Web Hosting
As I have already explained the details I have coded a website. How do I host it?, however, web hosting is the service that makes your website available to be viewed by others on the Internet. A web host provides space on its server so that other computers around the world can access your website by means of a network or modem. There are literally thousands of web hosting services available today, ranging from free services with limited options to expensive, specialized business web hosting services. Which option you choose depends primarily on how you plan to use your website and how much you want to spend.
A Web host can have anywhere from one to several thousand computers that run Web hosting software, such as Apache, OS X Server, or Windows Server. Most websites you see on the Web are accessed from a “shared host,” which is a single computer that can host several hundred Web sites. Larger websites often use a “dedicated host,” which is a single machine that hosts only one website. Sites with extremely high amounts of traffic, such as apple.com or microsoft.com, use several computers to host one site.
Classification of Web Hosting
On the basis of Operating system — It Matters
- Linux Web Hosting: Linux is extremely convenient. That’s one of the main reasons why this OS is the most popular server solution. The convenience of Linux servers has three key components: MySQL, PHP, and price. As we’ve already said, you can run both PHP and MySQL on Windows servers, too. However, these two formats work best when working together. Such a combination, in turn, works on Linux particularly well. The reason for this is obvious — Linux was originally used for PHP and MySQL, so the whole system of this OS is tailored to these two formats. However, you must know that PHP will also work with several other database formats, such as Oracle, PostgreSQL, Sybase, Solid, etc.
- Windows Web Hosting: If your websites work with ASP.NET, you’ll have to opt for a Windows-powered server. ASP.NET is similar to HTML and PHP, but it uses a different request processing scheme. You will also be happy to know that ASP.NET also works with different database types. While it’s a common belief that the ASP.NET algorithm helps Windows servers to work with big databases faster, you will, in fact, hardly find any data to support that idea. You will also find many articles saying that Windows is less secure than Linux. This is also a myth. Linux also has a lot of security issues, and very often it depends on the rack and its support.
On the basis of Resources — Measurement is important
- Shared Web Hosting: An inexpensive web hosting setup where different parties share one Web server to securely host their own websites on a server maintained by a hosting company. Shared hosting means you share the server resources with others. You have complete access to your account and only your account and a set amount of resources and features. Here resources mean RAM, CPU, IP, Hard Disk.
- Reseller Web Hosting: Reseller hosting is an agreement between the client and the host. The client purchases the host’s services at a wholesale price then resells the bandwidth and server space to customers. Reseller hosting is a Web hosting business model in which a Web hosting provider allows some or all of their Web hosting services to be sold by an individual or third-party organization. Reseller hosting enables an organization to act as a Web hosting provider without the need to build, operate, and manage a Web hosting infrastructure.
- Cloud Web Hosting: Hosting services that are provided to customers via multiple connected servers that comprise a cloud, as opposed to being provided by a single server or virtual server.
Cloud hosting is the procurement of computing resources from a cloud computing provider or facility to host data, services, and/or solutions.
Cloud hosting is an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud delivery model that provides a suite of remote/virtual services. These are delivered on an on-demand basis and hosted on top of a cloud computing infrastructure.
While security and lack of full control of data are the most frequently cited concerns with cloud hosting, there are numerous benefits possible with cloud hosting, including increased reliability and accessibility, seamless scalability, and cost-efficiency.
- Virtual Private Server (VPS): Virtual Private Server hosting plans offer virtual machines to clients. The concept of virtualization is similar to shared hosting where one server computer can have multiple sites running on it. However, virtualization technology allows each account to be treated as its own machine with its own dedicated resources and operating system.The easiest way to visualize how VPS work is to use the apartment analogy. Each virtual server, or “container”, on the machine is like an apartment suite. You can install any software you like or restart your own container without affecting the other containers on the machine, much like how you can renovate your own suite without affecting the others.
- Dedicated Server: A server that is hosted by a company and only allows one client to lease and access it is called a dedicated server. It is “dedicated” to the one client and is not shared with any other clients. Dedicated servers usually allow the client to choose what operating system is installed on it and what type of hardware. In some cases, as an add-on service, the hosting company will provide administration services for the client, freeing the client from having to worry about it.
How Much Can I Earn From Web Hosting Business?
First and foremost we must point out that web hosting is not a get-rich-quick scheme or an easy business to run. It takes a lot of patience, computer and technical knowledge, and a solid background in Computer Science to run a successful and solid web hosting company. Some may disagree with this, especially with the innovation of “Control Panels” that makes it easier for anyone to get a pre-built server and start hosting sites. In reality, it’s not really that simple. Yes, you can lease a dedicated server from a provider and start hosting sites once you are familiar with the control panel BUT a very important point to remember is those control panels still have their limitations.
Becoming a web hosting reseller can be a profitable way to earn residual income. Owning a hosting business allows you to set up, manage, and operate the back-end of websites, emails, and domain management for your company and others as well.
“Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise.” – Laurence J. Peter.
Are you willing to spend the money necessary to start making some money? In many cases, you will need to make some serious financial investment when starting your own hosting firm. Be very wary of the fact that many of the software on the market is not cheap, and the type of servers most of your clients will be expecting their sites to be hosted on, will not be cheap either. Many expect their site to be hosted on Dual Pentium servers that are sturdy and reliable, so some investment will be needed.
On the other hand, there is the cheaper way, which is to simply lease a dedicated server that offers a high amount of bandwidth from another hosting firm and then host your client’s sites on that server. It’s an easy way to start your own company with little investment BUT be forewarned that with network outages, server crashes, you will have little or no control unless you can contact your dedicated server provider for a prompt reboot or resolution of the network problem.
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