A hosting environment is nothing but a physical environment from where the hosting services are offered. In telecommunication terms, hosting environment in terms of telecommunication terms would mean a NOC or a network operating centre which houses the equipment required for hosting a service. Now just like any other environment, this environment can also be broken down into different components like hardware, routers, servers as well as cabinets. In most instances, the equipment would be mounted on a rack and connected through numerous LANs.
Now quite like any other environment, a hosting environment also requires security. And this is more relevant because the platform is often shared by many users at once. Therefore, firewalls, which create barriers for preventing unwarranted intrusions from penetrating as well as sub LANs are also used. Such an environment is also part of support systems like provisioning systems, billing and operation and maintenance.
An environment such as this provides connectivity to one or more networks through gateways. The quality of the environment depends on the available configurations and levels of redundancy. Depending on requirements, a company can choose a shared Hosting or dedicated server hosting environment for their convenience. The choice has to depend on well calculated research and understanding of concepts