An interpretation of website hosting

As its name hints, web hosting is a service, which entails hosting web content. There are various forms and types of web hosting, based on the mission and on the functions. Nevertheless, they all entail hosting files, which, once hosted, are made available through the World Wide Web. A host is in fact a web hosting service that is linked to the Internet and has its own personal IP address, which allows people to access it via the Web. The hosting server's configuration and its system resources are subject to the kind of hosting service it will be used for.

What are the various forms of hosting?

Based on the application, the professional hosting solution may be:

File Storage Hosting - this form of hosting allows the clients to deposit their files on a specific web hosting server. With the traditional file storage hosting service, the files that are stashed may only be accessed by the user that's utilizing the service. This hosting solution usually pertains to backups of computers , docs, personal files and even other servers. This service may also have given restrictions in terms of the web space and the root-level access. There may also be traffic restrictions, but that depends on the actual web hosting service provider.

Warez Hosting - the so-called warez hosting service is quite similar to the previous web hosting service type. However, unlike the file web hosting solution, the warez hosting service is used for disseminating patented materials without the blessing of the license bearer. To put it briefly - it entails the unauthorized propagation of files and documents. There are many methods for this to be realized, but the 2 main ways are - via simple HTTP downloading and through P2P connections. The first way entails either a given web site, or, most typically, just a directory on a web server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thereby download patented documents for free. The second way involves a peer-to-peer connection, utilizing the so-called Torrent web servers, through which people exchange files between each other. There are a few site hosting firms that allow such type of hosting on their web hosting servers, mostly owing to all the legal troubles that it presupposes. Usually such web sites are hosted on private dedicated hosting servers that are registered by third-party enterprises either in the Middle East or in Asia.

Email Hosting - this service is utilized with both shared web hosting and dedicated hosting servers, depending on the user's desire. If you would like to have your very own private SMTP electronic mail server, then you will need either a virtual web server or a dedicated server that provides the access level required to perform such an assignment. For conventional electronic mail web hosting purposes, though, you can set up a simple shared web space hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain name. This is not a solution that's very used, because the web page hosting and the mail hosting services are being served by 2 different web servers, often belonging to separate web hosts.

Web Page Hosting - the most popular and vastly used hosting service at present. It's used for hosting site files, whose type depends on the Operating System the server is availing of - Linux or Windows. Different kinds of files require different server Operating Systems, otherwise they won't be displayed appropriately on the Internet. This kind of hosting may impose data storage space and traffic limitations, server root access and central processing unit usage limitations.

Based on the purpose and on the functions, the user should choose the sort of hosting server that he demands for his project, and, of course, the website hosting firm that's going to provide it. There are various sorts of hosting servers, based on the specifications and the site hosting solutions that they offer. These are:

Shared Web Hosting Server - a shared web space hosting server provides a smaller quantity of system resources, which, of course, is manifested in the cost of the service. It can be used for hosting small scale and medium sized sites, which do not demand considerable quotas of server space and web traffic.

Semi-Dedicated Servers Hosting - they operate on the very same principle as the shared web hosting servers. However, there are much less clients sharing the same web server. Therefore, each of them will get a larger quota of the hosting server's resources like RAM, data storage, web traffic and CPU. Excellent for hosting enormous web pages that do not demand root privileges.

VPS - the VPSs are ideal for medium scale sites, which do require root access to the web server's configuration files. Usually, there are a number of virtual private web server accounts accommodated on the same physical server. Nonetheless, each of them is independent from the other ones and has its own Operating System.

Dedicated Servers - a fully dedicated web hosting server configured and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a huge amount of resources. It also offers full root access, which makes it an excellent environment for any sort of web site that demands a site hosting solution.

The sole question that's left is:

Which site hosting distributor should I select?

As already stated, there aren't many hosting companies providing warez web hosting services due to judicial troubles. Such providers are being closed down practically every month. That is why, if you want to run such a service, you should do it on your own computer. The shared webspace hosting service is the most widely spread kind of hosting service. Because of that, each and every hosting firm offers it. Not all of them, though, provide solutions such as private virtual hosting servers, semi-dedicated servers and dedicated servers. Most of the small scale website hosting firms do not have the means required for maintaining those solutions. Therefore it's invariably best to choose a larger company that can furnish its clients with all the solutions that they want. You can easily identify such web hosting companies by the sorts of services that they are providing and by the manner in which they present them to the clientele. For example, some companies permit you to begin with a smaller hosting account and then upgrade to a bigger one, if you deem it obligatory to do so. This is extremely suitable, since you do not have to move web pages between hosting servers and there is no possibility of suffering network downtime due to all the problems that may arise. Providers such as Free Hostia are offering all kinds of solutions and possess the needed hosting server resources and staff to guarantee that their customers will not face any hassles when changing services, which is what a top hosting vendor is actually all about.