A description of hosting
As its name suggests, web hosting is a solution, which entails hosting web content. There are various varieties and types of hosting, depending on the mission and on the objectives. Still, they all pertain to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible through the Internet. A host is in fact a hosting server that is connected to the Internet and has its own IP address, which enables people to have access to it via the Web. The server's configuration and its system resources are dependent on the type of hosting solution it's going to be utilized for.
What are the different types of web hosting?
Based on the goal, the professional hosting service may be:
File Hosting - this type of web hosting permits the users to host their files on a given web server. With the classic file storage web hosting service, the files that are deposited may only be accessed by the person that's using the service. This web hosting service traditionally is associated with backups of PCs , docs, personal files and even other web hosting servers. This service may also have given limits in relation to the data space and the root access. There may also be bandwidth restrictions, but that is dependent on the actual web host.
Warez Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting solution is very similar to the previous hosting service form. Even so, in contrast with the file storage web hosting service, the warez hosting service is used for transmitting copyrighted work without being green-lighted by the licence bearer. To put it briefly - it pertains to the criminal distribution of files and docs. There are multiple approaches for this to be attained, but the 2 chief approaches are - through simple Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and via P2P connections. The first method involves either a specific website, or, most often, simply a directory on a hosting server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thereby download licensed documents free of cost. The second approach entails a P2P connection, making use of the so-called Torrent servers, through which users transmit files between each other. There aren't many hosting suppliers that allow that type of web hosting on their web hosting servers, mostly owing to all the legal troubles that it entails. Generally such web pages are hosted on personal dedicated hosting servers that are registered by 3rd party companies either in the Middle East or in Asia.
Mail Web Hosting - this service is utilized with both shared webspace hosting and dedicated web hosting servers, based on the customer's intention. If you want to run your very own private SMTP server, then you will need either a virtual web server or a dedicated server that provides the level of access needed to carry out such a task. For traditional e-mail web hosting purposes, however, you can open a normal shared web site hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain name. This is not a solution that's very popular, because the site hosting and the email hosting services are being served by 2 different web servers, often owned by different web hosts.
Website Hosting - the most popular and frequently utilized hosting service now. It's utilized for hosting site files, whose sort depends on the OS the server is making use of - Linux or Windows. Different kinds of files demand concrete web hosting server OSs, otherwise they won't be shown accurately on the World Wide Web. This sort of hosting may involve web storage space and traffic quota limitations, root-level access and central processing unit usage limits.
Based on the goals and on the objectives, the customer should choose the kind of web hosting server that he demands for his work, and, of course, the site hosting firm that's going to provide it. There are several sorts of servers, depending on the configuration and the web hosting solutions that they offer. These are:
Shared Website Hosting Server - a shared web page hosting server supplies a smaller amount of system resources, which, of course, is manifested in the cost of the service. It can be utilized for hosting small size and middle size online portals, which do not require enormous amounts of web space and bandwidth.
Semi-Dedicated - they function on the same principle as the shared web page hosting servers. Yet, there are much less customers accommodated on the same web server. That is why, each of them will enjoy a larger share of the server's resources like RAM, storage space, web traffic and CPU. Excellent for hosting popular web portals that do not demand complete root-level access.
Virtual Private Server - the virtual hosting servers are perfect for medium size websites, which do need root-level access to the server's configuration files. Typically, there are a bunch of Virtual Private Server accounts accommodated on the same physical server. In spite of that, each of them is insulated from the other ones and has its own OS.
Dedicated Hosting - a completely dedicated physical server configured and accessed by you and solely you. It ensures a large quantity of system resources. It also gives full server root privileges, which makes it an ideal environment for any kind of web portal that demands a web hosting solution.
The only question that's left is:
Which webspace hosting provider should I opt for?
As mentioned, there are not many providers providing warez hosting services due to legal predicaments. Such web hosting providers are being closed down practically every month. Therefore, if you wish to create such a service, you should do it on your own personal computer. The shared webspace hosting service is the most popular type of web hosting service. Hence, each webspace hosting company offers it. Not all of them, however, offer services such as virtual web hosting servers, semi-dedicated web hosting servers and dedicated hosting servers. Most of the small sized website hosting providers do not have the resources demanded for offering those services. Because of that it's always best to opt for a bigger company that can furnish its customers with all the solutions that they require. You can quickly ID such companies by the kinds of services that they are providing and by the way that they introduce them to the customers. For instance, some hosting providers allow you to kick off with a small scale web hosting package and afterwards shift to a bigger one, if you find it compulsory to do so. This is very suitable, since you do not need to transmit sites between hosting servers and there is no risk of facing downtime because of all the complications that may crop up. Hosting companies such as Westgate WEBS Hosting and Free Domains offer all kinds of solutions and possess the required hosting server resources and staff to guarantee that their clients will not come across any problems when changing services, which is what a top hosting company is actually all about.