A definition of site hosting
As its name suggests, web hosting is a service, which involves hosting web content. There are different forms and types of hosting, depending on the mission and on the functions. Nevertheless, they all are related to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible through the World Wide Web. A web host is actually a web server that is linked to the World Wide Web and has its very own Internet Protocol address, which permits users to access it via the Internet. The web server's configuration and its system resources are dependent on the form of web hosting service it will be utilized for.
What are the different forms of web hosting?
Depending on the function, the professional web hosting service may be:
File Storage Hosting - this type of hosting permits the customers to accommodate their files on a specific web server. With the customary file hosting solution, the files that are accommodated may only be accessed by the person that's using the service. This web hosting service generally involves backups of PCs , documents, personal files and even other servers. This service may also involve certain limitations when it comes to the data space and the root privileges. There may also be traffic restrictions, but that depends on the actual web hosting service provider.
Warez Web Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting service is resembling the previous web hosting service form. Nevertheless, unlike the file storage hosting service, the warez web hosting service is utilized for transmitting proprietary content without the permission of the license keeper. To put it briefly - it is related to the prohibited distribution of files and materials. There are a lot of methods for this to be performed, but the 2 main methods are - via plain Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and through peer-to-peer connections. The first way entails either a particular website, or, most often, simply a directory on a web server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thus download proprietary files free of charge. The second approach entails a P2P connection, using the so-called Torrent web servers, through which users transmit files between each other. There are a few site hosting suppliers that permit such form of web hosting on their web servers, mainly because of all the judicial predicaments that it entails. Typically such sites are hosted on private dedicated web hosting servers that are registered by 3rd party companies either in the Middle East or in Asia.
Email Web Hosting - this service is utilized with both shared web space hosting and dedicated hosting servers, depending on the client's desire. If you want to launch your own personal SMTP e-mail server, then you will need either a VPS server or a dedicated hosting server that offers the access level required to carry out such an assignment. For common email web hosting ends, however, you can avail of a regular shared hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain name. This is not a service that's widely famous, since the web hosting and the email hosting services are being served by 2 different web servers, usually owned by separate web hosting providers.
Site Hosting - the most popular and universally used hosting service nowadays. It's used for hosting site files, whose kind is dependent on the Operating System the web hosting server is availing of - Linux or Windows. Different kinds of files require specific hosting server Operating Systems, or else they won't be exhibited properly on the Internet. This type of web hosting may impose server space and web traffic quota limits, root-level access and CPU usage limits.
Depending on the purpose and on the usage, the customer should choose the type of web server that he demands for his project, and, of course, the webspace hosting corporation that's going to supply it. There are several sorts of web hosting servers, depending on the specifications and the site hosting services that they provide. These are:
Shared Hosting Server - a shared hosting server includes a smaller amount of resources, which, of course, reflects on the cost of the service. It can be utilized for hosting small size and middle size web sites, which do not demand immense quotas of web space and bandwidth.
Semi-Dedicated Servers - they work on the very same principle as the shared web space hosting servers. Still, there are much less clients sharing the same hosting server. Hence, each of them will enjoy a bigger share of the server's resources like RAM, server storage space, traffic and CPU. Excellent for hosting immense web sites that do not need full server root access.
Virtual Private Server - the virtual web servers are ideal for medium scale sites, which do demand root access to the hosting server's config files. Traditionally, there are several virtual private web server accounts sharing the same physical server. Even so, each of them is autonomous from the other ones and runs its own OS.
Dedicated Server Hosting - a fully dedicated physical machine configured and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a gigantic amount of resources. It also provides root privileges, which makes it a perfect solution for any kind of web site that necessitates a hosting solution.
The sole question that remains is:
Which site hosting corporation should I select?
As already stated, there are not many web hosting providers providing warez web hosting services because of judicial predicaments. Such hosts are being shut down practically every month. For that reason, if you want to create such a service, you should do it on your very own personal computer. The shared web page hosting service is the most widespread type of web hosting service. Hence, each and every web space hosting provider provides it. Not all of them, however, provide solutions such as Virtual Private Servers, semi-dedicated hosting servers and dedicated web hosting servers. Most of the small sized hosting distributors do not have the resources needed for maintaining those services. For that reason it's invariably best to opt for a bigger hosting company that can provide its customers with all the services that they require. You can easily identify such hosting companies by the sorts of solutions that they are offering and by the way that they introduce them to the clients. For example, certain hosting companies permit you to commence with a small sized hosting plan and subsequently upgrade to a more powerful one, if you find it necessary to do so. This is extremely convenient, since you do not have to transfer websites between web hosting servers and there is no risk of facing service disturbances due to all the problems that may take place. Providers such as Host Blazers offer all sorts of solutions and possess the required server resources and staff to guarantee that their customers will not suffer any hassles when changing services, which is what a top hosting supplier is actually all about.