Are you confused weather you should go for shared hosting, VPS (Virtual Private Server) or dedicated hosting for your website? With so many different types of web hosting out there, it can be difficult to find out what choice is the best for your needs. Plus, what the difference is between shared vs. VPS vs dedicated hosting anyway?
Don’t worry, we’re here to explain which web hosting is best for you. We’ll share with you the differences of each web hosting option. After we explain each type of web hosting, you’ll be able to better understand which hosting is best for your website or business.
Let’s get started.
First, I would like to explain to you, what is web hosting?
Web hosting is generally where your website is stored on the internet. Web hosting is a service provided by a company that allows people to make their website manageable via the world wide web.
Simply put, if you make a website on your computer, all the website files are on your computer and nobody else can see them. But with a web hosting service, your website files get stored in a space on the internet, so anybody can view them.
This lets people to type your domain name, such as https://callousweb.com/, into the address bar of their browser and directly get access to your website.
Why do you need web hosting?
If you’re building a website, you want people to be able to see it. For example, if you start a blog and write your first blog post, without web hosting, no one would be able to read your content. That defeats the whole purpose of starting a blog, doesn’t it?
But with web hosting, your blogging website will have its own space on the world wide web where users from all over the world can go to your website and read your blog posts.
Think of your website as a house and web hosting as a street. If your house isn’t on a street and it’s impossible to get to, how will anyone be able to visit you?
In simple words, If you want to get visitors to your website, you need web hosting.
Want to know more about what factors you should consider while purchasing the web hosting? Click Here for more information on that.
What are the Numerous Types of Web Hosting?
There are 3 types of web hosting which are explained below:
- Shared
- VPS
- Dedicated
The type of web hosting you choose depends on the type of website you want to make. Are you building a simple business website or blog? Or do you want to start an e-Commerce website or a niche social media website that’s constantly updated with new content?
When choosing a web hosting type, you also must consider the attributes they offer such as security, performance, if they allow you to easily develop your website, as well as how much work is involved on your end. Obviously, you have to check at pricing at the same time as well. The last thing you want to do is spend a bunch of money on a web hosting service that’s not right for your personal needs.
Next, we’ll go over the differences between shared vs. VPS vs. dedicated hosting, so you can fix which web host option is the best choice for you.
Web Hosting Option #1: Shared
Shared hosting is exactly what it sounds like. With shared hosting you share the server of your website space on the internet with other people.
Shared hosting is just like living in an apartment complex. All the people living in an apartment complex are in the same location and they all must share resources such as the laundry room, the parking lot, the playground, etc.
It’s the same concept with shared web hosting. When you host your website with a shared hosting service, your site is stored and put in the same location as a number of other websites. You must share the server assets such as memory, data, disk space and CPU time.
Mostly, sharing server resources works out fine. But sometime, if one of your website neighbors is taking up a lot of resources, it can slow down your website.
Pros:
Reasonable – Since you’re sharing the server with many other users also, you share the cost of server as well. Which results in a lower cost for you.
Easy Setup – Shared hosting services generally take care of the entire setup for you.
Cons:
Sharing the Server – One of the main cons is the fact that you have to share the server with many other websites.
“Bad Neighbours” – So you have to share your website server space with many other websites, you may have to go through with “bad neighbours” who can steal resources with defective code or high traffic. This may affect the performance and speed of your own website.
Web Hosting Option #2: VPS
The next web hosting option is VPS. VPS stands for virtual private server.
VPS hosting is like living in a townhouse or a condo. You have your own home and are responsible for maintaining it, but you still have to share things on the property.
In VPS hosting you have to share the server, but you have to share it with littler websites than with shared hosting. Moreover, you don’t have to share all of the resources. All of the resources are divided equally. This puts a full stop to “bad neighbors” using up all the resources because they have a boundary they’re not allowed to cross.
Pros:
No Sharing of Resources – You don’t need to share all of the resources with many other websites.
More Powerful – VPS hosting is more powerful than shared hosting, it’s more accessible and typically gives better speed and performance.
Flexibility – VPS hosting is more flexible, allowing you to customize and make changes without moving other users.
Cons:
Costly than Shared – VPS is more costly than shared hosting.
More Technical – With VPS hosting the setup process is extra technical, which can be a problem for beginners.
Web Hosting Option #3: Dedicated
The final web hosting option is dedicated hosting and just like it sounds, with dedicated server hosting you get everything to yourself.
So, dedicated hosting is like owning your own house. You don’t have to share your space with anyone else and you don’t have to share your resources with anyone else either. You don’t even have to deal with any bad neighbors.
With dedicated hosting, you don’t have to share any resources like CPU time and memory.
Pros:
No Bad Neighbors – With dedicated web hosting, there are no bad neighbors around your website who could steal your website resources and could affect your website performance and speed.
Full Control – You have full control of the customization of your server. You could even be able to choose the amount and type of your memory as well as other elements.
Cons:
Very Expensive – Since you the owner of everything, dedicated hosting is the costliest web hosting option.
More Technical – With VPS hosting, you should have a knowledge of servers and computers than the average person. However, dedicated hosting servers require advanced technical knowledge and you would responsible for its maintenance and you need to take care of support part as well if any error or issue arises in that.
Increased Responsibility – With an unmanaged dedicated service you’re responsible for the entire setup, installation, security, and more. Even with a managed dedicated hosting service, you still have to do a lot of things on your own.
Shared vs. VPS vs. Dedicated Hosting: What Should You Choose?
Therefore, now that you know the main difference between shared vs. dedicated vs. VPS hosting, which one will go best for you and your website?
Shared hosting is the best option for beginner websites that won’t be getting a ton of traffic, at least at first. When you’re just starting out making a website, you want to stick to a budget and shared hosting will allow you to do that while growing your online presence at the same time. Shared hosting is also a good choice for personal websites and static business sites because uptime won’t shake you as much. It’s also a great hosting option for beginners.
VPS hosting is a better option if you’re expecting your website to get more traffic and can afford to pay a little more. Also, if you start off with a shared hosting service and your website traffic starts to grow quickly, you should upgrade to a best VPS hosting that offers more resources to handle that traffic.
Dedicated hosting is the web host option on this list that you’re less likely to need if you’re a beginner. You only need all the whistles and bells that a dedicated host gives if you’re handling sensitive transactions and need beefed up security, your website has a large number of video streaming or high-resolution photos, or you want an IP address that you don’t have to share with other websites.
