Web hosting providers offer server space and other services for people and organizations to create websites or web pages.

Web hosting is generally offered by commercial companies although schools and other organizations may also offer such services. For example, universities may offer web pages to faculty and even students. Some commercial web hosts may offer web space for free or packaged together with some other service. Usually free website hosting requires that the users allow the provider to display commercial advertisements on the website.

Types of web hosting

In addition to free website hosting, there are also many services that will host profile pages, images, videos, blogs and files.

However, website owners often prefer commercial hosting since it offers a greater degree of flexibility in what one can do with the website. The common types of paid web hosting are:

• Shared web hosting – The provider offers space on one or more web servers. The clients share the server with other clients.

• Dedicated web hosting – A provider offers the client a server to exclusively host the website. The server is “dedicated” and not shared with others so that the client has full access to RAM, storage space, CPU, etc.

• Clustered hosting – Multiple servers are provided to a single client to provide improved performance. Many websites can scale upward in capability by using clustered hosting.

• Managed hosting – With this option, the provider takes care of many or all of the tasks required to maintain the server and website. The client generally pays an extra fee for these management services.

• Colocation web hosting – A provider offers physical space to clients that have their own hardware and software. With this option, the client can save on overhead costs associated with renting or purchasing office space.

• Cloud hosting – A type of hosting very similar to shared web hosting. Cloud hosting often allows the client to pay only for the resources that they actually use. Cloud hosting is generally scalable while shared hosting may offer limited or no scalability.

• Virtual dedicated hosting – Like dedicated hosting, but instead of a hardware server, the client is offered a virtual server. The virtual server is created by partitioning a hardware server into independent virtual servers.

How to choose a web hosting service

Important factors in choosing web hosting include your budget and your technical know-how and resources.

Dedicated and clustered hosting tend to be expensive solutions used mainly by businesses and organizations. If you believe that you will have high traffic to your website or your site will require other extensive resources like CPU, then dedicated and clustered hosting are options to consider. For example, if you want to open an online

aming website, then you will probably need one of the more expensive options. Even if you have only a limited number of online gamers at the site, gaming uses up hefty server resources.

For the average person who wants to open up a website, shared web hosting is probably the best option. Shared hosting is usually the most economical and is offered in packages suited for people with limited technical knowledge.

An option for those who want to go small at the smart, but are hoping to scale up to something larger later on is cloud web hosting. Cloud service providers split overhead costs between clients usually based on the amount of resource usage. Servers are networked together using load balancing and this makes it easier to scale up client accounts.

If you have a high degree of technical knowledge, then you can consider managing your own server with either a dedicated server provider or a colocation hosting provider. Otherwise you can consider a managed hosting option in which everything is handled by the provider. Shared web hosting options are generally somewhere in between handling everything on your own and managed hosting.

With shared hosting, the provider generally takes care of running and maintaining the server. However, the client must manage the website itself.

How to find hosting services

The best place to look for web hosting is right on the Internet using major search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Many websites allow you to compare different providers using powerful search tools. These tools may allow you to sort and filter results according to specific criteria. When comparing offers, make sure that you read the fine print before getting swayed by the price.

Some offers may sound attractive until you read all the limitations, exceptions and extra fees that apply. If you have any questions, make sure that you get answers before sealing any deal.

For websites that plan to grow in the future, it is important to make sure that your provider offers scalable services. Many providers charge extra if you go over limits on storage space or traffic. However, you will also need to find out just how much extra usage they are able to provide.

Web forums, blogs and other sites offer another alternative for recommendations on hosting providers. Usually the participants at these sites will be willing to offer free advice to others looking for knowledge.

Finally, it is a good idea to check out the reputation of the provider before paying for a new service. Look for industry standard credentials and a proven track record. Smaller companies offer great deals, but you need to check for reliability.