A description of web site hosting

As its name implies, web hosting is a solution, which entails hosting online content. There are various varieties and types of hosting, based on the aims and on the functions. Nonetheless, they all pertain to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made available through the World Wide Web. A web host is in fact a hosting server that is linked to the Internet and has its very own Internet Protocol address, which allows people to gain access to it through the World Wide Web. The hosting server's configuration and its limitations are determined by the type of hosting service it's going to be utilized for.

What are the various forms of web hosting?

Depending on the usage, the professional web hosting service may be:

File Hosting - this type of web hosting allows the customers to store their files on a specific web server. With the typical file storage hosting solution, the files that are kept may only be accessed by the user that's using the service. This web hosting service generally appertains to backups of personal computers , documents, personal files and even other hosting servers. This solution may also have certain limitations in terms of the server space and the root-level access. There may also be web traffic quota limits, but that is dependent on the actual host.

Warez Hosting - the so-called warez hosting service is very similar to the previous hosting service form. Yet, unlike the file web hosting solution, the warez web hosting solution is utilized for spreading proprietary work without being given the green light by the licence owner. To cut a long story short - it is connected with the illegal circulation of files and docs. There are a lot of approaches for this to be achieved, but the 2 main approaches are - via plain Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and through P2P connections. The first way entails either a certain website, or, most often, just a directory on a hosting server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thus download patented files free of cost. The second approach entails a peer-to-peer connection, availing of the so-called Torrent servers, via which users transfer files between each other. There are just a few webspace hosting distributors that allow that form of web hosting on their web servers, mainly because of all the legal entanglements that it involves. Typically such web pages are hosted on personal dedicated servers that are registered by 3rd party enterprises either in the Middle East or in Asia.

E-mail Web Hosting - this solution is applicable with both shared web hosting and dedicated hosting servers, based on the client's wish. If you wish to set up your very own personal SMTP electronic mail server, then you will need either a private virtual web hosting server or a dedicated web server that offers the level of access needed to complete such an operation. For standard email web hosting ends, however, you can use a conventional shared webspace hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain name. This is not a solution that's very used, since the web hosting and the email hosting services are being served by 2 different servers, usually belonging to different providers.

Site Hosting - the most widely spread and regularly used hosting service today. It's utilized for hosting site files, whose type is determined by the OS the server is availing of - Linux or Windows. Different sorts of files request concrete server OSs, otherwise they won't be shown correctly on the Internet. This kind of web hosting may involve server space and web traffic restrictions, root-level access and CPU usage limitations.

Based on the purpose and on the usage, the user should select the kind of web hosting server that he requires for his project, and, of course, the hosting corporation that's going to provide it. There are several types of hosting servers, based on the specifications and the hosting services that they offer. These are:

Shared Hosting Server - a shared site hosting server provides a smaller quantity of system resources, which, of course, is reflected on the cost of the service. It can be used for hosting small size and medium sized online portals, which do not need enormous quantities of server storage and bandwidth.

Semi-Dedicated - they work on the same principle as the shared web servers. Even so, there are much fewer clients hosted on the same web server. Therefore, each of them will receive a bigger share of the hosting server's resources like RAM, server storage, traffic and CPU. Excellent for hosting bulky web sites that do not require full server root privileges.

VPS hosting - the VPS hosting servers are ideal for medium scale sites, which do require root access to the web hosting server's configuration files. Commonly, there are a number of virtual server accounts placed on the same physical machine. Yet, each of them is independent from the rest and has its own Operating System.

Dedicated Servers - a completely dedicated web hosting server configured and accessed by you and solely you. It guarantees an immense quantity of system resources. It also includes full server root access, which makes it an ideal environment for any sort of site that necessitates a website hosting service.

The sole question that's left is:

Which web space hosting firm should I opt for?

As stated above, there are just a few companies providing warez hosting solutions due to judicial predicaments. Such companies are being closed down almost every month. Therefore, if you want to launch such a service, you should do it on your very own computer. The shared hosting solution is the most widespread type of hosting service. That is why, every website hosting provider provides it. Not all of them, however, offer solutions such as private virtual hosting servers, semi-dedicated hosting servers and dedicated web servers. Most of the small sized web site hosting vendors do not have the means needed for offering those solutions. That is the reason why it's invariably best to select a larger web host that can furnish its customers with all the services that they seek. You can easily ID such web hosting companies by the types of services that they are providing and by the manner in which they introduce them to the clientele. For example, some providers allow you to begin with a small sized web hosting package and then move to a bigger one, if you find it compulsory to do so. This is extremely convenient, since you do not need to migrate web sites between web hosting servers and there is no chance of suffering service disturbances due to all the complications that may show up. Web hosting companies such as SpaceOlogic are offering all sorts of solutions and have the necessary hosting server resources and personnel to assure that their clients will not encounter any problems when swapping services, which is what a top hosting supplier is in fact all about.