A definition of web site hosting

As its name hints, web hosting is a service, which involves hosting online content. There are various varieties and types of hosting, depending on the aims and on the usage. However, they all refer to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made available through the Internet. A web host is actually a hosting server that is connected to the World Wide Web and has its own personal Internet Protocol address, which enables users to gain access to it via the Internet. The web server's configuration and its system resources are subject to the form of web hosting solution it will be used for.

What are the various forms of web hosting?

Depending on the application, the web hosting solution may be:

File Storage Hosting - this form of web hosting allows the clients to deposit their files on a given web server. With the customary file hosting service, the files that are kept may only be accessed by the customer that's availing of the service. This web hosting solution mainly involves backups of PCs , documents, personal files and even other servers. This service may also have certain restrictions in relation to the disk storage and the root-level access. There may also be traffic quota limitations, but that depends on the actual web hosting provider.

Warez Web Hosting - the so-called warez hosting service is quite similar to the previous web hosting service form. Even so, in contrast with the file hosting service, the warez web hosting service is used for propagating proprietary content without the approval of the patent proprietor. To cut a long story short - it involves the illegitimate dissemination of files and documents. There are many approaches for this to be carried out, but the two chief ways are - via simple HTTP downloading and through peer-to-peer connections. The first approach entails either a particular web page, or, most often, just a directory on a hosting server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thereby download patented docs for free. The second method entails a peer-to-peer connection, availing of the so-called Torrent servers, through which people transmit files between each other. There are just a few web page hosting distributors that allow such form of hosting on their hosting servers, chiefly owing to all the judicial predicaments that it entails. Typically such web sites are hosted on private dedicated servers that are registered by 3rd party firms either in the Middle East or in Asia.

E-mail Web Hosting - this service is utilized with both shared web site hosting and dedicated web servers, based on the client's wish. If you wish to launch your own private SMTP e-mail server, then you will need either a VPS web hosting server or a dedicated web hosting server that offers the access level needed to complete such a procedure. For routine email hosting purposes, however, you can use a regular shared site hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain. This is not a service that's very used, because the website hosting and the electronic mail hosting services are being served by two different web servers, usually owned by separate firms.

Website Hosting - the most famous and largely used hosting service nowadays. It's used for hosting site files, whose sort depends on the OS the server is availing of - Linux or Windows. Different sorts of files request specific web server Operating Systems, otherwise they won't be displayed appropriately on the Internet. This form of web hosting may impose web storage space and web traffic limitations, root-level access and CPU usage limitations.

Depending on the mission and on the functions, the customer should choose the sort of server that he requires for his project, and, of course, the web site hosting distributor that's going to provide it. There are different kinds of hosting servers, based on the configuration and the web hosting solutions that they provide. These are:

Shared Website Hosting Server - a shared web server includes a smaller amount of resources, which, of course, reflects on the cost of the service. It can be utilized for hosting small sized and middle size web pages, which do not require immense quantities of disk storage and bandwidth.

Semi-Dedicated Servers - they perform on the very same principle as the shared web site hosting servers. Still, there are much less customers sharing the same hosting server. Because of that, each of them will have a larger quota of the web hosting server's resources like RAM, disk space, traffic and CPU. Perfect for hosting big sites that do not demand complete root access.

VPS hosting - the VPS servers are ideal for middle scale online portals, which do demand root-level access to the hosting server's configuration files. Normally, there are a number of virtual web server accounts placed on the same physical machine. In spite of that, each of them is autonomous from the others and runs its own Operating System.

Dedicated Server - a completely dedicated physical machine set up and accessed by you and solely you. It ensures a large quantity of system resources. It also gives server root access, which renders it an ideal environment for any type of web portal that needs a web site hosting solution.

The only question that's left is:

Which webspace hosting distributor should I settle on?

As already stated, there are just a few web hosting providers providing warez web hosting services because of judicial entanglements. Such hosting companies are being shut down almost every month. That is why, if you would like to create such a service, you should do it on your very own PC. The shared web page hosting service is the most famous type of web hosting service. Hence, each website hosting corporation provides it. Not all of them, however, provide services such as Virtual Private Servers, semi-dedicated servers and dedicated web servers. Most of the small sized website hosting suppliers do not have the means needed for offering those services. That is the reason why it's always best to go with a larger company that can provide its clients with all the services that they necessitate. You can quickly recognize such hosting companies by the kinds of solutions that they are supplying and by the manner in which they present them to the clients. For example, certain hosting companies allow you to begin with a small sized site hosting account and afterwards move to a bigger one, if you consider it obligatory to do so. This is extremely suitable, since you do not need to migrate web sites between servers and there is no possibility of facing network downtime because of all the problems that may crop up. Providers like YourSiteService.com provide all kinds of solutions and have the adequate web server resources and personnel to guarantee that their clients will not face any problems when swapping services, which is what a top hosting provider is actually all about.