When you employ a web hosting provider, you’re hiring space for your website’s content, data, and files on a server. Servers are connected to the internet, and they allow your website to be visible to the online world 24/7.
There are a variety of different hosting types. It’s important to understand all of them, so you know which one to select for your hosting needs.
Shared Hosting
As the name suggests, shared hosting involves multiple websites sharing a single server and its resources. Consequently, you are afforded limited customization, and your site may get shut down if you use up too many of the server’s resources. However, shared Hosting is the least expensive hosting type and ideal for blogs and small websites.
VPS Hosting
VPS stands for a virtual private server. It’s a type of hosting in which the users share the same physical server, but each user is separated from its fellow by a virtual partition. This partition gives each account its own resources, which can’t be accessed by any other site on the server. Furthermore, with VPS hosting, your site won’t be affected by any actions taken by other users on the server.
Hosting providers often offer either managed or unmanaged VPS hosting. With a managed VPS host, the provider takes care of everything to do with server maintenance and management. This includes things like core updates, software installation, security, and backups. Unmanaged hosting, by contrast, requires that the account user take care of the server.
Due to the fact that VPS hosting users have their own resource allotment, this hosting type can handle more significant amounts of traffic. Additionally, it’s possible to scale these resources as the website grows. For these reasons, this type of hosting is ideal for medium to large-sized businesses.
Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated hosting offers exclusive access to a physical server for a single client. Therefore, all the server’s resources are at your disposal. You can also configure the server however you want. Furthermore, this type of hosting offers the highest level of security possible. However, while dedicated hosting offers great flexibility, you need a certain level of technical knowledge to administrate it correctly.
In truth, the only people who really need the resources of a dedicated server are enterprises or government websites.
Other Types of Hosting
- WordPress Hosting is shared hosting that’s been configured for the explicit use of WordPress users. In general, this hosting type provides automatic backups and core updates, as well as pre-installed plugins. Additionally, they usually come with managed services for maintenance, optimization, and scalability of resources.
- Cloud Hosting stores your data in several physical and virtual cloud servers that are connected to a network. With this type of hosting, resources are scaled based on your needs. Furthermore, you won’t experience any downtime or data loss because if one server fails, the other servers in the network will keep your site up and running. However, this hosting type tends to be more vulnerable to cyber-attacks and security breaches.
- Clustered hosting is similar to cloud hosting in that it involves several servers connected by a network. However, all the servers are physical machines. Due to clustered hosting’s load balancing, you can scale your resources easily, and the servers tolerate a high amount of traffic.
How to Choose a Hosting Type?
You must choose a hosting type based on the needs of your website. This means that you need to consider what resources you need now and what you might need in the future. For example, do you need the power of a dedicated server, or will a VPS suffice? You should also consider your budget. Can you afford VPS hosting, or can you get by with shared hosting until your budgetary allowance grows?
Once you’ve settled on a hosting type, it’s time to research hosting providers. First, compare the different hosting plans that each provider offers to find the one with the features that benefit you the most. Next, make sure to research each provider’s reputation; the last thing you want is a low-quality web host.