A definition of hosting

As its name implies, web hosting is a service, which entails hosting online content. There are different forms and kinds of web hosting, depending on the aims and on the usage. Even so, they all entail hosting files, which, once hosted, are made accessible throughout the Internet. A host is in fact a hosting server that is connected to the Internet and has its very own IP address, which enables people to get access to it through the Web. The server's configuration and its limitations are subject to the kind of web hosting service it's going to be used for.

What are the different types of hosting?

Based on the application, the professional web hosting service may be:

File Hosting - this form of hosting enables the customers to stash their files on a given web server. With the customary file storage hosting service, the files that are stashed may only be accessed by the user that's availing of the service. This hosting solution mainly appertains to backups of computers , docs, private files and even other web hosting servers. This service may also include certain restrictions in terms of the storage space and the root-level access. There may also be traffic quota limitations, but that is dependent on the actual provider.

Warez Hosting - the so-called warez hosting solution is comparable with the previous hosting service form. However, in contrast with the file hosting solution, the warez hosting service is used for distributing patented materials without the blessing of the copyright holder. To cut a long story short - it pertains to the forbidden distribution of files and materials. There are many methods for this to be performed, but the two essential methods are - via simple HTTP downloading and via peer-to-peer connections. The first one entails either a specific website, or, most commonly, just a directory on a web hosting server that's been made available for everybody to access it and thus download licensed materials free of charge. The second method entails a P2P connection, utilizing the so-called Torrent web servers, through which people transfer files between each other. There aren't many hosting vendors that allow that form of hosting on their servers, mostly due to all the legal entanglements that it involves. Generally such web pages are hosted on personal dedicated web hosting servers that are registered by third-party enterprises either in the Middle East or in Asia.

Mail Hosting - this service is utilized with both shared web page hosting and dedicated web hosting servers, depending on the customer's wish. If you would like to have your own private SMTP mail server, then you will need either a private virtual web hosting server or a dedicated server that offers the level of access required to accomplish such an operation. For regular mail web hosting purposes, however, you can utilize a conventional shared web page hosting account, to which you can point the mail exchanger records of your domain name. This is not a service that's very famous, because the web hosting and the mail hosting services are being served by 2 different web servers, often owned by separate web hosting providers.

Website Hosting - the most widespread and broadly utilized hosting service at present. It's used for hosting web site files, whose sort depends on the OS the hosting server is making use of - Linux or Windows. Different kinds of files necessitate specific web server Operating Systems, otherwise they won't be exhibited properly on the World Wide Web. This type of hosting may have web space and traffic restrictions, root access and CPU usage limitations.

Based on the purpose and on the usage, the user should select the kind of web server that he demands for his project, and, of course, the site hosting company that's going to provide it. There are different sorts of web servers, depending on the specs and the web space hosting solutions that they provide. These are:

Shared Website Hosting Server - a shared web space hosting server offers a smaller quantity of system resources, which, of course, is manifested in the price of the service. It can be used for hosting small size and middle sized websites, which do not require considerable quantities of web space and web traffic.

Semi-Dedicated Servers - they perform on the same principle as the shared web space hosting servers. Yet, there are much less users sharing the same web hosting server. Hence, each of them will enjoy a greater quota of the hosting server's resources like RAM, storage space, web traffic and CPU. Excellent for hosting big websites that do not demand root access.

Virtual Servers - the virtual private hosting servers are excellent for middle scale web pages, which do need root-level access to the web server's config files. Normally, there are a number of VPS web hosting server accounts hosted on the same physical server. In spite of that, each of them is isolated from the other ones and runs its own OS.

Dedicated Server - a fully dedicated machine configured and accessed by you and solely you. It guarantees an enormous amount of resources. It also offers root-level access, which makes it the optimal solution for any type of online portal that requires a web space hosting solution.

The only question that's left is:

Which web site hosting supplier should I choose?

As mentioned above, there are just a few web hosting companies offering warez web hosting services due to legal entanglements. Such companies are being shut down practically every month. That is why, if you wish to establish such a service, you should do it on your very own personal computer. The shared web hosting service is the most widely spread type of web hosting service. Therefore, every site hosting provider offers it. Not all of them, though, offer services such as VPSs, semi-dedicated servers and dedicated web servers. Most of the small sized web site hosting distributors do not have the resources required for maintaining those solutions. Therefore it's invariably best to select a bigger host that can furnish its clients with all the services that they necessitate. You can effortlessly recognize such companies by the sorts of solutions that they are making available and by the way that they introduce them to the clients. For example, certain web hosts permit you to kick off with a small sized web site hosting account and afterwards move to a more powerful one, if you consider it compulsory to do so. This is quite convenient, since you do not need to transfer sites between hosting servers and there is no risk of facing outages due to all the complications that may appear. Web hosting companies such as Nils offer all kinds of services and possess the necessary web hosting server resources and staff to assure that their customers will not encounter any troubles when changing services, which is what a top hosting distributor is in fact all about.