An explanation of website hosting
As its name indicates, web hosting is a service, which entails hosting web content. There are different varieties and kinds of web hosting, depending on the purpose and on the functions. Even so, they all involve hosting files, which, once hosted, are made available through the Web. A web host is in fact a server that is linked to the Internet and has its very own Internet Protocol address, which allows people to access it via the Web. The web hosting server's architecture and its limitations are dependent on the form of web hosting solution it's going to be utilized for.
What are the different forms of hosting?
Based on the purpose, the business website hosting service may be:
File Storage Hosting - this form of hosting enables the users to keep their files on a given server. With the traditional file web hosting solution, the files that are accommodated may only be accessed by the customer that's availing of the service. This web hosting service usually applies to backups of personal computers , docs, personal files and even other web servers. This solution may also impose certain limitations in terms of the server storage and the root-level access. There may also be traffic limitations, but that is dependent on the particular hosting provider.
Warez Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting solution is very similar to the previous hosting service type. Still, unlike the file storage web hosting solution, the warez web hosting solution is utilized for spreading patented materials without being given the go-ahead by the licence owner. To put it briefly - it involves the unauthorized distribution of files and documents. There are numerous methods for this to be completed, but the two chief approaches are - through plain HTTP downloading and through peer-to-peer connections. The first approach involves either a certain website, or, most typically, just a directory on a web server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thereby download licensed materials for free. The second approach entails a P2P connection, availing of the so-called Torrent web servers, via which users transfer files between each other. There aren't many site hosting suppliers that permit that form of web hosting on their web hosting servers, chiefly owing to all the legal troubles that it entails. Typically such sites are hosted on personal dedicated web servers that are registered by 3rd party companies either in the Middle East or in Asia.
E-mail Hosting - this service is relevant with both shared web space hosting and dedicated web servers, depending on the client's intention. If you want to launch your own personal SMTP email server, then you will need either a private virtual hosting server or a dedicated server that offers the level of access required to accomplish such an assignment. For routine email web hosting ends, however, you can open an average shared webspace hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain. This is not a service that's widely famous, because the web hosting and the electronic mail hosting services are being served by 2 different web servers, often belonging to separate firms.
Web Site Hosting - the most widespread and commonly utilized hosting service today. It's utilized for hosting website files, whose kind is dependent on the OS the web server is availing of - Linux or Windows. Different kinds of files require different hosting server Operating Systems, otherwise they won't be exhibited accurately on the Internet. This sort of web hosting may contain data storage and bandwidth limits, server root access and central processing unit usage limitations.
Based on the mission and on the objectives, the customer should pick the sort of web hosting server that he requires for his work, and, of course, the web space hosting provider that's going to supply it. There are several sorts of hosting servers, based on the specs and the web space hosting solutions that they offer. These are:
Shared Web Hosting Server - a shared hosting server includes a smaller amount of system resources, which, of course, reflects on the cost of the service. It can be used for hosting small scale and medium size online portals, which do not demand vast quantities of server storage and web traffic.
Semi-Dedicated Servers Hosting - they work on the very same principle as the shared webspace hosting servers. Even so, there are much less clients accommodated on the same web server. Hence, each of them will have a larger quota of the web server's resources like RAM, disk space, web traffic and CPU. Perfect for hosting immense sites that do not need full root-level access.
Virtual Servers - the virtual private web hosting servers are ideal for medium scale online portals, which do demand root access to the hosting server's configuration files. Typically, there are a number of virtual private web server accounts sharing the same machine. Nonetheless, each of them is insulated from the other ones and has its own OS.
Dedicated Servers - a completely dedicated web hosting server configured and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a large amount of system resources. It also gives complete root-level access, which makes it a perfect platform for any kind of online portal that requires a site hosting service.
The sole question that's left is:
Which web site hosting vendor should I pick?
As stated above, there are just a few web hosts providing warez hosting services due to judicial complications. Such companies are being shut down almost every month. Therefore, if you wish to launch such a service, you should do it on your very own PC. The shared webspace hosting service is the most widespread type of hosting service. That is why, each and every website hosting supplier offers it. Not all of them, though, offer services such as VPS servers, semi-dedicated hosting servers and dedicated web servers. Most of the small sized web hosting distributors do not have the means required for maintaining those solutions. Because of that it's invariably best to choose a bigger host that can provide its clients with all the solutions that they want. You can effortlessly recognize such web hosts by the kinds of solutions that they are providing and by the manner in which they introduce them to the clientele. For example, some hosts allow you to start with a smaller web hosting account and then upgrade to a bigger one, if you find it compulsory to do so. This is quite convenient, because you do not have to transfer websites between hosting servers and there is no possibility of suffering service outages due to all the problems that may appear. Hosting companies like Mega Web Service offer all sorts of solutions and have the necessary web server resources and staff to guarantee that their clients will not come across any predicaments when swapping services, which is what a top hosting distributor is actually all about.