When it comes to hosting a server there are a few options you can take. Some are a lot better than others although each one has benefits. This article looks in detail at all the different possibilities and provides information as to the advantages and disadvantages of each. Whether you have one website or 100, it is vital you know all about hosting and why it so important. In order to have a website, you have got to have some kind of hosting in place. Read on to find out all the options available.

Before we begin with hosting services, we will take a quick look at setting up your web server in your own office. Technically capable staff are not cheap and so are a very large outlay, in terms of salary, for a small business. Then there is the equipment, the maintenance and security of the hardware and the software and the facilities needed for the server to run successfully and reliably. All this and the web server application has not yet been considered. So we will move onto hosting.

Shared hosting is one option that many people choose to take. This is ideal for those on a very tight budget or for those who have just one or two sites that aren't crucial to the running of a business or earning a living in any way. This works by many users sharing a server, so there are a number of sites hosted on the same server. Some serious web masters and businesses with important websites feel that this doesn't go far enough in terms of security. For example it is possible that your own site is affected by a virus or is even hacked because of another site on the same server. Having other users with access to your server means that your site could even go down because of some "fiddling" at another site. If your website takes customer details, financial information or involves financial transactions at all then shared hosting is not suitable and you should use dedicated server hosting.

Dedicated server hosting is quite self explanatory. This type of hosting means no one else has access to your server, which only hosts your own sites. This means there are no problems in terms of security and viruses cannot be passed through the server. Many web administrators use this type of hosting service because it is cost effective and secure. If you choose managed dedicated server hosting then the hosting company take care of all the routine maintenance costs. They provide the server and the equipment needed in the data centre where the server is placed. They also take responsibility for network monitoring and correcting any technical problems with the network. As well as these benefits the page loading times of the websites are quicker too. When a server is shared, the bandwidth is also shared and this means websites can take much longer to load. Nothing turns away a visitor from a website quicker than slow loading.

A third option is colocation. This offers the most in terms of security although it means there are a host of additional tasks and costs involved for you. Colocation is when an individual or company has their own server and simply rents a space in a nearby data centre for it to be placed. If you are a very large company and have the resources to have this type of server hosting then it can be a good idea. You need to provide the server hardware itself and carry out network monitoring to ensure it is all running smoothly. If this is likely to be a problem through time or money constraints then it is much more sensible to choose managed dedicated server hosting. This offers a good level of security but is much cheaper and involves less tasks for you.

Server colocation hosting can be a good option for some people, although others are more inclined to choose a managed dedicated server that comes automatically with thorough server support. Whether it the colo and rack space route you wish to take or another option altogether you should choose a reputable and professional company with plenty of experience.