An interpretation of web hosting

As its name suggests, web hosting is a service, which involves hosting web content. There are different forms and kinds of hosting, depending on the aims and on the functions. Yet, they all entail hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible throughout the World Wide Web. A host is actually a server that is connected to the Web and has its own personal IP address, which allows people to have access to it through the Web. The hosting server's architecture and its resources depend on the sort of web hosting solution it will be used for.

What are the different forms of web hosting?

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

File Storage Web Hosting - this type of web hosting enables the clients to store their files on a given server. With the typical file storage hosting service, the files that are deposited may only be accessed by the user that's using the service. This web hosting service typically applies to backups of personal computers , docs, private files and even other web hosting servers. This solution may also impose certain limits in relation to the disk space and the root-level access. There may also be bandwidth restrictions, but that depends on the actual provider.

Warez Web Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting service is comparable with the previous web hosting service form. However, unlike the file web hosting service, the warez web hosting solution is utilized for circulating copyrighted content without being given the go-ahead by the licence keeper. To put it briefly - it refers to the unlawful distribution of files and docs. There are numerous approaches for this to be carried out, but the two essential methods are - via plain Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and via P2P connections. The first method involves either a certain web portal, or, most often, just a directory on a hosting server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thereby download proprietary docs free of charge. The second approach entails a P2P connection, availing of the so-called Torrent servers, via which people exchange files between each other. There are just a few web hosting distributors that permit such form of web hosting on their hosting servers, chiefly due to all the legal problems that it involves. Typically such web portals are hosted on personal dedicated servers that are registered by third-party enterprises either in the Middle East or in Asia.

Mail Web Hosting - this service is relevant with both shared webspace hosting and dedicated web hosting servers, based on the user's intention. If you would like to build your own private SMTP server, then you will need either a private virtual web server or a dedicated hosting server that provides the level of access required to accomplish such an operation. For regular electronic mail web hosting purposes, however, you can set up a plain shared web site hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain. This is not a service that's widely used, because the web page hosting and the mail hosting services are being served by 2 separate servers, often belonging to separate hosting providers.

Site Hosting - the most famous and commonly used hosting service at the moment. It's used for hosting site files, whose type is determined by the Operating System the web server is availing of - Linux or Windows. Different kinds of files need specific web server Operating Systems, otherwise they won't be displayed properly on the World Wide Web. This form of web hosting may contain data storage space and bandwidth quota limits, root access and central processing unit usage limitations.

Based on the goals and on the functions, the user should select the sort of hosting server that he demands for his work, and, of course, the web space hosting firm that's going to provide it. There are several sorts of servers, based on the configuration and the website hosting solutions that they provide. These are:

Shared Web Hosting Server - a shared web site 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 medium sized websites, which do not need vast quantities of data space and traffic.

Semi-Dedicated Hosting - they are based on the same principle as the shared web space hosting servers. Yet, there are much fewer customers sharing the same web hosting server. Hence, each of them will receive a greater share of the web server's resources like RAM, data storage, bandwidth and CPU. Ideal for hosting bulky websites that do not require full server root access.

VPS - the virtual private web hosting servers are perfect for middle sized web sites, which do need root access to the server's configuration files. Commonly, there are several virtual server hosting accounts situated on the same physical machine. Yet, each of them is insulated from the other ones and runs its own Operating System.

Dedicated Server Hosting - a completely dedicated machine set up and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a colossal amount of resources. It also includes complete root access, which renders it an excellent platform for any type of web page that demands a web hosting solution.

The only question that remains is:

Which web site hosting distributor should I opt for?

As mentioned above, there are just a few web hosting companies providing warez hosting solutions due to judicial problems. Such hosting providers are being shut down virtually every month. For that reason, if you would like to provide such a service, you should do it on your own PC. The shared web space hosting service is the most famous type of web hosting service. Hence, each site hosting supplier provides it. Not all of them, however, offer solutions such as private virtual servers, semi-dedicated servers and dedicated hosting servers. Most of the small sized site hosting firms do not have the means demanded for maintaining those solutions. That is the reason why it's always best to go with a larger web host that can furnish its clients with all the services that they seek. You can quickly identify such hosting companies by the kinds of services that they are offering and by the manner in which they introduce them to the customers. For instance, certain hosting companies allow you to begin with a low-end webspace hosting account and subsequently upgrade to a bigger one, if you deem it mandatory to do so. This is quite suitable, since you do not have to relocate websites between servers and there is no chance of experiencing service disturbances due to all the problems that may take place. Web hosting providers such as WebHost-ing.com provide all kinds of services and possess the required hosting server resources and personnel to assure that their customers will not suffer any predicaments when changing services, which is what a top hosting provider is in fact all about.