What is Web Hosting?
Web hosting is a service that allows organizations and individuals to post a website or webpage on the Internet. A web hosting service provider is a business that is responsible for providing the technologies and services which are needed for the website or a webpage in order to be viewed on the Internet. Websites can be hosted or stored on special systems, known as the servers.
Features of Free Web Hosting
Following are some of the features that every reputed free web hosting provider provides-
Disk Space and Bandwidth
Disk space is the amount of storage space assigned by the web hosting provider to a particular user. This space is used for storing web site files, images, etc. on the website
Bandwidth is the amount of traffic which is allowed to access and leave a website. Access occurs every time when the visitor types in the website name in a browser and leave happens every time the visitor has received something from the website.
FTP
FTP stands for FIle Transfer Protocol. It is a protocol that is used for transferring the files of a website from a computer to a web hosting server and vice-versa. It allows the users to upload the finished website files from the computer to the service provider’s server. A good web hosting server needs to provider round-the-clock unrestricted access to FTP.
Email Services
The web hosting provider should also provide email services. Besides a webmail interface, the email services should also have POP3 and SMTP access so that the user can set up and access the emails on his mobile devices.
Types of Web Hosting Services
Following are some common types of web hosting services-
Shared Web Hosting
In the case of shared web hosting, the user’s website is hosted on a single server and shared by other websites. Shared web hosting works usually well with websites that don’t get a lot of traffic.
Reseller Web Hosting
Reseller web hosting packages are the shared hosting account that has extra tools for helping the user to resell the hosting space. The reseller packages often involve greater technical control, billing software to help the invoice clients and other added perks.
Cloud-Based Web Hosting
The cloud-based web hosting refers to a hosting technology that allows hundreds of individual servers to work together and makes it one huge server. The concept behind cloud-based web hosting is that, as there is a growth in the need, the hosting company can add more commodity hardware to make a larger cloud or grid.
Virtual Private Server (VPS)
Virtual private servers share one physical but act as multiple and separate servers. The VPS forms the foundation between shared hosting and a dedicated machine. Each VPS instance shares hardware resources and they allocated a dedicate portion of the computing resources.
Dedicated Web Server
With a dedicated web server, one can rent a physical server from a hosting company. The dedicated servers are generally the highest level of servers which one needs if the business needs to grow online. With dedicated servers, there is no concern regarding other websites on a shared server consuming up the resources and slowing down the website.
Co-location Web Hosting
In colocation web hosting, the web hosting company rents out a rack space from the data center. The user here is responsible for its own server software, data storage, backup procedures, etc. In the case of a hardware failure, the user is responsible for replacing it and getting the server backed up.
Self Service Web Hosting
Here the user is responsible for buying all the servers, installation and configuration of the software. The user needs to make sure that there are sufficient cooling and power in the machine room.
Managed WordPress Hosting
A managed WordPress Hosting is a service in which the web hosting provider keeps the updated WordPress installations for the users, which protects the website from the security threats.
Pros of Free Web Hosting
Some benefits of free web hosting include-
- It is completely free and beneficial for those who are new to web hosting on the websites
- A free web hosting service requires no contract and low commitment from the user, allowing the user to terminate the contract whenever he wishes to
- Free web hosting is great for testing the sites and other permitted applications such as forums
- It is great for learning how to set-up, and self-hosting blogs, websites, and other applications
Cons of Free Web Hosting
Some disadvantages of free web hosting could be-
- Free web hosting might place ads on the user website
- There is limited disk space and bandwidth provided to the website developer
- It has limited features and may not have the required scripts or tools that the user wishes to have
- Security risks are a major concern for the website developer
Web Hosting Global Market Scenario
In 2018, the global market web hosting market was valued at $90.64 bn and is expected to reach a value at $ 216.59 bn by 2025, with a CAGR of 13.25% during the forecasted period (2018-2025). Due to the rapid proliferation of the Internet, enterprises are now giving up the traditional representations for adopting the new-age virtual identity. The demand for digital space is on the rise, thus creating opportunities for web-hosting providers. The advances in technology have made web hosting more robust and efficient, thus allowing the individuals and enterprises to channelize the marketing efforts through various internet tools.
The global market of web hosting is segmented on the basis of- product type, application, and geography.
Based on the product, the web hosting services is divided into- website builders, shared hosting and dedicated hosting. The website builder segment is expected to rise with the fastest CAGR of 14.8% during the forecasted period. The increased number of small and medium-sized startups is expected to be the key driver behind this growth.
Based on application, web hosting services are categorized as- public website, intranet services, and others. The public website segment is expected to dominate due to the increased digitization and increased adoption of web hosting services. The growth of the e-commerce industry has created new opportunities for industry players to sell the product and interact with customers more closely.
Based on the region, the web hosting market is segmented into- North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, and Middle East & Africa. Out of these regions, North America dominated the market, which was closely followed by Europe and the Asia-Pacific. High Internet penetration and the presence of a well-established infrastructure are the key drivers behind North America’s dominance in the market. With the growing industrialization and increased emergence of small and medium enterprises in countries like India, China, and Japan has led to an increased demand for web hosting services.
cPanel Hosting
cPanel Hosting refers to a web hosting plan which uses cPanel as the web hosting control panel. cPanel is the leading control panel interface in the web hosting industry. It uses a graphical interface which can simplify the website management. It simplifies a lot of routine website management tools by giving the users an easy-to-use front-end interface. It allows the users to easily manage their email accounts, FTP accounts, the files present on the website, etc. It even provides users with their website statistics.
