One of the things that happened after the dot com boom was there was a massive need for companies of all shapes and sizes to have an online presence. This has also been seen with regards to tech people who want to share their wisdom and ideas with the world on the internet. This has meant that Web Hosting has grown at a dramatic rate as all users, organizations and individuals have been looking to interact. This has meant sharing ideas, information, footage, selling and marketing services and products and all of this has been made possible by operating systems which have supported the platforms of web hosting. In recent times there have been numerous advances in hosting web sites and these providers are always looking to provide customers with the most up to date technologies.
What are Web Hosting Platforms?
The two main types of web hosting platforms are the Windows and Linux systems and these are the operating systems that are used to support the hosting of websites.
Linux – This is the most traditional form of Web Hosting Platform used. It is widely regarded as the most reliable and uses memory and disk space efficiently. More than 70% of the web servers in the world make use of Linux / UNIX due to its exceptional power and reliability and also because the cost of Linux / UNIX hosting is low.
The other platform is Windows – Window is what Microsoft has offered to the world as a response to web hosting and its popularity is on the increase. Part of the reason for this surge in popularity is due to the programming aspects contained within it which offers developers the chance to use ASP and ASP.NET programming environments. Another string reason for using this platform is due to the way it integrates with other .NET server technologies, including:
* Commerce Server 2002
* BizTalk Server 2002
* Biz Talk Server 2002
In days gone by, there may have only been basic functions for web host packages but there are more now and some of the most commonly found and essential ones are:
Disk Space – Each web hosting account is equipped with a limited number of disk space that a customer can utilize to save their files on the size of the disk space varies from company to company and package to package. Disk space that is saved on a shared web host space will be less than one on customized space.
Email Accounts – The Web Hosting package allows a certain number of email accounts depending upon the price of the package. The email accounts are a common feature of hosting, particularly while hosting a domain. There are some Web hosts that let their customers have control over their mail settings. Other hosts will do all the set up for the clients. The configuration of the email accounts is a matter of personal preference but however there are basically four main types of mail accounts – POP3, forwarding, aliases and auto responders.
FTP Access – A provision of FTP access is a feature that is found in many modern bought hosting accounts. Having access to FTP enables the user to load files, amend or erase content on the server at a faster rate than they could if they used an interface based on the web.
Recent Advances in Web Hosting:
People and companies always require more and as technology advances and the internet becomes stronger, there is always going to be further demand for new and more impressive technologies.
The technology up gradation of the Windows Server technology and the release of the Windows 2003 Server provides what is now arguably known as the highest performance server environment. It provides outstanding support for the web developers and has a single vendor (Microsoft) committed to its ongoing development.
These improvements have meant that Windows and Linux are closer and there are instances of inter-operability between the two. Previously, each system has distinct advantages over the other but now there is not the same distinction between the two. This means that which system is offered by a host is not as important to a client as it once was. The majority of clients today are able to base their web his decision of features and factors if the company itself as opposed to the operating system they use.
Web hosting software
The key step forward in recent years in web hosting fields has came through web hosting software, which has greatly increased the effectiveness and efficiency of the hosts. The manner in which the new software can aid the host can be seen in the following functions:
* Allowing users to benefit from the automation facility of creating accounts
* Allowing users a better quality of management with regards their dedicated servers
* Ensuring that monotonous tasks can be automated saving the time of system administrators
The software helps the companies in more than one ways. By opting for and hosting the automation software, the management of the dedicated server becomes easy to control and the provisioning of resources comes down from hours to minutes.
Dedicated server software for Windows include: The Windows dedicated server software are Plesk for Windows, Easy Admin Exchange Control Panel and Helm for Windows. Other server software for Windows includes Cold Fusion MX and Anti Virus & Security Software.
The Linux dedicated server software are cent OS Linux, Red Hat Enterprise, cPanel / Web Host Manager, Fantastico De Luxe, Plesk for Linux, Anti Virus Software and Security Software.
Voice over Internet Protocol technology in Web Hosting
As the Web host industry continues to go from strength to strength, there is a growing need to develop new products and technologies to ensure customers remain satisfied. The Web Hosting industry is fiercely competitive and rival firms know they have to push technology forward to be in a position to best serve their clients and win customers. One key development in recent times in the Web hosting industry revolves around Voice over Internet Protocol technology. These advances has allowed any computer user who also has access to a broadband Internet connection to be able to communicate with other people all over the world without being charged the level of fees that is normally associated with this level of communication.
As this new technology is fairly cheap, many service providers have figured out that VOIP is able to give them an edge and can be seen as a new and innovative addition to their range of services and one which can be implemented with no real trouble. This has led to a surge in VOIP companies who are seeking to find a way into this lucrative market.
Of course, the web hosting industry is always seeking ways to gain an advantage and they are developing an interest in VOIP. A number of the highest ranked hosts have looked into launching VOIP, a telephone service that utilizes VOIP technology and aim to offer this service across the globe.
Launching the provision of the Virtual Rack:
A popular Web Host has come up with a “virtual rack” solution, which is designed to make the features of its popular private rack solution available to customers running as few as two servers. The main aim of launching the private rack product to provide the customers with complete customization on there web hosting.
As soon as the customer is in their private rack, they can choose which servers they would like. There is also the ability for them to select security technologies or advances networks which best suit their needs. This may range from the top of the line firewalls from Cisco ASA or perhaps a load balancer from server iron. However a customer wants their configuration, they can request it from their web host as well as asking for the IP arrangement they would like to receive.
There is no doubt that the advances and improvements in Web Hosting have greatly increased the efficiency and effectiveness of the industry. All of these steps have played a part in fulfilling customer needs and serving the consumer purposes in a far better manner and one which may have exceeded expectations.
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