An interpretation of hosting
As its name implies, web hosting is a service, which entails hosting web content. There are different forms and types of hosting, depending on the purpose and on the objectives. Yet, they all pertain to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made available through the Internet. A host is actually a web server that is linked to the World Wide Web and has its own IP address, which permits people to get access to it via the Web. The web server's architecture and its system resources are dependent on the sort of hosting solution it will be used for.
What are the different forms of web hosting?
Based on the goal, the professional web hosting solution may be:
File Hosting - this form of web hosting permits the customers to deposit their files on a certain server. With the regular file storage hosting solution, the files that are saved may only be accessed by the customer that's availing of the service. This hosting solution generally entails backups of computers , docs, private files and even other web hosting servers. This solution may also have certain limitations when it comes to the web space and the root access. There may also be bandwidth limitations, but that depends on the given service provider.
Warez Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting service is comparable with the previous hosting service form. In spite of that, in contrast with the file storage web hosting solution, the warez web hosting solution is used for propagating copyrighted materials without the blessing of the copyright bearer. To put it briefly - it involves the unauthorized transmission of files and materials. There are lots of ways for this to be executed, but the two main methods are - through simple Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and via peer-to-peer connections. The first one entails either some web portal, or, most commonly, just a directory on a server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thus download proprietary materials free of charge. The second way entails a peer-to-peer connection, availing of the so-called Torrent web servers, via which users share files between each other. There are very few webspace hosting suppliers that permit that form of web hosting on their web servers, mainly due to all the judicial problems that it presupposes. Typically such sites are hosted on personal dedicated servers that are registered by 3rd party corporations either in the Middle East or in Asia.
Electronic Mail Web Hosting - this solution is applicable with both shared web space hosting and dedicated web servers, depending on the client's intention. If you desire to build your very own personal SMTP server, then you will need either a virtual web hosting server or a dedicated web server that offers the level of access needed to complete such a task. For typical mail hosting purposes, however, you can utilize a regular shared web page hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain name. This is not a solution that's widely used, because the web hosting and the e-mail hosting services are being served by 2 separate web servers, usually owned by separate firms.
Website Hosting - the most famous and vastly used hosting service today. It's used for hosting web site files, whose sort depends on the OS the web hosting server is making use of - Linux or Windows. Different kinds of files request different hosting server OSs, otherwise they won't be displayed properly on the Web. This type of web hosting may have server storage and traffic restrictions, root-level access and CPU usage limits.
Based on the aims and on the functions, the customer should select the type of hosting server that he requires for his project, and, of course, the web site hosting company that's going to furnish it. There are various types of web servers, based on the configuration and the web space hosting services that they offer. These are:
Shared Web Hosting Server - a shared hosting server includes a smaller quantity of system resources, which, of course, is reflected on the price of the service. It can be utilized for hosting small sized and middle sized online portals, which do not require huge amounts of disk space and bandwidth.
Semi-Dedicated Servers - they function on the same principle as the shared website hosting servers. Still, there are much fewer clients accommodated on the same server. Therefore, each of them will obtain a larger share of the web server's resources like RAM, web storage, web traffic and CPU. Perfect for hosting popular web sites that do not require full root access.
VPS - the virtual private web hosting servers are perfect for medium sized online portals, which do demand root access to the web server's config files. Typically, there are a few virtual server hosting accounts accommodated on the same server. Nevertheless, each of them is autonomous from the others and has its own OS.
Dedicated Server - a completely dedicated machine set up and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a big quantity of system resources. It also includes full root access, which makes it a perfect environment for any sort of website that demands a site hosting solution.
The only question that remains is:
Which web hosting supplier should I opt for?
As stated above, there aren't many hosting providers providing warez hosting solutions due to legal complications. Such hosting providers are being closed down almost every month. Therefore, if you would like to provide such a service, you should do it on your very own PC. The shared web site hosting solution is the most famous kind of hosting service. So, each web site hosting supplier offers it. Not all of them, however, offer solutions such as private virtual hosting servers, semi-dedicated hosting servers and dedicated servers. Most of the small sized web site hosting vendors do not have the resources required for maintaining those services. That is the reason why it's invariably best to go with a larger company that can furnish its clients with all the services that they want. You can easily ID such companies by the types of services that they are providing and by the manner in which they present them to the customers. For instance, some web hosts allow you to commence with a small scale site hosting plan and then upgrade to a more advanced one, if you consider it compulsory to do so. This is very suitable, since you do not have to transmit web sites between hosting servers and there is no chance of facing network downtime because of all the problems that may show up. Hosting providers such as Travaz offer all types of services and possess the needed web hosting server resources and personnel to assure that their customers will not suffer any hassles when swapping services, which is what a top hosting vendor is in fact all about.