An explanation of web hosting
As its name denotes, web hosting is a service, which entails hosting web content. There are different forms and kinds of web hosting, depending on the purpose and on the functions. In spite of that, they all are related to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible through the Web. A host is in fact a server that is linked to the World Wide Web and has its own personal Internet Protocol address, which allows people to get access to it via the Web. The web server's configuration and its limitations are determined by the sort of hosting service it's going to be utilized for.
What are the different types of hosting?
Based on the function, the business website hosting service may be:
File Storage Web Hosting - this type of web hosting permits the customers to stash their files on a given web hosting server. With the typical file storage web hosting service, the files that are deposited may only be accessed by the client that's utilizing the service. This web hosting solution normally applies to backups of computers , docs, personal files and even other hosting servers. This solution may also contain given limits with regard to the disk space and the root privileges. There may also be web traffic restrictions, but that depends on the actual web hosting service provider.
Warez Hosting - the so-called warez hosting solution is resembling the previous web hosting service form. Yet, unlike the file web hosting service, the warez hosting service is utilized for spreading proprietary work without the permission of the licence possessor. To put it briefly - it is associated with the illegitimate circulation of files and documents. There are numerous ways for this to be carried out, but the 2 principal approaches are - via plain HTTP downloading and through P2P connections. The first one entails either a certain web site, or, most typically, simply a directory on a web server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thereby download licensed documents free of cost. The second method entails a P2P connection, utilizing the so-called Torrent web servers, via which people swap files between each other. There are very few site hosting firms that allow that type of web hosting on their servers, mainly owing to all the legal troubles that it presupposes. Generally such web pages are hosted on private dedicated hosting servers that are registered by third-party enterprises either in the Middle East or in Asia.
E-mail Hosting - this solution is applicable with both shared webspace hosting and dedicated servers, based on the user's desire. If you desire to create your very own personal SMTP email server, then you will need either a VPS server or a dedicated server that offers the level of access needed to perform such a procedure. For common mail web hosting purposes, though, you can create a standard shared web site hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain. This is not a solution that's very famous, because the web hosting and the email hosting services are being served by 2 different servers, often owned by separate web hosting providers.
Site Hosting - the most popular and frequently utilized hosting service at the moment. It's used for hosting website files, whose sort is determined by the OS the web server is running - Linux or Windows. Different types of files need different web server Operating Systems, or else they won't be exhibited correctly on the Web. This kind of web hosting may impose disk space and traffic quota limitations, server root access and central processing unit usage limitations.
Based on the aims and on the objectives, the user should select the type of web server that he needs for his project, and, of course, the site hosting supplier that's going to provide it. There are several types of web servers, depending on the specifications and the webspace hosting solutions that they provide. These are:
Shared Website Hosting Server - a shared web hosting server supplies a smaller quantity of resources, which, of course, reflects on the cost of the service. It can be utilized for hosting small sized and middle sized sites, which do not demand enormous quantities of disk storage and traffic.
Semi-Dedicated Servers - they work on the same principle as the shared site hosting servers. Nonetheless, there are much fewer users accommodated on the same server. That is why, each of them will get a bigger share of the web hosting server's resources like RAM, disk space, traffic and CPU. Perfect for hosting big web pages that do not demand root privileges.
VPS - the private virtual web hosting servers are ideal for middle scale websites, which do demand root access to the hosting server's configuration files. Traditionally, there are a few virtual server hosting accounts situated on the same physical server. Nevertheless, each of them is independent from the rest and has its own OS.
Dedicated Hosting - a completely dedicated machine set up and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a mammoth amount of system resources. It also gives full root privileges, which makes it an ideal platform for any kind of web site that necessitates a webspace hosting service.
The sole question that remains is:
Which web site hosting supplier should I opt for?
As mentioned above, there are not many hosts providing warez web hosting services due to legal predicaments. Such companies are being closed down practically every month. Therefore, if you want to start such a service, you should do it on your very own computer. The shared web page hosting solution is the most popular type of hosting service. So, each and every website hosting vendor provides it. Not all of them, however, offer services such as virtual hosting servers, semi-dedicated web hosting servers and dedicated web servers. Most of the smaller web hosting distributors do not have the resources demanded for maintaining those services. That is the reason why it's invariably best to select a larger hosting company that can furnish its clients with all the solutions that they necessitate. You can quickly identify such hosts by the sorts of solutions that they are offering and by the way that they introduce them to the customers. For instance, some hosting providers allow you to start with a small sized webspace hosting package and subsequently shift to a more powerful one, if you find it obligatory to do so. This is very convenient, since you do not need to transmit web pages between web hosting servers and there is no possibility of experiencing service disturbances due to all the predicaments that may show up. Providers such as NTC Hosting are offering all kinds of services and have the required hosting server resources and personnel to assure that their clients will not come across any hassles when changing services, which is what a top hosting company is actually all about.