A definition of web site hosting

As its name implies, web hosting is a service, which entails hosting web content. There are different forms and kinds of hosting, depending on the mission and on the objectives. Still, they all refer to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made available throughout the World Wide Web. A host is in fact a web server that is connected to the Internet and has its very own IP address, which permits users to have access to it via the Web. The web hosting server's configuration and its system resources are determined by the form of web hosting solution it will be used for.

What are the different forms of web hosting?

Based on the goal, the professional web hosting solution may be:

File Storage Hosting - this type of hosting enables the clients to accommodate their files on a particular hosting server. With the common file hosting solution, the files that are stored may only be accessed by the individual that's availing of the service. This hosting solution usually refers to backups of PCs , docs, personal files and even other web servers. This service may also involve certain restrictions in terms of the server storage space and the root privileges. There may also be bandwidth quota limits, but that is dependent on the actual service provider.

Warez Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting service is resembling the previous web hosting service type. Still, in contrast with the file web hosting service, the warez web hosting service is used for distributing proprietary content without being green-lighted by the copyright keeper. In brief - it appertains to the prohibited circulation of files and documents. There are multiple approaches for this to be realized, but the two principal approaches are - through plain Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and via P2P connections. The first approach involves either a specific website, or, most often, just a directory on a server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thereby download licensed docs for free. The second way entails a P2P connection, making use of the so-called Torrent servers, via which users transfer files between each other. There are just a few webspace hosting companies that allow that type of web hosting on their web servers, chiefly because of all the judicial predicaments 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 service is relevant with both shared web site hosting and dedicated web servers, depending on the customer's wish. If you wish to launch your own private SMTP mail server, then you will require either a virtual web hosting server or a dedicated hosting server that offers the access level required to carry out such an operation. For customary mail hosting ends, though, you can utilize a simple shared site hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain name. This is not a solution that's widely popular, because the website hosting and the e-mail hosting services are being served by two different servers, often belonging to separate providers.

Site Hosting - the most widely spread and universally used hosting service nowadays. It's used for hosting website files, whose type is determined by the OS the hosting server is availing of - Linux or Windows. Different kinds of files necessitate different web server OSs, or else they won't be displayed accurately on the Web. This type of hosting may impose web space and traffic restrictions, root-level access and CPU usage restrictions.

Depending on the mission and on the usage, the client should pick the sort of web hosting server that he demands for his project, and, of course, the web hosting vendor that's going to provide it. There are various sorts of servers, depending on the configuration and the website hosting solutions that they offer. These are:

Shared Website Hosting Server - a shared webspace hosting server offers a smaller amount of resources, which, of course, reflects on the price of the service. It can be used for hosting small size and medium size sites, which do not need large amounts of server storage and bandwidth.

Semi-Dedicated - they function on the very same principle as the shared hosting servers. In spite of that, there are much less users accommodated on the same hosting server. That is why, each of them will receive a greater quota of the server's resources like RAM, web space, traffic and CPU. Excellent for hosting popular web portals that do not need complete root-level access.

Virtual Servers - the VPSs are perfect for medium scale web portals, which do need root access to the web hosting server's configuration files. Commonly, there are a bunch of virtual server accounts sharing the same physical server. Yet, each of them is isolated from the others and has its own OS.

Dedicated Server - a fully dedicated web server configured and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a great amount of resources. It also provides full server root access, which makes it an excellent platform for any kind of website that needs a webspace hosting solution.

The sole question that's left is:

Which webspace hosting corporation should I pick?

As already stated, there are very few hosts providing warez hosting solutions because of legal predicaments. Such companies are being shut down almost every month. That is why, if you would like to launch such a service, you should do it on your very own computer. The shared hosting service is the most famous kind of web hosting service. That is why, each site hosting provider offers it. Not all of them, though, offer solutions such as virtual web servers, semi-dedicated web servers and dedicated web servers. Most of the small scale site hosting providers do not have the means needed for maintaining those solutions. That's why it's always best to select a larger host that can furnish its clients with all the solutions that they necessitate. You can easily ID such hosting companies by the sorts of services that they are supplying and by the manner in which they present them to the customers. For instance, certain hosting providers allow you to begin with a small scale website hosting account and subsequently shift to a bigger one, if you find it mandatory to do so. This is extremely suitable, since you do not need to move web pages between web servers and there is no risk of experiencing downtime because of all the problems that may take place. Web hosts such as Exclusive Hosting provide all sorts of solutions and have the necessary hosting server resources and personnel to assure that their customers will not chance upon any hassles when changing services, which is what a top hosting firm is actually all about.