Website Hosting Explained
The web hosting industry is extremely important for the continuity and functionality of the internet, as every web site online requires access to a web server at all times. Without a web hosting plan, your web site would cease to exist, and without the right type of web hosting, it will not perform optimally. Thus, it is very important to make sure you are choosing the right kind of hosting for your online endeavors.
Conducting an accurate plan comparison without becoming familiar with the various aspects of the main types of web hosting can be very difficult, especially if you have little internet experience. To ensure optimal site performance and the success of your online business, you have to find the most suitable type of web hosting for you. The following information outlines the main uses and features of the three most common types of web hosting.
Shared Hosting for Personal Websites
Shared web hosting is by far the most common type of hosting, as most people begin their online experience with a cheap shared web hosting plan. Shared hosting is the most affordable type of hosting, primarily because the web server hosting your web site is being used by hundreds of other web sites simultaneously, hence the term “shared.”
With shared web hosting, you are typically given a set amount of space within a web server, but when you run out of resources, your site can pull server power from other sections of the server. Since you have access to any free resources on the server, the hosting company is able to offer “unlimited” features for many of their shared hosting plans.
If you are in need of a cheap hosting type that provides all of the necessary resources for a personal site, then you may need to look into shared hosting.
VPS Hosting For Business Websites
Virtual private server hosting is akin to an advanced form of shared web hosting, as you are sharing a web server with other people. However, with VPS, you have access to more server resources because the entire server is split evenly at all times. In other words, when your site runs out of bandwidth, it can immediately draw bandwidth from another part of the server as long as it is available.
The hosting concept is often referred to as the cloud concept, and when it is used in several servers at once, it is called cloud VPS hosting.
VPS hosting is very diverse because the plan sizes and prices differ greatly. In fact, some hosting providers offer half a dozen different VPS hosting plans that are all created to accommodate the needs of a diverse range of hosting clients.
Dedicated Hosting for Corporations
Most corporations or greatly successful online business owners use dedicated web hosting because it is extremely powerful. With dedicated hosting, you are basically renting your own web server that is stored and maintained at a professional datacenter. As the owner of a dedicated server plan, you have complete control over the server because you can install any type of software you'd like, including various control panels and content management system. Most dedicated hosting plans cost around $100-$400 per month, depending upon the server type.