To have a web site on the internet you first need to have a web server. Unfortunately, owning a web server can be very costly and requires technical expertise which most businesses do not have. Advantages of renting web space as opposed to setting up your own include less overhead, no need to purchase servers, firewalls and administrate the server. With web hosting provider you have faster deployment as everything is setup and ready for your website. Web hosting services are generally offered for increments of time (monthly, yearly, etc) and are flexible where a client may upgrade his or her account at any time, allowing their website to grow with the needs of the website.
Some different types of hosting includes shared, reseller, VPS and dedicated.
- Shared hosting is where one shares a server with many other users. They are the most affordable and meet the needs of most websites.
- Reseller hosting is a server which allows an individual to purchase bulk web space and resell that space out to other individuals.
- VPS is a virtual server. You share a server with few other clients and with the VPS you have an environment which acts as its own small dedicated server.
- Dedicated server allows for a single client to run websites on a server and offers flexibility when changing the environment to meet your needs is required.