Web hosting (ConceptTopic, 8)
From Compile Worlds
Web hosting refers to storing content on a server somewhere that can be accessed publicly (or otherwise) through the Internet. There are four levels of web hosting, ordered below from best (and most expensive) to worst (and cheapest).
Dedicated server
A dedicated server is a contract where the customer is provided with the entire power of one (or more!) machine(s). The annual cost for a dedicated server usually runs into the thousands (of US dollars), so it is unaffordable unless you are either a business or an organization with a large number of fans willing to donate server costs. Examples include Microsoft, Google, Wikipedia and Sonic Retro.
Virtual private server
A virtual private server, also known as a very pwnsome server and abbreviated as VPS, is the second level directly below the dedicated server arrangement. With a VPS contract, the customer gets a portion of the power of a machine for a fraction of the price. Team Ikaria and its sister sites, including Kumizone, are hosted on the Gollum VPS, which Keiji pays $160/year for.
A shared server is the third level of hosting. They are known as such because they share IP and operating system, which makes them unsuitable for running any kind of game server or similar non-interactive process on. However, they can still run dynamic server-side scripts such as PHP.
Static space
Static space, for lack of a better term, is the fourth and final level of hosting, which is usually free. This level can only serve static files such as HTML pages and images, and is often used by n00bs. They also commonly insert adverts into hosted HTML pages. Many examples of this level of web hosting have become defunct, such as AOL Hometown and Geocities, but there are still a few left, such as Freewebs (now just "Webs").
