In the modern world, if your project doesn’t have a website, it simply doesn’t exist. One of the basic issues you face when working on starting a website is good web hosting. You might find yourself overwhelmed by the tremendous amount of web hosting choices on the market, which makes deciding difficult. In order to avoid making a mistake, it’s always good to turn to an expert.
The three most popular hosting packages offered by web host companies globally are Shared, VPS and Dedicated. All of them have their advantages and disadvantages, so in our article we have prepared a detailed description of each web hosting type so you can have a clear understanding of how it all works.
Shared Hosting — Pros and Cons
Most likely, Shared Hosting is what you need if you have a startup project. Shared plans normally have low prices and some basic features included. In fact, if you purchase this type of web hosting, you will share one server with many other websites. That may cause some problems as you never know who your “neighbors are”. However, the possibility of bad neighborhood is probably the biggest disadvantage of shared plans.
The rest is perfect if you have a startup project and do not have an incredible amount of data going through your website. In other words, Shared plans are perfect for:
- promo websites
- professional portfolio
- startup project
- blog or writer’s website
- early stages of photo gallery
- simple e-commerce websites
Usually web hosts offer some unlimited features in their Shared packages. Be aware that some of them have underwater stones, so you make sure you read the Terms and Conditions carefully.
You will also find a bunch of hosting companies suggesting many additional features included in the package, like eCommerce tools, CMS platforms, plugins for developers. These features are fine, but pay attention only to the features you will really need. Consult a webmaster before choosing a particular web host company.
Our experts have compared the best shared hosting providers – Check it out here >>
Key Facts about VPS Hosting
VPS plans are the golden mean of web hosting services. Such offers will normally have good neighborhood security and strong customers support services. VPS also means you get a higher capacity (compared to Shared plans).
The biggest disadvantage of VPS is that you have no control over many important server functions, (which is available in Dedicated plans). As your project grows, your webmasters will need more and more options for managing the website(s) effectively. This is where you see the limits of VPS: everything is predetermined by the web host, because, again, you get only a part of server — even though that part of server is rather big.
So, what is VPS hosting good for? Well, VPS is great for average web projects that don’t require fine, personalized server adjustments. This may be a large photo stock, a media-rich website, an eCommerce project, or even a number of simple websites hosted under the same hosting plan.
Follow the load of your current Shared hosting, and if it’s close to the limit, you may consider moving to a VPS or Dedicated package. Why VPS or Dedicated? Because the market of VPS hosting is rather big, so some VPS plans will cost you even more that a basic Dedicated server. Be aware of that, and know your priorities when choosing between VPS and Dedicated.
All You Need to Know about Dedicated Hosting
When the time comes that your online business grows to truly huge dimensions and the world is not enough, welcome Dedicated Hosting. This kind of plan will award you control over the whole server. This, of course, has both pros and cons. On one hand, you can adjust your servers according to your needs; on the other hand, purchasing a dedicated server means you’ll have extra costs for managing it.
When ordering a dedicated plan, examine all features well and consult your webmasters. Many hosting companies provide managed dedicated solutions, which means you will pay the company’s workers to manage the server for you. However, web host teams offer a fairly standardized approach, so you won’t have a chance to make customized adjustments.
Certainly, Dedicated servers are all about huge capacity. You get impressive bandwidth and disk space, as well as lots of FTPs, email accounts, and databases. Most web host companies will let you choose the operating system that will be installed on your rack. Add to this the special attention of customer support and high security standards, and you will get the best kind of hosting solutions available on the market.
As you can see, each type of web hosting plan has its has advantages and disadvantages. When you’re wondering which one to choose, you have to look at your needs. Don’t forget research before purchasing any hosting plan, and you will find the solution that meets all of your requirements.
