In order to publish a blog or website online and make it accessible to computers connected to the Internet you need a Web host. A web host is also sometimes referred to as a web server and it is just like another computer somewhere else in the online world that provides a convenient and safe space to store your blog and website pages and files so that people can access to them 24/7/365 via the World Wide Web.
You can also link your domain name to your web host so as to allow online users to access your website pages and files via your domain name. When you first link your domain name to your web host it is assigned with a unique IP that points to your data stored on the server. And whenever people who wanted to access your web-pages and files from any place on the internet enters your domain name into their browser’s address bar, what happens is the IP-address associated with it is located and website is loaded from your web host.
Instead of using a web server as a central place on the internet to get access to your website pages and files you can also host yourself using your own personal server at the comfort of your home but it is not a preferred choice for many because of the fact that it is very complicated to setup, maintain and also to ensure that your server is running 24×7. So, it is much more affordable, reliable, simpler and hassle free to use a web hosting service instead of doing it yourself.
There are different types of hosting depending on the services provided by the web hosting companies. Here are some of the most common ones:
Free Web Hosting
As the name suggests it is a hosting service that is absolutely free of cost but has limited features and also sometimes supported by advertisements.
Bravenet is considered on of the best and unrivalled on the net when it comes to ad-supported free hosting packages.
Shared Web Hosting
In a Shared Web Hosting service many domains share a common server resource and this type of hosting plan generally provides extensive features. HostGator is very reliable & affordable option for hosting your web-pages and files. HostGator is considered as the number 1 choice when it comes to hosting your blog and offers amazing service and customer support at absolute bargain prices.
Host Media is another very affordable hosting service worth considering that provides location based hosting with their servers spread over UK, US & Asia well equipped with Quad Core processors and dedicated network ports for the best class in hosting.
Alternatively, also check out VodaHost Web Hosting which is one of the best web hosting services.
Reseller Hosting
In a Reseller Web Hosting, the account owner purchases the host’s services wholesale and then sell them to customers for a profit. If you choose a Reseller Hosting Account, you will be allotted a certain portion of server hard drive and bandwidth to allow your clients to host websites.
Reseller hosting is offered by many web hosting providers, such as Verpex. This type of web hosting is the best choice for web design firms, web developers and web hosting entrepreneurs who offer web hosting services to their customers and make money.
Dedicated Hosting
In a Dedicated Hosting Service the account owner is given full access to his own web server and is responsible for the security and maintenance of his own dedicated slot. This type of hosting is best suited to organisations having large user base and can have full control over the server.
Besides these most common hosting services there are few other web hosting services like:
Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS) Hosting also knows as Virtual Private Servers (VPS) hosting is a service where the web server resources are divided into virtual servers which is considered as an efficient way to utilize server resources. The owner of Virtual Dedicated Server will also have root access to maintain their own virtual space.
Colocation Web Hosting service which is somewhat similar to dedicated web hosting but the main difference is that the user here owns the colo server. The hosting company provides the physical space that server takes up and takes care of the server.
Cloud Hosting which is the latest type of hosting servic that provides powerful, scalable and reliable hosting based on clustered load-balanced servers and utility billing. The main advantages of cloud hosting is that users will have to pay just for what they use instead of what they could use.
Clustered Hosting as the name suggests has multiple cluster servers hosting the same data for better resource utilization. Clustered Web Hosting provides a perfect solution for high-availability dedicated hosting, or creating a scalable web hosting solution.
Grid Hosting service which is just like distributed hosting where a server cluster acts like a grid and is composed of multiple nodes for better efficiency. Grid hosting service provides grid computing capabilities to its clients.
@rugs_webdesign Yeah HostGator is really popular and reliable hosting company. But as I have mentioned, for starters there are other low cost options such as Hostazor and TMDHosting. TMDHosting offers really affordable prices in all the types of hosting services.
My vote goes to Hosgator, they have excellent support system.
@camilyn @metin2 @maro @seeker @kinjal Its always a nice feeling to hear your positive comments. Thanks again.
@sugank Hostgator is one of the best Web Hosting services. Go for it and you’ll never have to regret for opting it to others.
If you are looking to host your blog or website you can choose Hostgator Shared Hosting from my link bit.ly/hostgatorblog
Hostgator is one of the best because of their good customer support. I've been using them for 3 years.
I've been using Hostgator to host 10 fairly low traffic blogs. To be frank I wasn't expecting much but there uptimes are good. I gather they have recently changed from Fantastico to their own in house installer. If you blog is really important, ie you are monetizing it, then get a vps rather than a shared hosting account.
Nice article. I've hosted with several different companies. Startlogic and Hostgator are both good in terms of support. All the big companies are very similar in terms of pricing and services though.
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I personally like HostGator and BlueHost the best, but I haven't used either one in about a year or so because I get free hosting with my Wealthy Affiliate membership.
Such a great article, but I personally using easy.gr web services since long time, because their services and customer support system is exceptional.
Thanks for the wonderful article
Thank you so much for this Web Hosting Review and information it is very helpful for beginners.
I think one of the best web hosting options now is Bluehost I tried it and it help me a lot with all of the services they offer