An explanation of website hosting
As its name denotes, web hosting is a solution, which involves hosting online content. There are different varieties and kinds of hosting, based on the mission and on the functions. Yet, they all are related to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible throughout the World Wide Web. A web host is in fact a web server that is connected to the Web and has its own personal IP address, which allows users to get access to it through the Internet. The web server's architecture and its system resources are subject to the type of hosting service it's going to be utilized for.
What are the various types of hosting?
Depending on the purpose, the professional hosting solution may be:
File Storage Web Hosting - this form of web hosting allows the customers to keep their files on a specific web hosting server. With the traditional file hosting service, the files that are accommodated may only be accessed by the customer that's using the service. This hosting solution usually concerns backups of personal computers , documents, private files and even other hosting servers. This solution may also include given restrictions in terms of the server space and the root privileges. There may also be web traffic quota limitations, but that depends on the particular service provider.
Warez Hosting - the so-called warez hosting solution is resembling the previous hosting service form. In spite of that, unlike the file storage hosting service, the warez web hosting service is used for disseminating copyrighted materials without the authorization of the license possessor. To cut a long story short - it refers to the unauthorized distribution of files and documents. There are lots of methods for this to be attained, but the 2 main methods are - through simple HTTP downloading and via peer-to-peer connections. The first way involves either a certain web portal, or, most often, simply a directory on a hosting server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thereby download licensed docs free of cost. The second approach entails a P2P connection, using the so-called Torrent web servers, via which users exchange files between each other. There are a few web space hosting corporations that permit that form of web hosting on their servers, chiefly due to all the legal complications that it involves. Typically such web sites are hosted on private dedicated servers that are registered by third-party companies either in the Middle East or in Asia.
Email Web Hosting - this solution is used with both shared web page hosting and dedicated web hosting servers, based on the client's intention. If you want to create your very own personal SMTP mail server, then you will require either a private virtual web hosting server or a dedicated hosting server that provides the access level required to carry out such a procedure. For traditional e-mail web hosting ends, though, you can create a simple shared site hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain name. This is not a service that's widely used, since the web page hosting and the e-mail hosting services are being served by 2 separate servers, often owned by different web hosts.
Site Hosting - the most widespread and extensively used hosting service at present. It's utilized for hosting website files, whose sort is dependent on the Operating System the server is availing of - Linux or Windows. Different kinds of files necessitate different hosting server Operating Systems, otherwise they won't be exhibited properly on the Internet. This form of hosting may impose data storage and bandwidth quota limitations, root-level access and CPU usage restrictions.
Depending on the purpose and on the usage, the client should choose the kind of server that he needs for his project, and, of course, the site hosting vendor that's going to provide it. There are several types of servers, depending on the configuration and the site hosting solutions that they offer. These are:
Shared Website Hosting Server - a shared web site hosting server provides a smaller quantity of system resources, which, of course, reflects on the cost of the service. It can be used for hosting small scale and medium scale sites, which do not demand huge quantities of disk storage space and traffic.
Semi-Dedicated Servers - they perform on the very same principle as the shared web servers. Even so, there are much fewer customers sharing the same hosting server. Hence, each of them will have a larger quota of the hosting server's resources like RAM, data space, traffic and CPU. Ideal for hosting heavy online portals that do not require complete server root access.
Virtual Servers - the VPS servers are perfect for middle scale sites, which do require root access to the server's config files. Usually, there are several virtual private web server hosting accounts situated on the same server. In spite of that, each of them is isolated from the others and has its own Operating System.
Dedicated Server - a completely dedicated physical machine set up and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a mammoth amount of resources. It also provides full root-level access, which makes it the optimal platform for any type of site that needs a web hosting solution.
The only question that's left is:
Which web hosting vendor should I choose?
As stated above, there are very few web hosting companies providing warez web hosting solutions due to legal predicaments. Such hosting providers are being closed down virtually every month. That is why, if you want to launch such a service, you should do it on your very own computer. The shared web page hosting solution is the most popular type of web hosting service. Therefore, each website hosting corporation offers it. Not all of them, however, provide solutions such as VPS hosting servers, semi-dedicated web hosting servers and dedicated servers. Most of the small scale hosting distributors do not have the means demanded for offering those services. Because of that it's always best to settle on a bigger company that can supply its customers with all the solutions that they need. You can easily ID such hosts by the kinds of services that they are providing and by the manner in which they introduce them to the customers. For example, some companies permit you to begin with a low-end web hosting plan and afterwards move to a more advanced one, if you consider it mandatory to do so. This is quite convenient, since you do not have to relocate sites between hosting servers and there is no danger of facing network downtime due to all the complications that may take place. Companies like Lonex offer all kinds of services and possess the adequate web server resources and personnel to assure that their customers will not come across any hassles when changing services, which is what a top hosting provider is actually all about.