A definition of web hosting

As its name implies, web hosting is a solution, which entails hosting online content. There are various forms and kinds of web hosting, depending on the aims and on the functions. Nevertheless, they all pertain to 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 connected to the World Wide Web and has its very own IP address, which permits people to get access to it through the Internet. The server's architecture and its system resources depend on the sort of web hosting service it will be used for.

What are the various types of hosting?

Based on the function, the business hosting service may be:

File Storage Hosting - this form of web hosting allows the clients to lodge their files on a specific hosting server. With the regular file hosting solution, the files that are kept may only be accessed by the individual that's using the service. This web hosting service mainly applies to backups of personal computers , documents, private files and even other hosting servers. This solution may also involve certain limits in terms of the web storage and the root privileges. There may also be web traffic limitations, but that is dependent on the actual provider.

Warez Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting solution is quite similar to the previous web hosting service form. Nevertheless, unlike the file web hosting solution, the warez web hosting solution is utilized for spreading copyrighted work without the sanction of the license proprietor. To put it briefly - it appertains to the forbidden circulation of files and materials. There are many methods for this to be realized, but the 2 principal methods are - via simple Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and via peer-to-peer connections. The first way entails either a specific web page, or, most often, simply a directory on a web hosting server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thereby download patented documents free of cost. The second method entails a P2P connection, availing of the so-called Torrent web servers, through which people exchange files between each other. There are very few web hosting providers that allow that form of hosting on their web hosting servers, mostly due to all the judicial complications that it involves. Commonly such web sites are hosted on private dedicated servers that are registered by third-party enterprises either in the Middle East or in Asia.

Mail Web Hosting - this service is used with both shared web space hosting and dedicated web servers, based on the client's intention. If you would like to establish your very own private SMTP e-mail server, then you will need either a private virtual web hosting server or a dedicated hosting server that offers the access level required to carry out such an operation. For conventional e-mail hosting ends, however, you can avail of a plain shared web space hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain. This is not a solution that's widely famous, because the website hosting and the e-mail hosting services are being served by 2 separate servers, often belonging to different hosts.

Website Hosting - the most widespread and extensively used hosting service as of now. It's used for hosting site files, whose type is determined by the Operating System the web hosting server is availing of - Linux or Windows. Different kinds of files need specific hosting server OSs, otherwise they won't be shown accurately on the Web. This type of hosting may include disk storage and web traffic restrictions, root access and central processing unit usage restrictions.

Based on the purpose and on the functions, the customer should choose the kind of web server that he demands for his project, and, of course, the web space hosting provider that's going to supply it. There are different kinds of servers, depending on the specifications and the web hosting solutions that they provide. These are:

Shared Hosting Server - a shared web page hosting server offers a smaller quantity of resources, which, of course, reflects on the price of the service. It can be used for hosting small scale and middle sized web pages, which do not demand considerable amounts of data space and bandwidth.

Semi-Dedicated Servers - they function on the same principle as the shared site hosting servers. In spite of that, there are much fewer clients accommodated on the same hosting server. That is why, each of them will get a greater share of the web server's resources like RAM, server storage, bandwidth and CPU. Perfect for hosting huge web pages that do not demand full server root access.

Virtual Private Server - the VPSs are excellent for middle sized web portals, which do demand root-level access to the hosting server's configuration files. Usually, there are a bunch of VPS server hosting accounts situated on the same machine. Nonetheless, each of them is insulated from the rest and has its own OS.

Dedicated Hosting - a completely dedicated machine set up and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a great quantity of resources. It also includes server root access, which renders it an ideal solution for any type of web page that needs a web space hosting service.

The only question that's left is:

Which website hosting supplier should I select?

As stated above, there are just a few web hosts providing warez hosting services because of legal complications. Such hosting providers are being shut down virtually every month. For that reason, if you would like to create such a service, you should do it on your very own personal computer. The shared web site hosting service is the most famous type of hosting service. For that reason, each and every hosting firm provides it. Not all of them, though, offer solutions such as VPS web hosting servers, semi-dedicated servers and dedicated hosting servers. Most of the small scale hosting providers do not have the resources demanded for maintaining those services. Hence it's always best to settle on a larger company that can furnish its customers with all the services that they are searching for. You can easily recognize such hosting companies by the types of services that they are making available and by the way that they present them to the clientele. For example, certain web hosts permit you to commence with a small scale webspace hosting account and afterwards move to a more advanced one, if you deem it mandatory to do so. This is extremely suitable, since you do not have to transmit sites between servers and there is no risk of facing network downtime because of all the complications that may take place. Providers like Web Hosting Giants provide all kinds of services and possess the adequate web server resources and personnel to guarantee that their customers will not face any hassles when swapping services, which is what a top hosting vendor is actually all about.