A definition of web page hosting

As its name hints, web hosting is a service, which involves hosting web content. There are different forms and kinds of web hosting, based on the aims and on the functions. In spite of that, they all are related to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible through the Internet. A web host is in fact a hosting server that is connected to the Internet and has its own personal IP address, which permits people to gain access to it via the World Wide Web. The web hosting server's configuration and its limitations are determined by the kind of web hosting solution it will be used for.

What are the various forms of hosting?

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

File Storage Hosting - this type of web hosting allows the customers to keep their files on a particular hosting server. With the common file web hosting solution, the files that are stashed may only be accessed by the person that's availing of the service. This hosting service typically is associated with backups of personal computers , documents, private files and even other web hosting servers. This solution may also contain certain restrictions in relation to the disk space and the root privileges. There may also be bandwidth quota limits, but that depends on the particular web host.

Warez Hosting - the so-called warez hosting service is very similar to the previous hosting service form. Even so, in contrast with the file web hosting solution, the warez hosting solution is utilized for transmitting patented work without the sanction of the copyright proprietor. In short - it refers to the illegitimate distribution of files and materials. There are a lot of methods for this to be attained, but the 2 essential methods are - via plain Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and through P2P connections. The first approach entails either a specific site, or, most typically, just a directory on a hosting server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thus download copyrighted documents free of charge. The second approach involves a P2P connection, making use of the so-called Torrent web servers, via which users exchange files between each other. There are just a few web page hosting companies that permit that type of hosting on their web servers, mainly owing to all the legal complications that it entails. Generally such web sites are hosted on personal dedicated servers that are registered by third-party corporations either in the Middle East or in Asia.

Electronic Mail Web Hosting - this solution is applicable with both shared web page hosting and dedicated web servers, based on the client's wish. If you would like to create your own private SMTP server, then you will require either a private virtual web hosting server or a dedicated hosting server that offers the access level required to carry out such an assignment. For standard email hosting purposes, however, you can use a regular shared webspace hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain name. This is not a solution that's widely used, since the web site hosting and the e-mail hosting services are being served by two separate web servers, usually owned by different hosts.

Website Hosting - the most widely spread and regularly used hosting service today. It's utilized for hosting site files, whose type depends on the OS the web hosting server is using - Linux or Windows. Different sorts of files require different web hosting server OSs, or else they won't be displayed properly on the World Wide Web. This sort of web hosting may contain storage space and traffic quota limitations, server root access and CPU usage limits.

Based on the mission and on the usage, the user should select the kind of web server that he needs for his work, and, of course, the hosting vendor that's going to furnish it. There are different sorts of web servers, based on the configuration and the hosting solutions that they offer. These are:

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

Semi-Dedicated Servers Hosting - they work on the very same principle as the shared website hosting servers. Nonetheless, there are much less users hosted on the same hosting server. Therefore, each of them will receive a larger share of the hosting server's resources like RAM, storage space, traffic and CPU. Excellent for hosting bulky sites that do not require full server root privileges.

VPS hosting - the virtual servers are perfect for middle size websites, which do require root access to the web hosting server's configuration files. Usually, there are several Virtual Private Server hosting accounts hosted on the same machine. Even so, each of them is autonomous from the rest and runs its own Operating System.

Dedicated Server - a completely dedicated server set up and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a large quantity of resources. It also provides server root access, which renders it the optimal solution for any sort of web page that necessitates a site hosting service.

The sole question that's left is:

Which site hosting corporation should I settle on?

As already stated, there are very few hosting companies providing warez hosting solutions because of legal problems. Such web hosts are being shut down virtually every month. For that reason, if you wish to start such a service, you should do it on your own personal computer. The shared webspace hosting solution is the most popular type of hosting service. So, every webspace hosting provider offers it. Not all of them, though, provide solutions such as virtual web servers, semi-dedicated servers and dedicated web servers. Most of the small sized web hosting providers do not have the resources needed for offering those services. That's why it's invariably best to choose a bigger company that can provide its customers with all the solutions that they seek. You can effortlessly ID such hosts by the kinds of solutions that they are providing and by the manner in which they present them to the clientele. For example, certain hosting companies permit you to start with a small sized site hosting account and afterwards move to a more advanced one, if you find it compulsory to do so. This is very suitable, since you do not need to move sites between web servers and there is no possibility of experiencing network outages due to all the complications that may appear. Companies such as GreatHosts.biz offer all kinds of solutions and have the needed server resources and staff to assure that their clients will not suffer any hassles when changing services, which is what a top hosting corporation is actually all about.