Hosting: what is it, types of hosting, virtual, cloud, VPS (VDS). What is VDS? VPS - what is it

Hello!

Anyone who is going to get their own web resource, online business card or personal blog should know what virtual hosting is.

In this material I will tell you what it is and what capabilities it has.

I will also tell you how it differs from a virtual private server (VPS).

What is hosting?

Those who have read my blog for the first time are already familiar with the concept of “”. For beginners and casual readers, I will repeat. Hosting is the provision of services for placement, maintenance, and support of web resources on company servers.

For example, you might have heard about the company Sprinthost. It has special hosting and information storage centers, which are equipped with backup power supplies, electricity, resistance to earthquakes, moisture and other elements that provide round-the-clock stable access to client web resources.

Hosting sites are extremely important for the functioning of the World Wide Web, because webmasters would have nowhere to host their sites.

Types of hosting

According to the simplest classification, there are two types of hosting:

1. commercial or paid;
2. free.

The difference between them lies not only in payment, but also in the set of functions available to the owner of the web resource. The price of a paid one depends on the number of services provided, the quantity, the amount of RAM on the server and the amount of memory occupied by the website itself, and a host of other important factors. Each specialized company has different tariffs.

It has low server speed and a small amount of disk space. All this can lead to constant malfunctions and greatly discourage visitors.

What is shared hosting, and how is it different from a virtual server?

Okay, we figured out what hosting is, but what is virtual hosting? Virtual is called hosting, the resources of which for all sites hosted on one virtual server are common and they are divided between all “neighbors”.

This is an excellent option for small and medium-sized resources. However, if you have a larger web site, then it is better to take a virtual dedicated server () or rent entire physical servers. All VPS resources are aimed at providing one specific site with normal conditions for full functioning.

In addition, on shared hosting, resource owners may experience the so-called “crash” of the site. It ceases to be accessible due to the fact that it shares server resources with another web resource that was subject to a hacker attack.

Employees of specialized companies constantly monitor this and in such situations, as a rule, find and disable the attacked site until its owner resolves all the problems associated with exceeding the hosting load limit and re-configuration is performed. In the meantime, he is doing this, the rest of the sites continue their work after a short break.

You can avoid this by using a virtual dedicated server, that is, VPS. In this case, all resources of the virtual server belong to only one site. As an example, I can cite the company FastVPS, whose services I use myself.

Types of virtual hosting:

Perl-hosting. Currently, it is losing its former position; developers are increasingly posting their web projects on it.

Python-hosting. Created specifically for hosting resources in Python. Implies the availability of any framework: TurboGears, Django, Pylons, Zope, etc., as well as access to PostgreSQL and the MySQL DBMS.

PHP-hosting. Provides access to frameworks and PHP interpreter (for example, LIMB), libraries (Suhosin Extensions, etc.).

Database hosting. Provides connection to DBMS databases (Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc.).

Postal. For mail in your domain. You can access your mail through the standard one or through the “Mail Client” program (including the method via the secure SSL protocol using SSL certificates).

SVN-hosting. Designed specifically for professionals. The SVN client can very quickly update changed files on the server without using FTP access. The SVN server makes it possible for a group of developers, even located on different sides of the globe, to work productively.

Sincerely! Abdullin Ruslan

When choosing hosting for your website, you may encounter several types. Depending on what rights you will be granted, hosting services are divided into:

Shared hosting

Virtual Private Server (VPS)

Dedicated Server (VDS)

Let's look at each of these options and figure out what opportunities you will receive in each case.

Dedicated Server (VDS)

A dedicated server is the most expensive of the proposed solutions, but by hosting your site on a dedicated server, you get the most features possible. A separate computer (server) is allocated for your website. All resources of this computer are entirely dedicated to the functionality of your site. You can manage this computer yourself as you need it:

Install software;

Enable, disable and reboot;

Set the necessary settings.

In general, in this case you do not depend on anyone. You rented an entire computer and use it as you wish.

Virtual Private Server (VPS)

A virtual dedicated server differs from a dedicated server in that in this case you are not the sole owner of the computer (server). In this situation, you share computer resources with other people whose websites are also located on the same server.

But at the same time you have the opportunity:

Get a guarantee that a certain fixed amount of memory will be allocated for your site.

Install the software and set the server settings that you need.

In fact, the only difference from VDS is that in this situation you share computer resources with other users.

Virtual hosting.

This option is considered the cheapest and the amount of memory and resources allocated in this case will be minimal.

With shared hosting, you will share resources with other website owners who are also hosted on the server. It is important to note that you will not have a guaranteed amount of resources. Under certain circumstances and the load that “your” neighbors and your site place on the server, it can simply be turned off and it will be inoperative.

However, it is very profitable to host sites with low traffic on shared hosting. Why pay more when everything works great on a cheap tariff plan.

In addition, with shared hosting you will not be able to install server software. The support service is responsible for this moment.

In general terms, these are the main differences between these three hosting options. I hope I managed to explain it clearly. If you have any questions, write in the comments.

At the time of writing this article, with site traffic of 300 people per day, I use virtual hosting from the company Makhost. Take a look, maybe this solution will suit you too.

Why I choose Makhost, I wrote.

Using the Internet, you come across a large number of terms, the meaning of which is very interesting for everyone to know. We already answered the question once, this time we want to tell you about what hosting is. This article will be useful to every Internet user, and especially to beginners who want to create their own website. Below we will try to talk in detail about the work of hosting, and also consider the most pressing issues related to it.

The content of the article:

General description of hosting functions

So, let's start with the most important thing, namely with the definition of what website hosting is. Hosting is a service that provides website owners with computing power to physically store websites on them in order to ensure constant access to them. Hosting is a data center in which racks or cabinets, as they are also called, are installed. The racks contain computer equipment – ​​servers. These racks resemble a cabinet with drawers, where each drawer contains a separate server.

Why do you need hosting?

Hosting is necessary for hosting websites, or rather for storing website files. To create a website, its files must be placed somewhere. As a rule, any website includes a large number of files that ensure the operation of the site itself and also expand its functionality. In addition, each site includes a design or template, the files of which also require storage along with other site files. In other words, a site can be compared to a program installed on a computer, which has: a core (*exe file) – a CMS that organizes the work of the entire site; plugins – modules or plugins to expand the functionality of the site; skins – website design files; as well as other folders in which the texts of articles and other files uploaded to the site will be stored.

Each site must work around the clock and with high quality, which is why sites are stored on special servers - hosting. Due to poor quality of the site: long opening of pages and interruptions in work, users will be lost, and search engines will also have a negative attitude towards this.

Is it possible to create hosting on your own computer? – It’s possible, but there’s no point in it. Firstly, even if you install a virtual server on your computer and place a website on it, the quality of the resource’s work will be much to be desired, since the parallel operation of hosting and your use of the computer will not be able to ensure high-quality work of either one.

How to make hosting at home

For home hosting, you will need to install a separate computer, make a separate Internet connection to it, which will have a fairly high speed, and whose provider will be able to allocate you a permanent IP address, but the main thing is that the provider must ensure high-quality and uninterrupted work, which in itself itself is unlikely. Thus, based on all of the above, we can conclude that it is possible to create hosting at home, but the costs will not cover the goals. In addition, prices for hosting today are quite reasonable, and there are free hosting services that have a very good quality of work, but we will talk about this a little later. Before we start looking at the types of hosting, it should be said that hosting can be paid or free.

Types of hosting

There are several types of website hosting, so we will tell novice webmasters and potential website owners about this in more detail, due to the great significance of this issue.

Shared hosting

What is shared hosting? Virtual hosting is the simplest type of hosting when many websites are located on one server. To make it more clear to you what it is, virtual hosting is a kind of folder on a hard drive that is allocated to the user to place website files in it.

In virtual hosting, the resources of a physical server are fully available to all sites, but at the same time, each site essentially competes with other sites hosted on this server for its resources. Thus, if you are using shared hosting, and along with your site there is a site that has increased traffic, then it will increase the load on the entire server, which, of course, will negatively affect the operation of your site. But, nevertheless, hosting system administrators monitor the load of sites, and if it exceeds the permissible limit, then measures are taken, the options of which we will also talk about a little later, giving advice on choosing a hosting for beginners.

Shared hosting is best suited for simple websites and for beginners. As for the advantages of shared hosting, the first is its low price, and the second is the simple structure of the hosting control panel, which even a beginner can understand. The disadvantage of shared hosting is that you are limited in almost everything: the power of the server, the number of sites created on it, disk space and traffic. At the same time, you adapt to the hosting tariff plans, or more precisely to the existing virtual hosting parameters, when by renting VPS or virtual hosting, you choose the server parameters yourself.

Virtual dedicated server - VPS

What is VPS hosting? A VPS (Virtual Private Server) is a server that is created within a server. To make it clearer to you what this is, let’s give a very good and simple example. A VPS is somewhat reminiscent of a virtual machine inside a computer, which is created to install a second operating system inside an operating system. This is often done so as not to install operating systems separately, but to install a second system inside the first so that they can be used simultaneously. For example, many users do this on Windows. That is, you start Windows and already in it launch a virtual machine on which Linux is installed.

The VPS structure is as follows: an operating system is installed on the server hardware, in which a program is installed that creates virtual dedicated servers. When a client orders a VPS, system administrators use this program to create a virtual server, to which a certain part of the resources of the server itself is allocated. It is worth noting that the virtual machine takes part of the resources of the server itself, that is, reserves them, and this has both an advantage of VPS over virtual hosting and a disadvantage. In VPS, all server resources are clearly demarcated for each user. If the load on one virtual server increases, this will not in any way affect the operation of other virtual servers located on this server, unlike virtual hosting, where all sites hosted on it will suffer.

If a VPS is a dedicated server, albeit a virtual one, you get root level access, that is, you have the ability to manage the virtual server, for example, you can install your own software on your server, which, in essence, frees up the hands of any site owner and gives he has great opportunities. The disadvantage of VPS, perhaps, is that to manage it you will need to re-read a large number of manuals.

VPS is used if you have a large website with traffic of more than 10,000 hosts per day; to provide such traffic you need a powerful server and a wide Internet channel. When ordering a VPS, you choose which virtual server parameters to allocate to you: processor, RAM size, amount of disk space and much more. This is very convenient, since each CMS has its own resource consumption characteristics. If the CMS is guilty of gluttony of hosting RAM, then it makes sense to order hosting with a large amount of RAM and a slightly weaker processor. Thus, compared to shared hosting, the parameters of a virtual server are adjusted to your requirements.

Dedicated server

What is a dedicated server? A dedicated server is a dedicated separate physical machine, that is, it is a real dedicated server, not a virtual one. You have the whole server at your disposal and not just part of its parameters, but the whole server. Thus, a dedicated server is a physical machine dedicated to you: processor, RAM, hard drive - it’s all yours. Of course, a dedicated server is much more expensive than a VPS, but the difference between them is very noticeable.

Many beginners may have a question: why overpay money and order a dedicated server if you can get by with a VPS. A dedicated server can withstand a greater load than a VPS, and you can also host an unlimited number of websites on it. A dedicated server allows for more flexible settings and will also allow you to create your own virtual dedicated servers within yourself.

A dedicated server is the best option for large websites. If the parameters of virtual hosting are not enough for your site, or for some reason you decide to switch to another type of hosting, then give preference to a dedicated server. VPS in this case, let’s say, is a compromise option between virtual hosting and a dedicated server.

Nuances of choosing hosting

How to choose paid hosting

When choosing paid hosting for your website, first of all read the latest reviews about hosting; a large number of topics on webmaster forums are devoted to this issue. Also read threads in which users ask for help with their choice and hosting recommendations. After that, check out some hosting companies and read the tariffs and terms of service on their official website.

When choosing hosting, pay attention to the following nuances. It is very important that you do not chase the low price of hosting, since a low price does not always mean the provision of high-quality services. It is advisable that the hosting you choose has the option of free trial use, about 14-30 days. Find out how hosting will act if the load on your site is higher than the permissible value: access to the site will be denied, or you will be automatically transferred to a plan with more powerful parameters. It is very good if the hosting gives you the opportunity to defer payment for several days, and does not block the operation of the site. And, of course, another important criterion for choosing a hosting is technical support: it should be round the clock, professional and help in any situation.

Which hosting should you choose? The best virtual hosting option today is hosting from Beget, which offers the most optimal rates and good quality of work. As for creating professional websites on VPS and on a dedicated server, including online stores, the best hosting is hosting from FastVPS.

How to choose free hosting for a website

If you want to try to create your own website and do not have big ambitions for this, then use free hosting. Free hosting has its limitations compared to shared hosting, but it is still free and easy to use.

Which free hosting should I choose for my website? The best option for free hosting and content management system is uCoz. Creating a website on uCoz is very simple, in addition, there are a large number of tutorials on the Internet on creating websites in this system. The only downside to free hosting is the presence of advertising banners, which can be removed for a fee if necessary. It is also worth noting that uCoz has a fairly large number of professional websites, so there is no need to take this hosting lightly. uCoz has no worthy alternatives or competitors.

It is a service according to which the hoster (the company providing this service) provides resources for the physical placement of materials on the client’s website on a server that is constantly located on the network.

A novice webmaster who wants to create his own website on the Internet and start making money on it is faced with an abundance of unfamiliar terms. Having decided on the theme of the site, then you will need to choose a domain and hosting, which determine its “place of residence”. In this article we will clearly explain what hosting is, why and who needs it, what types of hosting there are and what their nuances are.

Once you create your own web service, you will need a place to store all the information posted on it. For this purpose, there are powerful computers with an uninterrupted high-speed Internet connection, known as servers. Placing a website on these servers is called hosting.

In simple words! To place your site with articles and other data on the Internet, you give them to a hosting provider, who allocates the required amount of disk space on the server and stores information from your site on it. After this, the web resource is available on the World Wide Web around the clock.

What types of hosting are there?

Hosting is divided into several types:

1. Virtual.
2. VPS (VDS).
3. Dedicated.
4. Cloudy.
5. Colocation

Let's figure out how they differ from each other and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each of them.

Virtual hosting (shared)

Shared hosting(from Latin shared) - the most popular and financially accessible option, in which files and folders of hundreds or even thousands of hoster client sites are stored on one physical web server. That is, in addition to your web resources, there are other sites on the server under the same IP address. This is an ideal option for small sites with minimal load.

Advantages

• Affordable tariff. Only 2-3 dollars a month.
• Easy to use. There is no need to monitor the equipment, install and regularly update software - the hoster will take care of everything.

Flaws

• Addiction. Websites hosted on the same server operate using shared facilities. And when one of the services consumes too many resources, others will begin to freeze. Such incidents are rare, but they happen, despite the fact that power consumption is limited - the provider does not always manage to prevent such cases in a timely manner. And also, if a virus attack occurs on one of the services, then all the “neighbors” will suffer.
• Restrictions. The limits on server resource consumption are quite low compared to VPS or dedicated servers.

VPS (VDS)

VPS (VDS) – this service involves issuing a Virtual Dedicated Server to the client. The user receives a certain disk space on a server with an independent OS for personal needs. Essentially, the capacity is allocated to only one online service, and no one else can use it.

Advantages

• The site receives a unique IP address, you can independently manage the server and install the necessary programs.
• The web service will not be limited by low limits on server capacity consumption and will not suffer in the event of a virus attack on another online resource.

Flaws

• Higher cost than shared hosting.
• You must have system administrator skills. But there are VPS that include a system administrator from the hoster in their tariff and you don’t have to look for one yourself.
• A small selection of servers with powerful hard drives, such as, for example, 500 GB HDD or more.

Dedicated server

Dedicated server, in jargon they call dedic (from the Latin dedicated) - a type of hosting when the client completely receives a separate physical machine for use. This is the same as VPS, only the user is provided not with a virtual, but with a physical server, roughly speaking, a separate computer, and not a part of it. This option is suitable for large-scale projects with huge loads. By the way, these servers are used by hosting providers to accommodate their clients on virtual and VDS hosting plans.

Advantages

• Full access to administration. The essence is the same as in the case of VPS.
• Performance. You, and only you, have access to all the server's powers.
• Independence from "roommates".
• Large selection of servers. VPS is limited to clear tariff plans, and a physical server can be ordered in any configuration.

Flaws

• High prices. This is the highest paid service, although the price of the server strictly depends on its configuration.
• Self service.

Cloud hosting (cloud)

Cloud hosting(from Latin cloud) is a relatively new service designed to replace virtual and dedicated servers. Cloud hosting is capable of storing website files on several servers united into a single network. This means that web services are served by a group of servers, the load on which is distributed evenly. If one or more servers stop working, others will cover them.

Advantages

• Real-time backup. There is no need to worry about saving site files - it is available in real time.
• Setup in real time. You can change the tariff configuration without having to contact system administrators.
• Resistance to peak loads. The cloud server will distribute the load across the network.
• Unlimited traffic and payment only for the actual use of resources.
• Interchange of servers.

Flaws

• Relatively high cost. In some cases, it is more profitable to take a dedicated server with a power reserve.
• Minimum payment. With almost zero loads, you will still have to pay for the selected configuration according to the minimum tariffs.
• Imperfect fault tolerance. Despite the hosters' statements, sometimes the cloud can still freeze.

Colocation

Colocation(from Latin colocation) is a service in which the user pays the hoster and places equipment in his data center for connecting to communication channels and creating his own server. This type of hosting is popular among other hosting providers who do not have their own territory to host a server.

Let's sum it up

Now you not only know what hosting is, but also understand what types of hosting there are and what they are used for. For users who do not know how to manage a server and do not want to do this, but have small websites, cheap virtual hosting is ideal. But if you own a large project and you lack the capacity of shared servers, you will have to learn administration and use VPS or dedicated hosting.

Virtual hosting is...

Shared hosting- a type of hosting in which many websites are located on one web server. This is the most economical type of hosting, suitable for small projects. In this case, each website is located on its own section of the web server, but they all share the same software.

It should be noted that virtual hosting optimally suited for sites with traffic up to 1000 people per day. To host corporate websites with higher traffic, it is more advisable to choose other types of hosting, for example, a virtual private server (VPS). It allows you to serve a much larger number of visitors and provides uninterrupted access to the site from anywhere in the world.

Benefits of shared hosting

Benefits of shared hosting:

1. There is no need to have special hosting skills.
2. Hosting management is carried out using a convenient control panel in Russian.
3. Provided large amount of disk space.
4. For the duration of the order, hosting can be provided free of charge Domain name.
5. Availability additional features(exchange and transfer of data via FTP protocol, access to site visit statistics, email based on the site name, etc.).
6. Cost minimization. Savings when using shared hosting can amount to a significant amount, since you shift to the hosting provider the worries of round-the-clock support for expensive server equipment, setting up software, updating it regularly, and ensuring a constant connection to the Internet.

Disadvantages of shared hosting

Disadvantages of shared hosting:

1. You cannot install it yourself software.
2. Physical resources(RAM, processor) are distributed among several clients. You do not have exclusive ownership of all physical resources, as, for example, in the case of a virtual private server (VPS).

What does the site offer?

The site specializes in providing services hosting in Belarus. Your site will be hosted on servers located in the data center in Minsk, which will increase the loading speed of your site. We only use own equipment, unlike most companies, which are intermediary companies.

You also get the opportunity to fully work with hosting using Plesk master control panel, which has a simple and intuitive web interface in Russian. Using Plesk You can do it yourself:

• create a domain and an unlimited number of subdomains
• manage MySQL and MS SQL databases (create a database, users, etc.)
• create FTP accounts
• manage mail (create mailboxes, mailing lists, etc.)
• manage the DNS server (create and edit DNS records to fine-tune hosting capabilities)
• control the use of server resources by your sites
• track the activity of users of your sites using the advanced statistics system AWStats
• use a large number of additional features

Shared hosting plans

The site offers 5 main shared hosting plans. Detailed characteristics are presented on the page virtual hosting in Belarus.

Tariff plan "Start". 1500 MB of free disk space, the ability to host 1 website, an unlimited number of subdomains, support for all technologies. The number of mailboxes is not limited.

Tariff plan "Practical". 3000 MB of free disk space, the ability to host up to 2 websites, an unlimited number of subdomains, support for all technologies. The number of mailboxes is not limited.

Tariff plan "Business". 5000 MB of free disk space, the ability to host up to 4 websites, an unlimited number of subdomains, support for all technologies. The number of mailboxes is not limited.

Tariff plan "Master". 7000 MB of free disk space, the ability to host up to 6 sites, an unlimited number of subdomains, support for all technologies. The number of mailboxes is not limited.

Tariff plan "Pro". 10,000 MB of free disk space, the ability to host up to 10 websites, an unlimited number of subdomains, support for all technologies. The number of mailboxes is not limited.