Different Types of Web Hosting

Choosing the right web hosting plan can seem a bit daunting, especially if you aren’t tech - savvy. This is why we wish to introduce you to three different types of web hosting – Shared Hosting, VPS Hosting and Dedicated Server.

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting plan is a great place to start. This type of hosting is the one most people will become familiar with. The name “shared” comes from the fact that your data (website, databases, emails, etc) are stored on a powerful server shared with other customers’ data.

Low cost is the main advantage of shared hosting. The other is that it comes with all the features you would need such as a web hosting control panel (we use cPanel or Plesk) where you manage all the aspects of your hosting, like setting up email addresses.

With shared hosting you are sharing server resources such as the CPU, RAM and disk space with other customers on the server. Provider uses tools to prevent any one particular customer from using all of the server’s resources, and thus affecting other customers. Provider’s tools keep the resources spread evenly over all the customers’ accounts on the server.

Although servers are shared, they are powerful and have builtin redundancy to ensure maximum uptime.

To give you an analogy, shared hosting is like flying business class. You get plenty of room along with a great selection of destinations, but you have to fly from a standard airport and in terms of on board cuisine, you can choose from the standard menu on offer.

VPS Hosting

As previously stated with shared hosting you are sharing the server’s key resources such as RAM and CPU. Shared hosting also comes with certain restrictions, as you cannot change any of the server’s configuration settings, such as version of PHP or security setting. For beginners and most small websites this is not an issue.

The things change if you wish to run a busy website or eCommerce store. If you wish to run a particular configuration required by your website software then Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting would be a far better choice for you.

VPS in essence is a physical server split into several virtual servers. With VPS, each server is its own self contained unit and it is allocated its own guaranteed resources such as CPU, RAM and disk space.

This setup means that you can have all of the power and functionality of a dedicated server but at a fraction of its cost. Each VPS comes with its own web hosting control panel and you can choose which operating system you require whether it is Linux or Windows.

Dedicated Hosting

Similar to the VPS, with a Dedicated server you are in complete control and you do not have to share it with anyone. This hosting type is the ultimate option in terms of power and control because all of the server’s key resources (CPU, RAM and disk space) are assigned to you.

As you are the sole owner of the server you can customise it exactly the way you want, you have complete control over it.

Managed VPS and Dedicated Servers

Some users are a bit apprehensive about upgrading to a VPS or a Dedicated Server due to the concerns about managing them. For users that are familiar with server administration these hosting types are great options, as they get full root access and can run it the way they want it.

For those who wish to focus on running their daily operations, providers offer managed VPS and dedicated hosting. Reliable providers will set up servers, configure it and make sure they are up to date and modified in line with customer requirements. This will leave your servers in capable hands of experts that will configure, update and maintain your servers to make sure they run the way you want them, while you can focus on your core business.