Web Hosting Services Review
An independent review of Web hosting services aimed at helping consumers understand and appreciate the range of available options before deciding upon the best solution.
Definition
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Purpose
Individuals and organizations require Web hosting services for a range of purposes beyond the storage and serving of simple HTML Web pages. Examples include:
- File serving - images (photos, pictures and graphics); video (including live web cams) and music (mp3 files for example).
- Dynamic websites and web based applications – for a blog, forum, ecommerce shopping cart or content management system (CMS).
- Dedicated servers – functioning as game, email, DNS, FTP or database servers.
As a result intended use can often dictate aspects of a consumer’s hosting requirements such as the operating system or environment (Linux, Windows, Coldfusion or J2EE for example) and the programming or scripting languages that should be installed on the server (e.g. PHP, ASP, Perl, Python or Java).
Availability
Web hosting services are available through commercial Web hosting companies (often referred to as a Web host). Both free and paid-for solutions are widely advertised on the WWW but a range of commercial solutions can also be found within the classified sections of topical Internet and computer magazines available at book stores and news stands.
Types of Web Hosting Service
Web hosting services can largely be divided into four categories: shared, dedicated, colocation and managed.
Caveat: For the purposes of this text, Clustered or distributed architectures (such as Cloud and Grid) are viewed as features of the four categories of service discussed below rather than as services in their own right, even though it is possible to find examples of them being marketed as such.
Shared Web Hosting
As the name implies, servers and their resources (RAM, CPU, disk space, Internet connection etc.) are shared by multiple websites.
- Free web hosting services tend to offer limited functionality and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) when compared to paid alternatives.
- A Virtual Dedicated Server also known as a Virtual Private Server (VPS) is a hosting environment in which a dedicated amount of server resources is allocated to each of its websites (though not necessarily in equal proportions).
While a VPS remains a shared environment, solutions may provide users with increased access and flexibility to configure their "virtual server" by providing options such as root access. Additional customisation options however are often accompanied by user responsibility for server software updates and maintenance.
Dedicated Hosting Service
A Web server (provided by a Web host) and all of its resources are dedicated to the provision of services to a single individual or organization. The user can host a single website on the server or multiple websites under their control.
Typical use cases include Web design companies who provide hosting for their clients and hosting resellers who effectively rent a server for the purpose of offering hosting services.
This option offers full administrative access to the server for installation of programs and custom configuration. Users may be responsible for server security, backups and maintenance depending on the level of Web host support or SLA subscribed to.
Colocation Hosting
A colocation Web hosting service is similar to the dedicated type described above, except the server is owned by the user.
The colocation provider undertakes the provision of electrical connectivity, Internet access and physical storage space for the server, often in a server rack of a data center and ensures its physical security. Generally there is little to no direct support for client machines on offer and it is expected that clients will have their own server administrators visit the data center to perform hardware upgrades and changes.
Managed Web Hosting Service
A managed Web hosting service is similar to dedicated Web hosting in that users do not own their own server. Administrative control (also known as root access for Linux systems) is disallowed so that the provider can guarantee quality of service by controlling server modifications and configuration and thereby eliminating potential problems.
Reseller Hosting Services
Reseller hosting is typically a service designed for website designers, Web hosting resellers (or Internet entrepreneurs) and Web developers providing them with the ability to host multiple websites.
The reseller pays a monthly or annual fee to a service provider, analogous to a wholesale rate and is then able to resell Web hosting services (as described above) at a profit to third parties. However, this type of service is also an attractive option for individuals and organizations who need to host multiple websites. It enables them to do so at reduced rates.
