Internet is the new buzz word in social and commercial sphere of activities. The exponential growth that the Internet has seen can hardly matched by anything else. More and more people want to jump on the Internet bandwagon for different reasons. Whether it is social interaction, or e-commerce, Internet has infused a new zeal in people to get involved and be a part of this ever increasing Internet crowd. Quite naturally the webhosting has seen a quantum jump in terms of requirements from customers in wake of the changing business and social needs.

Types of Web Hosting

The technological advances have made it possible to offer a wide range of web hosting services to the customers. These services are provided based upon the requirements of the customers. The types of webhosting services being provided by the service provides are

• Business Email Hosting

• Dedicated Server

• Grid Hosting

• Exchange Hosting

• Shared Web Hosting

• Co-location Server Hosting

• Virtual Dedicated Server

• Managed Web Hosting

Though many different types of web hosting are available, for business sites, the dedicated web server hosting, or Virtual Dedicated hosting is usually the right option. In dedicated servers, the resources of a server are exclusively used by the site itself. Business sites which see heavy traffic usually run on dedicated servers.

Microsoft Exchange Hosting

Microsoft has developed a host of server side software suites. Exchange server is one of the popular Microsoft's products that offer collaborative features that can help meet an organizations business needs like synchronization of information between the employees. Some of the features that the exchange server offers to their customers are

• Inbox synchronization

• Easy access to calendar, task list, and contact information

• Seamless access from hand held devices like mobiles.

• Access through other WAP based devices

The Exchange server allows web access (Internet) as well as Intranet access. The Microsoft Exchange Hosting requires MS Windows Servers OS. Exchange server supports various protocols like MAPI (Outlook 2003), SMTP, POP3, IMAP4, etc.

Linux Hosting

Linux servers are the most popular servers since they offer affordability and performance both. Even though many other server side software suites are available, the popularity of Linux has remained high. The Linux control panels (such as cPanel) offer customers unmatched comfort in accessing the servers. The low price of Linux allows the service providers transfer some of the benefits to users by offering them discount Linux hosting. The main reasons for Linux being so popular is

• Linux is cheap and affordable as Linux is a part of open source projects.

• The design of Linux makes it more resistant to virus attacks.

• The down time of Linux servers is very low. This is possible by the simple design of Linux that enables administrators debug it quickly.

• Third party tools that come with the Linux are some of the best in the market.

The discount Linux hosting has further consolidated the popularity of Linux servers.

Blog Hosting

Blogs have become a popular medium for people to publish their views. Blogs are also being used for commercial activities. This is possible through online advertisements. The rising popularity of blogs has further attracted attention of people. Thus the popularity of blog is growing and is expected to grow further. No doubt more and more service providers are offering blog hosting services to customers. Before subscribing to a blog service, following things must be checked

• The uptime of the servers must be high. This is important if the blog is getting a large traffic. Generally providers who guarantee an uptime of more than 99.95% are should be preferred.

• Software support for installer scripts that can run popular blog software like PHPBB for forums, wordPress, Joomla, etc.

• Support for e-commerce application. This is needed in case a blog is involved in commercial activities.

Service providers like www.phphosts.org are providing excellent support to meet customer's webhosting requirements.