The web hosting industry is a constantly morphing entity and in order to survive as well as maintain its profitability, the companies offering these services have to adapt accordingly. Whether these trends are related to data access/storage efficiency or a policy of environmental responsibility, web hosting service providers have to stay up to date with recent developments and adjust their practices. Let’s examine what the year 2012 mean for these service providers.

1. A reduction in the emissions of web hosting servers

Almost all companies, irrespective of their niche, are focused on limiting the pollution generated by their practices. Whether you are talking about flooring manufacturers or web hosts, environmental friendly policies are among the top priority. Although in some cases the eco responsibility is mainly a component of their marketing strategy, the truth is green was the word of the day in 2012.

Reducing the pollution footprint of the servers can be achieved in several ways. For instance, some companies harness solar power to operate their servers – fully or partially – which means less fossil fuels burned in the process. Other companies prefer the electricity generated by wind turbines due to logistical reasons. Alternatively, zero carbon emissions (also referred to as carbon neutral) web hosting represents equally viable solutions. Nevertheless, regardless of their approach to environmentally sound business practices, all major web hosting service providers have adhered to this trend and new ones are implementing it every day. On a side note, green hosting also presents an advantage for the webmasters, because the websites appeal to eco conscientious audiences.

1. VPS servers instead of dedicated machines

VPS hosting has become an attractive solution due to features such as versatility and efficiency. While it is perfectly true that in the old days VPS was slow and lacked proficient data security methods, nowadays the modern servers are powerful enough to host several websites in completely separated environment simultaneously. Furthermore, less dedicated servers also means fewer carbon emissions, which qualifies VPS solutions as eco friendly.

1. Cloud servers

Cloud servers were practically unknown a couple of years ago and, just like VPS hosting, they have come a long way. In many ways, cloud servers are similar to VPS, but the key dissociation between the two types of web hosting stems from the data storage/access method. To put it simply, cloud servers harness the computing power of a network to create separate website environments whereas the VPS utilizes a single physical server to host several virtual websites. In terms of eco-friendliness, cloud servers perform similarly to VPS hosting.

1. Content management systems

Let’s leave the environmental impact of the web hosting aside for now and move on to the convenience aspects of modern hosting. CMS or content management systems represent one of the simplest way to implement a fully functional website complete with easy access features and an attractive way to view the information. In essence, the concept of CMS refers to the implementation of several automated functions that confer websites a smoother navigation and superior methods of organizing the content in order to improve user experience.

Open source blogging platforms such as WordPress or the more complex versions designed for website like Joomla or Drupal constitute just three examples in this directions. The main feature that all these platforms share is the ability to help novice webmasters set up and run a blog/website without an extensive knowledge of programming or web design. In other words, they represent a boon for internet users everywhere.

1. Reselling web hosting services

Reselling web hosting has become a highly profitable activity in the past few years. The idea behind host service reselling is that smaller companies acquire the hosting services from the larger providers in order to sell them to the general public/smaller companies. Therefore, the resellers handle the micromanagement of the hosting for a profit and, considering that web hosting is a thriving industry, the potential of this business is huge.

However, while it is lucrative for the resellers, the clients of these companies are often confused and unsure who they should address for technical issues. At this point, the responsibility for server problems is pretty much a grey area, although it is possible that a legislation regarding the matter will be passed by the authorities, especially if you take into account the increasing popularity of this business niche.

This article is written by John Miller. He works for Webfirm. It is a company that provides online marketing services like web designing and development, hosting, etc. to its clientele.