Internet Gadget: October 2008

An Internet hosting service is a service that runs Internet servers, allowing organizations and individuals to serve content to the Internet. There are various levels of service and various kinds of services offered.

A common kind of hosting is web hosting. Most hosting providers offer a combined variety of services. Web hosting services also offer e-mail hosting service, for example. DNS hosting service is usually bundled with domain name registration.

Types of hosting

Dedicated hosting service, also called managed hosting service, where the hosting service owns and manages the machine, leasing full control to the client. Management of the server can include monitoring to ensure the server continues to work effectively, backup services, installation of security patches and various levels of technical support.
Virtual private server, in which virtualization technology is employed in order to allow multiple logical servers to run on a single physical server
Colocation facilities, which provide just the Internet connection, uninterruptible power and climate control, but let the client do his own system administration; the most expensive
Web hosting service, allows individuals and organizations to provide their own website accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own for use by their clients as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center.
E-mail hosting service, runs email servers. Email hosting services usually offer premium email at a cost as opposed to advertising supported free email or free webmail. Email hosting providers allow for premium email services along with custom configurations and large number of accounts. In addition, hosting providers manage user's own domain name, including any email authentication scheme that the domain owner wishes to enforce in order to convey the meaning that using a specific domain name identifies and qualifies email senders.
DNS hosting service, runs Domain Name System servers. Most, but not all, domain name registrars include DNS hosting service with registration. Almost all DNS hosting services are "shared"; except for the most popular Internet sites, there is no need to dedicate a server to hosting DNS for a single website. Many third-party DNS hosting services provide Dynamic DNS.