A definition of hosting
As its name indicates, web hosting is a service, which involves hosting web content. There are various forms and types of web hosting, depending on the purpose and on the functions. Nevertheless, they all pertain to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible throughout the World Wide Web. A web host is in fact a hosting server that is linked to the Internet and has its own personal IP address, which allows people to gain access to it through the World Wide Web. The hosting server's configuration and its system resources depend on the kind of web hosting solution it will be utilized for.
What are the different types of web hosting?
Depending on the function, the hosting service may be:
File Hosting - this type of hosting allows the users to store their files on a certain web server. With the conventional file web hosting solution, the files that are accommodated may only be accessed by the individual that's using the service. This hosting service mainly concerns backups of PCs , docs, private files and even other servers. This solution may also impose certain limits with regard to the data storage and the root-level access. There may also be traffic restrictions, but that depends on the given host.
Warez Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting solution is quite similar to the previous web hosting service form. Nonetheless, in contrast with the file web hosting service, the warez web hosting service is utilized for propagating proprietary content without being given the OK to do so by the license bearer. In brief - it appertains to the unauthorized propagation of files and documents. There are many methods for this to be carried out, but the 2 principal methods are - via plain Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and via peer-to-peer connections. The first way involves either a particular website, or, most often, just a directory on a web hosting server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thereby download copyrighted content free of charge. The second method entails a peer-to-peer connection, making use of the so-called Torrent servers, through which users share files between each other. There aren't many site hosting vendors that allow such form of hosting on their servers, mostly owing to all the judicial complications that it involves. Usually such websites are hosted on private dedicated web hosting servers that are registered by 3rd party firms either in the Middle East or in Asia.
Mail Web Hosting - this solution is utilized with both shared web space hosting and dedicated web servers, depending on the user's desire. If you want to build your very own private SMTP server, then you will need either a VPS web hosting server or a dedicated server that offers the access level needed to perform such a procedure. For customary e-mail web hosting ends, though, you can create a simple shared web page 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 site hosting and the e-mail hosting services are being served by 2 separate web servers, usually belonging to separate web hosts.
Website Hosting - the most widely spread and immensely utilized hosting service today. It's used for hosting site files, whose sort is dependent on the OS the web server is running - Linux or Windows. Different kinds of files request specific hosting server OSs, or else they won't be shown appropriately on the Internet. This kind of hosting may impose server storage space and bandwidth limits, root access and central processing unit usage limitations.
Depending on the mission and on the functions, the customer should pick the sort of web hosting server that he needs for his work, and, of course, the hosting provider that's going to furnish it. There are various kinds of servers, based on the configuration and the hosting services that they offer. These are:
Shared Hosting Server - a shared web site hosting server offers a smaller amount of resources, which, of course, is manifested in the cost of the service. It can be used for hosting small sized and medium scale web sites, which do not need huge quotas of disk storage space and traffic.
Semi-Dedicated - they work on the same principle as the shared website hosting servers. Nevertheless, there are much fewer users sharing the same server. Therefore, each of them will enjoy a bigger share of the server's resources like RAM, web space, bandwidth and CPU. Excellent for hosting huge sites that do not demand complete server root access.
VPS - the private virtual servers are excellent for medium sized sites, which do require root access to the web server's configuration files. Commonly, there are several virtual web hosting server accounts located on the same server. Even so, each of them is isolated from the others and runs its own OS.
Dedicated Servers - a completely dedicated hosting server configured and accessed by you and only you. It ensures a great quantity of system resources. It also provides root access, which renders it a perfect platform for any kind of web site that necessitates a site hosting solution.
The only question that remains is:
Which hosting vendor should I choose?
As mentioned above, there are very few web hosting providers offering warez web hosting solutions due to judicial predicaments. Such web hosts are being closed down virtually every month. For that reason, if you want to provide such a service, you should do it on your very own PC. The shared web page hosting service is the most widespread type of hosting service. For that reason, each and every website hosting vendor offers it. Not all of them, though, offer services such as VPS web servers, semi-dedicated servers and dedicated web servers. Most of the smaller hosting corporations do not have the resources required for offering those services. Because of that it's invariably best to pick a larger hosting company that can furnish its clients with all the services that they are searching for. You can effortlessly identify such web hosts by the types of services that they are making available and by the way that they present them to the customers. For instance, some providers allow you to start with a small sized web site hosting package and afterwards upgrade to a more advanced one, if you deem it obligatory to do so. This is quite convenient, since you do not have to migrate web pages between web servers and there is no possibility of suffering service disturbances due to all the complications that may take place. Web hosting companies like JS Hosting offer all types of solutions and possess the needed hosting server resources and staff to assure that their customers will not face any hassles when swapping services, which is what a top hosting company is actually all about.