An explanation of web site hosting

As its name suggests, web hosting is a service, which entails hosting online content. There are various varieties and kinds of hosting, based on the aims and on the usage. Yet, they all pertain to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made available through the World Wide Web. A web host is in fact a server that is linked to the Web and has its own Internet Protocol address, which allows people to get access to it through the Internet. The web hosting server's configuration and its resources are dependent on the sort of web hosting service it's going to be used for.

What are the various types of hosting?

Depending on the function, the web hosting service may be:

File Storage Hosting - this type of hosting allows the clients to accommodate their files on a given web hosting server. With the average file storage hosting solution, the files that are saved may only be accessed by the individual that's availing of the service. This hosting service typically appertains to backups of PCs , docs, personal files and even other web hosting servers. This service may also impose given limitations with regard to the server storage space and the root access. There may also be web traffic quota limits, but that depends on the given web hosting provider.

Warez Web Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting solution is quite similar to the previous web hosting service type. However, in contrast with the file hosting solution, the warez hosting solution is used for spreading copyrighted work without being given the go-ahead by the license owner. To cut a long story short - it refers to the illegitimate dissemination of files and materials. There are lots of approaches for this to be brought about, but the 2 essential approaches are - through simple Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and through P2P connections. The first one involves either a specific web portal, or, most often, just a directory on a hosting server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thus download patented documents for free. The second approach involves a P2P connection, making use of the so-called Torrent web servers, through which users share files between each other. There aren't many web hosting vendors that permit such form of web hosting on their hosting servers, mainly due to all the judicial problems that it presupposes. Generally such web portals are hosted on private dedicated web hosting servers that are registered by third-party companies either in the Middle East or in Asia.

Electronic Mail Web Hosting - this service is used with both shared web page hosting and dedicated web servers, based on the customer's desire. If you desire to launch your very own personal SMTP server, then you will need either a private virtual server or a dedicated server that provides the access level needed to accomplish such an assignment. For traditional mail web hosting ends, however, you can open a plain shared site hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain. This is not a service that's very popular, since the web page hosting and the electronic mail hosting services are being served by two separate servers, usually owned by separate providers.

Web Page Hosting - the most popular and regularly utilized hosting service now. It's used for hosting web site files, whose type is dependent on the Operating System the hosting server is running - Linux or Windows. Different sorts of files demand specific server Operating Systems, otherwise they won't be displayed appropriately on the Internet. This type of web hosting may have data storage space and bandwidth limits, root-level access and central processing unit usage limitations.

Depending on the aims and on the functions, the user should pick the kind of web hosting server that he needs for his work, and, of course, the web site hosting corporation that's going to furnish it. There are different kinds of hosting servers, based on the specifications and the web space hosting solutions that they provide. These are:

Shared Website Hosting Server - a shared web site hosting server provides a smaller amount of system resources, which, of course, is reflected on the cost of the service. It can be utilized for hosting small scale and medium websites, which do not require large quotas of data space and web traffic.

Semi-Dedicated Hosting - they work on the very same principle as the shared web page hosting servers. Still, there are much less clients accommodated on the same web hosting server. That is why, each of them will get a larger quota of the web server's resources like RAM, server space, traffic and CPU. Excellent for hosting popular web pages that do not require complete root access.

VPS - the private virtual servers are excellent for middle scale online portals, which do require root access to the hosting server's config files. Normally, there are a few private virtual server web hosting accounts hosted on the same physical machine. Still, each of them is autonomous from the rest and runs its own Operating System.

Dedicated Servers Hosting - a completely dedicated machine set up and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a big quantity of system resources. It also includes root privileges, which makes it an ideal platform for any sort of site that requires a hosting service.

The only question that remains is:

Which hosting distributor should I pick?

As mentioned above, there are very few hosting companies offering warez web hosting services because of legal complications. Such web hosting providers are being shut down virtually every month. Because of that, if you want to offer such a service, you should do it on your own PC. The shared web space hosting solution is the most widespread type of web hosting service. Because of that, each hosting vendor provides it. Not all of them, however, offer services such as VPS web hosting servers, semi-dedicated hosting servers and dedicated hosting servers. Most of the small scale site hosting providers do not have the means demanded for offering those solutions. That is the reason why it's always best to settle on a bigger web host that can provide its clients with all the services that they seek. You can quickly recognize such web hosting companies by the types of services that they are offering and by the manner in which they introduce them to the clientele. For instance, some providers allow you to kick off with a smaller hosting account and afterwards shift to a bigger one, if you consider it mandatory to do so. This is quite suitable, since you do not need to transmit web portals between web servers and there is no chance of experiencing service interruptions due to all the complications that may take place. Web hosting companies such as Digital Monkey provide all sorts of solutions and have the adequate hosting server resources and personnel to guarantee that their clients will not stumble upon any problems when swapping services, which is what a top hosting corporation is in fact all about.