What is a server host? Virtual hosting: what is it, types, differences from a dedicated server

Recently, even ordinary Internet users are faced with such a concept as “virtual hosting”. Few people imagine what it is in essence, let alone its creation and maintenance. Meanwhile, there is nothing particularly complicated here. Further in the article, basic concepts and some additional aspects that should be paid attention to are proposed for consideration.

Shared hosting: general concept

Actually, to make it clear, any type of hosting can be described in terms of simple example. Let's say a user has created their own web page. But you need to make it accessible to visitors on the Internet (why then create it at all?).

Accommodation finished page on a specific resource (server) - that’s what virtual hosting is. Roughly speaking, the user, using the services of providing a certain amount of disk space, simply publishes his page on a server owned by some company or individual. However, there are limitations here, and we will dwell on them separately.

Basic types of hosting

Today, if we talk about the types of shared hosting, there are not so many variations. Implementation is usually based on two types of systems:

• UNIX-like (including Linux);
• Windows-oriented.

But in any case, the server provides virtual hosting based on web servers and database servers (that is, everything that is necessary for the normal functioning of the user’s website).

For UNIX systems, the Apache and Nginx web servers are mainly used, and the MySQL and PostgreSQL systems that use the languages PHP programming, Perl and others, with support for the SSH protocol (for the Apache platform, the web server is controlled via the .htaccess file).

On Windows platforms, the most common are server solutions based on Windows Server 2003, 2008 R2 and 2012 (version 2003 is gradually leaving the market). The main web servers are all versions and modifications of ASP.NET and IIS, and the databases used are similar to UNIX platforms.

Management is done through the web.config file. But, as practice shows, virtual hosting of sites on Windows platforms is more expensive in terms of tariffs. This is due to the fact that only those companies that have a special SPLA license have the right to provide such services. True, this moment also has its advantages: if you have such an agreement (license), you can be completely sure that official operating systems and related software.

Pros, cons and limitations

If we touch on the advantages and disadvantages of the named system, then virtual hosting looks preferable for individuals, since it is quite inexpensive and easy to set up (the main aspects are taken care of by the service or company providing it). In addition, when using the services, the user is free to choose the necessary tariff plan that best suits his needs.

However, among the disadvantages we can highlight the limitation of the allocated server (disk) space, the inability to install your own software and distributing the load on the resources of the servers themselves among all users.

Another point is related to the fact that in most cases hosting is designed for relatively small traffic (no more than a thousand requests per day). If the limit is exceeded, requests may even be considered as attempts to carry out DDoS attacks.

Shared hosting services

As for the services provided, they usually allocate a certain standardized list, which includes from 1500 MB to 10 GB of available disk space, an allocated traffic limit, a limited number of domain (subdomain) names, mailboxes and pluggable databases.

Despite this, ordinary users have enough of this, as they say, behind the scenes, especially since most of the pages are not some kind of game portals, but contain mainly text information or multimedia elements (audio, video, graphics).

Differences from a dedicated server

Before we talk about how to create virtual hosting, we need to note the difference between this concept and a dedicated server.

When connecting to hosting on the server, only one IP can be used for all registered sites, and redirection is done by specifying a domain name. In the second implementation, several separate IPs can be used for each hosting, but only on the condition that the server itself has several network interfaces.

When using a dedicated server, each site is located exclusively on one remote device (server), and there are no others.

Hosting creation and maintenance

As is already clear, to create hosting you just need to contact the appropriate company. Setting up virtual hosting will be done not by the user, but by its specialists (especially since there is already an appropriate platform and software environment).

Maintenance on the part of the user comes down only to adapting what has been created to one’s needs. Unfortunately, protecting user terminals from the possible impact of viruses or hacker attacks also falls on the user’s shoulders, despite the fact that the main servers are protected by firewalls and powerful antiviruses. This is understandable. After all, content editing will be done not on a remote server, but on a work or home terminal under an administrator login. And here no one is immune from outside interference.

Brief summary

That, in fact, is all that to a very small extent describes the concept of virtual hosting. If we make a final conclusion about what it is, then, roughly speaking, the user is dealing with allocated disk space on a shared server, where he places his pages so that they become available on the Internet. The path to them is controlled by the computing power of the servers themselves, and not by user computer terminals. Creation is even easier. It all comes down to ordering the services of some provider (hosting) company.

And it is with the use of such elementary technological solutions Anyone, as a rule, for a purely nominal fee can host their website and make it available to visitors on the World Wide Web.

But in such a situation, some nuances related to security should be taken into account, because the administration of sites on the server is carried out exclusively by the company that provides such services, and security issues of the hosted site, its content and the remote terminal from which editing or updating the content are carried out fall on the shoulders of client.

Hosting is the placement of information (websites, files) on a server and providing access to it via the Internet.

How does website hosting work?

Each website consists of files (.html .php .css, etc.) and they are all stored on the hosting provider's server. Therefore, when a user enters the address of your site into the browser and wants to see it, at that moment files will be launched on the server and, depending on what code is written in them, the user will see one or another design and functionality of the site. But all text content of the site is stored in a special file - a MySQL database and loaded from it. This file has the extension .sql and is also stored on the hosting provider’s server.

Virtual hosting (shared)

The server on which the site files are stored is actually the same computer. It has a processor (CPU), RAM(RAM) and hard drive(HDD or SSD). But providing an entire server to run just one simple website (which doesn’t use a lot of resources) is very expensive. Therefore, the hosting provider places several sites at once on one powerful server, including those from different owners. All of them simultaneously use the processor and memory. This type of hosting is called Virtual hosting, Shared hosting or simply Hosting (). It is the most popular and widespread, because... is the cheapest. But it has one drawback: if your “neighbor” on the server begins to overload it (the server), then your site will begin to slow down, or it will stop loading altogether. Hosting providers, of course, limit the number of sites that can be hosted, databases and disk space. And they make tariff plans based on this. Those. The more sites you host and the more disk space they take up, the more you have to pay. But problems can still arise on Shared Hosting, and if your site is very visited, then it needs much more resources.

Virtual server (VPS/VDS)

Therefore, hosters came up with another type of hosting - Virtual Server (Virtual Dedicated Server, VPS, VDS, Virtual Private Server, Virtual Dedicated Server). With this type of hosting, sites from different owners remain on the server, but a certain amount of resources is allocated for each of them (CPU power, amount of RAM and disk space). As a result, no matter what your neighbor does with the server, it will not affect your sites in any way. This type of hosting is more expensive, but it makes it possible to host as many websites and databases as you like, the main thing is that they fit within the limits of server resources (CPU, RAM and disk space).

Dedicated server

If this is not enough, and your project is growing very much and requires full control over the server. Then the provider will offer you the sole use of all server resources, without “neighbors”. It will be more expensive, but you will get more resources and, most importantly, full control over the settings. This type of hosting is called a Dedicated server. It's quite expensive.

With the advent of the Internet and the improvement information technology Many specific and obscure terms appeared, which even visitors with higher education, not to mention such a special category of users as beginners, were unable to decipher. In this article, an attempt will be made to explain to each visitor to our site what hosting and provider are, revealing to the reader all the diversity of their species composition.

From the point of view of a simple visitor, a website can be considered as a thematic collection of content presented text information, graphic inserts, video files. A visitor who is interested in the focus of this site may want to download certain files. Viewing files and downloading them provides full access to them around the clock. And all this time, useful content must be stored somewhere.

Hosting is a disk space on which all the content of your site, and the site itself will be located. This is server space that is provided by the provider company for a fee. Hosting can also be a simple personal computer, but this is not the most convenient way to store data about your site.

Hoster, hosting provider – an authorized operator providing hosting services. In other words, this is a company that has purchased servers and rents out certain amounts of its disk space to individuals and legal entities.

Why do you need hosting?

Hosting function – securing a website to one of the places powerful computer in the interests of 24-hour visitor access. The choice of disk space should be approached with the utmost seriousness; the reliability and quality of the services provided are of great importance here. A simple PC can handle this task, but in this case it will need to be connected to the Internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Any software failures or other defects will not only lead to a breakdown of the computer itself, but will also stop transmitting data about your site to the network. In other words, your site will simply stop working or start to slow down.

Types of hosting

• Virtual.

The most justified option from the point of view of minimizing costs involves maintaining several small sites on one server.

• Virtual dedicated server.

The customer is allocated disk space, part of the server memory and processor time on one hardware rack.

• Dedicated server.

The hosting company allocates the entire server to the customer and is fully responsible for its maintenance. This option is used when creating and maintaining large Internet projects.

• Colocation.

The provider leases space to the client in a data center with 24-hour access to the Internet.

Which hosting to choose

When choosing hosting, it is important to understand what it is advantageous offer can be provided either for a fee or completely free of charge.

The advantages of free hosting do not require explanation; everything is clear here - they do not charge a fee for the service provided. True, some enterprising companies link such a service with the possibility of placing their advertising banners on your website. Often, unstable operation free servers, leads to a lack of access to a specific virtual site.

Another unpleasant discovery will be the inability to use services: PHP, CGI, VB, MySQL, FTP. It is thanks to the presence of such characteristics that the website has prospects for development and improvement. As for technical support, free web- hosting does not provide such guarantees at all.

The only downside to paid hosting is that you have to pay for it. However, you should not be upset over such trifles, since a monthly amount of 100-350 rubles will not cause your budget to suffer much.

Considering the variety of current cost estimates for owners of virtual sites, most companies that offer hosting services select a tariff plan that is 100% satisfactory to the client. All that remains is to make a choice in favor of a hoster that guarantees reliable storage of site content.

How to choose cheap hosting?

Remember, you don’t need to immediately rent disk space from the first company you come across. Chat on forums, ask for advice from experienced specialists.

For example, the website is hosted on Makhost. We also recommend TimeWeb. We can say with 100% confidence that these are reliable provider companies that provide quality services at very affordable prices.

Isn't it time for us to figure it out? what is a server for hosting? In previous articles, I quite often mentioned this mysterious word - server. I think that it would be quite useful for every novice user to have an idea about this subject. You know, when the details are clear and the big picture becomes clearer. So, what is a server?

What is a server?

In fact, a server is a computer. Bigger, more powerful, but essentially the same computer as the one next to you. With processor, memory and hard drive.

The main difference between a server (in slang it is also called a “server”) and any other computer is its functional focus on servicing other network devices. The English word “serve” is translated as follows: to serve, to serve.
By the way, if at some enterprise one of the computers local network allocated to solve certain problems of this network without human intervention, then it will also be considered a server. But we are now talking about the servers of the hosting provider.
About the differences from regular computer, of course, there are also.

Server autonomy

The server does not have external devices- keyboard, mouse, monitor. All of the listed gadgets can be connected for configuration, but, as a rule, after initial debugging, the server operates autonomously and, if necessary, can be controlled remotely.

Server reliability

The server is characterized by high reliability of its nodes and software. As for the latter, this is increased protection from failures, error correction technologies.
Reliability can be seen in everything - in the organization of power supply, in an enhanced cooling system, in more durable housings, dust protection, even in maintaining a special microclimate (humidity, air temperature) in the rooms where the server racks are located.

Servers are usually equipped with duplicate or additional components, such as power supplies, hard drives, RAM, including those with a “hot” swap function, that is, in the event that a unit fails directly during operation.

Server sizes

The size of the server depends on the scale of the tasks performed by the device and its design features, for example, the number. hard drives, coming to 1 processor. There are desktop servers, and there are floor-standing ones. It is common to place servers in a rack-mount version.

Server resources

The server's resources also exceed the capabilities of an ordinary computer. Judge for yourself - how many sites are located on the virtual hosting server. Accordingly, the capacity of hard drives should be enough for everyone and, most importantly, the characteristics of the processor, memory, and software.

Hosting is a service for hosting your website files or any other content on a remote server that is constantly connected to the Internet.

Let's figure out what hosting is in simple words. From the lesson on we remember that the World Wide Web (Internet) is formed by millions of Internet web servers located around the world. The web server is computer program, which runs on a network-connected computer and uses HTTP protocol for data transfer.

This web server contains files from various sites, which we view through our browser. Each of you can organize such a web server at home, but since it is expensive, troublesome and requires certain knowledge, not everyone will be able to do it. For such people, there are special companies that provide their web servers for rent, as well as the necessary technical assistance and advice. The service itself is called virtual hosting or web hosting, and the companies that provide such a service are called hosting providers or hosters.

A hoster is a company that provides hosting services.

A web server is like an apartment for a website. But, as in life, in order to buy such an apartment, so that it is your property, you need to pay a large sum of money and pay significant expenses for maintaining this apartment every month.

When we order hosting, it is as if we are renting an apartment for our website from other people. Significantly less money is required for rent, but since it is a rental, money must be paid for it regularly. Usually once a month. But if you want to get a significant discount, you need to pay for the year at once.

Accordingly, a domain is like an address or registration for your website. Hosting, that is, an apartment for the site, is available, but without an address no one will know where your site lives and no one will be able to come to visit you.

Hosting services can be divided into:

• Virtual Hosting (or simply Hosting) (~100 – 300 rubles per month);
• Virtual dedicated server (or VPS, also known as VDS) (~ 300 – 7,000 rubles per month);
• Rent a dedicated server (~ 4,000 – 25,000 rubles per month).

To understand the difference between these services, let's look again at the real estate example.

• Shared hosting– it’s like a modest apartment. One-room apartment or two-room apartment. This apartment will be enough for a small number of people. It has everything you need for life. Virtual hosting is designed for sites with low traffic. This is an ideal option for beginners who are creating their first websites. But as the number of visitors to your project increases, you will need to move to a larger apartment, otherwise you will not be able to accommodate everyone. In such cases, when the hosting is not designed to handle the load on your project, the site begins to freeze and slow down, and its pages take a long time to open. As a result, visitors, without waiting, leave your site for your competitors.
• Virtual dedicated server– it’s like a large, spacious country house that can accommodate several large families and their friends. This is an option for advanced, for those who have sites with medium and high attendance. VPS or VDS will cope with high traffic and processing a large number of requests, which will allow your site to quickly open the pages that users need and not freeze at the most inopportune moment.
• Dedicated server– it’s like a huge hotel with its own territory on the seashore. This hotel has a large number of spacious rooms, all the necessary staff, beautiful and well-groomed grounds. This is the choice of professionals who earn serious money on the Internet and want their sites to open quickly, regardless of how many people come in the next minute, be it a hundred thousand people or a million.

At this point, readers may have a question: “What kind of attendance are they designed for? different types hosting services”? Is it possible to determine by traffic criteria what is needed in a particular case: hosting or a dedicated server?

The fact is that the level of attendance is not the only criterion for choosing the necessary service. Much depends on your site, what scripts are there, how many requests they generate to your site’s database, how many email messages you process, and many other parameters.

Beginners don't need to worry about this issue. Start with simple shared hosting, and then, as your project grows and develops, monitor its work, see how quickly the pages of your site open, how often it freezes and is not accessible, and based on this you can make further decisions about moving to more productive and cost-effective tariffs.

I'll tell you how it was for me in this matter. Now for my projects I use a dedicated server, that is, the most expensive service among hosting services, but I don’t pay much for it, about 40 euros per month. Since my sites in total generate about 200,000 rubles for me. net profit, then we can say that 40 euros is ridiculous money.

I started in 2009 with regular virtual hosting, for which I paid something like 60-80 rubles per month. For the first few years, my website worked perfectly on this hosting. Attendance was small and virtual hosting cost 60-80 rubles. per month I coped with it quite well.

Towards the end of the second year, when the traffic to my site became noticeably higher (about 1000 unique visitors per day), problems began to occur. My site crashed more and more often, pages took a long time to open, and technical support hosting could not give me a clear answer about the reasons for what was happening.

I later realized that this is standard practice for many hosting providers. When you become their client, at first everything works great, and then they start to “raise” you in price, forcing you to switch to more expensive tariff plans.

I kind of don't mind this happening. But I always didn't like HOW it was done. If they gave me some normal statistics that would reflect how the load of my site affects the performance of shared hosting and how these statistics will change with the transition to more expensive tariff plans, then I would agree to it without hesitation.

Each time, technical support hinted to me that my site requires additional resources that the current tariff plan cannot cope with. That's all. Well, somehow not serious.

As a result, over several years of working on the Internet, I tried about 5 different hosting providers, trying different tariffs for shared hosting, VPS/VDS, and ultimately moved to a separate virtual server where only my sites are located.

Based on my experience, I recommend that beginners start with some inexpensive but proven hosting provider and, as traffic and profitability of your project increases, gradually move to more productive services (first VPS, and then a separate dedicated server).

• One of the best combinations of price and quality,
• Long on the market, a lot positive feedback,
• 24/7 technical support. Many newbies work late at night on their sites, so it's very convenient to contact support at any time if you have any questions.
• Starter package services for 98 rub. includes the content of as many as 3 sites, which many other hosters do not have. Usually for this price they give 1, maximum 2 sites. You will also have the opportunity to experiment with different sites within one tariff plan.
• Backup, necessary to restore the site in case of any unforeseen situations.
• Automatic installation popular CMS systems such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal.
• 15-day trial period.

In the video below I will show you how to register with this hoster. And then, we will deploy a website on the hosting on the popular WordPress CMS system, select a design theme for it, make the necessary basic settings, as a result of which you will have a beautiful website that can be customized both for a business card page with a portfolio for, and for a full-fledged information site or blog, like mine. And yes, the blog “My Ruble” works on CMS WordPress.

For now, let's register with a hosting provider:

If for some reason you want to become a client of some other hosting company, then I will give you some additional recommendations on what to look for when choosing hosting.

1) Form of ownership of the company. Find the About the Company section on the hoster’s website and see if this company has a registered legal entity: CJSC, OJSC, or the most common LLC (Limited Liability Company) or individual entrepreneurship.

Why is it important to check the Property Form? The fact is that opening a hosting company today is not difficult. And often this is done according to the resale model, that is, resale. This is done simply, we find a large, most often European or American hosting provider, buy a powerful dedicated server from him and then attract clients, whom we place “as if” on our own servers.

In Europe, by the way, you can buy a dedicated server cheaply. I rent a server in German company Hetzner (http://ru.hetzner.com/) for only 40 euros per month. At this price, you are unlikely to be able to buy a dedicated server from Russian hosting companies. The maximum is a Virtual Dedicated Server.

How does a virtual dedicated server (VDS) differ from a separate dedicated server (SDS)?

Only your project is placed on the ATS. In fact, this is a separate computer with Internet access, designed entirely just for you. Several projects can be placed on the VDS. This is the same separate computer, but each client has the opportunity to customize the server parameters for themselves.

How then does regular virtual hosting differ from VDS and OVD? Regular hosting is also located on a separate server, but there may already be dozens or even hundreds of sites. To make it clearer, I’ll show you with a conditional example:

• Virtual hosting – the number of clients on the server from 10 to 100.
• VDS – number of clients on the server from 2 to 10.
• OVD – number of clients on server 1.

Naturally, all this greatly affects server performance. And the server, I repeat, is the same computer as the one on which you are now reading this material. Have you noticed that if you open a lot of different programs, then it starts to slow down and freeze? If not, experiment at your leisure.

The same thing happens with the web server. The fewer sites it contains, the faster it works.

But let's return to the form of ownership. So, I gave the examples listed above so that you understand that even an ordinary student can offer hosting services today by renting a dedicated server and converting it into virtual hosting.

But an ordinary student is unlikely to open an individual entrepreneur or LLC. Only a serious entrepreneur will do this. And if the hosting company does not have a legal entity, then this is the first sign that the service may not be of high quality.

2) Availability of an office. This point is a continuation of the previous one. If the hoster is an ordinary student, then most likely he will work from home. And if this is a serious organization, then it will definitely have an office open, and its address will be indicated in the Contacts section.

You can check this through the Whoishistory.ru service. If we see that the domain of the hosting company was registered no more than 3 years ago, then we should seriously think about whether it is worth contacting such a young company. Many market monsters are already 10-15 years old. For example, the company Sprinthost registered its domain in 2005, which has a corresponding entry on the Whoishistory website.

4) 24/7 support. If a company has 24/7 support, then this means that it has many clients and has resources for employees who will solve problems around the clock. technical problems clients.

True, you need to be careful here, since small companies can also advertise such a service, which in fact will have one incompetent student in support who will not be able to help you with complex issues.

You can check this before registering with the company. For several days at a late time, try to contact support for the hosting company you are interested in. If you notice a long wait or that the same person constantly answers you, this may indicate that there is only one person in support and difficulties may arise in the future.