A definition of web site hosting
As its name denotes, web hosting is a solution, which entails hosting online content. There are various forms and kinds of hosting, based on the mission and on the usage. However, they all are related to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible through the World Wide Web. A host is actually a web hosting service that is connected to the Web and has its very own Internet Protocol address, which permits people to access it through the World Wide Web. The server's architecture and its limitations depend on the type of hosting service it will be used for.
What are the various types of hosting?
Based on the goal, the professional hosting service may be:
File Hosting - this form of hosting enables the clients to stash their files on a particular web hosting server. With the conventional file web hosting service, the files that are hosted may only be accessed by the client that's utilizing the service. This web hosting service usually pertains to backups of computers , documents, private files and even other web servers. This service may also contain given restrictions with regard to the storage space and the root privileges. There may also be traffic quota limits, but that depends on the actual hosting provider.
Warez Web Hosting - the so-called warez hosting service is very similar to the previous hosting service type. However, in contrast with the file web hosting solution, the warez web hosting solution is utilized for disseminating patented work without the approval of the patent proprietor. In brief - it is related to the illegitimate propagation of files and documents. There are lots of methods for this to be executed, but the two principal methods are - through simple Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and via P2P connections. The first way involves either a specific site, or, most commonly, just a directory on a server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thus download copyrighted materials free of cost. The second way involves a P2P connection, making use of the so-called Torrent servers, via which people transfer files between each other. There are not many web space hosting providers that allow such form of hosting on their hosting servers, chiefly owing to all the judicial entanglements that it entails. Usually such web sites are hosted on private dedicated servers that are registered by third-party companies either in the Middle East or in Asia.
Electronic Mail Hosting - this service is used with both shared web space hosting and dedicated web servers, based on the customer's desire. If you desire to set up your own private SMTP mail server, then you will need either a private virtual hosting server or a dedicated server that offers the access level required to accomplish such an operation. For common email web hosting purposes, however, you can open a regular shared web page hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain. This is not a solution that's widely used, since the web page hosting and the email hosting services are being served by 2 separate servers, often belonging to separate hosts.
Website Hosting - the most famous and regularly utilized hosting service as of now. It's used for hosting web site files, whose type is determined by the OS the hosting server is making use of - Linux or Windows. Different types of files need different hosting server OSs, or else they won't be shown accurately on the Internet. This kind of hosting may impose data storage space and bandwidth limitations, server root access and CPU usage restrictions.
Depending on the purpose and on the objectives, the customer should select the type of server that he demands for his project, and, of course, the webspace hosting vendor that's going to furnish it. There are various sorts of web hosting servers, based on the specs and the web space hosting services that they offer. These are:
Shared Hosting Server - a shared web server offers a smaller amount of resources, which, of course, is manifested in the price of the service. It can be utilized for hosting small scale and middle scale online portals, which do not demand immense quantities of disk storage space and web traffic.
Semi-Dedicated Servers - they function on the same principle as the shared site hosting servers. Even so, there are much fewer users accommodated on the same web server. Hence, each of them will obtain a bigger quota of the server's resources like RAM, data storage space, web traffic and CPU. Excellent for hosting big web portals that do not need root privileges.
Virtual Private Server - the Virtual Private Servers are perfect for medium size websites, which do need root access to the server's config files. Traditionally, there are a bunch of virtual web hosting server accounts located on the same machine. In spite of that, each of them is autonomous from the rest and has its own OS.
Dedicated Servers - a fully dedicated server configured and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a colossal quantity of resources. It also offers root-level access, which makes it a perfect solution for any sort of online portal that requires a website hosting solution.
The only question that's left is:
Which site hosting corporation should I settle on?
As already stated, there are very few web hosts providing warez hosting solutions because of judicial troubles. Such hosts are being closed down practically every month. That is why, if you wish to establish such a service, you should do it on your own personal computer. The shared web space hosting solution is the most widespread kind of web hosting service. That is why, every web space hosting corporation offers it. Not all of them, however, provide services such as virtual servers, semi-dedicated web hosting servers and dedicated web hosting servers. Most of the smaller site hosting suppliers do not have the means required for offering those services. Therefore it's invariably best to go with a larger hosting company that can furnish its customers with all the services that they want. You can easily ID such web hosting companies by the types of services that they are supplying and by the way that they introduce them to the customers. For instance, some web hosting companies permit you to kick off with a low-end web hosting plan and then upgrade to a more powerful one, if you deem it obligatory to do so. This is extremely convenient, because you do not have to transmit web pages between hosting servers and there is no chance of facing network downtime due to all the complications that may appear. Web hosting providers such as Bulldog Computers are offering all sorts of solutions and possess the required hosting server resources and staff to guarantee that their customers will not run into any hassles when swapping services, which is what a top hosting distributor is actually all about.