A definition of web space hosting

The most elemental and frequently availed of kind of web hosting is the shared web hosting solution. It's a means to host your site without having to understand much about programming and operating a web hosting server. Besides, it's also the most inexpensive type of webspace hosting and it's very affordable for everybody. Still, what is shared hosting?

What is shared web hosting?

As the name implies, the shared web space hosting solution is a kind of service where many customers share the reserves of one and the same server. This indicates that all server ingredients such as CPU, hard disk drives, RAM, network cards etc. are shared among the customers whose accounts are on that very same server. This is typically made accomplishable by setting up separate accounts for the different customers and appointing given limitations and usage quotas for each of them. Those limitations are imposed in order to hinder the customers from intervening with each other's accounts and, of course, to prevent the web hosting server from overburdening. Usually, shared web site hosting clients do not have full root access to the server's config files, which primarily indicates that they do not have access to anything else on the server beside their very own shared web hosting account. The site hosting features that each account may utilize are determined by the web hosting firm that possesses the web hosting server and by the given site hosting plan. That brings on the second important question:

How are the shared web hosting servers divided among the users?

Hosting vendors that distribute shared hosting services commonly have various website hosting packages. Those plans include diverse quotas of webspace hosting features and specs, which actually set the limits that a webspace hosting plan will include. The client may choose between the separate web hosting plans and sign up for the one that he deems will befit him best. The hosting package will then define what restrictions the customer's account will involve, once set up. The prices and the specifications of the website hosting plans are set by the given web hosting vendor. Based on the policy of the distributor, the shared website hosting service can be divided into 2 groups - the free hosting service and the regular shared solution, currently very popular among "cPanel hosting" companies as a cloud web hosting one. It's impossible to assert, which one is more preferable, since they are very different from one another and they really are dependent on the marketing policy of the specific distributor and, of course, the requirements of the specific user.

What is the distinction between the free and the normal shared web space hosting solution?

Of course, the principal difference between the free of charge and the paid solution is in the amount of features that they include. Free web space hosting corporations are not able to keep an immense number of servers, hence, they plainly accommodate more users on one single hosting server by reducing the quantity of system resources offered by the accounts. This will be efficient only in case the web servers are monitored and maintained properly, since the enormous amount of accounts may make the web server crash again and again. The majority of the free hosting vendors, though, ignore the quality of the service and as a result, it's quite difficult to discover a free of charge website hosting solution that's in fact worth the time. The top free hosting vendors usually offer free technical support even to the free site hosting customers, because they want their sites to expand so that they eventually migrate to a paid website hosting package, which includes more site hosting features. Such company, for instance, is FreeHostia.com, which is among the largest and oldest free website hosting vendors worldwide.

At the same time, established shared web hosting corporations like AIDA Host, for example, are able to keep multiple servers and hence, they may afford to provide much more feature-rich web site hosting plans. Of course, that reflects on the cost of the hosting plans. Paying a higher price for a web site hosting package, however, does not automatically mean that this plan has a finer quality. The most advantageous solutions are the balanced ones, which offer a price that corresponds to the actual service which you're getting. The best hosting firms that have been around for a long time are revealing their price tags and plan specs in a realistic way, so that the client may be informed of what in fact he is receiving. In addition, some of these provide a free extra with the web site hosting package, such as the 1-click applications installer, complemented with hundreds of free-of-cost web design skins that are offered by 'AIDA Host'. Such webspace hosting distributors do worry about their reputation and this is the reason why if you pick them, you can be assured that you won't get beguiled into buying a solution that you cannot in fact avail of.

What should I expect from a shared web hosting service?

The shared website hosting solution is best for persons who are looking to host a standard site, which is going to swallow a small or medium amount of bandwidth each month. You cannot expect, however, that a shared web hosting account will be sufficient for your needs, because as your business grows bigger, your web portal will become more and more resource consuming. Therefore, you will have to ultimately move to a more powerful web site hosting solution such as a semi-dedicated server, a VPS (a.k.a. a virtual private hosting server, or VPS), or why not a dedicated server. So, when choosing a site hosting provider, you should also ponder about how they can be of service to you, otherwise you might end up moving your domain name manually to a different vendor, which can cause web site troubles and even prolonged downtime for your web page. Hence, picking a site hosting vendor like 'AIDA Host', which can present you with the required domain name and hosting services as you get bigger, is vital and will save you a lot of problems in the long run.