A definition of website hosting

As its name signifies, web hosting is a service, which entails hosting web content. There are various forms and kinds of web hosting, based on the purpose and on the functions. Yet, they all pertain to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible through the Internet. A host is in fact a web server that is linked to the Internet and has its own Internet Protocol address, which permits users to have access to it via the World Wide Web. The hosting server's configuration and its resources are subject to the kind of hosting solution it will be utilized for.

What are the different types of hosting?

Based on the purpose, the business hosting solution may be:

File Storage Hosting - this form of web hosting allows the clients to keep their files on a given web server. With the customary file storage web hosting solution, the files that are deposited may only be accessed by the user that's utilizing the service. This hosting solution normally involves backups of computers , documents, private files and even other servers. This service may also include certain restrictions with regard to the disk space and the root access. There may also be web traffic restrictions, but that is dependent on the actual web hosting service provider.

Warez Web Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting solution is very similar to the previous hosting service form. Still, in contrast with the file hosting solution, the warez hosting service is used for disseminating copyrighted content without the blessing of the licence possessor. To put it briefly - it is connected with the prohibited propagation of files and docs. There are a lot of methods for this to be carried out, but the two essential approaches are - through simple HTTP downloading and via P2P connections. The first one involves either some web site, or, most typically, just a directory on a server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thus download proprietary docs free of charge. The second method involves a P2P connection, using the so-called Torrent web servers, through which people share files between each other. There are just a few web site hosting distributors that permit such type of web hosting on their hosting servers, mostly owing to all the judicial predicaments that it involves. Usually such web pages are hosted on personal dedicated hosting servers that are registered by 3rd party enterprises either in the Middle East or in Asia.

Email Web Hosting - this solution is applicable with both shared web page hosting and dedicated hosting servers, based on the user's intention. If you desire to establish your very own personal SMTP e-mail server, then you will need either a private virtual web hosting server or a dedicated server that provides the level of access needed to carry out such an operation. For normal email web hosting purposes, however, you can create a plain shared site hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain. This is not a solution that's widely used, because the web site hosting and the e-mail hosting services are being served by 2 separate web servers, usually owned by different web hosts.

Website Hosting - the most widely spread and vastly utilized hosting service today. It's used for hosting web site files, whose type is dependent on the Operating System the server is making use of - Linux or Windows. Different types of files demand specific web server Operating Systems, or else they won't be shown appropriately on the World Wide Web. This kind of web hosting may impose web space and web traffic limitations, root access and CPU usage limitations.

Depending on the aims and on the usage, the user should pick the type of server that he needs for his project, and, of course, the webspace hosting supplier that's going to provide it. There are different kinds of hosting servers, based on the specs and the web hosting services that they offer. These are:

Shared Website Hosting Server - a shared web site hosting server offers a smaller quantity of resources, which, of course, reflects on the cost of the service. It can be used for hosting small size and middle size online portals, which do not require enormous quotas of web space and bandwidth.

Semi-Dedicated Hosting - they operate on the very same principle as the shared site hosting servers. Nevertheless, there are much less clients accommodated on the same server. That is why, each of them will receive a bigger share of the web server's resources like RAM, data storage space, traffic and CPU. Excellent for hosting bulky sites that do not demand complete root-level access.

Virtual Servers - the virtual private hosting servers are perfect for middle scale web sites, which do require root-level access to the web server's configuration files. Typically, there are a few virtual server hosting accounts hosted on the same server. Still, each of them is independent from the others and runs its own Operating System.

Dedicated Server - a fully dedicated physical machine set up and accessed by you and solely you. It guarantees an immense quantity of system resources. It also includes complete root access, which makes it an excellent solution for any type of web portal that requires a webspace hosting service.

The only question that's left is:

Which web site hosting supplier should I settle on?

As mentioned, there are very few web hosting providers providing warez hosting solutions because of judicial problems. Such providers are being shut down practically every month. Because of that, if you desire to launch such a service, you should do it on your very own computer. The shared site hosting service is the most widespread type of hosting service. So, every web site hosting vendor provides it. Not all of them, though, provide solutions such as VPSs, semi-dedicated hosting servers and dedicated web servers. Most of the smaller website hosting firms do not have the means needed for offering those solutions. That is the reason why it's always best to select a bigger web hosting company that can supply its clients with all the services that they need. You can easily identify such hosting companies by the types of solutions that they are supplying and by the manner in which they present them to the clientele. For example, some hosting companies permit you to kick off with a small scale hosting plan and afterwards shift to a more advanced one, if you find it necessary to do so. This is extremely convenient, since you do not have to migrate web sites between web servers and there is no danger of facing service outages because of all the predicaments that may show up. Providers such as Soho Hosting provide all sorts of services and have the necessary web server resources and personnel to assure that their clients will not face any troubles when swapping services, which is what a top hosting firm is in fact all about.