There are literally thousands of web hosting companies that provide services to companies and government agencies in Australia. Some of these companies have web servers that are located in the country and some maintain servers in other Asia-Pacific countries, such as Singapore, South Korea and Japan.

The specific services that are offered often differ from one hosting company to another but generally include some or all of those listed below.

Hosting services offered to Australian organisations

When you browse the packages that are offered by leading web hosting companies to customers in Australia, you are likely to come across the following options:

1. Dedicated hosting

Organisations that require plenty of storage space and guaranteed performance have traditionally opted for dedicated hosting packages. With this type of package, you get a server that is dedicated to your website. In other words, there will be no other websites running on the server apart from the ones you put there yourself. Because the host cannot use the server to provide services to any other customers, dedicated hosting packages are more expensive than basic hosting plans but they can still be a good choice for organisations that do not wish to compromise on performance in order to lower their running costs.

2. Cloud hosting

For companies and government agencies that are looking for even more performance than dedicated hosting packages offer, cloud hosting services are well worth considering. Whether you choose Google, Microsoft Azure or Amazon hosting in Australia, a cloud hosting package from a hyperscale service provider will provide levels of security and performance that go well beyond those offered by dedicated hosting services.

3. Colocation hosting

If you need the flexibility and performance that cloud hosting offers but you wish to maintain full control of the IT assets on which your website is hosted, a colocation service could meet your needs. With this type of hosting, you rent space in a large data centre, where your own servers and network accessories are installed. The downside of this type of hosting service is the high initial cost and ongoing maintenance requirements.

4. VPS hosting

VPS stands for virtual private server. With a VPS hosting service, you get the configuration flexibility offered by dedicated hosting but at a lower cost. Your website will share server space with other websites but because it will be hosted in a separate virtual server environment, you can change environment variables without having to worry about other users. This type of hosting service can be a good choice for small commercial customers who need a flexible package but are not yet ready to pay for dedicated or cloud hosting.

5. Shared hosting

The least expensive type of hosting services are shared hosting packages, where your website is hosted on a server with many others. It may be suitable for small commercial enterprises but is not normally a practical option for larger organisations.

Whichever type of service you are looking for, it is worth shopping around as it is a highly competitive market with many service providers vying for your business.