Hosting is a service whereby one computer configured as an Internet server
offers a part of, or its whole resources, for use in exchange for a
certain rental fee. Thanks to this service, one or more users can use
information, services or content located on this server using another
computer called client.
The client uses the Internet to connect with the server and displays the
desired content to the user.
What kinds of hosting services are we aware of?
Depending on the type of resources offered by an Internet server,there are various kinds of hosting services, the most popular and widely
used of them being:
Web Hosting
Web hosting is the most widespread hosting service. It allows your
website to be assessable on the Internet 24 hours a day, 365 days a
year. The website itself is being hosted on a web server most often
located in a specialized data center. The web server offers
uninterrupted Internet connectivity, a certain set of software packages,
which offer additional services such as e-mail, ftp, databases, as well
as an environment for utilizing different programming languages such
as: perl, php, java, xhtml, html and others.
File Hosting
File hosting is close to web hosting. The difference is that the
server stores files, not websites and web applications. Some of the
advantages of file hosting are the safe storage of information and its
accessibility across the Internet all the computers with adequate
transfer speed can take advantage of. It is most often used for storing
and archiving large chunks of data so that they are accessible from
different parts of the world. Big corporations consisting of many
branches often resort to file hosting, for example.
Image Hosting
Image hosting is a specialized file hosting service whereby only
image files are being stored on the server. This allows for easy and
unrestricted sharing of images, graphics and other materials, which can
be conveniently used for example on various online forums, ecommerce
platforms, etc, which usually disallow the uploading of images and
photos of very large size and resolution for the purpose of decreasing
bandwidth.
E-Mail Hosting
E-mail hosting is a type of hosting specialized in offering
electronic mail services. This type of hosting is usually offered
together with web hosting or at least with domain hosting, and allows
for the creation of an e-mail address of the mail@domain.com type. The
clients of the e-mail hosting service also get large size mailboxes and
the possibility to send many e-mails every day. Most e-mail service
providers offer access to the mailbox not only via a web interface, but
also via POP3 and IMAP protocols, which renders the service accessible
via both a web browser and specialized e-mail client software.
Of course, the types of hosting depending on the offered services do not
end with the abovementioned; database hosting, domain hosting, etc. are
encountered as well.
Depending on the quantity of the server resources your website is
allowed to use, and how many user accounts a given server hosts, hosting
can be divided into:
- Shared web hosting
Shared hosting is the most popular form of web hosting. It is called
"shared" because many different web applications (most often websites)
are stored on one single physical server and thus share its resources. A
separate account with specific parameters (disk space, traffic, number
of databases, etc) and a web-based account administration control panel
is assigned to each user. The account is administered entirely by the
user via a web-based interface control panel, which gives even the
beginners quick access and full control over their accounts. Because of
the very nature of the shared web hosting service, it is suitable for
smaller and not too heavily loaded websites.
- Semi-dedicated hosting
Semi-dedicated hosting is a type of hosting service, which is closer to
"shared" than is to "dedicated" hosting, whereby the server is
configured so as to host less but more heavily loaded websites in terms
of bandwidth. As with the shared hosting service, the users too have
separate accounts but their parameters are many times larger than those
offered by the shared hosting service.
- Dedicated hosting
In contrast to shared hosting, dedicated hosting implies that clients'
applications do not share the server's resources with other users'
applications. Besides, the server uses the entire available bandwidth
for purposes of its own. Thus, a given application uses the entire
hardware resources of the server on which it is located, the system
settings are wholly consistent with and optimized according to its
needs, and last but not least - the user has full control over the
server. The most commonly installed operation systems are Linux, FreeBSD
and Windows. This type of hosting is intended for websites and web
applications, which generate substantial hardware load, unthinkable for
the resources that shared hosting offers. Dedicated hosting is usually
recommended as a solution for sites that register more than 15000 visits
a day, for big online shops and portals, popular online games, etc.
- Virtual server
Virtual server is a notion, which stands somewhere between "shared" and
"dedicated" hosting. Here, one physical server is divided into several
independent virtual servers. Essentially, each such virtual server can
be looked upon as being "dedicated", because a separate operation system
is being installed on it according to the user's needs, which takes up
the applications of one given client only. The most commonly used pieces
of server virtualization software are VMware, FreeVPS, User-mode Linux,
Virtuozzo, etc. The settings of the server are optimized to work with
each of them and the resources it can use are much more than those
offered by shared hosting. Recommended for websites and applications,
which require specific operation system settings, and which generate
substantial server load.
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