More on Dedicated and Other hosting services

A server is a computing device that manages the resources of a computer network. There are many types of servers with File server used for storing files in a network, printer server manages one or more printers and Database server takes care of the related functions. Servers are mostly used in web hosting services. Web hosting is a type of internet hosting service. Individuals and organizations use web-hosting companies to get access for their websites on the World Wide Web. The company provides servers for the clients who are website owners. The server can be bought or can be leased for their use.

There are various types of web hosting services-free web hosting, shared web hosting, virtual dedicated server, dedicated hosting, cloud hosting, clustered hosting etc.

Dedicated hosting service is the complete control for a client over a server. When a computer is designated with serving only as a server, it is called dedicated server. The client does not have shared that server with any other client. These servers are generally located in data centers. The clients can also choose the operating system, hardware configuration. The hosting company normally provides the server administration and maintenance. The cost of dedicated hosting can vary from cheap to moderate in accordance with quality, support, and uptime promises.

Cloud hosting is a new type based on the latest cloud computing technologies. It provides web-hosting services to its clients through more than one connected servers. These multiple servers comprise a ‘cloud’ and the servers are connected via internet. Cloud hosting delivers more powerful, reliable, and scalable service than dedicated and shared hosting. Even if a server or computer is down, cloud hosting tackles it with the other connected devices. It saves customers from the cost of having servers and other hardware. They only have to pay for the resources being used. However, there are security concerns with the cloud hosting. In addition, the client will not have full control over the servers. Sometimes there are access problem for the user.

Cluster Hosting is based on the concept of clustered computing. Clustered computing means a group of computers connected together and working as one machine. This concept is applied to clustered web hosting. This is also similar to the Cloud hosting. Here the workload of hosting is spread between more than one. These machines are called nodes. This increases efficiency of the services. It also decreases the chance of one service, for example FTP, being hampered for another service, for example, MYSQL. Generally, most hosting infrastructures use a single physical machine to host multiple hosted services, including web, database, email, FTP. A single physical machine is not only the single point of failure, but also has a limited capacity for traffic. In practice it can be disturbing for a website that is experiencing heavy traffic.

By clustering the services across multiple hardware machines and using load-balancing technique, single points of failure can be easily erased. This increases availability of a website and other web services.