When we think of starting a website, we come across questions like where to buy a domain name from? Which hosting plan to choose from? Which hosting provider gives a great deal on the service? Here we will try to answer the questions relating to the hosting services.
Web hosting is a service that you can basically rent on the physical server which enables you to store all the files and data which is important for your website that helps to publish the website or an online application on the internet space.
When a user types your domain address in their browser, the hosting partner displays the files on the browser to serve the intent of the user.
There are various types of hostings available in the market. They all serve a very different purpose or needs of a user. Shared hosting, VPS hosting, Cloud hosting, WordPress hosting, Dedicated hosting are the types of different hostings available. Here we will be differentiating Shared Hosting vs Dedicated hosting specifically.
Shared hosting is the most common type of web hosting where you’re sharing one server with other clients. Websites hosted on the same server do have to share all the resources of the servers.
Dedicated hosting is a reliable service compared to shared hosting. It means that you have your own physical server that’s dedicated only to your website. Here you can configure your server as your requirement, choose the software you want to use, and set up the whole website server according to your own needs.
Let us distinguish between the two types of hosting plans according to their features.
1. Bandwidth & Disk Space:
In hosting terms, the word “bandwidth” means the traffic used by services such as cloud hosting and dedicated servers over the course of a month.
When you choose shared hosting, most web hosting companies will advertise their shared plans with “unlimited” bandwidth and space. But the reality is that these hosting plans will always have a limit. You can use a certain amount at first, and then add more to it. But only the web host gets to decide how much you can use each time for Shared Hosting.
If you have a website that has a high volume of traffic, you have to choose dedicated hosting. Some web hosts do provide you with “unlimited” bandwidth and space to choose from.
For instance, If your website is heavy on images that are like art galleries, where multiple images are being uploaded to the website then you must go for dedicated hosting as it offers us more disk space and being independent gives us the bandwidth as well.
2. Performance:
The performance of a website plays a very important role in attracting new visitors to the website. So it is an important aspect to consider while choosing the hosting plan. The better the hosting plan of your website, the better will be the website performance.
A shared hosting plan will always be limited in features, you could never be certain about your site’s performance either. And due to lack of performance, it would cause annoyance to the visitors of our website.
If you have chosen a dedicated hosting plan, you won’t have to worry about user traffic. The server that you choose will be entirely dedicated to your site. So if you have a relevant amount of traffic and you want them to get converted into your leads then you must consider dedicated hosting to give them a great experience of your website.
For instance, looking at the current scenario the mobile users are increasing rapidly in the past few years which leads website owners to give more attention to optimising the performance of a website and making it mobile friendly.
3. Security:
The basic feature of shared hosting makes it less secure than any other hosting plan. It is that your website will be sharing the server with another website and that makes it less secure. You won’t be able to figure out what kind of websites we are sharing the server with.
Dedicated servers are more secure compared to the share ones. The host will always be keeping a check on your dedicated server to ensure that your site is up and running safely. This is one of the reasons anyone chooses a dedicated server.
For instance, a user logging into your website or a mobile application with all his personal details along with payment details must be kept secured at any cost. The website must have the credibility and authenticity to secure these details under any circumstances.
4. Control:
Shared hosting caters to those who do not have any brief knowledge to manage and control a website. But it has its own drawbacks too which will have its effects in the long run. But if you don’t want your website to have any kind of advanced applications and features then shared hosting is the best economical option to choose from.
If you want to have total control over your website if you need to have a larger website you got to choose dedicated hosting. The only thing required here is sufficient technical knowledge to have control over your website and experience to manage such websites. And if you don’t have the knowledge then you can hire people to do so.
For instance, a news portal website or an application needs continuous updation on the website. Hence it needs to have full control over the website and the server as well.
5. Cost:
The main reason to choose shared hosting is the reason of affordability. Many times people and businesses have budget constraints or lack proper knowledge which ends up buying any kind of a shared hosting package. This results in poor performance of your website. Some hosting providers do offer reliable packages at great prices.
Dedicated hosting is for those who can afford its costs and are aware of its benefits that can help their website. Higher the features higher the price. Dedicated hosting is for those who have a huge budget and need to have a premium website.
For instance, a new startup always has difficulty gathering excess funds to cater to all their business needs. At such times a cheaper hosting plan or a package gets their things done at a much lesser price.
So to conclude, identify your website needs, plan according to your needs and pay for the worth of the package. The website is the primary marketing tool and you should never neglect the needs of your website.
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