4 Different Types of Web Hosting: Which One Should You Choose?

A reliable web server is the backbone of your business website. If you have an existing website or are in the process of getting one – it’s time to start thinking seriously about your web hosting needs.

There are many different web server options on the market. It is important that you don’t jump the gun and pick the first option you come across. Your website’s loading speed and performance depends on the hosting server. That’s why it is imperative to choose the right web hosting service that best suits your website’s specific hosting needs.

This article illustrates the different types of hosting available and briefly touches on the advantages and disadvantages of each to help you decide which one works best for your website.

Web Hosting

Web hosting allows the files that a website comprises to be viewed online. This is done when a hosting provider shares or dedicates space on a web server for the website to store its files. With standard web hosting, you’ll be storing your website’s files on a single server. The amount of space allocated on the server depends on the type of web hosting.

Factors to consider before picking a web hosting service

– the size of your website,

– expected site traffic 

– your level of technical expertise.

1. Shared hosting

With shared hosting, website owners pay for a set amount of storage space within a single server. That single server is divided along with numerous other sites. This is currently the most popular option because it is the cheapest and ideal for beginners looking for the quickest solution to getting the website live.

 Pros:

• Cost-effective: You pay only for the portion of the shared server you’re using.
• Round-the-clock supervision: Majority of the shared hosting plans available include 24-hour supervision, maintenance and support. With the number of websites relying on a single server, it is essential you choose a shared plan that provides this otherwise if the server malfunctions, your website will pay the price..

Cons:

• Shared assets: Sharing assets with other websites mean sudden surges of activity in those websites may cause interruptions and issues within your own website.
• Unsecure: Security and data breaches in those other websites or within the server itself may also affect your website.

What we think: Due to these factors, shared hosting plans are mostly used by websites that are just starting up or have low traffic. If you’re a startup or in a heavily specialized industry that doesn’t require heavy site traffic, this might be the most viable option for you. 

Related: 7 Web Design Tips for Small Business Websites

2. VPS hosting

A VPS hosting arrangement still has you sharing a single server with other websites. But the key difference is that your portion of the server is separated from the others. This ensures that the resources your website uses remain yours. 

With this setup, you don’t have to worry about the traffic from other websites affecting your website performance. This is great if you notice your website traffic is growing. But in the unfortunate event that the server goes down, your website along with the other websites hosted on the same server will be affected.

Pros:

• Partitioned resources: This allows you to rest easy knowing that the overloading of websites within your shared server won’t affect your website’s performance.
• More assets: Since fewer websites share the same server, your website is allocated more resources compared to a shared hosting plan.
• Security: Due to your server assets being partitioned, there is a lesser chance for your website to be affected by security breaches.

Cons:

• Less control over your server: Since VPS hosting plans still require you to share your server with other websites, you have significantly less control over how it’s maintained.
• Heavier price: Since there are fewer websites sharing the one server compared to shared hosting plans, it results in you shelling out a little more cash.

What we think: If you have a website that’s regularly exceeding the resources of shared hosting plans, but don’t have the need for a dedicated server, then this type of hosting is the one for you.

3. Dedicated hosting

Dedicated hosting implies one server is dedicated to one website. There is no sharing whatsoever. Your website gets the full capacity of that single server so you have absolute control over the server and optimal site performance. 

Pros:

• Reliability and consistency: Thanks to having a server for yourself, you can shed off those worries about other websites eating up your bandwidth and performance speed.
• Flexibility: Enjoy the freedom to control the whole space of a dedicated server and switch up its configurations as you like.

Cons:

• Requires Maintenance and Technical Knowledge: This may lead to not only the cost of a dedicated server but with hosting professionals who can manage and maintain it.
• Possible Wastage: Due to the large capacity available on that a single server has, there’s a possibility that some remain unused even if you’re paying for the whole server.

What we think: A dedicated server requires considerable investment. To justify the cost, your website should be fairly large (many web pages) with high-traffic.

4. Cloud hosting

Cloud Hosting means goodbye to a single physical server and hello to virtual server hardware! This type of hosting is gaining popularity because of its reliability. Your web files won’t be stored on a single server but distributed across multiple networks within the Internet.

That means if one of the servers goes down or is underperforming, there are numerous backups. In addition to protection from malfunctioning servers, cloud hosting also promises unlimited resource expansion!

Pros:

• Multiple servers: Ensures that your website’s performance remains optimal by moving it to the best performing server in its network.
• Scalability: This setup allows you to scale up your resources if your traffic is high and scale it down if it’s low.
• Varied prices: The prices you pay for cloud hosting services vary depending on your resource usage. In short, you only pay for what you use

Cons:

• Downtime: Cloud hosting relies on a network of internet servers to function. Any issues with the internet connection of the hosting service will result in your encountering problems with your website.
• Costly: Due to its convenience and flexibility, cloud hosting may be the most expensive option among the types of hosting. Although this is still dependent on your hosting provider.[1] [VD2]

What we think: This option offers you the ability to scale your website along with your business. Increased traffic, bigger bandwidth and RAM usage, all of these factors can be adjusted to suit your budget and website needs. But the most important factor? Stronger Security.