A definition of web hosting
As its name suggests, web hosting is a service, which involves hosting web content. There are various forms and types of web hosting, depending on the goals and on the functions. Nonetheless, they all pertain to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible through the Web. A web host is actually a web server that is linked to the Internet and has its very own IP address, which permits people to gain access to it via the Web. The hosting server's architecture and its limitations are dependent on the sort of web hosting service it's going to be utilized for.
What are the different forms of web hosting?
Depending on the function, the web hosting service may be:
File Web Hosting - this type of hosting allows the customers to lodge their files on a certain web hosting server. With the traditional file hosting service, the files that are kept may only be accessed by the person that's using the service. This hosting solution generally pertains to backups of computers , docs, personal files and even other hosting servers. This service may also impose certain limits in terms of the data storage and the root-level access. There may also be bandwidth limits, but that depends on the given host.
Warez Web Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting service is resembling the previous hosting service type. Nevertheless, unlike the file storage web hosting service, the warez web hosting solution is used for distributing licensed content without being given the OK to do so by the copyright possessor. To put it briefly - it entails the unauthorized circulation of files and materials. There are many approaches for this to be executed, but the two chief methods are - via plain Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and through P2P connections. The first method entails either a particular web site, or, most typically, simply a directory on a server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thereby download proprietary documents free of charge. The second approach entails a P2P connection, using the so-called Torrent web servers, via which users transfer files between each other. There are very few hosting suppliers that allow such form of web hosting on their servers, mostly due to all the legal problems that it involves. Usually such web sites are hosted on private dedicated web servers that are registered by 3rd party companies either in the Middle East or in Asia.
Email Hosting - this solution is used with both shared web page hosting and dedicated web servers, based on the customer's intention. If you would like to run your very own private SMTP mail server, then you will require either a private virtual web hosting server or a dedicated web server that provides the level of access needed to accomplish such a procedure. For ordinary email hosting ends, though, you can create a regular shared web hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain. This is not a service that's very popular, since the website hosting and the e-mail hosting services are being served by two separate servers, often belonging to different firms.
Web Page Hosting - the most famous and extensively used hosting service at the moment. It's utilized for hosting web site files, whose kind is determined by the OS the server is availing of - Linux or Windows. Different sorts of files require specific web server Operating Systems, otherwise they won't be shown properly on the World Wide Web. This type of web hosting may include server space and bandwidth quota limitations, root-level access and central processing unit usage limits.
Based on the goals and on the objectives, the customer should choose the sort of hosting server that he demands for his work, and, of course, the web hosting corporation that's going to provide it. There are several types of web hosting servers, based on the specs and the web hosting services that they offer. These are:
Shared Website Hosting Server - a shared web site hosting server offers a smaller quantity of system resources, which, of course, is reflected on the cost of the service. It can be utilized for hosting small and medium scale web portals, which do not need enormous quotas of data storage space and web traffic.
Semi-Dedicated Servers - they are based on the same principle as the shared web site hosting servers. Still, there are much fewer customers hosted on the same web server. That is why, each of them will get a greater share of the server's resources like RAM, web space, bandwidth and CPU. Excellent for hosting big web sites that do not require complete root access.
Virtual Private Server - the virtual private web servers are ideal for middle scale websites, which do demand root-level access to the web hosting server's configuration files. Traditionally, there are a number of VPS web server hosting accounts placed on the same physical server. Yet, each of them is independent from the others and has its own Operating System.
Dedicated Server Hosting - a completely dedicated physical machine set up and accessed by you and solely you. It ensures a vast quantity of resources. It also provides full root access, which renders it an excellent platform for any type of web portal that demands a webspace hosting service.
The only question that remains is:
Which website hosting company should I opt for?
As already mentioned, there are very few hosting companies offering warez hosting solutions because of judicial complications. Such web hosts are being shut down almost every month. Therefore, if you desire to launch such a service, you should do it on your own PC. The shared web page hosting solution is the most popular kind of hosting service. That is why, each web hosting supplier provides it. Not all of them, however, offer solutions such as private virtual hosting servers, semi-dedicated hosting servers and dedicated servers. Most of the smaller web hosting firms do not have the means demanded for offering those solutions. For that reason it's always best to pick a larger company that can provide its customers with all the services that they are looking for. You can easily identify such companies by the types of services that they are supplying and by the manner in which they introduce them to the clients. For example, certain web hosts permit you to begin with a low-end webspace hosting package and afterwards shift to a more powerful one, if you find it compulsory to do so. This is very convenient, since you do not need to transmit sites between web hosting servers and there is no risk of experiencing outages because of all the predicaments that may crop up. Companies like BLUE RIBBON HOSTING offer all kinds of services and possess the needed web hosting server resources and staff to ensure that their clients will not experience any problems when swapping services, which is what a top hosting firm is actually all about.