An explanation of website hosting
As its name hints, web hosting is a solution, which entails hosting online content. There are different forms and types of hosting, based on the aims and on the objectives. Even so, they all entail hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible throughout the Web. A host is actually a server that is connected to the Web and has its own IP address, which allows people to access it via the Web. The hosting server's architecture and its system resources are subject to the sort of web hosting service it's going to be utilized for.
What are the different forms of web hosting?
Depending on the usage, the hosting solution may be:
File Storage Hosting - this type of hosting allows the clients to host their files on a particular web server. With the average file web hosting solution, the files that are saved may only be accessed by the customer that's utilizing the service. This web hosting solution generally is related to backups of computers , docs, private files and even other web servers. This service may also impose certain limits in relation to the data storage and the root access. There may also be traffic quota limits, but that is dependent on the given web hosting provider.
Warez Web Hosting - the so-called warez hosting solution is resembling the previous hosting service type. Even so, unlike the file storage web hosting solution, the warez web hosting service is utilized for propagating licensed materials without the blessing of the copyright holder. In short - it involves the illicit transmission of files and documents. There are numerous methods for this to be executed, but the two chief ways are - via simple HTTP downloading and via P2P connections. The first one entails either a particular web site, or, most often, simply a directory on a server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thereby download patented docs free of cost. The second way involves a P2P connection, using the so-called Torrent web servers, via which people exchange files between each other. There aren't many web page hosting corporations that allow that form of web hosting on their web hosting servers, mostly due to all the judicial entanglements that it entails. Usually such websites are hosted on private dedicated web servers that are registered by 3rd party companies either in the Middle East or in Asia.
Email Web Hosting - this solution is utilized with both shared web space hosting and dedicated servers, depending on the customer's intention. If you desire to establish your very own private SMTP mail server, then you will require either a VPS web server or a dedicated web server that provides the level of access needed to execute such a task. For common e-mail web hosting ends, though, you can avail of an ordinary shared hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain name. This is not a solution that's very used, because the web hosting and the email hosting services are being served by two different servers, often belonging to different web hosting providers.
Web Page Hosting - the most widespread and vastly used hosting service at the moment. It's used for hosting web site files, whose type depends on the OS the hosting server is availing of - Linux or Windows. Different sorts of files demand different hosting server Operating Systems, otherwise they won't be exhibited appropriately on the Internet. This sort of web hosting may contain data storage and bandwidth limitations, root access and CPU usage restrictions.
Depending on the goals and on the usage, the client should pick the kind of hosting server that he demands for his project, and, of course, the hosting company that's going to provide it. There are different kinds of web hosting servers, depending on the specifications and the hosting services that they offer. These are:
Shared Hosting Server - a shared web site hosting server includes a smaller quantity of resources, which, of course, is manifested in the cost of the service. It can be used for hosting small scale and middle size sites, which do not need huge amounts of disk space and web traffic.
Semi-Dedicated Servers Hosting - they work on the very same principle as the shared site hosting servers. Nonetheless, there are much less clients hosted on the same web hosting server. For that reason, each of them will obtain a larger quota of the server's resources like RAM, data space, web traffic and CPU. Excellent for hosting big web portals that do not need full root access.
VPS - the VPS web hosting servers are ideal for medium scale online portals, which do require root-level access to the server's configuration files. Generally, there are a few private virtual server web hosting accounts accommodated on the same physical machine. In spite of that, each of them is autonomous from the others and has its own Operating System.
Dedicated Server Hosting - a completely dedicated physical machine set up and accessed by you and only you. It ensures an immense quantity of system resources. It also offers complete root access, which renders it the optimal environment for any sort of web portal that demands a web hosting solution.
The only question that remains is:
Which site hosting firm should I select?
As already mentioned, there are not many web hosts providing warez hosting services due to legal complications. Such companies are being shut down virtually every month. Because of that, if you desire to offer such a service, you should do it on your own PC. The shared web hosting solution is the most widely spread kind of web hosting service. So, each and every web space hosting vendor provides it. Not all of them, however, offer services such as VPS web hosting servers, semi-dedicated hosting servers and dedicated web hosting servers. Most of the smaller webspace hosting corporations do not have the means demanded for maintaining those solutions. For that reason it's invariably best to choose a bigger company that can furnish its clients with all the services that they request. You can quickly ID such hosts by the kinds of services that they are supplying and by the manner in which they present them to the customers. For instance, certain web hosts permit you to start with a small scale hosting plan and afterwards shift to a more powerful one, if you deem it mandatory to do so. This is very convenient, because you do not need to move web pages between hosting servers and there is no risk of experiencing service disturbances due to all the predicaments that may appear. Companies like WebHost-ing.com offer all sorts of solutions and have the required hosting server resources and staff to ensure that their customers will not run into any predicaments when swapping services, which is what a top hosting company is actually all about.