An explanation of web hosting
As its name suggests, web hosting is a service, which entails hosting web content. There are various varieties and kinds of hosting, depending on the purpose and on the objectives. In spite of that, they all entail hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible throughout the Web. A web host is in fact a server that is linked to the Web and has its very own Internet Protocol address, which permits users to have access to it through the Web. The web server's architecture and its resources are determined by the type of web hosting solution it's going to be utilized for.
What are the various types of hosting?
Depending on the objective, the professional hosting solution may be:
File Web Hosting - this type of web hosting allows the clients to stash their files on a given hosting server. With the routine file hosting service, the files that are stored may only be accessed by the client that's availing of the service. This web hosting solution typically entails backups of personal computers , documents, private files and even other web hosting servers. This solution may also include given limits in terms of the disk space and the root privileges. There may also be web traffic restrictions, but that depends on the given host.
Warez Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting solution is comparable with the previous web hosting service form. Even so, unlike the file storage hosting solution, the warez web hosting solution is utilized for transmitting licensed content without the permission of the licence possessor. In short - it appertains to the illicit transmission of files and documents. There are many ways for this to be realized, but the two main ways are - through plain Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and via peer-to-peer connections. The first method involves either some web site, or, most often, just a directory on a web server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thus download copyrighted docs free of charge. The second method entails a peer-to-peer connection, using the so-called Torrent servers, through which users share files between each other. There are not many web page hosting vendors that permit such type of web hosting on their hosting servers, mostly owing to all the legal complications that it presupposes. Usually such web sites are hosted on private dedicated web hosting servers that are registered by third-party corporations either in the Middle East or in Asia.
E-mail Hosting - this service is relevant with both shared web hosting and dedicated web hosting servers, based on the customer's intention. If you wish to have your own private SMTP electronic mail server, then you will need either a VPS hosting server or a dedicated web hosting server that offers the level of access required to accomplish such a procedure. For routine electronic mail web hosting purposes, however, you can use a regular shared hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain. This is not a solution that's widely used, since the web hosting and the electronic mail hosting services are being served by two separate web servers, often owned by separate firms.
Web Page Hosting - the most famous and frequently used hosting service at present. It's used for hosting web site files, whose type is dependent on the OS the server is running - Linux or Windows. Different types of files need concrete web server OSs, otherwise they won't be exhibited appropriately on the Web. This sort of web hosting may contain disk storage and traffic quota limits, root access and CPU usage limitations.
Depending on the aims and on the usage, the client should choose the sort of server that he requires for his work, and, of course, the web site hosting corporation that's going to supply it. There are various types of web servers, based on the configuration and the hosting services that they offer. These are:
Shared Hosting Server - a shared 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 and middle scale online portals, which do not require vast quantities of web storage space and bandwidth.
Semi-Dedicated - they operate on the same principle as the shared website hosting servers. Even so, there are much fewer customers accommodated on the same server. Therefore, each of them will have a larger share of the web hosting server's resources like RAM, web space, bandwidth and CPU. Perfect for hosting huge online portals that do not need full root-level access.
Virtual Private Server - the VPS web servers are excellent for medium sized sites, which do require root-level access to the web server's configuration files. Typically, there are several virtual private web server accounts placed on the same server. Even so, each of them is insulated from the others and has its own OS.
Dedicated Server - a completely dedicated web hosting server set up and accessed by you and solely you. It ensures a considerable quantity of resources. It also offers root access, which makes it an excellent solution for any sort of web site that requires a web hosting solution.
The only question that remains is:
Which site hosting distributor should I opt for?
As mentioned, there are just a few web hosts offering warez web hosting solutions because of legal entanglements. Such companies are being closed down almost every month. That is why, if you wish to set up such a service, you should do it on your own personal computer. The shared web space hosting service is the most popular kind of hosting service. That is why, each website hosting vendor provides it. Not all of them, however, offer solutions such as virtual private hosting servers, semi-dedicated web servers and dedicated web servers. Most of the small sized web hosting corporations do not have the means needed for maintaining those solutions. That is the reason why it's invariably best to settle on a bigger web hosting company that can furnish its customers with all the solutions that they are searching for. You can easily ID such web hosts by the sorts of solutions that they are offering and by the manner in which they introduce them to the customers. For instance, some hosting providers allow you to commence with a smaller webspace hosting account and then shift to a more powerful one, if you deem it necessary to do so. This is extremely suitable, because you do not need to relocate web portals between hosting servers and there is no chance of experiencing outages because of all the complications that may occur. Companies such as Hosterati offer all types of solutions and possess the required server resources and personnel to assure that their clients will not suffer any complications when swapping services, which is what a top hosting vendor is actually all about.