A definition of site hosting

As its name implies, web hosting is a solution, which involves hosting web content. There are various varieties and types of web hosting, based on the goals and on the functions. In spite of that, they all are related to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made available through the Internet. A host is in fact a hosting server that is connected to the Internet and has its own personal Internet Protocol address, which enables people to gain access to it via the Internet. The web hosting server's configuration and its system resources are determined by the sort of hosting solution it will be utilized for.

What are the different forms of web hosting?

Depending on the purpose, the hosting solution may be:

File Storage Web Hosting - this type of hosting allows the clients to host their files on a certain hosting server. With the standard file storage hosting service, the files that are accommodated may only be accessed by the client that's using the service. This hosting solution generally appertains to backups of computers , docs, private files and even other servers. This solution may also impose given restrictions in relation to the server space and the root access. There may also be bandwidth limits, but that depends on the given host.

Warez Web Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting service is very similar to the previous web hosting service form. Nonetheless, unlike the file storage hosting solution, the warez web hosting solution is used for circulating proprietary materials without being okayed by the license holder. To cut a long story short - it is related to the illegal distribution of files and materials. There are lots of approaches for this to be accomplished, but the two main approaches are - through plain Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and via P2P connections. The first method entails either a certain web site, or, most often, simply a directory on a hosting server that's been made available for everyone to access it and thereby download patented documents free of cost. The second method involves a P2P connection, making use of the so-called Torrent servers, via which people swap files between each other. There are a few hosting suppliers that permit that form of web hosting on their servers, mostly owing to all the judicial complications that it involves. Generally such web portals are hosted on private dedicated web hosting servers that are registered by third-party firms either in the Middle East or in Asia.

Electronic Mail Web Hosting - this service is applicable with both shared website hosting and dedicated web servers, depending on the customer's wish. If you desire to build your very own private SMTP server, then you will require either a private virtual hosting server or a dedicated server that offers the access level needed to carry out such an operation. For customary e-mail hosting ends, however, you can use a normal shared webspace hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain name. This is not a solution that's widely popular, since the website hosting and the email hosting services are being served by 2 different web servers, often belonging to separate providers.

Website Hosting - the most widely spread and frequently used hosting service as of now. It's used for hosting web site files, whose sort depends on the OS the web server is using - Linux or Windows. Different kinds of files necessitate different server OSs, or else they won't be exhibited properly on the Internet. This type of hosting may include disk space and traffic limitations, root-level access and CPU usage limitations.

Based on the aims and on the functions, the user should select the kind of web server that he requires for his project, and, of course, the web site hosting provider that's going to provide it. There are several types of web hosting servers, depending on the specs and the web space hosting solutions that they offer. These are:

Shared Web Hosting Server - a shared web hosting server offers a smaller quantity of resources, which, of course, is reflected on the price of the service. It can be used for hosting small size and middle sized websites, which do not demand enormous quantities of storage space and traffic.

Semi-Dedicated Servers Hosting - they are based on the same principle as the shared site hosting servers. Yet, there are much fewer customers hosted on the same server. Because of that, each of them will get a bigger quota of the hosting server's resources like RAM, data storage space, traffic and CPU. Excellent for hosting big websites that do not need root access.

VPS hosting - the virtual web hosting servers are perfect for medium sized sites, which do demand root-level access to the server's config files. Typically, there are several VPS web server accounts located on the same physical server. Even so, each of them is isolated from the other ones and has its own Operating System.

Dedicated Servers Hosting - a fully dedicated machine set up and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a big quantity of resources. It also gives complete server root access, which makes it an excellent platform for any type of site that needs a website hosting solution.

The only question that's left is:

Which web site hosting company should I settle on?

As already mentioned, there are not many hosts providing warez web hosting solutions because of judicial problems. Such hosts are being closed down practically every month. That is why, if you wish to start such a service, you should do it on your own PC. The shared webspace hosting service is the most famous type of hosting service. For that reason, every website hosting distributor offers it. Not all of them, though, provide solutions such as VPS servers, semi-dedicated web servers and dedicated web servers. Most of the small scale web space hosting suppliers do not have the resources needed for maintaining those solutions. Hence it's always best to choose a bigger hosting company that can furnish its customers with all the solutions that they necessitate. You can easily recognize such web hosting companies by the kinds of services that they are making available and by the way that they present them to the clients. For example, some web hosting companies permit you to commence with a small sized hosting package and afterwards move to a bigger one, if you deem it necessary to do so. This is very convenient, because you do not have to move web pages between servers and there is no risk of experiencing service downtime due to all the complications that may occur. Companies such as Heart Beat Hosting provide all kinds of solutions and have the necessary web server resources and staff to guarantee that their clients will not suffer any predicaments when changing services, which is what a top hosting provider is in fact all about.