An explanation of web hosting

As its name denotes, web hosting is a service, which entails hosting online content. There are various forms and kinds of hosting, depending on the mission and on the objectives. Yet, they all are related to 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 Web and has its own IP address, which allows users to access it through the World Wide Web. The server's configuration and its system resources are subject to the sort of hosting service it will be used for.

What are the various types of web hosting?

Based on the mission, the professional web hosting service may be:

File Hosting - this form of hosting permits the customers to deposit their files on a given web server. With the common file web hosting solution, the files that are kept may only be accessed by the user that's availing of the service. This web hosting solution generally refers to backups of computers , docs, private files and even other hosting servers. This service may also contain certain restrictions in relation to the data storage and the root access. There may also be traffic limitations, but that depends on the particular web hosting service provider.

Warez Web Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting solution is very similar to the previous web hosting service type. Even so, in contrast with the file web hosting service, the warez hosting solution is used for circulating proprietary content without being green-lighted by the licence possessor. In short - it is associated with the illegal circulation of files and documents. There are a lot of approaches for this to be brought about, but the two chief methods are - through simple HTTP downloading and via peer-to-peer connections. The first way entails either a specific website, or, most commonly, just a directory on a hosting server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thus download copyrighted content for free. The second approach involves a P2P connection, utilizing the so-called Torrent servers, through which users transmit files between each other. There are not many web hosting corporations that permit such type of hosting on their hosting servers, mostly owing to all the legal entanglements that it involves. Usually such websites are hosted on private dedicated web servers that are registered by 3rd party enterprises either in the Middle East or in Asia.

Mail Hosting - this solution is relevant with both shared site hosting and dedicated hosting servers, depending on the client's wish. If you want to have your very own personal SMTP mail server, then you will need either a virtual server or a dedicated web server that offers the access level needed to execute such an operation. For routine electronic mail hosting ends, however, you can set up a simple shared web page hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain name. This is not a solution that's widely used, since the web page hosting and the e-mail hosting services are being served by two different web servers, usually owned by different web hosting providers.

Web Site Hosting - the most widely spread and extensively used hosting service at present. It's utilized for hosting website files, whose kind is dependent on the Operating System the server is using - Linux or Windows. Different kinds of files request different web hosting server OSs, otherwise they won't be displayed properly on the Web. This kind of web hosting may have data storage space and traffic quota limits, root-level access and CPU usage limitations.

Depending on the purpose and on the usage, the client should choose the type of web hosting server that he requires for his work, and, of course, the hosting vendor that's going to furnish it. There are different sorts of hosting servers, depending on the specs and the web space hosting solutions that they provide. These are:

Shared Website Hosting Server - a shared site hosting server provides a smaller quantity of resources, which, of course, reflects on the price of the service. It can be used for hosting small sized and medium size websites, which do not demand huge amounts of server space and traffic.

Semi-Dedicated Servers - they perform on the same principle as the shared web site hosting servers. Yet, there are much fewer clients accommodated on the same web server. For that reason, each of them will enjoy a larger share of the web hosting server's resources like RAM, web space, bandwidth and CPU. Ideal for hosting big web portals that do not demand full server root privileges.

Virtual Servers - the VPS hosting servers are perfect for medium size web sites, which do require root-level access to the hosting server's config files. Generally, there are a handful of virtual server web hosting accounts hosted on the same machine. Nevertheless, each of them is isolated from the rest and has its own Operating System.

Dedicated Server - a completely dedicated web hosting server set up and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a colossal amount of resources. It also includes root access, which renders it the optimal environment for any kind of web portal that needs a hosting service.

The sole question that's left is:

Which hosting corporation should I opt for?

As already mentioned, there are not many web hosting providers offering warez hosting services because of judicial predicaments. Such web hosting providers are being shut down almost every month. Therefore, if you want to set up such a service, you should do it on your very own personal computer. The shared web hosting service is the most widespread type of web hosting service. That is why, each web space hosting distributor provides it. Not all of them, however, provide solutions such as virtual private web hosting servers, semi-dedicated servers and dedicated servers. Most of the small scale hosting companies do not have the means needed for maintaining those solutions. Hence it's always best to opt for a bigger hosting company that can supply its clients with all the solutions that they necessitate. You can quickly recognize such companies by the types of services that they are making available and by the way that they present them to the clientele. For instance, certain hosting companies allow you to begin with a low-end site hosting package and subsequently shift to a more powerful one, if you consider it obligatory to do so. This is quite suitable, since you do not have to migrate web sites between web hosting servers and there is no danger of suffering network downtime because of all the problems that may show up. Web hosting providers like AIDA Host are offering all kinds of solutions and have the adequate web server resources and staff to ensure that their customers will not encounter any problems when changing services, which is what a top hosting vendor is actually all about.