Web Hosting Basics

Hosting is a service where a computer that is configured as an internet server offers a part or all of its resources to use in exchange for a fixed fee. Thanks to this service, one or more users can use the information, services or contents that are located on this server using another computer named client. The client uses the Internet to connect to the server and view its contents.

A web hosting service is a type of internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their website accessible via the World Wide Web (WWW). Many web hosting companies provide space on a server they own or lease into a data center for use by their customers.

What kind of hosting services do we know?

Email Hosting: This is a type of specialized hosting offering email services. This type of hosting is usually offered together with web hosting or at least with a domain and creates one or more email addresses. Customers of the service may obtain e-mail inboxes of large dimensions and the ability to send lots of email every day.

Shared Hosting: This is the most popular form of web hosting. It's called shared (static), because many websites are stored and share the resources of a single physical server. The accounts are managed entirely by users through a control panel which also gives beginners a quick access and full control of your hosting. Shared hosting is suitable for small/medium websites.

Semi-dedicated Hosting: This is a type of hosting service that is much closer to the shared that is dedicated. The server is configured to host-less website on a shared hosting service, providing more resources in terms of memory, CPU, disk space and bandwidth. Shared hosting accounts are managed entirely by users via a control panel. Semi dedicated hosting is suitable for small/medium websites.

Dedicated Hosting: Unlike shared hosting, dedicated hosting server resources are not shared with other users. The user has full control of the server; the settings of the system can be optimized to suit your needs, fully exploiting the hardware resources. The most commonly installed operating systems are Linux, BSD and Windows. This type of hosting is intended for sites that generate a substantial load on the hardware, unthinkable for resources offering shared hosting. Dedicated hosting is suitable for medium/high web sites, from 20000 visits per day and up.

Dedicated hosting can be:
Full managed (fully managed): Includes monitoring, software update, reboots, security and operating system upgrades. The user shall not perform any function.

Managed (operated): Includes a medium level of management, monitoring, software updates, and a limited amount of support. The user can perform specific tasks.
Self-Managed (self-managed): Includes a control and maintenance. You do provide most operations and activities on the server.

Unmanaged (unmanaged): Few or no involvement by the supplier of the services. The user provides all maintenance, updates, and security patches.

Virtual Server (VPS) is halfway between a shared and a dedicated hosting. In this case, a physical server is divided into several independent virtual servers. In practice, each virtual server can be regarded as a dedicated one, because an operating system is installed on it depending on the needs of the user and therefore the user exploits the resources assigned to it. The most used virtualization softwares are VMware, VPS, User-Linux, Virtuozzo and others. A dedicated VPS can either be managed or unmanaged. Virtual private servers are suitable for medium/high web sites.

Cloud Server: A dynamic, VPS can be changed during execution. Simply a cloud server compared to a VPS is that additional hardware resources can be added at runtime (CPU, RAM), or in some cases, the server can be moved to another hardware, while the server is running (automatically according to the load). The Cloud servers are suitable for medium/high web sites.

What is a domain name? A domain name is a sequence of letters and numbers that determine the address of the web site (www. yoursite.UK). You need to register a domain name and hosting space, and associate the domain name with the hosting nameservers before the web site can become accessible.