A definition of web hosting

As its name implies, web hosting is a service, which involves hosting online content. There are various varieties and types of hosting, based on the mission and on the functions. In spite of that, they all involve hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible through the Web. A web host is in fact a hosting server that is connected to the Internet and has its very own IP address, which allows users to access it through the World Wide Web. The server's configuration and its limitations are determined by the sort of hosting service it's going to be utilized for.

What are the different forms of hosting?

Based on the mission, the professional hosting solution may be:

File Web Hosting - this form of hosting enables the users to stash their files on a specific hosting server. With the conventional file storage web hosting service, the files that are stored may only be accessed by the client that's utilizing the service. This web hosting service generally entails backups of personal computers , docs, personal files and even other hosting servers. This solution may also have given limits in terms of the disk space and the root privileges. There may also be traffic limits, but that depends on the particular web hosting service provider.

Warez Web Hosting - the so-called warez hosting solution is resembling the previous hosting service form. However, in contrast with the file web hosting service, the warez hosting solution is utilized for propagating copyrighted work without the sanction of the license holder. In short - it entails the illegitimate circulation of files and documents. There are lots of ways for this to be attained, but the 2 main ways are - through plain Hypertext Transfer Protocol downloading and through peer-to-peer connections. The first way entails either some site, or, most often, simply a directory on a web hosting server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thus download copyrighted content free of charge. The second way involves a peer-to-peer connection, utilizing the so-called Torrent servers, through which users exchange files between each other. There aren't many web space hosting providers that allow that form of web hosting on their hosting servers, mainly because of all the legal problems that it entails. Usually such web sites are hosted on personal dedicated hosting servers that are registered by 3rd party firms either in the Middle East or in Asia.

Mail Hosting - this solution is applicable with both shared hosting and dedicated hosting servers, depending on the client's desire. If you desire to establish your very own private SMTP e-mail server, then you will require either a VPS or a dedicated server that provides the level of access needed to carry out such an assignment. For normal electronic mail web hosting ends, however, you can utilize an ordinary shared web space hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain. This is not a service that's widely used, since the web hosting and the e-mail hosting services are being served by 2 different web servers, usually belonging to separate web hosts.

Web Site Hosting - the most famous and vastly used hosting service today. It's used for hosting website files, whose kind depends on the OS the web server is availing of - Linux or Windows. Different kinds of files require specific web server Operating Systems, otherwise they won't be exhibited properly on the World Wide Web. This sort of web hosting may contain data storage space and traffic limits, server root access and CPU usage limitations.

Based on the goals and on the usage, the user should choose the type of web server that he requires for his work, and, of course, the hosting corporation that's going to furnish it. There are different kinds of servers, based on the configuration and the hosting services that they offer. These are:

Shared Hosting Server - a shared web hosting server provides a smaller amount of resources, which, of course, is manifested in the price of the service. It can be used for hosting small scale and middle size online portals, which do not need immense quantities of disk space and bandwidth.

Semi-Dedicated Servers Hosting - they are based on the same principle as the shared webspace hosting servers. Nonetheless, there are much less clients sharing the same server. That is why, each of them will obtain a bigger share of the hosting server's resources like RAM, storage space, bandwidth and CPU. Ideal for hosting big web sites that do not require full root privileges.

VPS hosting - the virtual private web hosting servers are ideal for medium scale sites, which do demand root access to the web server's configuration files. Typically, there are several Virtual Private Server web hosting accounts placed on the same machine. Even so, each of them is autonomous from the others and has its own Operating System.

Dedicated Hosting - a fully dedicated machine set up and accessed by you and only you. It ensures an immense quantity of resources. It also includes root access, which makes it an ideal environment for any type of web portal that demands a webspace hosting solution.

The sole question that's left is:

Which web site hosting supplier should I select?

As mentioned above, there are not many web hosts providing warez web hosting solutions because of legal problems. Such hosting providers are being closed down practically every month. Therefore, if you wish to provide such a service, you should do it on your own PC. The shared web page hosting service is the most widely spread kind of hosting service. For that reason, every web space hosting firm provides it. Not all of them, however, offer solutions such as VPS hosting servers, semi-dedicated servers and dedicated servers. Most of the smaller webspace hosting distributors do not have the means required for maintaining those services. For that reason it's invariably best to settle on a larger web hosting company that can supply its customers with all the solutions that they seek. You can quickly identify such web hosts by the sorts of services that they are providing and by the manner in which they introduce them to the clients. For example, some hosting providers allow you to begin with a smaller site hosting package and subsequently shift to a more advanced one, if you deem it necessary to do so. This is quite suitable, because you do not need to move web sites between web hosting servers and there is no possibility of experiencing service outages due to all the predicaments that may show up. Hosting providers such as Incite Graphics provide all sorts of solutions and possess the required web server resources and staff to ensure that their customers will not suffer any complications when swapping services, which is what a top hosting vendor is actually all about.