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.

So, what is cloud web hosting? Basically it is a type of web hosting when several servers come together and aggregate their individual resources so as to provide a huge bank of resources for the clients. As an example, many servers can come together and pool in their web spaces or their bandwidths. The client will then have an access to this high quantum of bandwidth or web space or any other resource. Resources are centralized from all the servers onto one data center which acts as the overall center. This reduces the administrational difficulties and provides the clients with the humongous resources that they are looking for. With large websites, hosting can be cumbersome if the servers are small. But with the one large data center that the cloud web hosting concept can provide, these hassles can be minimized.

There is much less botheration for huge website owners when they decide to use cloud web hosting. For one, they get a large accumulation of the resources taken from the individual servers. Second, they do not have to contend with problems such as different operating system. The web hosting is also managed in most cases, which takes care of most of the technical points. At the same time, changes can be implemented as and when required because it is only the data center that will need to be changed. This also enables the websites operating through cloud web hosting to provide upgrades as and when they wish.

The following are some of the benefits available with cloud web hosting which makes it an unbeatable technology today:-
1. The single data center makes all technical tasks such as providing support and enabling upgrades much simpler.
2. It becomes an economically wiser decision for companies that operate huge websites.
3. There is cutting edge technology implemented here because the web hosting can use some of the most sophisticated tools. The fact that the cloud web hosting is an accumulation of various servers gives it the resources to use highly sophisticated features.
4. The price of using cloud web hosting is quite high, but there are many freebies that clients can hope to get. They can get free static IP addresses and load balancing. Both of these are provided as free bonuses, but they are highly useful to large websites that see a large volume of traffic each day.