Internet offers huge scope to present your business or website to the world. Therefore, it is wise to take complete advantage of this medium and exhibit the product endorsed by your brand. Internet cannot be accessed without any source. A bridge connects the business and the internet, which is known as the host. Hosting is available in various forms and can be availed as per your preferences. There are various companies that provide different hosting services with diversified functionalities and costs. Since the market is overflowing with various kinds of services, it is normal to get perplexed. The novice users as well expert developers find it tough to deal with the selection of the service. In this article, we will discuss the different hosting services available and the ways to figure out the finest one.
Role of a Hosting Service
Before learning the type of hosting services, it is important to understand its importance. Once you request for a website, it appears on your screen with interesting and engaging content. The content is jammed with images, videos, animations, and informative texts. It is basically a group of codes, supplied by the internet, which is converted to an understandable format by the browser. These codes are stored in various locations so it can be delivered quickly and provide the precise information. This is where the hosting plays its role.
Functionality of the Hosting Services
The files of a particular website are stored in a bigger computer, named server. The server allows numerous users to access it at the same time, without any lag. It is connected to the internet so the people can easily convert, download, access, and read those files. Technically, hosting service allows you to access the server, where you can store the files of the websites. Apart from the hardware access, the server management, website building, backup, malware scanning, etc. can also be availed.
Different Types of Hosting Services
There are various types of hosting services and it can be categorized based on the setting up of a server. They are as follows:
- Free Web Hosting
As the name suggests, it is a free service offered by a hosting platform. However, it doesn’t allow you to create a separate web page. It gives permission to create one or more pages on somebody else’s website. WordPress is a perfect example of this type of hosting service. When you create a web page on this site, it allows you to use the sub-domain under the main domain. This might come free of cost but the web page is splattered with advertisements.
- Shared Web Hosting
Are you looking to have your personal domain but in a cost-effective manner? Well, nothing can suit your need better than a shared web hosting. It works best for the websites that don’t have huge traffic and are designed for small businesses. After opting for this service, the website will be allowed to access a part of the server, which is also shared by other websites. With the server space, CPU, RAM, bandwidth, HDD space, etc. are also shared that limits the resources drastically. If a co-website receives a higher amount of traffic, the performance of the rest of the websites depletes remarkably. Therefore, if you have limited budget and visitors, then it can work wonders for your website. Otherwise, there are other competent options to choose from.
- Dedicated Server Hosting
It is one of the best options for the websites that receive huge traffic and backup big businesses. It ensures a dedicated server for your website, which allows you to access the entire server without sharing any resources. RAM, CPU, bandwidth, HDD space, etc. can be completely accessed by you without any lag. Even the resources can be customized to suit the needs of the website. The operating system of the server can be chosen as per your preference and demand. This can prove to be your best friend if you have demands of highly bespoke hardware requirements and acute data privacy.
- Virtual Private Server Hosting
Virtual Private Server or VPS hosting lies in between shared and dedicated web hosting services. It is preferred by most of the firms as it offers a balanced solution to the web hosting services. Though you need to share server space with other websites, the approach makes it feel like a dedicated server. It offers numerous virtual computers on the same server with dedicated RAM, CPU, bandwidth, and HDD space.
- Cloud Hosting
Cloud computing is the finest solution that offers the most efficient service to the sites. You can access cloud hosting without any limitation or boundaries. Cloud hosting amalgamates various servers and makes one huge virtual machine. This system is then segregated into multiple parts to be used by various web pages.
- Collocation Hosting
This hosting service allows you to buy your own server and rent space in the rack of a data center. This allows you to enjoy the bandwidth uniquely. It has similar functionalities of a dedicated server but with a secluded Hard Drive. The hardware upgradation, as well as the usage, can be monitored by you. The security of this service is also restricted and can be operated by you.
- Self-service Web Hosting
It is a form of web hosting that demands to be designed as per your requirement. Buying the servers, configuring and installing the software, ensuring backup, cooling the machine, etc. needs to be handled by you. Hence, you need to have separate staff to handle the space, hardware, and mini data center. The resources are limitless but need operating completely on your own.
Summary
Selecting an appropriate hosting service for your website might be a challenging job. Hence, it is necessary to consider the requirements and select the services that will be able to fulfill the same. As a novice, it is essential you go for the shared hosting service to grab a clear idea of the services offered. Then you can upgrade based on your requirements and necessities. The aforementioned points must be considered before investing in a service immediately.
i love the way you have described this
this article has improved my knowledge
Hiii nice one,
Keep going