Shared versus Dedicated Web Hosting

A successful web site depends on choosing a good Web host and the right type of web hosting account. Are you willing to share space on a server with other sites or do you need a server of your own? Do you need a dedicated server or will a shared hosting service be adequate for your needs? If you do not know the difference between these 2 types of service then read on……

There are basically 2 types of hosting account, one which has its own server and the other shares a web server with other users / websites:

Shared Web Hosting

Shared web hosting is as expected, the type of account where  your website will share the same server as many other websites. Of course for many small to medium-sized sites “virtual hosting” otherwise known as “shared hosting“, is perfectly adequate.

Dedicated Web Hosting

Dedicated hosting means that your site is the only website residing on the server. Large and/or busy sites usually can’t share server space because the volume of web traffic from many sites would quickly overwhelm the server. Those sites either operate their own servers or select a “dedicated hosting” option from their web host.

So with that in mind how do you decide if you require a shared or dedicated hosting package? We will examine the benefits of both options to help you choose.

Benefits of Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is really cheap. Shared hosting was a great advance since it allows many people to use server that has a hardware spec far higher than they would be able to afford to fund themselves. You can find shared hosting packages starting at as little as £35 a year! It’s even possible to get free hosting in return for displaying ads from the hosting company or one of its partners on your website. If you ant to run a blog or start up a small business website then this is most likely your best option.

Risks of Shared Hosting

Of course due to the fact that you are sharing a server with lots of other sites you can encounter more problems and you should be aware of these risks:

• Know who you are sharing with: Shared hosting means not only sharing a server but also sharing an IP Address. Choosing a poor host could mean you are sharing a server with spam sites or adult sites both of which are not liked by search engines. In the worse case scenario a search engine can ban a whole IP Address range from their index which may include your site. Check hosting terms and conditions to see what sites your host allows on its servers. Its unlikely but it can happen, and has happened to me in my time.
• Slow performance: Ask how many sites are hosted on each of your hosts servers. Why? Because the more sites using the resources the less resources available for you and the more impact this will have on your websites performance. Slow site performance is frustrating. I am sure you have visited a website before and left before it has even loaded, people don’t wait around to long before going elsewhere!
• Downtime: A badly written script, a poorly written site, spammers, can all bring down a web server. When you share a server any of your web server neighbours have the potential to bring down not only their website but yours too!!

Don’t let these warnings put you off. Most small business and personal website developers use virtual hosting and rarely have a problem. However, it is extremely important to evaluate the web host carefully before you sign up and decide how much downtime or performance issues your willing to accept. At the end of the day, you can always move host pretty easily if they don’t deliver.

Benefits of Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated hosting costs a lot more, but offers more features and benefits. With dedicated hosting, you’re the only site on the server and have your own IP address. There are many benefits to having your own dedicated server:

• Better performance: No other websites bad scripts and poor coding will affect your site because yours is the only site on that server. Further that servers whole resource is dedicated to running your site so no other site can chew up resources.
• Better configuration: You can often get into the guts of the server if its your own dedicated server, this means you can configure it just how you want it and set things up to be just right for your site.
• Unlimited bandwidth:There are no limits to bandwidth as there can be with virtual hosting, the reason being when you share a server the hosting company needs to make sure you do use all the resources at the expense of another client, therefore you are limited to how much you can use. With a dedicated server this simply is not necessary.

Risks of Dedicated Hosting

Well, there is not much to right here, its not really a risk but it is a consideration. At the end of the day you are taking up a whole server and therefore you will need to foot the bill yourself. For a dedicated server you are looking at around £80 a month depending on spec of the specification of the server you require. This is a big difference from paying £40 for the whole year.

Further, your web host company will maintain the shape of your server and often support with back-ups and customer service. But having a dedicated server is a bigger responsibility than being a part of a shared hosting server. It simply demands more knowledge and you might want to consider securing that knowledge before signing up for a dedicated server.

What Web Hosting Should You Choose?

If you’re having a hard time making the decision whether or not to get a dedicated web hosting plan or go for shared hosting the consider the following. A website that is constantly expanding and generating a lot of traffic simply needs a dedicated server in order to maintain online. There’s no idea to beat around the bush and try to find cheaper alternatives. Go with the safest and most secure option and it will benefit your finances in the long term. On the other hand if you website is unlikely to generate loads of traffic immediately then start off with a shared hosting plan and simply upgrade once your site has established itself. Quite often this can be done with  the minimal of downtime.

If you want some advice on what type of hosting to choose simply give us a call on 01132 797731 or use our contact us form to get in touch. We are sure we can build a web hosting plan to suit your needs.

You may also like to read:

• Explore the Benefits of Virtual Private Server Technology
• Is there a problem with “Unlimited Web Hosting”?
• A Guide to Web Hosting
• Your Dedicated Server just Died. What do you do?
• Cpanel Alternative

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...