A definition of web hosting

As its name denotes, web hosting is a service, which involves hosting web content. There are various forms and types of web hosting, based on the mission and on the usage. Even so, they all pertain to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible through the World Wide Web. A web host is in fact a hosting server that is linked to the World Wide Web and has its own personal Internet Protocol address, which enables users to access it via the Internet. The server's architecture and its resources are dependent on the form of hosting service it's going to be used for.

What are the different types of hosting?

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

File Storage Web Hosting - this form of web hosting permits the customers to keep their files on a certain hosting server. With the average file web hosting solution, the files that are kept may only be accessed by the client that's availing of the service. This web hosting solution normally appertains to backups of PCs , documents, personal files and even other hosting servers. This service may also include certain limitations with regard to the web storage space and the root privileges. There may also be traffic limits, but that is dependent on the particular host.

Warez Hosting - the so-called warez hosting solution is comparable with the previous web hosting service type. Still, in contrast with the file hosting service, the warez hosting solution is utilized for distributing patented content without the sanction of the patent keeper. To cut a long story short - it pertains to the illegitimate dissemination of files and documents. There are numerous ways for this to be fulfilled, but the two essential ways are - via simple HTTP downloading and via P2P connections. The first method involves either a certain website, or, most typically, simply a directory on a server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thereby download proprietary documents for free. The second approach entails a peer-to-peer connection, making use of the so-called Torrent web servers, through which people share files between each other. There are just a few web space hosting distributors that permit such type of web hosting on their servers, chiefly due to all the judicial entanglements that it presupposes. Commonly such sites are hosted on private dedicated web hosting servers that are registered by third-party firms either in the Middle East or in Asia.

Email Web Hosting - this service is applicable with both shared site hosting and dedicated web hosting servers, based on the client's intention. If you wish to run your own personal SMTP email server, then you will need either a virtual private hosting server or a dedicated server that offers the access level required to accomplish such an operation. For standard mail web hosting purposes, however, you can open a simple shared hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain name. This is not a solution that's widely used, because the site hosting and the mail hosting services are being served by 2 different web servers, usually owned by separate hosts.

Web Page Hosting - the most widely spread and vastly utilized hosting service today. It's used for hosting site files, whose sort is dependent on the OS the web hosting server is utilizing - Linux or Windows. Different types of files necessitate specific web server OSs, otherwise they won't be exhibited correctly on the Web. This form of web hosting may involve disk space and bandwidth quota limits, root access and CPU usage restrictions.

Depending on the goals and on the functions, the user should pick the type of web hosting server that he requires for his work, and, of course, the website hosting corporation that's going to furnish it. There are several sorts of web servers, depending on the specifications and the webspace hosting services that they offer. These are:

Shared Website Hosting Server - a shared hosting server offers a smaller quantity of system resources, which, of course, reflects on the cost of the service. It can be utilized for hosting small sized and middle size sites, which do not require vast quotas of server storage space and traffic.

Semi-Dedicated Servers Hosting - they perform on the very same principle as the shared site hosting servers. Yet, there are much less users sharing the same web hosting server. Hence, each of them will have a bigger quota of the server's resources like RAM, web space, web traffic and CPU. Ideal for hosting enormous online portals that do not require root privileges.

VPS hosting - the Virtual Private Servers are ideal for medium sites, which do demand root access to the web hosting server's config files. Usually, there are a few virtual web hosting server accounts located on the same machine. Nevertheless, each of them is insulated from the others and has its own OS.

Dedicated Servers Hosting - a completely dedicated machine configured and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a tremendous quantity of resources. It also offers complete root-level access, which renders it an ideal solution for any sort of web portal that necessitates a site hosting solution.

The sole question that's left is:

Which web space hosting supplier should I opt for?

As stated above, there are just a few web hosting companies providing warez hosting solutions because of judicial entanglements. Such providers are being closed down virtually every month. For that reason, if you desire to provide such a service, you should do it on your own personal computer. The shared site hosting service is the most widely spread kind of web hosting service. Hence, every web site hosting vendor offers it. Not all of them, though, offer solutions such as VPS web hosting servers, semi-dedicated servers and dedicated servers. Most of the small scale web site hosting companies do not have the resources needed for maintaining those solutions. For that reason it's invariably best to go with a larger web hosting company that can furnish its clients with all the services that they necessitate. You can effortlessly identify such companies by the kinds of solutions that they are making available and by the manner in which they present them to the customers. For instance, some hosts allow you to begin with a small sized web site hosting account and subsequently move to a more advanced one, if you consider it mandatory to do so. This is extremely convenient, because you do not have to move web pages between web hosting servers and there is no danger of facing network outages due to all the complications that may show up. Companies like Alpha-Omega Systems are offering all kinds of solutions and possess the necessary hosting server resources and staff to assure that their customers will not come across any complications when swapping services, which is what a top hosting company is actually all about.