The Major Types of Web Hosting and Their Differences

So you want to get a hosting account to start up your Internet marketing business? But as you visited the hosting site, you came across some strange tech terms…

 Terms such as Bandwidth, SSL, Metred and Unmetered, e.t.c… As you saw those terms, you decided to wink at them, and move on with your major concern—getting a hosting package for your website.

But as you went through the hosting packages, you came across different types of webhosting services…

And perhaps from the names of the different types of hosting, you could even guess what they are, only that you’re not really sure about them. And most importantly, you’re not also sure of which one you should go for.

If the above scenario just painted above relates to you in any way, then this article is definitely for you. Listed and explained below are the major types of web hosting you’ll find in many web hosting services online…

And as you read, I believe your major confusion on the different types of web hosting services will be resolved.

  1. Shared Hosting: Shared hosting is a kind of hosting, where you share the same server space with others. In shared hosting, hundreds and even thousands of websites are hosted on the same physical server.

     A server is basically a computer system that is connected to the internet. Like your personal computer, it has CPU, RAM and operating system. Because of the large number of people who share the cost of the server, shared hosting cost are usually the lowest of all the types of hosting.

    And it is also beginner friendly, because the basic software you need are provided and maintained for you by the hosting firm. The major drawback to shared hosting is what is referred to as the ‘neighbor effect’. If one of the fellow users of a shared hosting account over uses the server resources, the other websites on the same server will be affected.

     Most of the time, the over usage comes in the form of high traffic. And sometimes the hosting firm steps in to manage such situations by shutting down the particular websites that are over using the shared hosting resources.

     So shared hosting service is suitable for low traffic websites that are at the beginning stage. Such as first blog site, personal profile website or a testing project website with limited traffic.

  2. VPS Hosting: VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. VPS hosting is the intermediary between shared hosting and dedicated servers. VPS hosting is similar to shared hosting in that the same physical server is shared among websites.

     But regardless of the fact that each websites share the same physical server, they all have their individual virtual private server. So the activity of a sharing neighbor does not affect the other as is the case with shared hosting.

     In VPS hosting, if one of the server sharing website uses up its resources, the website is shutdown. It does not encroach on its neighbors’ resources.

     VPS hosting combines the features of shared hosting and dedicated servers at much lower price than dedicated servers. But however, the price of VPS hosting is higher than that of shared hosting.

     If your website is already beginning to receive more traffic than can be managed in shared hosting, it would be time for you to step up to VPS hosting for better performance.

  3. Dedicated Servers Hosting: Dedicated Servers Hosting means exactly what it’s called. In this type of hosting, you rent an entire physical server from the hosting firm. And you take care of all the administration.

     You have a root access to the server. You install the operating system, manage malware scanning, etc. Businesses that go for dedicated servers are those with very high level of traffic.

    And also those in need of better data security. Dedicated servers are the costliest of the types of hosting services listed here. Apart from the high cost of the service, you also need to hire the service of a system administrator to manage the system for you.

  4. Cloud Hosting: Cloud Hosting is the trending phrase in the computing world nowadays. It is the most flexible of all the types of web hosting listed here. Cloud hosting is similar to VPS hosting.

    Only that in cloud hosting, the website is hosted in a network of severs in the cloud, in different locations. And you’re basically charged according your resource usage.

    Your website doesn’t get shutdown because of over usage of resources. When a server’s instance resources are overused, another connected server in the cloud takes over. So there can hardly be a down time in cloud hosting.

    With cloud hosting, your website can scale to any size. And you only get to pay for the resources you actually use. So of all the types of hosting, it is the most flexible hosting type.

  5. Managed Wordpress Hosting: In managed WordPress Hosting, the Hosting firm, help you keep your wordpress installation up to date. And this protects the wordpress site from the activities of website hackers…

     They basically take away the major hassle of maintaining your wordpress site from you. Such WordPress managed hosting, enhances the speed and the overall performance of the wordpress installation. And because of these unique features of wordpress hosting management, the cost of managed wordpress hosting, is usually higher than that of shared hosting.

So where can you get the above listed hosting services?

In choosing a hosting account, it is better to choose a firm that avails you the opportunity to quickly… upgrade or downgrade to any of the above type of webhosting as the need arises.

And the major hosting firm I recommend for your web hosting is Hostgator. Hostgator offers shared hosting, VPS hosting, Dedicated Servers and Cloud hosting at very competitive prices. To sign up a hosting account with Hostgator right now  click on the banner below…


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