An explanation of web hosting

As its name denotes, web hosting is a solution, which entails hosting web content. There are different varieties and kinds of web hosting, based on the goals and on the functions. Nonetheless, they all refer to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made available throughout the World Wide Web. A host is in fact a web server that is connected to the Internet and has its very own Internet Protocol address, which allows people to get access to it through the Web. The server's configuration and its limitations are determined by the type of hosting service it will be used for.

What are the various types of web hosting?

Based on the usage, the web hosting solution may be:

File Storage Web Hosting - this form of web hosting permits the clients to lodge their files on a particular web server. With the customary file web hosting solution, the files that are accommodated may only be accessed by the user that's availing of the service. This hosting solution generally involves backups of PCs , documents, private files and even other hosting servers. This solution may also have certain limitations in terms of the server storage and the root privileges. There may also be bandwidth restrictions, but that depends on the actual web hosting service provider.

Warez Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting service is quite similar to the previous hosting service type. Still, unlike the file web hosting service, the warez hosting solution is utilized for spreading copyrighted content without being given the green light by the license proprietor. In brief - it entails the criminal transmission of files and docs. There are numerous methods for this to be executed, but the two main methods are - via simple Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and through peer-to-peer connections. The first one entails either a given web page, or, most often, simply a directory on a server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thereby download licensed materials free of charge. The second way entails a peer-to-peer connection, availing of the so-called Torrent servers, via which users transfer files between each other. There are very few web page hosting firms that allow that type of web hosting on their web servers, chiefly owing to all the judicial complications that it presupposes. Usually such web pages are hosted on personal dedicated web servers that are registered by 3rd party firms either in the Middle East or in Asia.

E-mail Web Hosting - this solution is relevant with both shared web site hosting and dedicated web hosting servers, depending on the user's desire. If you want to set up your very own personal SMTP email server, then you will require either a VPS web hosting server or a dedicated hosting server that provides the level of access needed to execute such a procedure. For common electronic mail hosting purposes, though, you can avail of a conventional shared website hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain. This is not a service that's widely used, since the web site hosting and the e-mail hosting services are being served by two different web servers, often belonging to separate hosts.

Site Hosting - the most popular and commonly used hosting service these days. It's used for hosting web site files, whose kind is dependent on the OS the hosting server is availing of - Linux or Windows. Different types of files require specific web hosting server OSs, or else they won't be shown properly on the Internet. This form of web hosting may include data storage and bandwidth limitations, server root access and CPU usage limits.

Based on the mission and on the objectives, the user should pick the sort of server that he needs for his project, and, of course, the web site hosting supplier that's going to supply it. There are several sorts of servers, depending on the configuration and the web hosting services that they offer. These are:

Shared Hosting Server - a shared site hosting server provides a smaller quantity of system resources, which, of course, is manifested in the cost of the service. It can be used for hosting small scale and middle sized online portals, which do not require enormous quantities of data storage and bandwidth.

Semi-Dedicated - they function on the same principle as the shared site hosting servers. Nevertheless, there are much fewer clients hosted on the same hosting server. Hence, each of them will have a larger quota of the server's resources like RAM, disk storage space, web traffic and CPU. Ideal for hosting bulky online portals that do not need full root-level access.

VPS hosting - the private virtual web servers are ideal for medium scale web portals, which do require root access to the web server's config files. Commonly, there are several virtual server web hosting accounts accommodated on the same physical machine. Even so, each of them is independent from the other ones and has its own Operating System.

Dedicated Server - a completely dedicated hosting server set up and accessed by you and solely you. It ensures an enormous amount of system resources. It also includes complete root-level access, which makes it an ideal solution for any kind of web site that needs a site hosting solution.

The only question that remains is:

Which web space hosting vendor should I choose?

As already stated, there are just a few hosting providers providing warez hosting services because of legal troubles. Such companies are being shut down virtually every month. That is why, if you wish to launch such a service, you should do it on your very own PC. The shared web page hosting solution is the most popular type of hosting service. Hence, each webspace hosting supplier provides it. Not all of them, however, provide solutions such as VPS web servers, semi-dedicated web hosting servers and dedicated web hosting servers. Most of the small sized website hosting suppliers do not have the means demanded for maintaining those solutions. For that reason it's invariably best to opt for a bigger company that can provide its clients with all the services that they are searching for. You can easily recognize such web hosts by the types of solutions that they are offering and by the manner in which they introduce them to the clientele. For instance, certain hosting companies permit you to begin with a small sized website hosting plan and subsequently move to a more advanced one, if you find it necessary to do so. This is very suitable, since you do not need to transmit websites between servers and there is no possibility of facing service outages due to all the predicaments that may occur. Web hosts like Duo Servers are offering all sorts of solutions and possess the required server resources and staff to assure that their customers will not come across any problems when changing services, which is what a top hosting firm is in fact all about.