What are the different types of web hosting?
Depending on the mission, the website hosting service may be:
File Storage Hosting - this form of web hosting enables the clients to accommodate their files on a specific hosting server. With the regular file web hosting service, the files that are deposited may only be accessed by the client that's using the service. This hosting solution typically is associated with backups of PCs , docs, personal files and even other web servers. This solution may also have given limitations in terms of the web space and the root privileges. There may also be web traffic restrictions, but that is dependent on the given web hosting service provider.
Warez Web Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting service is very similar to the previous hosting service form. Nevertheless, in contrast with the file web hosting service, the warez hosting service is used for disseminating licensed work without being given the green light by the license owner. To cut a long story short - it is associated with the illicit propagation of files and documents. There are lots of approaches for this to be realized, but the two main methods are - via simple HTTP downloading and through peer-to-peer connections. The first approach entails either a specific web portal, or, most often, just a directory on a web hosting server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thereby download copyrighted files for free. The second way involves a peer-to-peer connection, using the so-called Torrent servers, through which people swap files between each other. There are not many web hosting providers that allow such type of hosting on their web servers, mostly due to all the judicial troubles that it entails. Typically such web sites are hosted on private dedicated web servers that are registered by third-party firms either in the Middle East or in Asia.
Mail Hosting - this service is used with both shared site hosting and dedicated web hosting, depending on the user's intention. If you want to set up your own private SMTP electronic mail server, then you will need either a VPS web server or a dedicated web hosting server that provides the access level required to accomplish such an operation. For traditional mail web hosting purposes, though, you can set up a normal shared site hosting account, to which you can point the MX records of your domain name. This is not a service that's very used, since the web page hosting and the mail hosting services are being served by two different web servers, often owned by different hosts.
Web Page Hosting - the most widely spread and universally utilized web hosting service at present. It's utilized for hosting web site files, whose type is dependent on the OS the hosting server is making use of - Linux or Windows. Different types of files request concrete web server Operating Systems, or else they won't be shown appropriately on the World Wide Web. This type of web hosting may involve web space and traffic restrictions, server root access and central processing unit usage restrictions.
Based on the purpose and on the functions, the client should choose the type of web hosting server that he requires for his project, and, of course, the hosting distributor that's going to provide it. There are various types of servers, based on the configuration and the web space hosting solutions that they provide. These are:
Shared Hosting Servers - a shared hosting server offers a smaller quantity of resources, which, of course, is manifested in the cost of the service. It can be used for hosting small sized and middle scale web portals, which do not demand big amounts of web storage and traffic.
Semi-dedicated Servers - they work on the very same principle as the shared web servers. Even so, there are much fewer users sharing the same web hosting server. Because of that, each of them will get a larger quota of the web server's resources like RAM, storage space, bandwidth and CPU. Perfect for hosting enormous sites that do not demand full root privileges.
Virtual Private Servers - the private virtual web servers are perfect for medium size online portals, which do need root access to the server's configuration files. Typically, there are a few Virtual Private Server hosting accounts located on the same physical machine. Still, each of them is autonomous from the other ones and has its own OS.
Dedicated Servers - a completely dedicated web hosting server configured and accessed by you and only you. It ensures a vast amount of resources. It also includes root privileges, which renders it an excellent platform for any type of website that needs a web site hosting service.
The only question that remains is:
Which site hosting company should I settle on?
As stated above, there are very few hosting companies offering warez web hosting services because of legal entanglements. Such providers are being shut down almost every month. For that reason, if you desire to start such a service, you should do it on your very own PC. The shared site hosting service is the most widely spread type of web hosting service. That is why, every web space hosting supplier offers it. Not all of them, though, offer solutions such as virtual private web servers, semi-dedicated hosting servers and dedicated web servers. Most of the small sized website hosting companies do not have the resources needed for offering those services. Therefore it's always best to opt for a larger web hosting company that can provide its clients with all the solutions that they want. You can quickly recognize such web hosting companies by the types of solutions that they are supplying and by the manner in which they present them to the clients. For instance, some web hosts permit you to start with a small scale site hosting account and then move to a more advanced one, if you consider it compulsory to do so. This is extremely suitable, because you do not need to relocate sites between servers and there is no chance of facing service disturbances due to all the problems that may arise. Web hosts like 'FreeHostia.com' provide all sorts of services and have the necessary hosting server resources and personnel to assure that their customers will not stumble upon any hassles when changing services, which is what a top web hosting supplier is actually all about.