Looking around for web hosting companies will reveal that there are many types of webhosting currently available. For newcomers to the webhosting world, this can be really confusing. Is shared webhosting good enough for you? Do you need more control and step up to VPS hosting? Or is your site so important it needs a dedicated server to run smoothly? These are questions that need answers. And if you’re looking for answers, you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading to find out what you need to know before you make a decision.
There are basically three types you should be aware of. These are shared webhosting, VPS (which stands for Virtual Private Server) webhosting, and dedicated webhosting. Each of them has their ups and downs, but hopefully you’ll understand each one of them by the end of this article. Let’s talk about shared webhosting…
Shared webhosting
Shared webhosting is the most common type of webhosting available, and also the most popular one (maybe because it’s also the cheapest type of webhosting). A web server is essentially a computer located at a remote location. When a person accesses a website, they’re actually accessing the files available on that computer. When you read or hear about shared webhosting, it means that your website is not the only one stored in one of the servers: other websites are found on the same hardware as well. This is because, let’s say a computer has a huge hard drive, RAM, and great processing power: you’re not going to waste all of it in just one simple website, are you? So what are the pros? Well, it is much cheaper than the other two, so it makes it great for starting or simple websites, blogs, etc., it’s also simple to use, and little maintenance is needed. What’s wrong with it? Well, you have little flexibility when it comes to installing applications and controlling the server, because you’re not the only one using it, and performance is inconsistent.
VPS or Virtual Private Server
VPS is also known as VDS (Virtual Dedicated Server). It is right in the middle between the other two types of servers: not quite shared, not quite dedicated. VPS is great for people who want the flexibility of a dedicated server in a smaller scale. It resembles shared servers because other websites are on the same server as well, and it resembles dedicated server because you get the same amount of flexibility, and performance is consistent (you will always use the same amount of processing power, unlike shared webhosting). It’s more like a dedicated server, because even if you’re sharing the resources with other people, it’s arranged in such a way that you cannot tell there is someone else on the same server. The good things about VPS servers is that you get great stability (due to the fact that you’re not hosted with hundreds of other people in the same server), you get much more flexibility (similar to a dedicated server) and it costs way cheaper than a dedicated server. Basically it’s a shared webhosting with none of the drawbacks.
The only problem with VPS is that you do not benefit from irregular performance (yes, that sounds weird). When you pick shared webhosting, you are guaranteed a minimum amount of performance, but it can rise during spike periods. With VPS hosting, performance cannot rise, as you’ll be using the same amount of resources permanently. It’s not a big drawback, but it can be for some people.
Dedicated webhosting
Dedicated servers are, obviously, servers that are only available to you, which means you don’t share it with anyone else. These types of servers guarantee you maximum flexibility, making it great for CPU-intensive code found on more complicated websites. The good things include much better resources, the best performance and reliability, and great flexibility: making it the best option for traffic intensive websites like social networks, search engines, etc. The only bad thing though is that dedicated web hosting it is much more expensive than the two other options, as you’re keeping the whole computer for yourself.
Those are the big three webhosting picks. Try to pick the one that suits you the best.
There are basically three types you should be aware of. These are shared webhosting, VPS (which stands for Virtual Private Server) webhosting, and dedicated webhosting. Each of them has their ups and downs, but hopefully you’ll understand each one of them by the end of this article. Let’s talk about shared webhosting…
Shared webhosting
Shared webhosting is the most common type of webhosting available, and also the most popular one (maybe because it’s also the cheapest type of webhosting). A web server is essentially a computer located at a remote location. When a person accesses a website, they’re actually accessing the files available on that computer. When you read or hear about shared webhosting, it means that your website is not the only one stored in one of the servers: other websites are found on the same hardware as well. This is because, let’s say a computer has a huge hard drive, RAM, and great processing power: you’re not going to waste all of it in just one simple website, are you? So what are the pros? Well, it is much cheaper than the other two, so it makes it great for starting or simple websites, blogs, etc., it’s also simple to use, and little maintenance is needed. What’s wrong with it? Well, you have little flexibility when it comes to installing applications and controlling the server, because you’re not the only one using it, and performance is inconsistent.
VPS or Virtual Private Server
VPS is also known as VDS (Virtual Dedicated Server). It is right in the middle between the other two types of servers: not quite shared, not quite dedicated. VPS is great for people who want the flexibility of a dedicated server in a smaller scale. It resembles shared servers because other websites are on the same server as well, and it resembles dedicated server because you get the same amount of flexibility, and performance is consistent (you will always use the same amount of processing power, unlike shared webhosting). It’s more like a dedicated server, because even if you’re sharing the resources with other people, it’s arranged in such a way that you cannot tell there is someone else on the same server. The good things about VPS servers is that you get great stability (due to the fact that you’re not hosted with hundreds of other people in the same server), you get much more flexibility (similar to a dedicated server) and it costs way cheaper than a dedicated server. Basically it’s a shared webhosting with none of the drawbacks.
The only problem with VPS is that you do not benefit from irregular performance (yes, that sounds weird). When you pick shared webhosting, you are guaranteed a minimum amount of performance, but it can rise during spike periods. With VPS hosting, performance cannot rise, as you’ll be using the same amount of resources permanently. It’s not a big drawback, but it can be for some people.
Dedicated webhosting
Dedicated servers are, obviously, servers that are only available to you, which means you don’t share it with anyone else. These types of servers guarantee you maximum flexibility, making it great for CPU-intensive code found on more complicated websites. The good things include much better resources, the best performance and reliability, and great flexibility: making it the best option for traffic intensive websites like social networks, search engines, etc. The only bad thing though is that dedicated web hosting it is much more expensive than the two other options, as you’re keeping the whole computer for yourself.
Those are the big three webhosting picks. Try to pick the one that suits you the best.
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