A definition of web page hosting

As its name implies, web hosting is a service, which entails hosting online content. There are various varieties and types of web hosting, based on the goals and on the functions. Nevertheless, they all pertain to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made available throughout the Internet. A web host is in fact a server that is connected to the Web and has its own IP address, which enables users to access it through the World Wide Web. The web server's architecture and its system resources are dependent on the kind of hosting service it will be used for.

What are the various types of hosting?

Based on the objective, the professional web hosting solution may be:

File Web Hosting - this type of hosting permits the users to lodge their files on a specific web hosting server. With the regular file hosting service, the files that are hosted may only be accessed by the client that's availing of the service. This web hosting solution typically is connected with backups of PCs , docs, private files and even other servers. This solution may also include certain limits in terms of the disk storage and the root privileges. There may also be bandwidth limitations, but that is dependent on the particular service provider.

Warez Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting solution is quite similar to the previous web hosting service type. Nonetheless, in contrast with the file storage hosting solution, the warez web hosting solution is used for distributing proprietary work without being given the okay to do so by the copyright keeper. To cut a long story short - it appertains to the prohibited dissemination of files and docs. There are numerous methods for this to be achieved, but the 2 chief methods are - through simple HTTP downloading and via peer-to-peer connections. The first approach involves either a given site, or, most often, just a directory on a hosting server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thus download patented content for free. The second method involves a peer-to-peer connection, making use of the so-called Torrent web servers, through which people transmit files between each other. There are just a few web space hosting companies that permit that type of hosting on their servers, mostly owing to all the legal predicaments that it presupposes. Generally such web portals are hosted on personal dedicated servers that are registered by 3rd party enterprises either in the Middle East or in Asia.

Electronic Mail Web Hosting - this service is used with both shared hosting and dedicated hosting servers, depending on the user's intention. If you wish to build your own personal SMTP electronic mail server, then you will require either a VPS web hosting server or a dedicated web server that provides the level of access required to complete such an operation. For normal mail hosting purposes, however, you can use an average shared website hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain. This is not a service that's widely used, because the site hosting and the mail hosting services are being served by 2 separate web servers, often belonging to separate providers.

Web Page Hosting - the most widely spread and extensively utilized hosting service now. It's used for hosting site files, whose sort depends on the OS the hosting server is using - Linux or Windows. Different sorts of files request different server OSs, otherwise they won't be exhibited appropriately on the World Wide Web. This sort of hosting may impose server space and bandwidth limits, root access and central processing unit usage limits.

Based on the purpose and on the objectives, the client should pick the sort of hosting server that he demands for his work, and, of course, the hosting firm that's going to furnish it. There are different kinds of web hosting servers, depending on the specifications and the hosting solutions that they offer. These are:

Shared Hosting Server - a shared web space hosting server supplies a smaller quantity of resources, which, of course, is manifested in the cost of the service. It can be used for hosting small scale and middle scale web sites, which do not need considerable quantities of web storage and bandwidth.

Semi-Dedicated Servers - they work on the same principle as the shared web page hosting servers. Nevertheless, there are much fewer customers sharing the same web hosting server. Hence, each of them will receive a greater share of the server's resources like RAM, data storage space, bandwidth and CPU. Ideal for hosting bulky web sites that do not need full server root access.

Virtual Private Server - the Virtual Private Servers are excellent for medium size web portals, which do demand root-level access to the server's config files. Commonly, there are several Virtual Private Server hosting accounts hosted on the same machine. Nevertheless, each of them is autonomous from the rest and runs its own Operating System.

Dedicated Servers - a fully dedicated server configured and accessed by you and solely you. It ensures a vast quantity of resources. It also offers full root-level access, which makes it the optimal environment for any kind of website that requires a web hosting solution.

The only question that's left is:

Which hosting corporation should I settle on?

As mentioned, there aren't many companies providing warez web hosting services due to judicial entanglements. Such companies are being closed down practically every month. Therefore, if you would like to offer such a service, you should do it on your very own personal computer. The shared web site hosting solution is the most widespread kind of web hosting service. So, every web space hosting vendor offers it. Not all of them, however, offer solutions such as virtual hosting servers, semi-dedicated hosting servers and dedicated hosting servers. Most of the smaller web space hosting distributors do not have the resources required for maintaining those services. That's why it's always best to choose a bigger company that can provide its clients with all the solutions that they seek. You can easily identify such companies by the types of solutions that they are supplying and by the way that they introduce them to the clientele. For example, certain web hosting companies allow you to start with a small sized site hosting plan and subsequently move to a more advanced one, if you find it necessary to do so. This is quite suitable, because you do not need to move websites between web hosting servers and there is no risk of experiencing service interruptions because of all the predicaments that may occur. Companies like Gigantic Server provide all kinds of services and have the needed hosting server resources and personnel to ensure that their customers will not experience any predicaments when swapping services, which is what a top hosting vendor is actually all about.