A definition of web page hosting

As its name denotes, web hosting is a service, which involves hosting online content. There are different varieties and types of hosting, based on the aims and on the usage. Nevertheless, they all entail hosting files, which, once hosted, are made available throughout the World Wide Web. A web host is in fact a hosting server that is connected to the World Wide Web and has its own Internet Protocol address, which permits people to access it via the Internet. The web server's architecture and its resources are determined by the type of web hosting solution it's going to be utilized for.

What are the various forms of hosting?

Depending on the mission, the hosting service may be:

File Web Hosting - this form of web hosting permits the customers to host their files on a particular hosting server. With the common file storage web hosting solution, the files that are stashed may only be accessed by the client that's utilizing the service. This web hosting service typically is associated with backups of PCs , documents, personal files and even other web servers. This solution may also involve certain restrictions in terms of the web storage space and the root access. There may also be traffic quota limits, but that is dependent on the actual web hosting service provider.

Warez Hosting - the so-called warez hosting service is resembling the previous hosting service type. In spite of that, in contrast with the file storage web hosting service, the warez web hosting solution is used for propagating licensed work without being given the OK to do so by the copyright possessor. In brief - it pertains to the unlawful transmission of files and documents. There are many methods for this to be carried out, but the 2 chief ways are - through simple HTTP downloading and via peer-to-peer connections. The first one involves either a given web page, or, most typically, simply a directory on a web hosting server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thereby download patented documents for free. The second method involves a P2P connection, utilizing the so-called Torrent web servers, via which users swap files between each other. There are just a few web space hosting providers that permit that type of web hosting on their servers, mainly due to all the judicial troubles that it entails. Generally such web pages are hosted on personal dedicated servers that are registered by third-party enterprises either in the Middle East or in Asia.

E-mail Web Hosting - this service is relevant with both shared webspace hosting and dedicated servers, based on the user's intention. If you want to set up your very own private SMTP email server, then you will require either a virtual server or a dedicated server that provides the access level required to carry out such a procedure. For traditional email hosting ends, however, you can set up a regular shared webspace hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain. This is not a solution that's very used, since the site hosting and the email hosting services are being served by 2 separate servers, often belonging to different companies.

Web Site Hosting - the most widely spread and universally utilized hosting service nowadays. It's used for hosting site files, whose type depends on the OS the web hosting server is making use of - Linux or Windows. Different kinds of files require concrete server Operating Systems, or else they won't be displayed appropriately on the Web. This form of web hosting may involve server storage and bandwidth quota limitations, root access and CPU usage limitations.

Depending on the purpose and on the usage, the user should select the kind of hosting server that he requires for his project, and, of course, the webspace hosting firm that's going to provide it. There are different kinds of servers, depending on the configuration and the hosting solutions that they offer. These are:

Shared Website Hosting Server - a shared webspace hosting server includes a smaller amount of resources, which, of course, is manifested in the price of the service. It can be used for hosting small and middle size websites, which do not require vast amounts of disk storage space and traffic.

Semi-Dedicated Hosting - they work on the same principle as the shared web page hosting servers. Nevertheless, there are much less clients hosted on the same server. Because of that, each of them will receive a bigger share of the hosting server's resources like RAM, data space, bandwidth and CPU. Ideal for hosting big websites that do not demand root privileges.

VPS - the private virtual servers are excellent for middle sized web pages, which do require root-level access to the web server's configuration files. Commonly, there are a few virtual hosting server accounts sharing the same physical server. Nevertheless, each of them is isolated from the rest and runs its own Operating System.

Dedicated Hosting - a fully dedicated physical machine set up and accessed by you and only you. It ensures an immense quantity of system resources. It also provides complete root-level access, which makes it a perfect solution for any type of online portal that necessitates a web site hosting solution.

The sole question that's left is:

Which site hosting vendor should I select?

As already mentioned, there are very few web hosting companies providing warez web hosting solutions due to judicial predicaments. Such hosting providers are being shut down practically every month. Because of that, if you would like to offer such a service, you should do it on your own PC. The shared hosting solution is the most widely spread kind of hosting service. Therefore, every web hosting vendor provides it. Not all of them, though, provide services such as VPS servers, semi-dedicated servers and dedicated web hosting servers. Most of the small sized web space hosting distributors do not have the means demanded for maintaining those services. That's why it's always best to select a bigger hosting company that can supply its clients with all the services that they require. You can quickly recognize such companies by the kinds of solutions that they are making available and by the way that they introduce them to the clients. For instance, certain web hosting providers permit you to commence with a smaller hosting plan and afterwards move to a more advanced one, if you consider it necessary to do so. This is extremely convenient, since you do not have to transmit web portals between hosting servers and there is no possibility of facing service downtime because of all the complications that may occur. Web hosts such as Exclusive Hosting provide all sorts of services and have the adequate hosting server resources and staff to ensure that their customers will not run into any complications when changing services, which is what a top hosting company is actually all about.