A description of web hosting

As its name indicates, web hosting is a solution, which involves hosting online content. There are different forms and types of hosting, depending on the mission and on the functions. In spite of that, they all entail hosting files, which, once hosted, are made available through the Web. A web host is in fact a hosting server that is linked to the World Wide Web and has its own IP address, which enables users to gain access to it via the Internet. The web server's configuration and its limitations are determined by the sort of hosting service it's going to be used for.

What are the different forms of web hosting?

Depending on the mission, the hosting service may be:

File Hosting - this type of hosting allows the users to accommodate their files on a particular hosting server. With the normal file storage web hosting solution, the files that are kept may only be accessed by the person that's availing of the service. This web hosting service usually applies to backups of personal computers , docs, personal files and even other web servers. This service may also involve certain limitations in terms of the web storage space and the root privileges. There may also be bandwidth restrictions, but that is dependent on the actual web hosting service provider.

Warez Hosting - the so-called warez hosting solution is resembling the previous hosting service type. Nevertheless, in contrast with the file web hosting solution, the warez hosting solution is utilized for circulating patented content without being given the OK to do so by the copyright possessor. In short - it is related to the unlawful distribution of files and docs. There are many ways for this to be realized, but the 2 principal ways are - through plain Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and via peer-to-peer connections. The first method entails either a particular site, or, most typically, simply a directory on a web server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thereby download licensed materials for free. The second way involves a peer-to-peer connection, using the so-called Torrent servers, through which users transfer files between each other. There are just a few web hosting providers that allow such type of web hosting on their servers, chiefly owing to all the legal troubles that it presupposes. Generally such web sites are hosted on personal dedicated web servers that are registered by third-party enterprises either in the Middle East or in Asia.

E-mail Web Hosting - this solution is applicable with both shared website hosting and dedicated web servers, depending on the client's wish. If you desire to build your very own personal SMTP e-mail server, then you will need either a private virtual web server or a dedicated web server that provides the level of access required to carry out such a task. For conventional e-mail web hosting purposes, though, you can use an average shared web site hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain. This is not a solution that's very used, because the site hosting and the email hosting services are being served by two different servers, usually owned by separate hosts.

Website Hosting - the most widely spread and immensely utilized hosting service at present. It's used for hosting site files, whose type is dependent on the Operating System the web hosting server is running - Linux or Windows. Different types of files request concrete server OSs, otherwise they won't be exhibited accurately on the Internet. This sort of web hosting may impose data storage space and web traffic restrictions, root access and CPU usage restrictions.

Based on the mission and on the functions, the customer should choose the type of hosting server that he demands for his project, and, of course, the web hosting company that's going to provide it. There are various kinds of web servers, based on the configuration and the web site hosting solutions that they offer. These are:

Shared Web Hosting Server - a shared web hosting server supplies a smaller quantity of system resources, which, of course, is reflected on the cost of the service. It can be used for hosting small sized and medium size web pages, which do not need enormous quantities of web space and traffic.

Semi-Dedicated Hosting - they perform on the very same principle as the shared webspace hosting servers. Even so, there are much less users sharing the same server. Therefore, each of them will obtain a bigger share of the server's resources like RAM, web storage, traffic and CPU. Perfect for hosting heavy sites that do not need server root access.

Virtual Servers - the VPS web hosting servers are ideal for medium online portals, which do need root access to the hosting server's config files. Typically, there are a number of virtual private web server accounts hosted on the same physical machine. Still, each of them is isolated from the other ones and has its own Operating System.

Dedicated Servers Hosting - a fully dedicated machine set up and accessed by you and only you. It ensures a great amount of system resources. It also includes root access, which makes it an ideal solution for any kind of site that needs a web site hosting solution.

The only question that remains is:

Which web site hosting vendor should I select?

As mentioned above, there aren't many companies offering warez web hosting services because of legal complications. Such companies are being shut down practically every month. Therefore, if you want to launch such a service, you should do it on your very own computer. The shared web site hosting service is the most widespread type of web hosting service. Therefore, each web space hosting distributor provides it. Not all of them, though, offer solutions such as virtual private web hosting servers, semi-dedicated web servers and dedicated web hosting servers. Most of the small scale website hosting distributors do not have the means required for offering those solutions. Because of that it's always best to select a bigger company that can provide its clients with all the services that they are searching for. You can easily ID such web hosting companies by the sorts of solutions that they are supplying and by the manner in which they present them to the clients. For instance, some hosting companies permit you to start with a small sized web hosting package and subsequently upgrade to a bigger one, if you deem it necessary to do so. This is quite suitable, since you do not need to transfer sites between web hosting servers and there is no danger of suffering downtime because of all the complications that may appear. Hosting companies like PhotoIreland Hosting are offering all types of services and possess the required hosting server resources and staff to ensure that their clients will not chance upon any predicaments when changing services, which is what a top hosting company is actually all about.