A description of web hosting
As its name hints, web hosting is a service, which entails hosting web content. There are different forms and kinds of web hosting, based on the mission and on the objectives. Yet, they all are associated with hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible through the World Wide Web. A host is actually a web server that is linked to the Web and has its very own IP address, which permits people to have access to it through the Web. The server's architecture and its system resources are subject to the type of hosting solution it will be utilized for.
What are the different forms of hosting?
Depending on the usage, the professional web hosting service may be:
File Storage Web Hosting - this type of hosting enables the users to accommodate their files on a certain web hosting server. With the average file hosting service, the files that are accommodated may only be accessed by the user that's availing of the service. This hosting service mainly appertains to backups of computers , docs, private files and even other web hosting servers. This service may also contain given limitations with regard to the data space and the root privileges. There may also be bandwidth quota limits, but that is dependent on the actual provider.
Warez Web Hosting - the so-called warez hosting solution is quite similar to the previous web hosting service form. In spite of that, unlike the file storage hosting solution, the warez hosting solution is used for disseminating patented work without the permission of the license keeper. To cut a long story short - it involves the unauthorized propagation of files and materials. There are lots of methods for this to be brought about, but the 2 essential methods are - via simple Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and through P2P connections. The first approach involves either a certain web site, or, most often, simply a directory on a server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thus download copyrighted files free of charge. The second method entails a P2P connection, making use of the so-called Torrent servers, through which people swap files between each other. There are not many web page hosting providers that permit that form of hosting on their web hosting servers, chiefly due to all the judicial predicaments that it involves. Generally such websites are hosted on private dedicated web hosting servers that are registered by 3rd party enterprises either in the Middle East or in Asia.
Electronic Mail Hosting - this solution is relevant with both shared website hosting and dedicated web servers, based on the customer's intention. If you want to build your own private SMTP electronic mail server, then you will require either a VPS web hosting server or a dedicated web hosting server that provides the access level needed to carry out such an operation. For regular mail hosting ends, however, you can utilize a plain shared web hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain. This is not a solution that's widely popular, since the website hosting and the electronic mail hosting services are being served by 2 different web servers, usually belonging to separate companies.
Web Site Hosting - the most widely spread and widely utilized hosting service as of today. It's used for hosting site files, whose type is dependent on the OS the web server is utilizing - Linux or Windows. Different sorts of files require concrete server OSs, or else they won't be exhibited accurately on the Web. This form of web hosting may have server space and traffic limits, server root access and central processing unit usage limitations.
Depending on the mission and on the objectives, the customer should select the sort of hosting server that he requires for his project, and, of course, the web hosting firm that's going to furnish it. There are different sorts of servers, depending on the specs and the web space hosting solutions that they provide. These are:
Shared Hosting Server - a shared web page hosting server offers a smaller quantity of system resources, which, of course, is manifested in the cost of the service. It can be used for hosting small scale and medium scale web sites, which do not demand considerable quantities of data space and traffic.
Semi-Dedicated Servers Hosting - they are based on the same principle as the shared site hosting servers. Nonetheless, there are much less customers accommodated on the same web hosting server. Therefore, each of them will get a bigger share of the server's resources like RAM, web storage space, traffic and CPU. Excellent for hosting big web portals that do not demand complete server root access.
Virtual Servers - the virtual web servers are excellent for middle size web sites, which do demand root access to the server's configuration files. Normally, there are several VPS hosting server accounts situated on the same physical machine. Still, each of them is autonomous from the rest and runs its own Operating System.
Dedicated Server - a completely dedicated physical server configured and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a big quantity of resources. It also provides root access, which makes it an ideal solution for any kind of website that demands a website hosting service.
The sole question that's left is:
Which site hosting vendor should I select?
As mentioned, there aren't many hosting companies providing warez hosting services due to legal predicaments. Such companies are being shut down virtually every month. Therefore, if you desire to create such a service, you should do it on your own PC. The shared web space hosting service is the most popular kind of web hosting service. Because of that, each and every web hosting provider offers it. Not all of them, however, provide solutions such as virtual hosting servers, semi-dedicated web servers and dedicated hosting servers. Most of the small scale web space hosting companies do not have the resources needed for maintaining those solutions. That's why it's invariably best to settle on a larger host that can furnish its customers with all the services that they need. You can quickly identify such hosting companies by the sorts of solutions that they are making available and by the way that they introduce them to the clientele. For instance, some web hosting companies allow you to kick off with a small sized website hosting plan and then move to a bigger one, if you find it necessary to do so. This is very suitable, since you do not need to relocate websites between servers and there is no chance of experiencing service interruptions because of all the predicaments that may arise. Hosting companies like Speedy Mice offer all kinds of services and have the adequate web server resources and personnel to assure that their customers will not experience any complications when swapping services, which is what a top hosting provider is actually all about.