An explanation of web space hosting
As its name indicates, web hosting is a service, which involves hosting web content. There are different forms and kinds of web hosting, based on the goals and on the usage. In spite of that, they all refer to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible throughout the Web. A web host is in fact a web server that is connected to the Internet and has its very own IP address, which allows people to have access to it via the World Wide Web. The server's configuration and its system resources depend on the sort of hosting service it will be utilized for.
What are the various forms of hosting?
Based on the function, the professional hosting solution may be:
File Web Hosting - this type of web hosting allows the users to lodge their files on a particular web server. With the classic file storage hosting solution, the files that are deposited may only be accessed by the customer that's using the service. This web hosting service generally refers to backups of PCs , documents, private files and even other hosting servers. This service may also have certain limitations when it comes to the server storage and the root access. There may also be traffic quota limits, but that depends on the given web hosting service provider.
Warez Hosting - the so-called warez hosting service is very similar to the previous hosting service type. Yet, unlike the file storage web hosting service, the warez hosting solution is used for spreading copyrighted work without the sanction of the patent bearer. In brief - it appertains to the illegal circulation of files and documents. There are numerous approaches for this to be executed, but the two chief methods are - via plain Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and via P2P connections. The first method involves either a given web site, or, most often, simply a directory on a hosting server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thereby download patented content for free. The second way entails a peer-to-peer connection, using the so-called Torrent web servers, via which people exchange files between each other. There aren't many web site hosting vendors that permit such form of web hosting on their web servers, mostly because of all the judicial troubles that it entails. Generally such websites are hosted on private dedicated servers that are registered by 3rd party firms either in the Middle East or in Asia.
E-mail Hosting - this service is utilized with both shared web space hosting and dedicated servers, depending on the customer's wish. If you want to run your very own private SMTP email server, then you will require either a Virtual Private Server or a dedicated web hosting server that offers the level of access needed to carry out such an operation. For traditional email hosting purposes, though, you can utilize an average shared web page hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain. This is not a service that's widely used, since the web site hosting and the e-mail hosting services are being served by 2 different servers, usually belonging to separate web hosting providers.
Site Hosting - the most widely spread and vastly used hosting service these days. It's used for hosting site files, whose kind is dependent on the Operating System the web server is using - Linux or Windows. Different kinds of files require specific server Operating Systems, otherwise they won't be exhibited properly on the World Wide Web. This form of web hosting may have web storage and bandwidth limits, server root access and central processing unit usage limits.
Depending on the aims and on the usage, the customer should select the kind of web hosting server that he needs for his work, and, of course, the web site hosting provider that's going to provide it. There are several sorts of hosting servers, depending on the specs and the webspace hosting solutions that they provide. These are:
Shared Website Hosting Server - a shared webspace hosting server supplies a smaller quantity of system resources, which, of course, is reflected on the cost of the service. It can be used for hosting small scale and medium size online portals, which do not need immense quantities of data space and web traffic.
Semi-Dedicated Servers - they perform on the same principle as the shared webspace hosting servers. Still, there are much less clients hosted on the same server. Because of that, each of them will enjoy a larger share of the hosting server's resources like RAM, web storage space, traffic and CPU. Ideal for hosting huge sites that do not need complete root access.
VPS hosting - the VPS web hosting servers are ideal for middle scale web portals, which do need root-level access to the hosting server's configuration files. Traditionally, there are several virtual web server hosting accounts placed on the same physical machine. However, each of them is isolated from the others and has its own OS.
Dedicated Server - a completely dedicated web server set up and accessed by you and only you. It ensures a gigantic quantity of system resources. It also offers complete server root access, which makes it an ideal platform for any type of site that requires a web site hosting service.
The sole question that's left is:
Which web hosting company should I choose?
As already mentioned, there are very few hosting companies offering warez web hosting solutions because of judicial predicaments. Such hosting providers are being closed down almost every month. For that reason, if you desire to provide such a service, you should do it on your own computer. The shared web site hosting solution is the most popular kind of hosting service. Hence, every hosting distributor provides it. Not all of them, however, provide solutions such as VPS web hosting servers, semi-dedicated web servers and dedicated hosting servers. Most of the smaller hosting distributors do not have the resources demanded for maintaining those solutions. For that reason it's always best to opt for a larger hosting company that can provide its customers with all the solutions that they request. You can quickly identify such hosting companies by the kinds of services that they are supplying and by the way that they present them to the clientele. For instance, certain hosting providers allow you to begin with a small scale web space hosting package and subsequently move to a bigger one, if you deem it obligatory to do so. This is very convenient, because you do not need to relocate sites between web hosting servers and there is no possibility of facing service disturbances due to all the problems that may take place. Hosting companies like GoDaddy Chinese Support provide all kinds of services and possess the required web hosting server resources and personnel to guarantee that their clients will not suffer any complications when swapping services, which is what a top hosting vendor is in fact all about.