A definition of web space hosting
As its name indicates, web hosting is a service, which involves hosting web content. There are different varieties and types of hosting, depending on the mission and on the objectives. Even so, they all involve hosting files, which, once hosted, are made available through the Internet. A host is in fact a hosting server that is connected to the Web and has its very own IP address, which permits users to access it through the Web. The web hosting server's configuration and its resources are subject to the type of hosting service it will be used for.
What are the various forms of web hosting?
Depending on the objective, the hosting service may be:
File Storage Hosting - this type of hosting allows the clients to accommodate their files on a certain web server. With the standard file web hosting service, the files that are stored may only be accessed by the client that's using the service. This hosting solution normally is connected with backups of PCs , documents, personal files and even other web servers. This service may also include certain limitations when it comes to the storage space and the root access. There may also be web traffic limits, but that is dependent on the given provider.
Warez Hosting - the so-called warez hosting solution is resembling the previous hosting service type. Nonetheless, in contrast with the file storage hosting solution, the warez web hosting solution is utilized for distributing copyrighted content without the approval of the patent holder. In short - it involves the illegitimate propagation of files and documents. There are numerous approaches for this to be attained, but the 2 chief methods are - via simple HTTP downloading and through peer-to-peer connections. The first approach involves either a certain web page, or, most commonly, just a directory on a hosting server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thus download proprietary files for free. The second approach involves a peer-to-peer connection, availing of the so-called Torrent servers, via which users swap files between each other. There are not many site hosting suppliers that permit that form of hosting on their web servers, mostly because of all the judicial complications that it entails. Generally such sites are hosted on personal dedicated hosting servers that are registered by third-party corporations either in the Middle East or in Asia.
Electronic Mail Hosting - this service is applicable with both shared web site hosting and dedicated web hosting servers, based on the user's wish. If you wish to set up your own personal SMTP e-mail server, then you will need either a private virtual web server or a dedicated hosting server that provides the level of access needed to perform such a procedure. For traditional mail hosting purposes, though, you can use a normal shared website hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain name. This is not a solution that's very famous, because the web hosting and the e-mail hosting services are being served by 2 separate servers, often owned by different companies.
Web Page Hosting - the most widespread and vastly utilized hosting service as of today. It's used for hosting site files, whose type is dependent on the Operating System the web server is making use of - Linux or Windows. Different sorts of files necessitate specific hosting server OSs, otherwise they won't be displayed properly on the Web. This sort of web hosting may have disk space and bandwidth limits, root access and central processing unit usage restrictions.
Depending on the goals and on the functions, the client should choose the kind of web hosting server that he needs for his project, and, of course, the web site hosting company that's going to supply it. There are several types of web servers, based on the specs and the web site hosting services that they provide. These are:
Shared Web Hosting Server - a shared web page hosting server provides a smaller quantity of resources, which, of course, is manifested in the price of the service. It can be used for hosting small size and medium scale web pages, which do not demand vast quantities of server space and traffic.
Semi-Dedicated - they function on the very same principle as the shared hosting servers. In spite of that, there are much less clients accommodated on the same web hosting server. Therefore, each of them will get a larger share of the web hosting server's resources like RAM, disk storage, web traffic and CPU. Excellent for hosting huge web portals that do not require full server root access.
VPS - the virtual private web servers are ideal for medium scale websites, which do need root access to the web hosting server's configuration files. Generally, there are a number of VPS web hosting server accounts accommodated on the same physical machine. Nonetheless, each of them is isolated from the others and runs its own OS.
Dedicated Hosting - a completely dedicated physical machine set up and accessed by you and solely you. It ensures a large quantity of resources. It also includes complete server root access, which makes it a perfect platform for any type of website that needs a hosting solution.
The sole question that remains is:
Which webspace hosting provider should I opt for?
As mentioned, there are very few web hosts providing warez hosting solutions because of legal complications. Such providers are being closed down virtually every month. Therefore, if you would like to set up such a service, you should do it on your very own PC. The shared hosting service is the most widely spread type of web hosting service. So, every web site hosting provider offers it. Not all of them, though, offer solutions such as virtual web hosting servers, semi-dedicated web servers and dedicated web hosting servers. Most of the small scale website hosting vendors do not have the means demanded for maintaining those solutions. Hence it's always best to settle on a larger host that can provide its clients with all the services that they need. You can easily ID such web hosts by the sorts of solutions that they are making available and by the manner in which they present them to the clientele. For instance, some companies permit you to commence with a low-end web hosting plan and subsequently shift to a bigger one, if you consider it mandatory to do so. This is extremely convenient, since you do not need to relocate web sites between web servers and there is no risk of experiencing network outages due to all the complications that may crop up. Companies like Exclusive Hosting are offering all sorts of solutions and possess the adequate web server resources and personnel to assure that their clients will not suffer any hassles when swapping services, which is what a top hosting distributor is in fact all about.