A description of site hosting
As its name suggests, web hosting is a solution, which involves hosting web content. There are various forms and kinds of web hosting, based on the purpose and on the functions. Still, they all are associated with hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible through the Internet. A web host is actually a hosting server that is connected to the Web and has its very own Internet Protocol address, which allows people to get access to it via the Web. The hosting server's architecture and its resources are dependent on the sort of web hosting solution it's going to be utilized for.
What are the various types of web hosting?
Depending on the mission, the business hosting solution may be:
File Web Hosting - this form of hosting allows the users to accommodate their files on a given server. With the ordinary file hosting service, the files that are stashed may only be accessed by the individual that's availing of the service. This web hosting service generally applies to backups of personal computers , documents, private files and even other web hosting servers. This service may also involve certain restrictions with regard to the disk storage space and the root privileges. There may also be web traffic limits, but that depends on the actual web hosting provider.
Warez Web Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting service is quite similar to the previous web hosting service type. Nevertheless, unlike the file storage hosting service, the warez hosting solution is utilized for circulating proprietary content without the blessing of the patent bearer. In brief - it entails the illegal transmission of files and materials. There are many methods for this to be achieved, but the 2 main approaches are - through simple Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and via peer-to-peer connections. The first method entails either a specific website, or, most often, just a directory on a hosting server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thereby download copyrighted files free of cost. The second approach involves a P2P connection, making use of the so-called Torrent web servers, through which users swap files between each other. There are not many web space hosting corporations that allow such type of web hosting on their web servers, mostly because of all the judicial complications that it presupposes. Generally such web sites are hosted on private dedicated servers that are registered by third-party corporations either in the Middle East or in Asia.
Email Web Hosting - this service is applicable with both shared website hosting and dedicated web servers, based on the customer's desire. If you want to launch your very own personal SMTP server, then you will need either a private virtual hosting server or a dedicated web hosting server that offers the level of access needed to accomplish such a procedure. For common e-mail hosting ends, though, you can use a regular shared hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain name. This is not a service that's widely popular, since the web site hosting and the e-mail hosting services are being served by 2 separate servers, often owned by different providers.
Website Hosting - the most famous and immensely utilized hosting service now. It's used for hosting website files, whose sort is dependent on the OS the web server is running - Linux or Windows. Different sorts of files require concrete web hosting server OSs, otherwise they won't be exhibited accurately on the Internet. This type of web hosting may involve server space and bandwidth limitations, root-level access and central processing unit usage limits.
Depending on the purpose and on the objectives, the user should choose the sort of server that he requires for his project, and, of course, the website hosting corporation that's going to provide it. There are various types of servers, based on the configuration and the website hosting services that they offer. These are:
Shared Hosting Server - a shared web page hosting server includes a smaller amount of resources, which, of course, reflects on the price of the service. It can be utilized for hosting small scale and medium web sites, which do not demand considerable amounts of web storage space and web traffic.
Semi-Dedicated Servers Hosting - they operate on the same principle as the shared web space hosting servers. In spite of that, there are much less users hosted on the same web server. Hence, each of them will get a larger quota of the server's resources like RAM, disk storage, web traffic and CPU. Ideal for hosting immense online portals that do not demand full root access.
Virtual Private Server - the private virtual hosting servers are ideal for middle scale web pages, which do need root access to the web server's config files. Usually, there are a bunch of private virtual web server accounts situated on the same physical server. Still, each of them is isolated from the others and runs its own OS.
Dedicated Servers - a completely dedicated physical server set up and accessed by you and solely you. It guarantees a mammoth amount of resources. It also includes root-level access, which makes it the optimal solution for any sort of site that demands a web space hosting solution.
The sole question that remains is:
Which web hosting firm should I opt for?
As already mentioned, there aren't many web hosts offering warez hosting solutions because of legal problems. Such companies are being shut down practically every month. That is why, if you desire to start such a service, you should do it on your very own personal computer. The shared web space hosting solution is the most widely spread type of hosting service. Therefore, each and every site hosting corporation provides it. Not all of them, however, provide services such as private virtual web hosting servers, semi-dedicated servers and dedicated web servers. Most of the small sized web hosting vendors do not have the resources required for offering those solutions. For that reason it's always best to settle on a larger company that can furnish its customers with all the solutions that they require. You can quickly recognize such companies by the types of solutions that they are offering and by the manner in which they present them to the clients. For example, certain hosts permit you to commence with a low-end webspace hosting plan and then upgrade to a more advanced one, if you deem it necessary to do so. This is quite convenient, since you do not have to transfer web sites between hosting servers and there is no risk of experiencing service interruptions due to all the complications that may arise. Companies such as Free Hostia offer all types of solutions and possess the required hosting server resources and staff to guarantee that their clients will not suffer any troubles when changing services, which is what a top hosting corporation is in fact all about.