Web hosting is an essential component of making a website available online. It’s not so much a question of whether you need it as of which one to select. For someone looking for a web host, this may appear to be an impossible undertaking. There are hundreds of different hosting solutions available, marketed by thousands of different firms, all making similar claims, and it’s easy for a layperson to become confused.
You may already have a hosting package and are considering switching. As a website’s traffic rises and its user base becomes more engaged, an upgrade is almost certainly required.
It’s easy to become perplexed by the various types of web hosting plans and services available, as well as the hundreds of firms that provide them. Not to worry! We’ll explain the alternatives available to you in straightforward English.
The hosting plans in this article are arranged to correspond with the development of most internet businesses, beginning with shared hosting and progressing to cloud servers. We’ll go through the most popular types of web hosting plans, explain the distinctions between them, and provide information to help you decide which one will best suit your needs.
Why are there so many different forms of web hosting?
To begin, distinguish between a host and a hosting plan. There are several firms that offer hosting services to business owners. The three most prevalent varieties are shared, virtual private servers, and dedicated servers.
These hosting options are best compared using three criteria:
- The type of technology used.
- How much management from the user is involved
- Extra services on offer such as backups.
Breakdown of Web Hosting Types
Let’s start with the three primary hosting options: shared, VPS, and dedicated.
Shared Hosting — Cheap and Beginner Friendly
You share one server with other clients in a shared hosting environment. These designs cover both the physical server and the software applications that run on it. Each server functions similarly to a more powerful version of your personal PC. It includes a hard disk, a central processing unit (CPU), and RAM.
The host places hundreds or even thousands of users on a single server in a shared hosting plans. Because each user is likely to have more than one site, a single shared server might contain hundreds of websites.
How does it work?
These services are affordable since the server’s operating expenses are low. The host split the bill with you and the other owners. However, there are some drawbacks. The biggest disadvantage of shared hosting is that you must share all of the server resources with other websites.
Who is it appropriate for?
If you are on a tight budget, shared hosting is an excellent choice. More scrupulous hosting firms put in place mechanisms to discover sites that could potentially harm other users, whether their bad code is consuming too many resources or if they’re seeing unusually high traffic. The hosts then assist the site owners in transitioning to a more appropriate hosting package.
How much money am I planning to spend?
$1 — $20 per month.
VPS Hosting — More Power
A virtual private server is a shared physical server that acts like several, distinct servers. This is the most common option to upgrade to when a website has outgrown shared hosting. It’s the difference between shared hosting and obtaining your own dedicated computer.
How does it work?
Each virtual private server (VPS) shares hardware and resources. The distinction is between this and a typical shared hosting configuration. Each user is assigned a portion of the computer’s resources. This avoids the “bad neighbor” effect while saving users money on the purchase of a dedicated server.
VPS hosting servers often serve fewer customers than shared hosting servers. The demand on resources is reduced when there are fewer sites sharing the servers. VPS server accounts are split based on the account requirements of each user.
Assume you have ten users on a machine with 10 GB of RAM and 200 GB of server hard disk capacity. Each user is given 1 GB of RAM and 20 GB of storage space. When a VPS user reaches their RAM limit, their site may go down, but the other sites are unaffected. They stay stable due to the hypervisor, a piece of management software or firmware that ensures the system’s integrity.
Another advantage of VPS servers is that they are extremely flexible, giving website owners far more flexibility than shared hosting. Because of access level limits, there isn’t much opportunity to customize your environment on shared hosts. Your account is enclosed within a virtual computer on a VPS, which allows you to make changes without impacting others, which developers like.
Another compelling reason why consumers prefer VPS is its scalability. Because you are operating a virtual machine that consumes a portion of the server’s resources, the quantity of resources you are permitted to utilize may be increased without any difficulty.
Who is it appropriate for?
VPS services are great for anyone with a larger budget who wants more flexible hosting. Because a VPS works similarly to a dedicated server, it is also more suited for individuals who can maintain their own platform or have access to technical resources.
How much money am I planning to spend?
VPS hosting plans typically cost between $20 and $100 per month.
Dedicated Web Hosting — For High Traffic Sites
Dedicated hosting is when a single user rents the entire server. You have complete control over the server settings since you have the entire server to yourself, and most hosting companies allow you to make full use of this. Dedicated hosting service companies also provide a broader choice of configuration options, such as the quantity and kind of RAM supplied, the operating system installed, the total storage space, and more. You are the only person on the server; therefore, any impact from a nasty neighbor is null and void.
How does it work?
You rent one physical server from a hosting firm in a dedicated hosting environment. Dedicated hosting options eliminate the need to share resources with other website owners. This type of hosting servers provide the greatest degree of server characteristics available, which is appropriate when a website or online company expands and receives a substantial volume of website traffic.
Dedicated hosting has several obvious advantages, but it also has a few drawbacks. Because the server is your exclusive property, you are solely liable for the costs associated with its use.
Dedicated servers are obviously far more expensive than shared hosting, therefore, they should only be considered if your company can afford the extra investment.
Another thing to consider is the availability of knowledge. Dedicated hosting might be challenging unless you have a server administrator or adequate skills to handle it yourself. Unless you look into managed hosting options, you will need more than a basic understanding of computers and server technology to get the most out of dedicated hosting. With a totally unmanaged service, you may be required to install the operating system and any tools required to run a web server, such as malware eradication and security screening. This may not be a deal breaker for tech-savvy readers, but it is something to consider when purchasing a server.
Who is it appropriate for?
This is a great option for websites that demand a high level of system resources or security. When you have highly specific hardware demands or want more control over the protection of your data, it’s time to consider dedicated hosting.
Also Read: Web Hosting Industry Trends
Wrapping up
It’s critical that you choose a hosting package that will provide your site the strength to manage the influx of visitors without slowing down or crashing. Let’s assume you’re shopping for a hosting plan and want to go over your possibilities.
Before evaluating a host, make sure you understand your site’s requirements.
- Shared hosting is the most cheap web hosting option and is ideal for most start-ups or small enterprises.
- VPS hosting serves as a bridge between shared and dedicated hosting. It is appropriate for sites when shared hosting does not give sufficient resources but dedicated hosting is prohibitively expensive.
- Dedicated hosting is the most expensive hosting tier and is best suited for sites that demand a lot of resources.
- Reseller hosting is only accessible from a few providers. By conducting some research, you may be able to obtain more resources than a shared hosting account while spending less than the price of a VPS.
- Managed hosting focuses on a single type of site, such as WordPress or E-commerce, and manages server administration and security on your behalf. It’s an excellent choice for anyone who wants a site that can function as much as possible on its own and has the extra money to spare over shared hosting.
Once you’ve decided on the sort of web hosting you want, the next step is to compare the measurable resources, which include RAM, bandwidth, CDN consumption, and disc space.
