A definition of hosting

As its name hints, web hosting is a service, which entails hosting web content. There are various forms and kinds of web hosting, depending on the goals and on the usage. Nevertheless, they all pertain to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible throughout the Web. A host is actually a web hosting service that is connected to the Web and has its own personal Internet Protocol address, which enables users to access it through the Web. The web hosting server's architecture and its resources are determined by the form of web hosting service it's going to be utilized for.

What are the different forms of web hosting?

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

File Web Hosting - this type of web hosting allows the clients to host their files on a particular server. With the typical file storage hosting service, the files that are saved may only be accessed by the user that's using the service. This web hosting service usually is related to backups of personal computers , documents, private files and even other hosting servers. This service may also involve given restrictions in relation to the server space and the root access. There may also be bandwidth quota limitations, but that is dependent on the particular hosting service provider.

Warez Hosting - the so-called warez hosting solution is quite similar to the previous hosting service type. Nevertheless, in contrast with the file storage web hosting solution, the warez web hosting service is utilized for propagating patented materials without being given the okay to do so by the patent keeper. To cut a long story short - it is connected with the illicit circulation of files and materials. There are multiple methods for this to be carried out, but the 2 main methods are - through simple Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and through P2P connections. The first one involves either a specific site, or, most often, simply a directory on a hosting server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thereby download copyrighted docs free of charge. The second method involves a P2P connection, making use of the so-called Torrent web servers, through which people share files between each other. There are very few web hosting suppliers that allow that type of web hosting on their web hosting servers, mostly owing to all the legal troubles that it presupposes. Generally such websites are hosted on private dedicated 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 page hosting and dedicated servers, based on the user's desire. If you want to create your own personal SMTP server, then you will require either a VPS hosting server or a dedicated server that offers the access level needed to perform such a task. For routine mail web hosting purposes, however, you can create a conventional shared web hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain. This is not a solution that's widely popular, since the web site hosting and the mail hosting services are being served by 2 separate web servers, usually belonging to separate firms.

Website Hosting - the most widely spread and regularly utilized hosting service as of today. It's used for hosting website files, whose kind depends on the Operating System the hosting server is running - Linux or Windows. Different types of files demand concrete web server Operating Systems, or else they won't be shown appropriately on the World Wide Web. This form of web hosting may involve disk storage and traffic quota limits, root-level access and CPU usage limitations.

Based on the mission and on the objectives, the user should pick the kind of server that he demands for his work, and, of course, the website hosting distributor that's going to supply it. There are several sorts of web servers, based on the specifications and the web space hosting services that they offer. These are:

Shared Website Hosting Server - a shared web site hosting server supplies a smaller amount of resources, which, of course, is manifested in the cost of the service. It can be utilized for hosting small scale and middle sized web sites, which do not need vast quotas of data storage space and traffic.

Semi-Dedicated Servers Hosting - they perform on the very same principle as the shared website hosting servers. Still, there are much fewer users hosted on the same web server. Because of that, each of them will obtain a larger share of the hosting server's resources like RAM, data storage space, bandwidth and CPU. Perfect for hosting immense web portals that do not need complete root access.

Virtual Servers - the VPS hosting servers are excellent for middle scale web pages, which do demand root-level access to the hosting server's config files. Normally, there are several virtual private web server hosting accounts placed on the same physical machine. Yet, each of them is independent from the other ones and runs its own Operating System.

Dedicated Hosting - a completely dedicated physical server configured and accessed by you and solely you. It guarantees a considerable amount of resources. It also includes complete server root access, which makes it the optimal platform for any kind of web page that needs a website hosting service.

The sole question that remains is:

Which hosting company should I settle on?

As mentioned, there are very few hosting companies providing warez hosting solutions due to judicial complications. Such web hosting companies are being shut down virtually every month. Because of that, if you would like to offer such a service, you should do it on your very own computer. The shared web space hosting solution is the most famous kind of web hosting service. Hence, each web hosting corporation provides it. Not all of them, however, offer solutions such as VPS hosting servers, semi-dedicated web hosting servers and dedicated servers. Most of the smaller web hosting vendors do not have the means demanded for offering those services. Hence it's always best to choose a larger hosting company that can provide its clients with all the solutions that they need. You can quickly ID such web hosts by the kinds of solutions that they are supplying and by the manner in which they introduce them to the customers. For example, certain providers permit you to kick off with a low-end web hosting account and subsequently shift to a bigger one, if you find it compulsory to do so. This is extremely convenient, since you do not need to transmit web pages between web hosting servers and there is no risk of experiencing network outages due to all the problems that may arise. Providers like MarbleHost.com provide all types of services and have the adequate web server resources and staff to guarantee that their clients will not stumble upon any troubles when changing services, which is what a top hosting vendor is in fact all about.