An explanation of website hosting
As its name suggests, web hosting is a service, which entails hosting web content. There are different forms and types of web hosting, depending on the purpose and on the usage. However, they all pertain to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible throughout the Web. A web host is in fact a web hosting service that is connected to the Web and has its own Internet Protocol address, which allows people to get access to it via the World Wide Web. The web hosting server's architecture and its resources depend on the sort of hosting service it's going to be used for.
What are the various forms of hosting?
Depending on the objective, the business hosting service may be:
File Storage Hosting - this type of hosting enables the clients to accommodate their files on a certain web hosting server. With the average file web hosting service, the files that are accommodated may only be accessed by the customer that's using the service. This web hosting solution traditionally applies to backups of personal computers , docs, personal files and even other hosting servers. This service may also impose certain limitations in terms of the data storage and the root privileges. There may also be web traffic quota limits, but that is dependent on the given hosting service provider.
Warez Web Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting solution is resembling the previous web hosting service form. Nevertheless, unlike the file hosting service, the warez web hosting solution is used for disseminating copyrighted work without being given the green light by the patent bearer. In brief - it appertains to the illegal circulation of files and materials. There are multiple methods for this to be accomplished, but the two main ways are - via plain Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and via P2P connections. The first method entails either a given website, or, most often, simply a directory on a server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thus download copyrighted files free of cost. The second method involves a peer-to-peer connection, making use of the so-called Torrent servers, through which users swap files between each other. There are very few web space hosting firms that allow that type of hosting on their web servers, mostly because of all the judicial complications that it entails. Generally such sites are hosted on private dedicated servers that are registered by 3rd party enterprises either in the Middle East or in Asia.
Mail Hosting - this solution is used with both shared site hosting and dedicated web hosting servers, depending on the customer's wish. If you want to launch your very own private SMTP mail server, then you will need either a Virtual Private Server or a dedicated web hosting server that offers the level of access needed to perform such a task. For regular mail hosting ends, however, you can set up an average 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 site hosting and the mail hosting services are being served by 2 different servers, often owned by different web hosting providers.
Site Hosting - the most widespread and frequently used hosting service today. It's used for hosting website files, whose type depends on the OS the server is using - Linux or Windows. Different types of files need specific server OSs, otherwise they won't be shown properly on the Web. This type of hosting may include server storage space and bandwidth limits, root-level access and central processing unit usage restrictions.
Based on the goals and on the objectives, the user should select the sort of hosting server that he demands for his work, and, of course, the hosting vendor that's going to supply it. There are different types of web servers, based on the configuration and the web hosting solutions that they offer. These are:
Shared Hosting Server - a shared web server provides a smaller amount of system resources, which, of course, is reflected on the price of the service. It can be utilized for hosting small size and medium web portals, which do not require big quantities of web storage space and traffic.
Semi-Dedicated Servers - they are based on the same principle as the shared web page hosting servers. In spite of that, there are much fewer users hosted on the same web server. Therefore, each of them will obtain a greater share of the hosting server's resources like RAM, web space, web traffic and CPU. Perfect for hosting heavy online portals that do not require server root access.
VPS hosting - the VPS web hosting servers are ideal for medium online portals, which do demand root access to the server's config files. Commonly, there are a bunch of virtual private web hosting server accounts hosted on the same machine. However, each of them is insulated from the other ones and runs its own OS.
Dedicated Server - a fully dedicated server set up and accessed by you and solely you. It ensures a huge amount of system resources. It also offers full server root privileges, which makes it an ideal environment for any kind of site that needs a web site hosting solution.
The sole question that's left is:
Which web hosting company should I pick?
As already stated, there are just a few web hosting providers providing warez hosting services because of judicial troubles. Such hosting providers are being shut down virtually every month. That is why, if you want to run such a service, you should do it on your own computer. The shared web hosting solution is the most famous kind of hosting service. So, each and every hosting corporation offers it. Not all of them, however, offer solutions such as private virtual servers, semi-dedicated web servers and dedicated servers. Most of the smaller hosting vendors do not have the means needed for maintaining those services. Hence it's always best to pick a larger host that can furnish its clients with all the services that they are searching for. You can easily recognize such hosts by the sorts of services that they are offering and by the manner in which they present them to the clientele. For instance, certain hosting providers permit you to start with a low-end web site hosting plan and subsequently move to a more powerful one, if you find it compulsory to do so. This is quite suitable, since you do not have to transfer web pages between web servers and there is no chance of facing service interruptions because of all the complications that may appear. Hosting companies such as Hosting Pro offer all types of services and have the needed hosting server resources and personnel to assure that their customers will not face any troubles when changing services, which is what a top hosting supplier is in fact all about.