A definition of web page hosting

As its name suggests, web hosting is a solution, which entails hosting online content. There are different forms and types of hosting, based on the mission and on the functions. Still, they all are related to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible throughout the World Wide Web. A host is in fact a server that is connected to the Web and has its own IP address, which permits people to get access to it via the Internet. The web hosting server's architecture and its system resources are dependent on the sort of hosting service it will be utilized for.

What are the various types of hosting?

Based on the mission, the business website hosting solution may be:

File Web Hosting - this form of hosting enables the users to store their files on a given server. With the customary file web hosting service, the files that are deposited may only be accessed by the individual that's utilizing the service. This web hosting solution mainly applies to backups of PCs , documents, personal files and even other hosting servers. This service may also involve certain restrictions with regard to the disk storage and the root privileges. There may also be traffic restrictions, but that is dependent on the actual web host.

Warez Hosting - the so-called warez hosting solution is very similar to the previous web hosting service form. Still, in contrast with the file storage web hosting solution, the warez hosting solution is utilized for spreading proprietary materials without being given the OK to do so by the licence owner. To put it briefly - it is related to the prohibited propagation of files and docs. There are a lot of approaches for this to be accomplished, but the 2 main approaches are - through plain HTTP downloading and through P2P connections. The first one entails either a specific web site, or, most often, just a directory on a hosting server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thereby download licensed documents for free. The second approach involves a peer-to-peer connection, making use of the so-called Torrent web servers, through which users swap files between each other. There are a few web space hosting providers that allow that form of web hosting on their web servers, mainly owing to all the judicial problems that it involves. Commonly such web sites are hosted on private dedicated web servers that are registered by 3rd party enterprises either in the Middle East or in Asia.

Electronic Mail Hosting - this solution is used with both shared web page hosting and dedicated web hosting servers, based on the user's desire. If you want to set up your very own personal SMTP electronic mail server, then you will require either a VPS web server or a dedicated server that provides the level of access needed to perform such a task. For ordinary email web hosting purposes, however, you can utilize a plain shared site hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain. This is not a service that's widely famous, because the site hosting and the electronic mail hosting services are being served by two separate servers, often owned by different providers.

Web Page Hosting - the most popular and largely utilized hosting service as of now. It's utilized for hosting website files, whose type is dependent on the Operating System the server is availing of - Linux or Windows. Different types of files need specific web server OSs, or else they won't be exhibited correctly on the Web. This form of hosting may include disk storage space and web traffic quota limitations, root-level access and CPU usage restrictions.

Depending on the purpose and on the functions, the client should select the kind of hosting server that he demands for his project, and, of course, the site hosting supplier that's going to furnish it. There are different kinds of servers, based on the specifications and the hosting services that they offer. These are:

Shared Hosting Server - a shared web space hosting server includes a smaller amount of system resources, which, of course, is reflected on the price of the service. It can be used for hosting small scale and medium size web portals, which do not need big amounts of web storage space and bandwidth.

Semi-Dedicated Servers - they function on the very same principle as the shared web space hosting servers. Still, there are much fewer clients accommodated on the same hosting server. Because of that, each of them will get a bigger quota of the server's resources like RAM, web storage, bandwidth and CPU. Excellent for hosting bulky online portals that do not require complete root-level access.

VPS hosting - the Virtual Private Servers are ideal for middle scale websites, which do demand root-level access to the web server's config files. Normally, there are a handful of virtual web server accounts sharing the same server. Even so, each of them is isolated from the other ones and has its own Operating System.

Dedicated Server - a completely dedicated physical server set up and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a considerable quantity of system resources. It also provides server root access, which renders it an excellent solution for any type of web page that demands a web hosting service.

The only question that's left is:

Which site hosting vendor should I pick?

As already mentioned, there aren't many web hosting companies providing warez hosting solutions due to legal complications. Such hosts are being closed down virtually every month. Because of that, if you desire to launch such a service, you should do it on your very own personal computer. The shared site hosting service is the most popular type of hosting service. Because of that, every webspace hosting provider offers it. Not all of them, though, offer services such as VPSs, semi-dedicated web hosting servers and dedicated web hosting servers. Most of the small sized web site hosting companies do not have the resources demanded for maintaining those solutions. Hence it's always best to go with a bigger host that can provide its clients with all the services that they are searching for. You can effortlessly recognize such web hosts by the types of solutions that they are providing and by the manner in which they introduce them to the clients. For example, certain hosts allow you to start with a smaller hosting package and subsequently upgrade to a more advanced one, if you deem it compulsory to do so. This is quite convenient, since you do not need to migrate web sites between web servers and there is no possibility of suffering network downtime because of all the problems that may show up. Companies such as JamaSoft are offering all kinds of services and have the needed server resources and staff to assure that their customers will not stumble upon any problems when swapping services, which is what a top hosting firm is in fact all about.