An explanation of web site hosting

As its name denotes, web hosting is a service, which involves hosting online content. There are different forms and kinds of web hosting, based on the goals and on the objectives. Even so, they all entail hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible through the World Wide Web. A web host is in fact a web hosting service that is connected to the Web and has its own personal IP address, which allows users to access it via the Web. The server's configuration and its limitations are determined by the sort of web hosting service it will be used for.

What are the various types of hosting?

Depending on the function, the professional web hosting solution may be:

File Web Hosting - this form of hosting enables the customers to store their files on a particular hosting server. With the classic file hosting solution, the files that are kept may only be accessed by the individual that's availing of the service. This hosting solution usually pertains to backups of computers , documents, personal files and even other hosting servers. This service may also include certain restrictions in relation to the server storage space and the root-level access. There may also be web traffic limitations, but that depends on the particular web host.

Warez Web Hosting - the so-called warez hosting solution is very similar to the previous hosting service type. However, in contrast with the file web hosting service, the warez hosting solution is used for spreading proprietary content without being given the green light by the copyright bearer. To cut a long story short - it refers to the criminal dissemination of files and materials. There are a lot of approaches for this to be realized, but the two principal ways are - through simple Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and via peer-to-peer connections. The first way involves either a certain web page, or, most often, simply a directory on a hosting server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thereby download copyrighted documents for free. The second way involves a P2P connection, utilizing the so-called Torrent servers, via which users share files between each other. There are just a few hosting providers that permit that type of hosting on their hosting servers, mainly because of all the judicial predicaments that it presupposes. Typically such web pages are hosted on private dedicated web hosting servers that are registered by 3rd party firms either in the Middle East or in Asia.

Electronic Mail Web Hosting - this solution is applicable with both shared web page hosting and dedicated web hosting servers, depending on the customer's desire. If you would like to create your very own private SMTP electronic mail server, then you will need either a VPS web hosting server or a dedicated hosting server that offers the level of access required to complete such a procedure. For common e-mail web hosting ends, however, you can set up a normal shared site hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain. This is not a service that's very used, because the web site hosting and the mail hosting services are being served by 2 different web servers, usually belonging to different hosts.

Site Hosting - the most famous and largely used hosting service today. It's used for hosting site files, whose kind depends on the Operating System the web server is utilizing - Linux or Windows. Different types of files necessitate concrete hosting server Operating Systems, otherwise they won't be exhibited properly on the Internet. This sort of web hosting may have server space and bandwidth quota limitations, root-level access and CPU usage restrictions.

Depending on the mission and on the objectives, the customer should pick the type of web hosting server that he requires for his work, and, of course, the hosting corporation that's going to provide it. There are various kinds of servers, based on the specifications and the web hosting services that they offer. These are:

Shared Hosting Server - a shared web site hosting server supplies a smaller amount of system resources, which, of course, is reflected on the price of the service. It can be used for hosting small size and middle scale web sites, which do not need large quotas of storage space and bandwidth.

Semi-Dedicated Servers Hosting - they operate on the very same principle as the shared web site hosting servers. Nonetheless, there are much less clients hosted on the same hosting server. That is why, each of them will enjoy a larger share of the hosting server's resources like RAM, data storage, bandwidth and CPU. Excellent for hosting big sites that do not demand full root access.

Virtual Servers - the virtual hosting servers are excellent for medium sized online portals, which do need root access to the web hosting server's config files. Commonly, there are a bunch of VPS hosting server accounts situated on the same physical server. Still, each of them is independent from the rest and runs its own OS.

Dedicated Servers Hosting - a fully dedicated web server set up and accessed by you and solely you. It guarantees a colossal quantity of resources. It also offers root privileges, which makes it an ideal solution for any kind of website that needs a site hosting solution.

The only question that remains is:

Which web hosting provider should I opt for?

As already stated, there are very few hosting providers providing warez web hosting solutions because of legal entanglements. Such providers are being shut down almost every month. That is why, if you would like to create such a service, you should do it on your own computer. The shared site hosting service is the most widely spread type of web hosting service. For that reason, every hosting company provides it. Not all of them, though, offer services such as virtual servers, semi-dedicated web hosting servers and dedicated servers. Most of the small sized webspace hosting companies do not have the resources needed for offering those solutions. That's why it's invariably best to opt for a larger hosting company that can supply its clients with all the services that they seek. You can easily recognize such companies by the kinds of solutions that they are offering and by the way that they present them to the customers. For instance, certain companies allow you to commence with a low-end web site hosting package and subsequently shift to a bigger one, if you consider it obligatory to do so. This is extremely convenient, because you do not have to transmit websites between web hosting servers and there is no risk of experiencing service outages because of all the problems that may appear. Hosting companies like Free Hostia are offering all sorts of solutions and possess the necessary hosting server resources and personnel to guarantee that their customers will not come across any troubles when changing services, which is what a top hosting vendor is in fact all about.