More and more businesses are going online every day and the need for the same is being felt even more as you sit at home or work and read this article. The importance of having a website, and a good one, is being increasingly felt since everything and everyone is online. One of the basic concepts/terms associated with having a website designed for your website is ‘web hosting’. A lot of curiosity has been generated regarding this without proper information.

When you plan to start a website, you will need to publish it and this will be done through a web hosting service. Web hosting is a space provided to you on the internet where you can place your website. For example, if you plan to construct a house for yourself and your family, you will first need to acquire a piece of land – you will need to purchase it. Similarly, a web hosting service will provide you with a space where you website can be developed and placed. Web hosting is used by different people in different ways – for ecommerce, for writing about their personal experiences, for promoting their business, for sharing their work, etc.

Your website files are stored in web-servers or high-powered computers and connected to a super speedy network by services of web hosting. When someone types your address on the internet, the latter connects with the web server which holds your website files and then transfers the information on your website to the computer of the person searching for it. Users can thus proceed with surfing your website and the contents of it.

There are many types of web hosting services used on the internet such as shared ones and personal dedicated services. The choice depends completely on the requirements of the user and the budgetary allowances.

• Shared Hosting – This is the most common option chosen by those who are planning to launch a website for the first time or own a small business but want to be present on the internet or for bloggers. This service provides shared space on the web server which is utilised by other users thus keeping the costs low since a lot of people are using the same equipment. This is the main advantage of this kind of hosting service and a lot of businesses choose to start with this kind of web hosting, choosing to upgrade later on as they expand.
• Reseller Hosting – Those of you who are keen on starting your own web hosting business or want to make it big can choose this option. In reseller hosting, you will be purchasing a large amount of disk space from a company, thus getting your own bandwidth, workspace, website and will be able to device your own business plans. You will be able to have a customized website and can even start selling web space to other interested parties.
• VPS Hosting – Virtual Private Server or VPS is a good balance between expense and maintenance.  It is a good alternative of dedicated servers in terms of cost effectiveness and maintenance. Those who use this kind of hosting will be in complete charge of their server since they will be the sole owners of the server. In this kind of hosting, a dedicated server is divided into different segments and each segment is like a virtual server having its own OS and IP.
• Dedicated Servers – This kind of server will be owned and controlled by you exclusively. Though this kind of a server is considerably more expensive than the previous ones mentioned here, you will also be getting better security, higher performance and a more flexible website.