A definition of web space hosting

As its name hints, web hosting is a service, which involves hosting online content. There are various forms and types of hosting, depending on the goals and on the functions. Nevertheless, they all refer to hosting files, which, once hosted, are made available throughout the Internet. A web host is actually a hosting server that is connected to the Web and has its own IP address, which enables users to gain access to it through the Internet. The server's architecture and its system resources are subject to the kind of hosting service it's going to be used for.

What are the various types of web hosting?

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

File Web Hosting - this type of web hosting enables the customers to stash their files on a certain web server. With the standard file storage web hosting service, the files that are stored may only be accessed by the individual that's availing of the service. This hosting service typically concerns backups of computers , docs, private files and even other web hosting servers. This solution may also contain given limits in relation to the web storage and the root-level access. There may also be web traffic quota limitations, but that depends on the given hosting provider.

Warez Hosting - the so-called warez web hosting service is quite similar to the previous web hosting service type. Nevertheless, unlike the file web hosting service, the warez web hosting solution is used for propagating licensed content without being okayed by the copyright bearer. To put it briefly - it is connected with the illegal circulation of files and documents. There are numerous ways for this to be achieved, but the 2 principal approaches are - through plain HTTP downloading and through P2P connections. The first way entails either a particular website, or, most often, simply a directory on a web hosting server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thus download licensed files for free. The second approach involves a P2P connection, availing of the so-called Torrent web servers, through which users share files between each other. There aren't many hosting corporations that permit such form of hosting on their web hosting servers, chiefly because of all the judicial predicaments that it involves. Commonly such web portals are hosted on personal dedicated servers that are registered by 3rd party companies either in the Middle East or in Asia.

Electronic Mail Web Hosting - this service is utilized with both shared web hosting and dedicated web hosting servers, based on the client's wish. If you would like to build your own personal SMTP e-mail server, then you will need either a virtual private hosting server or a dedicated server that provides the access level required to execute such a task. For regular e-mail hosting purposes, though, you can avail of a regular shared hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain. This is not a service that's widely popular, since the web site hosting and the email hosting services are being served by 2 separate web servers, often belonging to separate providers.

Website Hosting - the most famous and largely utilized hosting service at present. It's utilized for hosting site files, whose sort is determined by the Operating System the web server is running - Linux or Windows. Different types of files demand specific web hosting server OSs, or else they won't be displayed correctly on the World Wide Web. This form of web hosting may involve web storage and traffic restrictions, root-level access and central processing unit usage limitations.

Depending on the aims and on the usage, the client should select the sort of server that he requires for his work, and, of course, the website hosting supplier that's going to supply it. There are several types of hosting servers, based on the specs and the website hosting services that they provide. These are:

Shared Hosting Server - a shared web site 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 size and medium sized online portals, which do not demand considerable amounts of data space and web traffic.

Semi-Dedicated Servers Hosting - they are based on the same principle as the shared web site hosting servers. Even so, there are much fewer clients accommodated on the same web hosting server. Because of that, each of them will get a larger share of the server's resources like RAM, disk storage space, traffic and CPU. Perfect for hosting big websites that do not demand full server root privileges.

VPS hosting - the private virtual servers are excellent for medium scale online portals, which do need root-level access to the server's config files. Traditionally, there are a bunch of virtual web server hosting accounts accommodated on the same physical server. In spite of that, each of them is isolated from the other ones and has its own Operating System.

Dedicated Server Hosting - a completely dedicated web server configured and accessed by you and only you. It guarantees a large quantity of resources. It also includes full root-level access, which makes it an excellent platform for any sort of site that demands a webspace hosting service.

The only question that remains is:

Which website hosting supplier should I select?

As mentioned above, there are just a few providers providing warez hosting services because of judicial complications. Such web hosts are being closed down almost every month. That is why, if you would like to create such a service, you should do it on your own personal computer. The shared web site hosting solution is the most popular kind of hosting service. Because of that, each web space hosting vendor provides it. Not all of them, however, offer services such as virtual servers, semi-dedicated hosting servers and dedicated web servers. Most of the small scale hosting suppliers do not have the means required for offering those services. Therefore it's invariably best to select a larger web host that can supply its customers with all the services that they are searching for. You can easily identify such hosting companies by the sorts of solutions that they are supplying and by the way that they introduce them to the customers. For example, certain companies allow you to start with a low-end webspace hosting package and then move to a more powerful one, if you deem it obligatory to do so. This is very suitable, since you do not need to migrate websites between web servers and there is no chance of suffering service disturbances because of all the problems that may occur. Hosting companies like Heartland Web Hosting offer all kinds of solutions and possess the necessary web server resources and staff to ensure that their clients will not chance upon any hassles when changing services, which is what a top hosting company is in fact all about.