A description of web site hosting
As its name denotes, web hosting is a service, which entails hosting web content. There are different varieties and kinds of hosting, based on the purpose and on the functions. However, they all are related to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made available through the Internet. A host is in fact a hosting server that is linked to the Web and has its own Internet Protocol address, which permits people to get access to it through the Internet. The web hosting server's configuration and its resources are subject to the form of web hosting solution it's going to be used for.
What are the various types of web hosting?
Depending on the usage, the web hosting solution may be:
File Storage Web Hosting - this form of web hosting allows the customers to lodge their files on a particular server. With the common file storage web hosting solution, the files that are accommodated may only be accessed by the individual that's availing of the service. This hosting solution typically applies to backups of personal computers , documents, private files and even other web hosting servers. This service may also have given restrictions when it comes to the web space and the root access. There may also be traffic restrictions, but that depends on the particular hosting service provider.
Warez Hosting - the so-called warez hosting solution is very similar to the previous web hosting service form. Even so, unlike the file storage hosting solution, the warez web hosting solution is utilized for propagating licensed work without the blessing of the copyright holder. In brief - it is connected with the unlawful propagation of files and documents. There are multiple ways for this to be fulfilled, but the two principal ways are - through plain Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and through P2P connections. The first one entails either some web site, or, most typically, just a directory on a web hosting server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thereby download patented docs for free. The second way entails a peer-to-peer connection, utilizing the so-called Torrent servers, via which users transmit files between each other. There are a few site hosting firms that permit that form of hosting on their web hosting servers, mostly owing to all the legal predicaments that it involves. Generally such web sites are hosted on personal dedicated hosting servers that are registered by 3rd party companies either in the Middle East or in Asia.
E-mail Hosting - this solution is utilized with both shared hosting and dedicated servers, based on the user's wish. If you wish to have your own personal SMTP server, then you will require either a virtual server or a dedicated hosting server that offers the level of access needed to perform such an operation. For typical electronic mail hosting ends, however, you can utilize an average shared web space hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain. This is not a service that's very famous, because the web site hosting and the mail hosting services are being served by 2 different web servers, often owned by different web hosts.
Website Hosting - the most famous and extensively utilized hosting service today. It's utilized for hosting site files, whose type depends on the OS the web hosting server is using - Linux or Windows. Different types of files necessitate different hosting server OSs, otherwise they won't be displayed correctly on the Web. This sort of web hosting may contain server space and web traffic quota limits, root-level access and central processing unit usage restrictions.
Depending on the goals and on the usage, the customer should pick the sort of server that he needs for his work, and, of course, the web site hosting supplier that's going to provide it. There are different types of hosting servers, depending on the configuration and the site hosting solutions that they offer. These are:
Shared Hosting Server - a shared site hosting server provides a smaller quantity 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 pages, which do not need large amounts of web space and bandwidth.
Semi-Dedicated Servers - they operate on the very same principle as the shared web site hosting servers. In spite of that, there are much fewer clients accommodated on the same web server. That is why, each of them will enjoy a greater quota of the server's resources like RAM, disk storage space, web traffic and CPU. Excellent for hosting enormous web sites that do not need complete root-level access.
VPS - the private virtual web hosting servers are perfect for middle size web portals, which do require root-level access to the web server's configuration files. Commonly, there are several private virtual web server hosting accounts situated on the same server. Nonetheless, each of them is autonomous from the other ones and runs its own OS.
Dedicated Server - a fully dedicated web hosting server configured and accessed by you and solely you. It ensures a considerable quantity of resources. It also includes full root privileges, which renders it an excellent solution for any kind of site that needs a website hosting service.
The only question that's left is:
Which hosting vendor should I pick?
As mentioned above, there aren't many hosting companies offering warez hosting services due to legal troubles. Such hosting companies are being shut down virtually every month. Therefore, if you want to offer such a service, you should do it on your own computer. The shared web space hosting solution is the most popular type of web hosting service. For that reason, each hosting provider offers it. Not all of them, however, offer solutions such as virtual hosting servers, semi-dedicated hosting servers and dedicated servers. Most of the smaller web site hosting firms do not have the means demanded for offering those solutions. Hence it's invariably best to choose a larger web host that can provide its clients with all the services that they want. You can easily ID such web hosts by the sorts of services that they are making available and by the way that they present them to the customers. For instance, some web hosting providers permit you to start with a low-end site hosting package and afterwards upgrade to a more advanced one, if you find it compulsory to do so. This is very convenient, because you do not have to move web pages between web hosting servers and there is no risk of facing outages due to all the problems that may crop up. Web hosting companies like DuoServer.US are offering all sorts of services and possess the required hosting server resources and personnel to assure that their clients will not chance upon any troubles when changing services, which is what a top hosting firm is actually all about.