A server dedicated to hosting a service or services for users. Hosting servers are most often used for hosting Web sites but can also be used for hosting files, images, games and similar content. Hosting servers can be shared among many clients (shared hosting servers) or dedicated to a single client (dedicated servers), the latter of which is particularly common for larger Web sites where the hosting needs of the Web site owner necessitate more control and/or bandwidth.
See also “All About Web Site Hosting” in the Did You Know…? section of Webopedia.