A Definition of Web Site Hosting
As its name indicates, website hosting is a solution, which involves hosting web content. There are different varieties and types of hosting, based on the mission and on the functions. Yet, they all are associated with hosting files, which, once hosted, are made available through the Internet. A host is actually a server that is connected to the Internet and has its own Internet Protocol address, which allows users to have access to it via the World Wide Web. The web hosting server's configuration and its system resources are dependent on the type of web hosting solution it will be used for.
What are the various forms of hosting?
Depending on the function, the web hosting service may be:
File Storage Web Hosting - this type of web hosting allows the users to lodge their files on a given server. With the common file web hosting service, the files that are deposited may only be accessed by the client that's using the service. This hosting solution mainly includes backups of PCs , docs, personal files and even other web hosting servers. This service may also include certain restrictions in terms of the server space and the root access. There may also be traffic quota limitations, but that depends on the actual hosting provider.
Warez Hosting - the so-called warez hosting solution is quite similar to the previous web hosting service type. Even so, unlike the file storage hosting solution, the warez hosting solution is utilized for propagating licensed content without being given the okay to do so by the patent possessor. In brief - it entails the illegitimate distribution of files and materials. There are lots of approaches for this to be fulfilled, but the 2 essential methods are - via plain HTTP downloading and through peer-to-peer connections. The first approach involves either a certain web page, or, most commonly, simply a directory on a web hosting server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thus download licensed content free of charge. The second approach involves a peer-to-peer connection, making use of the so-called Torrent servers, through which users transfer files between each other. There are just a few web site hosting firms that allow such type of hosting on their servers, mostly owing to all the legal predicaments that it involves. Usually such web pages are hosted on personal dedicated servers that are registered by 3rd party enterprises either in the Middle East or in Asia.
Electronic Mail Hosting - this service is relevant with both shared web hosting and dedicated hosting, based on the user's wish. If you would like to establish your own personal SMTP e-mail server, then you will require either a virtual private hosting server or a dedicated server that provides the access level required to execute such a task. For ordinary electronic mail hosting purposes, though, you can set up a standard shared web space hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain. This is not a solution that's very popular, since the website hosting and the email hosting services are being served by two separate servers, often belonging to separate hosting providers.
Web Page Hosting - the most widely spread and regularly utilized hosting service now. It's utilized for hosting website files, whose type is determined by the OS the web server is utilizing - Linux or Windows. Different kinds of files request concrete hosting server Operating Systems, or else they won't be displayed accurately on the Web. This kind of hosting may contain server storage space and traffic limitations, root access and CPU usage limits.
Depending on the mission and on the functions, the user should choose the type of server that he needs for his work, and, of course, the web site hosting corporation that's going to supply it. There are different sorts of web hosting servers, depending on the specs and the web hosting services that they offer. These are:
Shared Web Hosting Servers - a shared webspace hosting server supplies a smaller amount of system resources, which, of course, is manifested in the price of the service. It can be used for hosting small size and middle scale web sites, which do not require vast quotas of data storage and web traffic.
Semi-dedicated Servers - they function on the same principle as the shared website hosting servers. Yet, there are much less users hosted on the same web server. For that reason, each of them will have a bigger share of the hosting server's resources like RAM, disk space, web traffic and CPU. Perfect for hosting popular websites that do not need full root-level access.
Virtual Private Servers - the virtual private web hosting servers are excellent for middle scale online portals, which do require root-level access to the server's config files. Typically, there are a handful of Virtual Private Server hosting accounts located on the same physical machine. Nevertheless, each of them is independent from the rest and has its own OS.
Dedicated Servers - a fully dedicated hosting server configured and accessed by you and solely you. It ensures a huge quantity of resources. It also includes complete root-level access, which makes it the optimal environment for any type of site that necessitates a web site hosting solution.
The sole question that remains is:
Which website hosting company should I select?
As mentioned above, there aren't many hosting providers offering warez hosting services because of judicial problems. Such web hosts are being shut down almost every month. Therefore, if you wish to offer such a service, you should do it on your very own personal computer. The shared web space hosting solution is the most widely spread kind of web hosting service. So, every web site hosting vendor provides it. Not all of them, though, offer services such as virtual private hosting servers, semi-dedicated hosting servers and dedicated servers. Most of the small scale web hosting providers do not have the means needed for maintaining those services. For that reason it's invariably best to opt for a bigger host that can provide its clients with all the services that they are searching for. You can quickly identify such web hosts by the sorts of solutions that they are making available and by the manner in which they introduce them to the clientele. For instance, some hosting companies permit you to kick off with a small scale webspace hosting plan and subsequently shift to a more powerful one, if you find it compulsory to do so. This is very suitable, because you do not have to relocate web portals between hosting servers and there is no danger of suffering service outages because of all the complications that may arise. Web hosting companies such as 'FreeHostia.com' offer all kinds of services and have the needed web hosting server resources and personnel to assure that their clients will not stumble upon any problems when changing services, which is what a top hosting firm is actually all about.