What is Cloud Web Hosting?

What is cloud web hosting in fact? The term 'cloud' seems to be quite trendy in today's computing, Internet and web hosting jargon. Yet, just a select few actually can tell what cloud hosting is. Possibly it is a smart idea to educate yourself about cloud web hosting services. To render a quite lengthy story concise, we will firstly reveal to you what cloud hosting is not.

1. Cloud Web Hosting is Not Restricted to a Remote File Storage Only.

1. Delivering a remote data storage solution, which comprises one file storage tool for all customers, does not convert any specific hosting provider into a real cloud web hosting corporation.

The cPanel web hosting companies name the ability to provide remote disk storage solutions a cloud web hosting service. Up till now there is nothing wrong with the cloud terminology, but... we are talking about web hosting services, not remote data storage solutions for private or business purposes. There's constantly one "but", isn't there? It's not enough to name a shared web hosting service, powered by a single-server web hosting platform, just like cPanel, a "cloud web hosting" solution. That's because the other components of the entire hosting platform must be operating in precisely the same manner - this does not apply solely to the remote file storage. The other services entailed in the whole web hosting process also need to be remote, isolated and "clouded". And that's really hard. Very few web hosting service providers can really make it.

2. It Entails Domain Names, Mailbox Aliases, Databases, FTPs, CPs, and so on.

Cloud web hosting is not confined to a remote file storage exclusively. We are discussing a hosting service, serving plenty of domain names, web portals, e-mails, and so on, right?

To name a hosting service a "cloud web hosting" one calls for a lot more than providing just remote data storage mounts (or maybe servers). The email server(s) must be dedicated only to the electronic mail associated services. Doing nothing else than these given assignments. There might be only one or probably a whole set of electronic mail servers, determined by the overall load created. To have an actual cloud web hosting service, the remote database servers should be working as one, irrespective of their actual amount. Performing nothing different. The same is valid for the clients' web hosting Control Panels, the File Transfer Protocol, etc.

3. There are Cloud Domain Name Servers (DNSs) as well.

The DNSs (Domain Name Servers) of a true cloud web hosting firm will support multiple server farm sites on multiple continents.

Here's an instance of a DNS of an actual cloud web hosting vendor:

dns1.novawebhosting.com

dns2.novawebhosting.com

If such a Domain Name Server is supplied by your hosting provider, it's not a guarantee that there is a cloud hosting platform in use, but you can absolutely be sure when you spot a DNS such as the one below:

dns658.hostgator.com

dns659.hostgator.com

that there isn't any cloud web hosting platform. This type of Domain Name Server only indicates that the web hosting environment in use is one-single-server based. Probably it's cPanel. cPanel is a one-single-server web hosting platform and maintains a market share of more than 98%. In cPanel's case, a single physical machine takes care of all web hosting services (web, electronic mail, DNS, databases, File Transfer Protocol, web hosting Control Panel(s), web site files, and so on).

Remote File Storage - The Twisted Characterization of Cloud Web Hosting.

So, a cloud web hosting solution is not confined only to a remote disk storage service, as plenty of hosting distributors wish it was. Sadly for them, if that was the case, the majority of the file web hosting distributors would have been categorized as cloud hosting ones a long time back! They are not referred to as such, as they merely distribute file hosting solutions, not cloud hosting services. The file web hosting platform is really very plain, when compared to the web hosting platform. The remote file storage platform is not a cloud web hosting platform. It cannot be, as it's only one simple fragment of the whole cloud web hosting platform. There's plenty more to be found in the cloud web hosting platform: the web hosting Control Panel cloud, the database clouds (MySQL, PostgreSQL), the DNS cloud, the FTP cloud, the mail cloud and... in the not too distant future, probably a couple of brand new clouds we presently are not familiar with will show up unexpectedly.