A description of web site hosting
As its name denotes, web hosting is a service, which involves hosting web content. There are various forms and types of hosting, based on the mission and on the objectives. In spite of that, they all entail hosting files, which, once hosted, are made available through the Internet. A host is in fact a web server that is connected to the Internet and has its own IP address, which allows people to gain access to it through the Internet. The web server's configuration and its limitations depend on the type of web hosting solution it will be utilized for.
What are the various forms of web hosting?
Based on the usage, the business hosting solution may be:
File Storage Hosting - this form of hosting allows the customers to deposit their files on a given hosting server. With the typical file storage hosting solution, the files that are accommodated may only be accessed by the individual that's availing of the service. This hosting solution mainly concerns backups of computers , docs, private files and even other web hosting servers. This solution may also contain given restrictions when it comes to the data space and the root access. There may also be bandwidth quota limitations, but that is dependent on the actual host.
Warez Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting service is comparable with the previous web hosting service form. Nevertheless, in contrast with the file storage web hosting solution, the warez web hosting service is utilized for propagating patented materials without the permission of the copyright proprietor. In short - it refers to the forbidden circulation of files and documents. There are a lot of ways for this to be performed, but the 2 essential ways are - via simple HTTP downloading and via peer-to-peer connections. The first method involves either a specific web page, or, most typically, simply a directory on a web server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thereby download licensed content free of cost. The second approach entails a peer-to-peer connection, utilizing the so-called Torrent servers, via which users transmit files between each other. There are very few web site hosting suppliers that allow such type of hosting on their servers, mainly due to all the legal troubles that it presupposes. Usually such sites are hosted on private dedicated web servers that are registered by 3rd party corporations either in the Middle East or in Asia.
E-mail Hosting - this solution is utilized with both shared web space hosting and dedicated web hosting servers, based on the customer's intention. If you desire to launch your own personal SMTP e-mail server, then you will need either a VPS or a dedicated server that offers the level of access required to perform such an operation. For common mail web hosting ends, though, you can use a plain shared webspace hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain. This is not a solution that's very used, because the web hosting and the email hosting services are being served by 2 separate web servers, often belonging to separate firms.
Site Hosting - the most famous and extensively utilized hosting service at the moment. It's utilized for hosting site files, whose kind depends on the Operating System the hosting server is utilizing - Linux or Windows. Different types of files need concrete web server Operating Systems, otherwise they won't be exhibited accurately on the Internet. This kind of web hosting may contain data space and traffic quota limits, server root access and CPU usage restrictions.
Depending on the purpose and on the functions, the customer should pick the kind of web hosting server that he needs for his work, and, of course, the webspace hosting vendor that's going to supply it. There are different types of web servers, based on the configuration and the website hosting solutions that they offer. These are:
Shared Hosting Server - a shared web site hosting server provides a smaller quantity of resources, which, of course, reflects on the price of the service. It can be utilized for hosting small and medium size websites, which do not need big amounts of storage space and bandwidth.
Semi-Dedicated - they are based on the same principle as the shared web site hosting servers. However, there are much less customers accommodated on the same server. For that reason, each of them will get a larger share of the web hosting server's resources like RAM, data storage, web traffic and CPU. Ideal for hosting bulky websites that do not demand full server root privileges.
VPS - the virtual hosting servers are ideal for medium web pages, which do demand root-level access to the server's configuration files. Commonly, there are a number of virtual web server hosting accounts accommodated on the same physical server. Even so, each of them is autonomous from the others and runs its own OS.
Dedicated Server Hosting - a completely dedicated physical machine configured and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a tremendous amount of system resources. It also offers complete root access, which renders it an ideal solution for any type of web portal that needs a web hosting service.
The only question that remains is:
Which webspace hosting supplier should I pick?
As mentioned above, there are very few companies providing warez web hosting services because of judicial troubles. Such providers are being shut down virtually every month. That is why, if you wish to create such a service, you should do it on your very own personal computer. The shared web hosting solution is the most widely spread kind of hosting service. So, each webspace hosting distributor provides it. Not all of them, though, offer solutions such as virtual private web hosting servers, semi-dedicated web hosting servers and dedicated servers. Most of the small sized web space hosting corporations do not have the resources demanded for offering those services. That is the reason why it's always best to select a bigger host that can supply its clients with all the solutions that they necessitate. You can quickly recognize such hosts by the sorts of solutions that they are providing and by the manner in which they present them to the customers. For example, certain providers permit you to begin with a smaller webspace hosting package and then upgrade to a more advanced one, if you consider it compulsory to do so. This is very suitable, since you do not need to migrate web pages between servers and there is no danger of experiencing service outages because of all the predicaments that may arise. Providers such as AIDA Host are offering all kinds of services and possess the required web hosting server resources and personnel to ensure that their customers will not experience any hassles when swapping services, which is what a top hosting vendor is actually all about.