If you are looking for web hosting for your online ventures, you need to know that there are different kinds of packages available for you. These differ in their methods of functioning, the way they provide their services and, most importantly, in their costs. Here is a lowdown of some of the different web hosting packages available so that you can decide which of these you would like to choose.
Shared Web Hosting
This is the most common kind of web hosting in which space is allocated to websites on the same server. The number of websites sharing the same server could be in thousands. Because all these websites share the same space, they will have some similar features, such as a uniform bandwidth among all and, if the host disallows certain scripting tools, the same kinds of scripts on all websites that it hosts.
Free Web Hosting
This is also shared hosting with the difference that the website owners do not have to pay anything to the hosts. Instead, they have to place ads from the host on their website. These ads are typically banner ads, but some free hosting providers make it mandatory for the websites to have popup ads too. Additionally, there are restrictions on the kinds of content that can be used, the scripting tools that can be used and other such limitations. The bandwidth and web space given to these website owners is also limited.
Reseller Web Hosting
Here, website owners can first buy web space for their own needs and when their websites are up and running, they can provide the remaining space to other website owners. In some cases, people just buy web space and then sell it to others for a little profit. There are various kinds of features available for the resellers; the servers available to them could be dedicated, shared or co-located. Resellers may or may not provide support to their clients.
Dedicated Web Hosting
This is an expensive kind of web hosting in which the website owner gets their own server. They can use this server in whatever manner they like, though the server still belongs to the host. The amount of web space and bandwidth available with dedicated web hosting is the largest and that is the greatest incentive for having such hosting. Websites that have considerable content will operate through dedicated web hosting providers.
Managed Web Hosting
This is a slight deviation from dedicated web hosting. Here the website owner gets a complete server but does not get complete management of it. This allows the hosting provider to keep tabs on the server and also improves the accessibility of live support. This method of web hosting could be likened to a lease contract where the property is only given to the tenant without complete rights. In a similar fashion, the web space is given to the client for a fixed amount of time, but without full control on it.
Some other kinds of web hosting that are less popular are co-location web hosting, cloud web hosting, clustered web hosting and grid web hosting. You need to read up on each of these before you make a decision.