An explanation of web site hosting

As its name indicates, web hosting is a service, which entails hosting online content. There are various forms and types of hosting, depending on the aims 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 actually a web server that is connected to the Web and has its very own Internet Protocol address, which permits users to gain access to it through the Web. The web hosting server's configuration and its system resources are dependent on the kind of hosting service it will be utilized for.

What are the various forms of web hosting?

Depending on the function, the web hosting solution may be:

File Web Hosting - this form of hosting enables the customers to store their files on a particular server. With the traditional file hosting service, the files that are kept may only be accessed by the individual that's utilizing the service. This web hosting solution generally is connected with backups of personal computers , docs, private files and even other servers. This service may also involve given limitations in relation to the disk space and the root access. There may also be traffic limitations, but that is dependent on the given hosting provider.

Warez Web Hosting - the so-called warez hosting solution is comparable with the previous web hosting service form. In spite of that, unlike the file storage hosting solution, the warez hosting service is utilized for propagating copyrighted content without the sanction of the license proprietor. To put it briefly - it entails the unlawful propagation of files and materials. There are numerous methods for this to be achieved, but the two main approaches are - through plain Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and through P2P connections. The first way entails either a given site, or, most often, simply a directory on a server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thus download copyrighted docs free of cost. The second way involves a P2P connection, using the so-called Torrent servers, via which users exchange files between each other. There are not many webspace hosting corporations that permit that form of hosting on their web servers, chiefly due to all the judicial problems that it presupposes. Usually such web sites are hosted on private 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 utilized with both shared web hosting and dedicated hosting servers, based on the user's intention. If you wish to have your very own personal SMTP electronic mail server, then you will require either a virtual private hosting server or a dedicated web hosting server that provides the access level needed to accomplish such a procedure. For common email web hosting purposes, however, you can use a plain shared webspace hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain. This is not a solution that's widely used, since the website hosting and the mail hosting services are being served by 2 separate servers, often owned by different hosting providers.

Web Site Hosting - the most widely spread and broadly used hosting service as of today. It's utilized for hosting web site files, whose sort is dependent on the OS the web hosting server is using - Linux or Windows. Different kinds of files require concrete web hosting server OSs, otherwise they won't be shown correctly on the World Wide Web. This kind of web hosting may contain disk space and web traffic limits, root access and central processing unit usage limits.

Depending on the goals and on the usage, the customer should choose the sort of web server that he needs for his work, and, of course, the site hosting company that's going to provide it. There are several types of web hosting servers, based on the specifications and the web site hosting services that they offer. These are:

Shared Web Hosting Server - a shared website hosting server supplies a smaller amount of resources, which, of course, reflects on the price of the service. It can be utilized for hosting small sized and middle size web sites, which do not require huge quantities of disk space and web traffic.

Semi-Dedicated Hosting - they work on the very same principle as the shared web hosting servers. Nonetheless, there are much fewer clients sharing the same web server. That is why, each of them will have a greater share of the web server's resources like RAM, data storage space, traffic and CPU. Excellent for hosting huge web sites that do not require full server root access.

VPS - the virtual web hosting servers are excellent for medium web portals, which do demand root access to the web hosting server's config files. Commonly, there are a bunch of virtual private web server hosting accounts located on the same physical machine. However, each of them is insulated from the others and runs its own OS.

Dedicated Servers - a completely dedicated physical machine configured and accessed by you and only you. It ensures a considerable quantity of resources. It also includes full server root access, which renders it a perfect environment for any type of site that demands a hosting service.

The sole question that's left is:

Which web space hosting vendor should I pick?

As already stated, there aren't many hosting companies providing warez web hosting services due to judicial troubles. Such hosting companies are being shut down practically every month. Because of that, if you desire to provide such a service, you should do it on your own personal computer. The shared web hosting solution is the most widespread kind of hosting service. So, each web space hosting provider provides it. Not all of them, though, provide services such as virtual hosting servers, semi-dedicated web servers and dedicated hosting servers. Most of the small scale site hosting corporations do not have the means required for offering those services. Hence it's always best to select a bigger web hosting company that can provide its clients with all the services that they require. You can easily ID such hosting companies by the types of solutions that they are providing and by the way that they present them to the customers. For instance, certain hosts allow you to start with a smaller hosting plan and afterwards move to a more advanced one, if you deem it obligatory to do so. This is quite suitable, since you do not have to move web portals between web servers and there is no danger of suffering service disturbances because of all the problems that may appear. Companies like BetterSoft Web Hosting are offering all sorts of solutions and possess the adequate server resources and personnel to guarantee that their customers will not stumble upon any hassles when changing services, which is what a top hosting firm is actually all about.