An explanation of web hosting
As its name hints, web hosting is a service, which involves hosting online content. There are various varieties and kinds of hosting, depending on the mission and on the functions. In spite of that, they all entail hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible throughout the World Wide Web. A web host is in fact a web hosting service that is linked to the Web and has its own personal IP address, which enables people to have access to it through the World Wide Web. The server's architecture and its limitations are dependent on the kind of hosting solution it's going to be used for.
What are the various forms of hosting?
Based on the objective, the business hosting solution may be:
File Storage Web Hosting - this type of hosting enables the customers to keep their files on a specific server. With the conventional file hosting service, the files that are saved may only be accessed by the customer that's availing of the service. This web hosting solution usually entails backups of computers , documents, personal files and even other web servers. This service may also contain certain restrictions in relation to the disk space and the root access. There may also be traffic restrictions, but that depends on the given hosting provider.
Warez Hosting - the so-called warez hosting solution is very similar to the previous web hosting service type. In spite of that, in contrast with the file storage web hosting solution, the warez hosting service is utilized for propagating proprietary work without the sanction of the patent owner. In brief - it pertains to the forbidden circulation of files and docs. There are a lot of approaches for this to be fulfilled, but the 2 main ways are - through simple Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and via P2P connections. The first method involves either a particular web page, or, most typically, simply a directory on a server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thereby download proprietary content for free. The second approach entails a peer-to-peer connection, availing of the so-called Torrent servers, via which users exchange files between each other. There are very few site hosting distributors that permit that form of web hosting on their web servers, mainly owing to all the legal predicaments that it entails. Generally such sites are hosted on private dedicated web servers that are registered by 3rd party corporations either in the Middle East or in Asia.
Electronic Mail Hosting - this solution is utilized with both shared site hosting and dedicated hosting servers, depending on the client's desire. If you would like to establish your own personal SMTP server, then you will require either a VPS server or a dedicated web hosting server that provides the level of access needed to execute such a task. For typical email web hosting purposes, however, you can open a standard shared site hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain. This is not a solution that's widely famous, since the web site hosting and the email hosting services are being served by 2 different web servers, usually owned by separate providers.
Web Page Hosting - the most widespread and frequently used hosting service nowadays. It's used for hosting site files, whose type is determined by the OS the web hosting server is availing of - Linux or Windows. Different types of files require specific hosting server Operating Systems, otherwise they won't be shown properly on the Internet. This sort of hosting may contain disk storage space and traffic limitations, root access and CPU usage limits.
Depending on the goals and on the objectives, the user should select the type of web hosting server that he demands for his work, and, of course, the website hosting distributor that's going to supply it. There are different types of web servers, based on the configuration and the web hosting solutions that they provide. These are:
Shared Website Hosting Server - a shared web site hosting server includes a smaller amount of system resources, which, of course, is reflected on the cost of the service. It can be utilized for hosting small scale and medium sites, which do not need considerable quantities of web storage space and bandwidth.
Semi-Dedicated Hosting - they work on the very same principle as the shared web site hosting servers. Still, there are much fewer clients hosted on the same web hosting server. Therefore, each of them will receive a larger share of the web server's resources like RAM, disk storage, traffic and CPU. Excellent for hosting bulky web portals that do not need full root access.
VPS hosting - the VPS servers are excellent for medium sites, which do need root access to the server's configuration files. Normally, there are several VPS accounts situated on the same server. Nonetheless, each of them is insulated from the others and runs its own OS.
Dedicated Server Hosting - a completely dedicated physical machine configured and accessed by you and solely you. It ensures a huge amount of system resources. It also provides root privileges, which makes it the optimal solution for any type of web site that requires a web space hosting solution.
The only question that remains is:
Which web site hosting supplier should I choose?
As mentioned above, there are just a few web hosts offering warez web hosting services due to legal troubles. Such hosts are being shut down practically every month. That is why, if you want to set up such a service, you should do it on your own computer. The shared website hosting service is the most widely spread kind of web hosting service. Because of that, every web site hosting supplier provides it. Not all of them, though, provide solutions such as virtual private web hosting servers, semi-dedicated web hosting servers and dedicated hosting servers. Most of the small sized website hosting distributors do not have the means required for maintaining those services. Hence it's invariably best to choose a larger hosting company that can supply its clients with all the services that they necessitate. You can quickly identify such hosting companies by the kinds of solutions that they are providing and by the way that they introduce them to the clientele. For example, some web hosts permit you to commence with a low-end hosting package and afterwards move to a bigger one, if you find it obligatory to do so. This is very convenient, since you do not have to relocate sites between servers and there is no risk of experiencing downtime because of all the complications that may show up. Providers such as Exclusive Hosting provide all types of services and possess the required server resources and staff to ensure that their clients will not stumble upon any problems when changing services, which is what a top hosting firm is in fact all about.