An explanation of website hosting
As its name hints, web hosting is a service, which involves hosting web content. There are different varieties and types of hosting, depending on the goals and on the usage. Nevertheless, they all pertain to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made available through the World Wide Web. A host is in fact a hosting server that is connected to the Internet and has its own personal IP address, which allows users to access it through the Internet. The web server's architecture and its system resources depend on the form of web hosting solution it will be utilized for.
What are the different types of web hosting?
Depending on the objective, the professional hosting service may be:
File Web Hosting - this form of hosting permits the customers to accommodate their files on a given server. With the ordinary file web hosting solution, the files that are deposited may only be accessed by the user that's utilizing the service. This web hosting service traditionally entails backups of personal computers , docs, private files and even other web hosting servers. This service may also have given limitations when it comes to the web storage and the root-level access. There may also be bandwidth limitations, but that is dependent on the actual hosting service provider.
Warez Web Hosting - the so-called warez hosting solution is quite similar to the previous hosting service form. Even so, unlike the file web hosting service, the warez web hosting solution is utilized for disseminating proprietary content without the approval of the license keeper. In short - it appertains to the unauthorized dissemination of files and docs. There are many ways for this to be performed, but the two principal ways are - through simple Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and through P2P connections. The first way involves either some web page, or, most commonly, just a directory on a web hosting server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thereby download proprietary content for free. The second approach entails a P2P connection, availing of the so-called Torrent web servers, through which users swap files between each other. There aren't many website hosting corporations that allow such form of web hosting on their web servers, mainly because of all the legal entanglements that it entails. Commonly such web pages are hosted on personal dedicated hosting servers that are registered by 3rd party enterprises either in the Middle East or in Asia.
Electronic Mail Web Hosting - this service is applicable with both shared web hosting and dedicated servers, based on the user's intention. If you wish to build your own private SMTP email server, then you will require either a virtual hosting server or a dedicated server that provides the access level required to accomplish such an operation. For traditional electronic mail hosting ends, however, you can set up a normal shared webspace hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain name. This is not a solution that's very popular, because the site hosting and the mail hosting services are being served by two different servers, usually belonging to separate web hosting providers.
Web Page Hosting - the most widespread and regularly utilized hosting service at the moment. It's utilized for hosting web site files, whose sort is determined by the Operating System the hosting server is running - Linux or Windows. Different sorts of files request specific web server OSs, otherwise they won't be shown accurately on the Web. This kind of web hosting may contain server storage and traffic quota limitations, root access and CPU usage restrictions.
Depending on the aims and on the usage, the user should pick the sort of web server that he demands for his project, and, of course, the site hosting corporation that's going to provide it. There are various types of hosting servers, depending on the configuration and the hosting solutions that they offer. These are:
Shared Hosting Server - a shared web server provides a smaller amount of resources, which, of course, is manifested in the cost of the service. It can be used for hosting small sized and middle size websites, which do not need huge amounts of web storage and traffic.
Semi-Dedicated Servers - they work on the same principle as the shared site hosting servers. Yet, there are much fewer customers accommodated on the same server. For that reason, each of them will have a bigger share of the hosting server's resources like RAM, disk storage, traffic and CPU. Ideal for hosting huge websites that do not require full server root privileges.
Virtual Private Server - the virtual hosting servers are excellent for middle scale web portals, which do need root access to the web server's configuration files. Commonly, there are a number of virtual server hosting accounts located on the same physical server. Nevertheless, each of them is insulated from the rest and has its own OS.
Dedicated Hosting - a completely dedicated server set up and accessed by you and only you. It ensures an enormous amount of system resources. It also offers complete root access, which renders it the optimal environment for any sort of web page that demands a web hosting solution.
The only question that's left is:
Which webspace hosting corporation should I select?
As mentioned, there are not many web hosting providers offering warez hosting solutions due to judicial complications. Such providers are being closed down virtually every month. Therefore, if you desire to provide such a service, you should do it on your very own PC. The shared hosting solution is the most popular type of web hosting service. Therefore, every webspace hosting provider provides it. Not all of them, though, provide services such as virtual servers, semi-dedicated hosting servers and dedicated web servers. Most of the smaller hosting suppliers do not have the resources needed for maintaining those solutions. Therefore it's invariably best to go with a larger company that can furnish its clients with all the solutions that they need. You can effortlessly identify such companies by the sorts of services that they are offering and by the manner in which they present them to the customers. For instance, some web hosting companies allow you to begin with a smaller web space hosting plan and then shift to a bigger one, if you find it mandatory to do so. This is quite suitable, since you do not have to move web pages between web servers and there is no danger of experiencing downtime because of all the problems that may appear. Web hosts such as By Catholics offer all types of services and possess the needed web server resources and staff to guarantee that their customers will not suffer any complications when swapping services, which is what a top hosting firm is actually all about.