Web Hosting - An Overview

If you have ever set up either a personal or business website you will no doubt have encountered the concept of website hosting and depending on the level of service you needed you may have investigated a few different hosting solutions. The following article aims to give a useful overview to the options that are available to you and how they meet the differing aims of security, availability, costs, technical guidance and performance.

A hosting provider will either provide clients with space on servers to store and make their website accessible or a location in which they can house their own web server.

Colocation Hosting:
When a hosting provider offers the use of a data centre to house the client’s own server, it is known as colocation. Although the client will need to supply the server they can still benefit from the physical safety and security of the data centre and the facility’s high bandwidth to boost performance and availability. According to the package they sign up for they may also benefit from expert maintenance supplied by the provider.

Shared Hosting:
For less critical and lower performance driven websites, particularly where security is not such an issue, clients can opt to host their website on a shared server provided by the hosting company. In this scenario the site is stored on the same physical server as the websites of other clients (usually many others) and consequently, if there are performance issues, security issues, corruptions etc that occur with the sharing sites they may have knock on effects on each other.

Websites which are hosted on shared servers may also have to share resources such as server configurations and software, and therefore will not necessarily provide the solution for clients wanting a bespoke or tailored hosting solution.

The big advantage of shared hosting is however, the fact that it is more affordable for smaller scale operations and you can even find some resellers who will offer free web hosting on shared servers, funded by advertising.

Virtual Dedicated Servers:
Otherwise referred to as a Virtual Private Server (VPS), this uses a shared physical server but employs separate operating system installations or partitions for each site so that there is less shared resource between sites and more independently tailored software configuration. Virtual dedicated servers therefore carry a lower risk of security issues such as malware propagating from one site to another. and higher performance levels as the virtual spaces can be set up independently.

Dedicated Hosting:
In this scenario a website is hosted on its own physical server, usually within a data centre and therefore will not be affected by knock on issues from other sites sharing the server. In addition, the client will be able to fully configure the server to their needs, either with their own access or by handing over control to the hosting provider (see Managed Hosting).

Clustered hosting:
The term clustered hosting applies to any hosting solution in which the website is hosted on multiple servers, whether they be dedicated or shared servers. The solution provides a good solution for client’s looking for a high levels of uptime - because if one server fails the website can still run off the remaining servers - and performance - as load balancing can be employed so that web traffic is evenly distributed between the different servers so that individual servers are not overloaded.

Cloud Hosting:
This is essentially a form of clustered hosting whereby websites are stored on multiple servers via the cloud and can therefore benefit from the high levels of capacity, scalability and load balancing that the clustered solution offers whilst bringing it to a wider consumer market. With cloud hosting the client has access to a vast resource of servers so that they can use and pay for as much or as little as they need at any given time without the physical hardware restrictions of traditional hosting.

Managed Hosting:
This type of hosting package is ideal for a client whose website will require more complex configuration or will need to be adaptable to the changes in the clients requirements, e.g., business domains with changing propositions and marketing strategies.

Managed services can incorporate any of the other hosting packages but are most often associated with dedicated hosting plans. Here the provider will offer the management and maintenance of the website’s server configuration using a level of knowledge that the client is not likely to have themselves to ensure that performance, availability and security are maintained to a high level.

Importantly, providers can ensure that the server set up is fully responsive to changes in the website’s proposition or usage, such as the introduction of an ecommerce element or spikes in the level of traffic hitting the site.

Whatever level of online presence you are looking for with a basic understanding of the different elements on offer, you will be well placed to pick a Hosting solution to suit your needs; whether you want an affordable mass market cloud solution for a personal website or a robust and fully managed dedicated server solution for a critical and high visibility business domain.

The Benefits of Colocation

front view of the cluster of Wikimedia servers in Aubervilliers near Paris, France, installed on December 18, 2004; the three 1U servers of the same model (HP Proliant sa1100) in the middle are ours (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As the online presence of a business becomes more and more integral to not only their promotional activities, but also their point of sales, the reliability and flexibility that they demand from their online infrastructure becomes more critical. Therefore, it is a fundamental part of a business’s strategy to consider how their websites are hosted; how their servers can respond to high bandwidth if their sites become more popular, how they can ensure that they can keep up with changes in their online propositions, and the demands of their market place. This will allow them to provide the availability and service that their customers expect. The solution will often be colocation hosting, but what exactly is colocation and how does it work?

In short the concept of colocation is that the core infrastructure behind a client’s website, the physical hardware such as the servers and accompanying equipment, is located in a colocation provider’s facilities so that the client does not have to maintain it on their own site. This is quite a basic definition and in practice colocation providers will offer a range of services within that area.

Typically the client’s servers will be stored in metal racks within a data centre and the client will therefore be renting rack space. This rack space even has it’s own units of measurement, the Rack Unit (U) which equates to 1.75 inches of vertical space.

The client can retain complete control over the management and configuration of their servers or they can buy this as part of the service from the colocation provider who can take on all responsibilities of monitoring and maintaining the servers’ operations.

The principle benefits of colocation are that the facilities will usually provide a secure home on an internet backbone that will ensure not only high levels of uptime, but also high levels of bandwidth capability and ultimately plenty of flexibility if the client’s requirements change.

The facilities themselves often come with highly sophisticated features such as power back ups (both instant battery and more powerful diesel generators), air conditioning for cooling, fire safety technology, security features (CCTV, highly restricted access controls to both the building and racks), and multiple connections (both into the building and within it) to provide fail safes if individual connections fail.

The client can also benefit from economies of scale in two costly areas as well. Firstly it is often cheaper for a colocation provider to ensure physical preservation of the servers and their up time - the aforementioned fire protection, on site security, power backups - to a high degree across a whole facility than it is for individually businesses to achieve the same levels on their individual sites. Secondly the bandwidth that the servers can benefit from will come at a far more economical rate for the client than if they attempted to install the equivalent lines at their own site.

Moreover, when choosing a managed colocation service in particular, the facilities may offer greater levels of expertise and specialisation in up-time at a comparatively lower cost freeing up the client’s resources for more effective use elsewhere.

There is even a further option available to clients whereby the data centre can provide the server themselves as part of dedicated hosting service, rather than the client relocating their own servers. This is the complete package in terms of support and flexibility and tapping the full expertise of the data centre. It can be hugely beneficial for some clients, however it does therefore bring with it a greater cost.

Colocation is a real necessity for businesses which either need to exchange high amounts of data or cannot afford any downtime in their online services. Telecommunications businesses and critical e-commerce sites may already be aware of the benefits of colocation but it is fast attracting a wider church as businesses need to compete more efficiently online. There is no better time to see if your business can benefit from colocation hosting.

© Stuart Mitchell

Shared Web Hosting Packages in Brief

This blog is the first of two providing an overview of the various types of web hosting available on the market. The focus in this first part is on the various forms of hosting which rely on shared web servers within data centers to host multiple websites.

The following summaries mention some of the benefits and drawbacks of each type of hosting platform and it is important to bear in mind what you actually need from your hosting provider when you weigh these up. Broadly, the two areas to consider are performance and uptime, whilst of course offsetting these against cost.

Data centres are purpose built facilities which are designed to house servers which meet these aims at affordable costs for the clients. They offer complex security and safety systems to ensure that the servers are not compromised whilst they are running and also have extensive systems in place to generate the optimal conditions (heat and humidity etc) for the servers to run smoothly and efficiently.

Depending on the type of hosting package in question, the other features to consider are:

• the ability to control and customise hardware and software if the site needs bespoke or non-standard configurations.
• the access to bandwidth - high bandwidth connections allow large amounts of traffic to flow quickly to and from the web server and so are more important for websites which experience high traffic volumes (i.e., page requests) or need to display a lot of content
• the amount of disk space (i.e., storage) on offer which will determine how big the site can grow and how much content can be stored
• the digital security of the platform, especially for sites that are obtaining or using sensitive data such as ecommerce sites.

Shared Hosting
The ‘shared’ in shared hosting refers to the fact that the web server that hosts the site is shared between numerous clients and their websites. It is the typical ‘entry-level’ option for small scale non-critical and non-sensitive (data) websites.

Features:

• Client rents a portion of a server
• The shared server also hosts other clients’ websites

Benefits:

• Inexpensive in comparison to other hosting platforms
• Simple hosting platform for clients with limited hosting expertise
• Physical security of data center location
• Physical safety of data center location

Drawbacks:

• Higher risk of security issues spreading from other websites
• Higher risk of software failures caused activities by other clients etc
• Limited physical resources such as bandwidth and disk space
• Limited scope for configuration of the software platform (operating system etc)

Virtual Dedicated Servers
Usually shortened to VPS, this type of hosting still shares a single server across multiple sites/clients but each site has its own operating system partition and so it offers more control and security whilst remaining cost effective.

Features:

• Client rents a virtual partition on a server
• The shared server also hosts other clients’ websites on separate partitions

Benefits:

• Inexpensive in comparison to other hosting platforms
• Allows greater customisation of each operating system
• Physical security of data center location
• Physical safety of data center location

Drawbacks:

• Some risk of security issues spreading from other websites
• Some risk of software failures caused activities by other clients etc
• Limited physical resources such as bandwidth and disk space

Cloud Hosting
Cloud hosting essentially uses a large pool of physical hardware and resource to build virtualised hosting environments which are therefore not restricted to physical limitations. It can provide a solution for those who want a flexible platform where complete control and customisation is not a requirement.

Features:

• Client rents virtual hosting resource
• Hardware resource taken from multiple servers
• Hosting resource (bandwidth, disk space etc) supplied on demand

Benefits:

• Not reliant on one server - less risk of failures/downtime
• Clients only pay for what they use
• Seamlessly scalable - extra virtual resource can be assigned as and when it is required

Drawbacks:

• Limitations on the ability to configure the platform
• No scope for customising hardware
• Risk of security issues spreading from other websites

© Stuart Mitchell 2012
If you are interested in finding out more about shared hosting in the cloud visit Cloud Hosting Provider.

A Summary of Web Hosting Packages

Having taken a quick look at the various forms of shared hosting that can be used by clients to serve a web site to the rest of the world, the second installment in this couplet introduces a few alternative options which may require slightly larger budgets.

Dedicated Hosting
Forms of dedicated hosting are popular with larger business clients where performance and security are paramount and the budget is in place to do pay for it, because it offers complete control, high security and uncompromised physical resources.

Features:

• Client rents an entire single server
• Web site has access to all physical resource and connectivity
• Often comes with managed hosting

Benefits:

• Scope for complete control over server configuration
• No competition for bandwidth resource
• No competition for processor (CPU) resource
• Access to entire server’s disk space
• No security threats from other sites/partitions on the server

Drawbacks:

• Cost of renting entire server
• Potential for wasted capacity if higher spec hardware is rented than the site requires

Clustered Hosting
Clustered hosting employs more than one server to reduce the risk of downtime for clients who can’t afford their site to go offline.

Features:

• Web site is hosted across multiple servers
• Can utilise shared or dedicated servers
• Can offer back up systems and load balancing

Benefits:

• No single point of failure - one server failing does not take the site offline
• Load balancing allows traffic to be distributed between servers reducing the demand on each and improving overall performance

Drawbacks:

• Cost if using dedicated servers
• Lack of customisation if using shared servers

Colocation
Sometimes referred to as Co-location or simply Colo, this form of hosting allows clients to reap the benefits of a data center location but still retain ownership of the hardware.

Features:

• Client buys and owns server(s)
• Servers are housed in a data center
• Client rents space for servers

Benefits:

• Physical security of data center location
• Physical safety of data center location
• Access to high bandwidth connections
• Retained value of the hardware as company assets

Drawbacks:

• Initial cost of purchasing servers.
• Less scalability due to cost of replacing hardware
• Potential for wasted capacity if high spec hardware is purchased to future-proof the platform

Managed Hosting
Managed hosting is a type of hosting where the features refer to the support that the client receives rather than the type of server it comes with and therefore it can incorporate any type of hosting/server set up such as shared or dedicated. A fully managed platform is effectively the deluxe package for clients with larger budgets and a shortage of expertise in-house.

Features (typically):

• Expert support and advice
• Technicians available to make configuration changes
• Performance monitoring
• Usually a dedicated server

Benefits (depending on the type of support):

• Access to the expertise and knowledge of hosting provider
• Round the clock support in case of performance issues or downtime
• Proactive and reactive support for changes in the web site or web site usage
• Help to effectively scale and configure platform

Drawbacks:

• Will tend to be expensive in comparison to self-managed packages

© Stuart Mitchell 2012
If you are interested in finding out more about hosting visit Dedicated Hosting.