A definition of web page hosting
As its name implies, web hosting is a solution, which entails hosting online content. There are various forms and kinds of hosting, based on the aims and on the objectives. Still, they all entail hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible through the World Wide Web. A host is actually a hosting server that is connected to the Internet and has its very own IP address, which enables people to gain access to it through the Internet. The server's configuration and its resources depend on the kind of hosting solution it's going to be used for.
What are the different forms of web hosting?
Depending on the application, the professional hosting solution may be:
File Web Hosting - this form of hosting permits the customers to host their files on a certain web hosting server. With the routine file hosting service, the files that are deposited may only be accessed by the customer that's utilizing the service. This web hosting solution generally includes backups of computers , docs, private files and even other servers. This solution may also have certain restrictions in relation to the web space and the root access. There may also be bandwidth quota limits, but that depends on the given provider.
Warez Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting solution is quite similar to the previous hosting service type. Still, unlike the file hosting service, the warez web hosting solution is used for circulating proprietary content without being given the OK to do so by the patent holder. To cut a long story short - it refers to the illicit propagation of files and documents. There are a lot of approaches for this to be realized, but the 2 essential approaches are - through plain Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and via peer-to-peer connections. The first approach entails either some web site, or, most typically, simply a directory on a web hosting server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thus download proprietary docs free of charge. The second method entails a peer-to-peer connection, making use of the so-called Torrent servers, via which people share files between each other. There are very few website hosting firms that permit that form of web hosting on their hosting servers, mostly owing to all the legal entanglements that it presupposes. Typically such websites are hosted on private dedicated servers that are registered by 3rd party firms either in the Middle East or in Asia.
Mail Web Hosting - this solution is applicable with both shared hosting and dedicated servers, depending on the user's intention. If you would like to create 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 level of access needed to complete such a procedure. For standard electronic mail web hosting purposes, though, you can avail of a standard shared webspace hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain. This is not a solution that's widely used, because the web site hosting and the electronic mail hosting services are being served by two separate servers, often owned by different companies.
Web Page Hosting - the most famous and commonly used hosting service at the moment. It's utilized for hosting web site files, whose kind depends on the OS the server is using - Linux or Windows. Different sorts of files demand specific hosting server OSs, otherwise they won't be displayed correctly on the World Wide Web. This kind of hosting may involve data storage space and web traffic quota limits, server root access and central processing unit usage limitations.
Depending on the purpose and on the usage, the user should pick the kind of hosting server that he demands for his work, and, of course, the website hosting corporation that's going to supply it. There are several kinds of web servers, depending on the configuration and the site hosting solutions that they offer. These are:
Shared Hosting Server - a shared web space hosting server supplies a smaller amount of resources, which, of course, is manifested in the price of the service. It can be utilized for hosting small size and medium size sites, which do not require immense quotas of server storage space and bandwidth.
Semi-Dedicated Servers Hosting - they perform on the same principle as the shared web space hosting servers. Yet, there are much less users accommodated on the same hosting server. Therefore, each of them will obtain a greater share of the server's resources like RAM, server space, traffic and CPU. Excellent for hosting enormous web sites that do not require full root privileges.
Virtual Servers - the VPS servers are excellent for medium scale websites, which do require root-level access to the server's config files. Commonly, there are a bunch of private virtual server web hosting accounts placed on the same server. Nevertheless, each of them is independent from the rest and has its own OS.
Dedicated Servers Hosting - a completely dedicated physical machine configured and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a large amount of resources. It also gives full root privileges, which makes it an ideal platform for any sort of site that requires a web site hosting service.
The only question that's left is:
Which web hosting vendor should I choose?
As mentioned, there are not many web hosting companies offering warez web hosting solutions because of legal entanglements. Such hosting providers are being closed down practically every month. Therefore, if you desire to offer such a service, you should do it on your own personal computer. The shared web site hosting solution is the most popular kind of hosting service. So, every hosting distributor offers it. Not all of them, though, provide solutions such as virtual web servers, semi-dedicated web servers and dedicated hosting servers. Most of the smaller webspace hosting distributors do not have the means demanded for maintaining those solutions. Because of that it's always best to choose a larger web hosting company that can furnish its customers with all the solutions that they are searching for. You can effortlessly ID such hosting companies by the kinds of services that they are offering and by the manner in which they present them to the customers. For example, certain providers allow you to commence with a smaller webspace hosting package and then upgrade to a more powerful one, if you consider it obligatory to do so. This is very suitable, since you do not need to transmit sites between servers and there is no possibility of facing network outages due to all the complications that may arise. Companies such as ACQ Hosting provide all sorts of services and have the necessary server resources and personnel to ensure that their clients will not suffer any problems when changing services, which is what a top hosting firm is actually all about.