One of the first things that you need to do when considering launching a website is to find a web host. Web hosting is an extremely competitive business and because of this, there are several different types of web hosting available. So which one do you use for your site?
Shared Hosting
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The key to understanding Shared Web Hosting is in the definition of the word Shared. Just like it sounds, the server’s resources are shared among the provider company’s clients. All of the services provided running on the server are managed by the host to provide a high level of uptime. The only control the client has is over the website itself. One of the most common types of hosting, the costs can have a range, in many cases, based on how many web sites are on the server.
Virtual Private Hosting
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Virtual Private Hosting is simply a hosting account provided by the web hosting company on a Virtual Server. This type of hosting is similar to shared web hosting, in that the server resources are shared. This type of sharing is different. It utilizes a software representation of hardware to create individual Virtual Servers. This allows the client to have control over the server’s parameters as well as the site parameters. This gives the appearance that the site is on a dedicated server and allows more control over resources.
Dedicated Web Hosting
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Dedicated Web Hosting is simply purchasing the use of dedicated hardware for your web site. You are essentially renting a server, rack space, electricity and the other necessary components of the server environment from the provider. This type of hosting allows the client to run any software on the server that they would need. If you have a special need or custom software that requires specific software to make your site run - or if you have a site that has a lot of traffic, you might want to consider Dedicated Web Hosting.
Managed Web Hosting
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A Managed Hosting account is one which the hosting provider not only provides dedicated hardware, they also provide complete management of the hardware and/or software. This could include making sure the latest patches and updates are installed, managing the servers security, providing reports, balancing traffic loads in addition to maintaining the hardware for uptime. This choice is good if you have a high-traffic site and expect the server operation to be a challenge from a distance. Managed Hosting will provide a client with specific service levels, which are agreed to prior to purchase of the service.
Reseller Web Hosting
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Reseller Hosting is for those individuals who are interested in selling web hosting. Many large web hosting companies offer packages where a client can purchase web hosting resources for resale or simply allow a client to refer others to purchase hosting services and receive a credit for it. The referral programs are structured much like affiliate programs in the ecommerce space. A third way to set up a reseller program is to rent a dedicated server and then offer to resell the servers resources either as virtual private server accounts or as shared hosting accounts.
Co-location
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When you Co-locate a server, you are simply putting your own server hardware into service in a data center that is owned by another party. This option is good if you already have server hardware or wish to run a specific configuration for your site. The provider is then responsible for providing power, A/C and the entire network infrastructure necessary to connect your server to the internet. With this type of service you have complete control over both the hardware and the software. This also means that you are in charge of all software updates, security and any system administration. In some cases, providers may offer regular maintenance and management services for your machine.
Free Web Hosting
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Free web Hosting is not necessarily free. Every provider needs to make money to pay for their business costs. Though the account doesn’t cost you anything, the way a provider makes money is by placing ads around your site - typically above the header of your site and many cases below, or beside the pages in the gutter. In most cases, a web host offering Free Hosting will limit many aspects of your hosting account. If you don’t need anything special and you have a very small budget, this might be for you.
With an array of choices for hosting, the best way to decide what is best for your site is to do some research. This will allow you to properly decide what features are important for your site and make an informed choice. In the end you, when your site is up and running will be glad you did.
This was written by Phil again, thanks Phil 
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Thank you for an excellent post. This outlines clearly the different types of hosting in a straightforward manner.
Useful resource that will join my bookmarks!
thanks
Knowing your hosting needs and acting accordingly is the name of the game. If you are not expecting important spikes of traffic right from the start then a good shared hosting plan will do the job. In my case, I have decided to go dedicated right from the start since I was expecting a lot of social media traffic (and the decision has proved to be a wise one since I have hit the Digg frontpage without encountering any problems on the very first day of the launch) and didn’t want to let it go to waste.
Alan Johnson
Im using dedicated hosting and its best working for me.