Insight Publication

Web hosting refers to the technology of setting up a domain name for a website, say www.xyz.com and launching it as an active entity in the World Wide Web or simply, the Internet. Web Hosting is the basic and most non-compromising part of launching a website and forms the basis of all e-commerce business setups. Web Hosting can be effectively decided by checking out various available types of hosting plans and selecting the one is best suitable to the present requirements of the business setup. There are many types of hosting plans available in the present market but they can be all effectively summed up in fewer than four basic categories. They are shared hosting, dedicated hosting, VPS or virtual private server hosting and lastly reseller hosting.

· Shared Hosting- It is still the most commonly relied and used form of web hosting. It involves setting up a server space, which can accommodate many accounts, and many sites per account, independent of each other. Its popularity can be attributed to the fact that is a cheap way of setting up an e-commerce website. This plan is most suitable for small or mid sized companies who are not looking at excessive traffic and space requirements.

· Dedicated Hosting- This type of a plan involves a Webmaster having a full server to his disposal. This sort of a hosting plan is recommended when a site has a huge traffic to it and the size of the site is also be quite large. Dedicated hosting plans may be of the sort where a Webmaster has full freedom to choose his hardware, operating system for his host and be the administrator to manage any changes or modifications. In another case a hosting company may pay an administrator, for administrating changes and modifications and also provides the dedicated server. This implies less freedom for the Webmaster and is generally a very expensive option.

· Virtual private Server (VPS) or Virtual Dedicated Server  (VDS) - This type of hosting plan is a less expensive alternative to dedicated hosting and a more expensive alternative to shared hosting. VPS was devised when virtualization technologies made it possible to deploy numerous logical servers on one physical machine. They do this by partitioning the single server to be able to install each client’s own operating system. The client is then able to operate his own section of the server independently allowing a reboot, back up, and installation of software. In this sort of hosting every individual user has his very own server. This comes as a cheaper solution to dedicated hosting.

· Reseller hosting. - This is also a variance of dedicated hosting in which the Webmaster allots or sells space on his server to new entities. The Webmaster who newly signs up for reseller hosting gets their own server space and a dedicated server. However the difference lies herein that the Webmaster can sell his or her space to third parties and make profit in the process.

Broadly the types of hosting plans can be summed up under the above-mentioned four categories. These hosting plans are the different types of hosting plans available and a Webmaster should make the correct choice based on his requirements and the facilities offered by these plans to choose one that suits his purpose the best.