shared webspace hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain name. This is not a service that's very famous, because the web hosting and the email hosting services are being served by two separate servers, often belonging to different web hosting providers.
Web Site Hosting - the most popular and regularly utilized hosting service at present. It's utilized for hosting web site files, whose type depends on the Operating System the hosting server is making use of - Linux or Windows. Different types of files demand specific web hosting server Operating Systems, or else they won't be displayed accurately on the Web. This type of hosting may contain disk storage and web traffic quota limitations, root access and central processing unit usage limitations.
Based on the goals and on the usage, the user should choose the type of hosting server that he requires for his project, and, of course, the webspace hosting corporation that's going to supply it. There are different kinds of web hosting servers, based on the configuration and the web site hosting services that they offer. These are:
Shared Hosting Server - a shared website hosting server includes a smaller quantity of system resources, which, of course, reflects on the price of the service. It can be utilized for hosting small sized and middle size websites, which do not demand big amounts of data storage and web traffic.
Semi-Dedicated - they operate on the same principle as the shared web space hosting servers. Still, there are much less clients sharing the same hosting server. Hence, each of them will get a larger share of the hosting server's resources like RAM, web storage space, traffic and CPU. Ideal for hosting big online portals that do not need full root access.
Virtual Servers - the VPS web hosting servers are ideal for middle sized sites, which do need root-level access to the hosting server's configuration files. Typically, there are a bunch of virtual web hosting server accounts accommodated on the same server. Nonetheless, each of them is isolated from the other ones and runs its own OS.
Dedicated Servers - a completely dedicated physical server configured and accessed by you and only you. It ensures an immense amount of resources. It also provides root access, which renders it an ideal platform for any sort of website that requires a web space hosting solution.
The only question that remains is:
Which web site hosting supplier should I pick?
As stated above, there are just a few web hosts providing warez hosting services due to judicial problems. Such companies are being shut down virtually every month. Because of that, if you wish to launch such a service, you should do it on your own personal computer. The shared web space hosting service is the most widely spread type of web hosting service. Hence, every website hosting firm provides it. Not all of them, though, offer solutions such as virtual web hosting servers, semi-dedicated servers and dedicated web servers. Most of the small scale website hosting companies do not have the resources required for offering those services. For that reason it's invariably best to opt for a larger hosting company that can provide its customers with all the services that they require. You can quickly recognize such hosting companies by the sorts of solutions that they are making available and by the way that they introduce them to the clients. For example, some hosting providers allow you to commence with a small scale site hosting plan and afterwards move to a more advanced one, if you consider it obligatory to do so. This is extremely convenient, since you do not have to transfer web pages between web servers and there is no possibility of suffering network outages due to all the complications that may occur. Providers like Free Hostia provide all sorts of solutions and have the needed hosting server resources and personnel to guarantee that their clients will not experience any hassles when changing services, which is what a top hosting corporation is actually all about.