Every website needs to stay online all the time. As a result, there are thousands of web hosting services around you right now. Choosing one can be overwhelming if you do not know what kind of hosting service you are looking for. In several cases, people choose their hosting service by cost. Cost is a determining factor, but that should not be the driving factor of choice.
For the hosting newbie, picking a plan can be almost impossible. Several hosting plans may even look identical simply because some defining terms seem inscrutable. Several cheap plans often promise a lot of big services like email inboxes, scalable storage, block bad bot traffic, and unlimited bandwidth, but not all of these plans follow through. Moreover, cheap plans may seem to be super-savers in the beginning, but they end up costing people big bucks in the long run.
Which hosting type is perfect for you?
Have you ever stopped and wondered if the cheaper options are better for website hosting, then why do the costlier options even exist? What are the differences between the different hosting plans and types? Why is there a distinct price range that distinguishes one hosting type from another? Which hosting type is perfect for you?
These are a few critical questions you need to be asking yourself right now, before selecting a hosting plan that works for you. As per the services, infrastructure, and distribution of resources, you can easily classify website hosting in 5 different categories.
- Shared hosting
- Cloud hosting
- VPS (virtual private server)
- Reseller
- Dedicated server
Which one is the cheapest?
Shared hosting is the cheapest of all five hosting options. It is a traditional hosting type. Users of a shared hosting service need to share resources like processing power, bandwidth, and memory. This does not seem like much of a problem until you consider the possibility of hundreds and thousands of websites residing on the same platform, competing for several resources. Only websites will limit the number of visitors can afford to opt for shared hosting.
Which one is affordable and stable?
Cloud hosting options are usually stable and affordable. Cloud hosting has a scalable infrastructure that supports the rapid growth of a website database. Cloud hosting enables websites and their owners to access resources divided among several machines on the network. The number of data centers on the network does not limit it, and it offers the opportunity to expand your bandwidth in case your website is suffering from increased loading time. When you opt for cloud hosting, you do not have to share the critical resources with other websites on the platform.
Which hosting type is best for a rapidly growing database on shared hosting?
When a website grows rapidly, it is not unprecedented for the site database to outgrow the shared hosting plan. After a shared hosting plan, you will find a virtual private server or a VPS that offers you increased performance and better storage capacities. They are quite similar to shared hosting plans. The only difference is a VPS plan maintains distinct segregation between the client and the website during resource allocation. Therefore, when your website is using a resource, no other site or client on the platform may have access to your site’s share. VPS offers the same level of control as a physical server.
What do big retail e-commerce stores and high-end websites use?
Dedicated servers provide dedicated resources to your website. These servers support only your website and no other. You can enjoy the best of all resources without worrying about other sites cutting into your share of the pie. Websites with a large volume of media, streaming options and high influx of traffic opt for dedicated servers. They offer the best bandwidths, storage options, and scalability options. They are obviously one of the most expensive hosting options too.
Which hosting option is ideal for entrepreneurs, who want to dabble a bit in the hosting business?
Reseller hosting is ideal for the business owner, who want to start a hosting business. You can buy access to the server and its resources in bulk, and then you can progress to sell them under your brand. This is ideal for experienced folk, who want to expand their foray into VPS, Cloud, dedicated and shared hosting plans.
Whether it is a WordPress site, Drupal or Joomla site, you should choose your hosting type and provider very carefully. Check for downtime history, customer support, and client reviews before you put things down in black-and-white.
Author bio: Derek Iwasiuk is a website developer. He has been working with several popular website design houses across the central USA. His work involves the optimization of website experience for targeted users including ways to block bad bot traffic.