The activity or business of providing hardware, systems, software, and infrastructure to store and manage access to data.
What is data hosting?
Data hosting is the service or activity of providing the hardware, systems, software, storage, networking, and infrastructure needed to store data and make it available to authorized users or applications. Hosting can be provided on dedicated servers, shared infrastructure, data centers, or cloud platforms, depending on performance, security, and operational requirements.
How does data hosting work?
Data hosting works by storing information on managed computing infrastructure and providing controlled network access to it. A hosting provider or internal IT team operates servers, storage, connectivity, and supporting software so applications and authorized users can retrieve or update data. Security responsibilities depend on the hosting model and service agreement.
Is data hosting the same as cloud storage?
Cloud storage is one form of data hosting, but the terms are not identical. Data hosting can include dedicated servers, colocation, private infrastructure, managed databases, or cloud services. Cloud storage specifically uses cloud-provider infrastructure designed to store and retrieve data, usually with scalable capacity and service-based access controls.
Understand more election terms clearly
Get one important election term explained each week, with authoritative sources, practical context and related definitions.
The activity or business of providing hardware, systems, software, and infrastructure to store and manage access to data.
Cite this term
Election Security Glossary. (2026). Data Hosting. In Election Security Glossary. Retrieved August 20, 2026, from https://electionsecurityglossary.com/glossary/data-hosting
Sources
01
High consensus
02
Multi-source
Get the weekly election term
Receive one cited, source-backed election explanation in your inbox each week.