The Evolution of Web Hosting

The world of web hosting really has not been around for that long. Obviously, it did not really get started until the Internet came onto the scene. However, even then, hosting was not something that you would recognize. That change had to wait until use of the Internet became more commonplace. During the 1990s, hosting began to take on a recognizable shape. However, from that point to this, hosting has undergone numerous changes. In the Beginning In the early days of hosting, you would be hard pressed to find anything other thandedicated hosting. In addition, the rates for hosting were incredibly high. This was due to the very high cost of server space and resources. Hard drives and RAM were still measured in megabytes, rather than gigabytes or terabytes, so to have a real web presence, you had to shell out some serious cash. The Next Step As the cost of equipment, hardware and resources gradually lowered, and more and more people began to use the Internet, the cost of hosting began to come down. In addition, with the increased number of individuals and companies trying to establish a web presence, hosting firms realized that they could offer something more affordable to their clients. Shared hosting was born, and the web hasn't been the same since. Shared hosting offered numerous advantages over dedicated hosting, though the reduction in cost was perhaps the most visible. Of course, shared hosting in the early days was slow, as server resources were still limited. That changed rather quickly, though. Continued Changes to the World of Hosting Of course, the world of hosting did not stop evolving after shared hosting came about. Rather, it continued changing even faster. Today, there are several different types of web hosting available for different needs. Dedicated hosting is still around, and offers some solid benefits for those who need the resources of an entire server. Shared hosting has evolved to become the most popular type of hosting available; as well as being quite affordable, it offers plenty of performance for individuals, and small to medium businesses. New options have come onto the market as well. For instance, virtual private servers are now available, which offer some considerable benefits. Cloud hosting is also a growing option in the industry, which provides a price between shared and dedicated hosting, and offers immense scalability and immediate responsiveness by utilizing cloud computing technology.