The simplest definition of the term web hosting would be accommodation of a particular website on the global network. Accordingly, the term web host would be defined as the host of a particular web site on the Internet.
In practice, web hosting is sold by companies specialized in web hosting where customers can rent a certain space on the Internet server or, in accordance with their needs, the entire Internet server. Also, there are numerous web hosting packages on the market that are adapted to the needs of clients, that is, the services they need to use a particular website.
Term Internet or web server is defined as a computer that has a continuous connection to the global Internet network (World Wide Web).
Internet Service Provider (ISP) is a company that specializes in providing services to connect user’s websites to the Internet and providing them with all the necessary additional services. Today, it is possible to access the Internet in many ways (via modems, ADSL or cable), and Internet Service Providers provide users with a number of additional services, such as domain registration, email service, website hosting and many others.
Types of web hosting
Among the types of web hosting services available to clients, certainly, the most commonly used is free web hosting. This type of hosting has limited possibilities, and very often there are sponsored advertisements on such websites, so is mostly used for websites whose primary purpose is entertainment.
If a client leases only part of the space on a particular server, then we are talking about the so-called shared web hosting. Depending on the space on the server, the size of the website, sometimes there are hundreds of different websites on a particular server. However, this type of web hosting has a lot of disadvantages, because the capabilities of the clients are very limited, and often happens that the "server fails" due to so many different contents on it. Shared web hosting is most often used by companies that deal with further reselling of web hosting, so they rent more space on a particular disk in order to share it, that is, further resell space to their clients.
This leads us to the next type of web hosting, the so-called web hosting with resellers. In this case, clients are practically web hosts, and this type of web hosting is the best choice for individual web domains. In most cases, web hosting providers provide technical support to their leasees or customers.
VPS (Virtual Private Server) means that one server is divided into multiple virtual servers in accordance with the needs of clients, which in this case are usually solely responsible for maintaining the server itself.
The best variation for users who have the need for independent access to the server is dedicated web hosting. In this case, the user is in charge of the security and maintenance of a particular server, however, it is not in his possession, but has the so-called root access for Linux or administrator access for Windows.
If a user leases his server, but does not have the ability to access it as with dedicated web hosting, and only has the ability to manage his files, then we are talking about managed web hosting. In this case, the server is only leased to the client, while the ISP performs all necessary changes to guarantee the quality and permanence of the server that is rented to the user.
One of the best, and also one of the most expensive web hosting is the so-called collocation web hosting, which is very similar to dedicated one. In this case, the hosting company is in charge of providing all the necessary details in order for the server to function impeccably, such as electricity, server space, and uninterrupted Internet connection, while the user is responsible for everything else regarding the maintenance of his website.
Cloud web hosting is one of the newest types of hosting, and it is based on grouped servers, so it is considered that a particular website that uses Cloud web hosting has a much higher degree of reliability than with other types of web hosting, because if it comes to a failure, thanks to the basic features of the Cloud system, the website continues to function smoothly. The reason for the smooth functioning lies in the fact that Cloud web hosting is not centralized. In addition, the price of this type of web hosting is even more beneficial as the user pays only used resources, unlike most other types of web hosting where the monthly or annual lease is paid, which is pre-determined. And in the event that the amount of data that is paid is spent, the user is obliged to pay additionally, in most cases at a higher price.
When the content of a particular website is located on multiple servers, then we are talking about grouped web hosting. If, however, grouped servers are connected to a network, which is made up of a number of so-called nodes, then it is network web hosting. In addition to these, there is also a so-called home server, which is least frequently used.
What is needed to get web hosting? In order for a client to use web hosting, it is necessary to find a suitable Internet service provider that can meet his needs. Most internet providers offer customers web hosting within the basic Internet access package. In addition, keep in mind that most web hosting companies offer hosting for the Linux operating system, although there is a possibility of web hosting for Microsoft. That is why it is very important, before making the final decision about the choice of web hosting, that the client knows exactly what he expects from his website and what additional services he needs to use because the type of web hosting he needs will depend on this.