A description of web hosting
As its name implies, web hosting is a service, which entails hosting web content. There are different varieties and types of web hosting, based on the purpose and on the usage. In spite of that, they all entail hosting files, which, once hosted, are made available through the World Wide Web. A host is in fact a hosting server that is linked to the Web and has its very own IP address, which enables users to have access to it through the Web. The web hosting server's configuration and its system resources are dependent on the type of web hosting solution it will be used for.
What are the various types of web hosting?
Depending on the function, the business website hosting service may be:
File Web Hosting - this form of hosting permits the customers to store their files on a given server. With the standard file hosting solution, the files that are stored may only be accessed by the individual that's utilizing the service. This hosting service mainly appertains to backups of PCs , documents, personal files and even other web hosting servers. This service may also have given limits in terms of the disk storage and the root access. There may also be bandwidth limits, but that depends on the given host.
Warez Hosting - the so-called warez hosting solution is very similar to the previous hosting service type. Yet, in contrast with the file web hosting solution, the warez web hosting service is utilized for spreading licensed work without the blessing of the patent keeper. In brief - it involves the forbidden transmission of files and materials. There are a lot of ways for this to be brought about, but the two main methods are - via simple HTTP downloading and through peer-to-peer connections. The first way involves either a certain web portal, or, most often, simply a directory on a hosting server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thus download proprietary docs free of charge. The second method entails a P2P connection, using the so-called Torrent servers, via which people swap files between each other. There aren't many web hosting companies that permit that type of web hosting on their web hosting servers, mostly due to all the legal entanglements that it entails. Typically such web sites are hosted on private dedicated web hosting servers that are registered by 3rd party corporations either in the Middle East or in Asia.
E-mail Web Hosting - this service is relevant with both shared web space hosting and dedicated web hosting servers, based on the customer's wish. If you want to build your very own private SMTP server, then you will need either a VPS web hosting server or a dedicated web hosting server that offers the level of access required to complete such a procedure. For ordinary email web hosting ends, however, you can open a standard shared web hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain name. This is not a service that's widely popular, since the web hosting and the email hosting services are being served by 2 different web servers, usually owned by separate web hosting providers.
Web Site Hosting - the most famous and extensively utilized hosting service at the moment. It's used for hosting site files, whose kind is determined by the OS the web server is availing of - Linux or Windows. Different kinds of files require different server Operating Systems, otherwise they won't be shown properly on the Web. This type of web hosting may involve disk storage and traffic restrictions, root-level access and central processing unit usage limitations.
Depending on the goals and on the objectives, the user should select the kind of hosting server that he requires for his work, and, of course, the web hosting supplier that's going to provide it. There are various types of web hosting servers, depending on the specifications and the website hosting services that they offer. These are:
Shared Website Hosting Server - a shared website hosting server offers a smaller amount of resources, which, of course, reflects on the price of the service. It can be utilized for hosting small size and medium web pages, which do not require immense quantities of disk storage and traffic.
Semi-Dedicated - they function on the same principle as the shared webspace hosting servers. Nonetheless, there are much fewer customers accommodated on the same server. For that reason, each of them will obtain a bigger quota of the web hosting server's resources like RAM, web space, bandwidth and CPU. Ideal for hosting bulky web sites that do not need root-level access.
VPS - the VPS hosting servers are ideal for medium sized web pages, which do demand root-level access to the hosting server's configuration files. Normally, there are a number of virtual private web server hosting accounts placed on the same physical server. Nonetheless, each of them is insulated from the other ones and has its own OS.
Dedicated Server Hosting - a fully dedicated server set up and accessed by you and only you. It ensures a huge amount of system resources. It also includes full root access, which renders it an ideal environment for any sort of website that necessitates a webspace hosting service.
The only question that remains is:
Which webspace hosting company should I pick?
As already stated, there aren't many providers providing warez hosting solutions because of legal entanglements. Such hosting providers are being shut down practically every month. Therefore, if you wish to offer such a service, you should do it on your very own personal computer. The shared site hosting service is the most famous kind of hosting service. That is why, every web hosting company provides it. Not all of them, though, provide solutions such as virtual private hosting servers, semi-dedicated web servers and dedicated web hosting servers. Most of the small sized webspace hosting providers do not have the resources demanded for offering those solutions. Therefore it's invariably best to choose a larger host that can provide its customers with all the services that they need. You can effortlessly ID such companies by the types of solutions that they are providing and by the manner in which they introduce them to the customers. For instance, some web hosting companies allow you to commence with a smaller web hosting plan and then move to a more advanced one, if you deem it necessary to do so. This is very convenient, since you do not have to move websites between web servers and there is no possibility of suffering outages due to all the predicaments that may crop up. Web hosts such as Smartway Hosting offer all kinds of solutions and possess the needed hosting server resources and staff to assure that their customers will not chance upon any predicaments when swapping services, which is what a top hosting distributor is actually all about.