Web Hosting
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One would agree that Internet has turned out to be one of the most powerful medium of information exchange available today. This virtual world is composed of millions of websites which act as the source of information on all aspects of human life. The tons of data you see spread across the web needs to be to stored some where. Computer specialists save this information on computer hard disks and then link it to internet so that it can be accessed from any location in the world. This "computer" is usually referred to as a "web server" and data stored on it is known as being "hosted" hence the term Web Hosting. These web servers are placed in special locations called the "data centers". Many technological companies own and operate data centers and a few let other commercial Web Hosting companies use their facility by charging them a colocation fee.
Technology has progressed a lot which has resulted in the creation of extremely powerful computers that can handle a lot more data per second than they would have done 10 years ago. Web servers are specially designed computers that have the ability to run 24 hours a day non stop for years at a time as long as the necessary cooling environment is provided to it. Both Intel and AMD produce highly sophisticated server chips aimed at heavy processing of data.
Since this article is particularly focusing on commercial Web Hosting, we would like to bring your attention to the types of Web Hosting services available in the market today. Every website needs to be hosted on a web server before it can be viewed in the browser. There you go....the concept is pretty simple to understand. Luckily attaining Web Hosting for your domain name (yourwebsite.com) is not very difficult. There are virtually thousands if not millions of Web Hosting companies in the United States alone. Due to the enormous competition the price of getting your website hosted comes cheaper than buying a cup of coffee in a fancy cafe. This goes both with and against the Web Hosting customer's interest. The positive aspect is that you do not have to spend hundreds of dollars every month just to keep your website alive on the Internet as one can get relatively get it done for as little as $2 per month or in cases even cheaper. The negative aspect is that this low price comes with a higher price. That price is paid in the form of slow loading websites caused due to massive overselling by many Web Hosts who want to break even on their costs by hosting as many websites as possible on one single machine. It also means that Web Hosts end up having less resources to hire experienced system administrators to run their infrastructure. This results is slow response times by the staff as they are over loaded with work.
United States is the only remaining super power in the world and it comes with its perks. Right now it is the only country in the world with the maximum number of reliable Web Hosting companies. The vast well built technological infrastructure make the data transfer ( bandwidth ) prices extremely affordable and hence provides a safe heaven for Web Hosting companies to flourish. The following chart should give you a basic idea on the percentage control United States has on this market.
Commercial Web Hosting as it is available to customers now days can be divided into various classes according to the individual needs. The main branches can be listed as
As the term suggests, this type of web hosting is shared amongst various clients on the same machine. The concept of shared web hosting is not new and this market has turned out to be the strongest in the sector. Nearly all Web Hosting companies in business today provide shared web hosting solutions to their clients. It is relatively cheaper solution for those that have start up websites or the ones that do not require too many resources. You can read more about Shared Web Hosting in a special article we have created for you.
Most of the times clients have more than one website to host or professional web masters need a better solution to manage websites for their clients. Since not all web masters are born Linux system admins (most are not), they have to rely on the expertise of the Web Hosting companies and hence look for hosting packages which they can use to host multiple websites for their clients. Many reseller web hosts act behind the scenes and provide a white label solution which means that if things are done right, you as reseller web host can keep providing your clients with the solutions they require without them ever knowing that you are the not the real player. There is no harm in being a Reseller Web Host, instead a vast majority of Web Hosting companies in operation today are actually resellers. You can read more about Reseller Web Hosting Business in a special article we have created for you. As always learn and pass on the knowledge. :)
This technology was introduced just a few years back and simply put, a Virtual Private Server also known as a VPS, basically divides one single server into multiple web servers through a concept known as "Virtualization". Every slot on a VPS server acts like complete independent Web Server with its own CPU, RAM, HDD specifications. What is good about this is that a problem on one part of the web server does not make any impact on the other unlike a shared server where an unfortunate server killing process can bring every thing down. It is slightly more expensive than Shared or Reseller Hosting and usually a good choice for clients that want power and security but do not have the budget for a full blown dedicated server. Remember VPS also has its limits so if you have a popular website that attracts millions of visitors per month, go for a dedicated server and not a VPS. You can read more about VPS Hosting in a special article we have created for you. Good luck.
It is the final stop for all successful web properties when it comes to hosting them on the Internet. Dedicated Web Hosting simply states that you would be given a complete web server dedicated to your web site. You have the ability to fully utilize the total CPU or RAM resources on it. The tricky bit is managing these boxes but fortunately many Web Hosting companies provide Managed Dedicated Server Solutions now days either free or as a paid service. Bigger web sites on the Internet require more than one dedicated server to host its requirements and spread their needs across multiple servers also known as Clustering and usually such an arrangement makes up web server farms. You can read more about Dedicated Server Web Hosting in a special article we have created for you.
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