How To Choose The Right Hosting Type For Your Business
The very first step in establishing an online business is choosing a good web host. You’ll need to select the right service provider and an even better hosting plan.
Read on to find out more about the five main types of servers, including Shared Hosting, dedicated hosting, VPS, and cloud. You’ll also learn which of these options are best suited for small enterprises, freelancers, bloggers, and SaaS companies.
The Main Hosting Types
Web hosting translates to server space provided for storing and sharing files of all types. The right web host package is one that fits your bill, ensures quick loading of your site, all the while protecting it from malware. It should also help your business grow and scale without affecting the user experience of customers.
Take a look at the meanings, features, and functions of all host plans available as of date.
Shared Hosting
When a single server is divided into several parts for multiple sites, it’s known as shared web hosting. Resources, such as bandwidth and storage space, are shared by the websites; thus, this is why it’s one of the best cheap web hosting plans. Sharing features can degrade the performance, loading speed, and memory of the website.
Shared servers also come with several restrictions, such as file transfers and bandwidth, to ensure it works at its best for all users. This also negatively affects a growing site with a huge number of visitors. Another cause of concern is that the total number of sites on a shared server ranges from a few to tens and hundreds based on your web host’s policy.
In addition, you’ll be mostly unaware of who’s doing what on the same server as you. In case you have a bad neighbor, shared hosting can lead to spam, blacklisting, and search engine penalties for your site. With all the pros and cons in foresight, shared servers aren’t an ideal option for everyone.
WordPress Hosting
Since WordPress hosts over 30% of the internet, it’s one of the most popular CMS available today. WP hosting is a server configured to meet its platform users’ demands regarding performance and security.
The best thing about WordPress hosting is it comes with one-click WP installation and automatic updates so that you don’t have to start from scratch. Such plans often provide trained customer support, innovative features to drive performance, and an extra layer of security to prevent WP-specific attacks.
You can choose from shared or managed WordPress hosting plans depending on the requirements of your site. Typically WP-optimized servers advertise improvements such as PHP memory and quicker load times.
That said, WordPress sites don’t all need a WP-optimized server. Hence, it’s for you to decide whether the features of such a plan add to your goals. When looking for a good WordPress plan, seek one out with great uptime, support, and speed.
VPS Hosting
For those site owners who need a more reliable option than shared plans, virtual private servers are the best option. VPS hosting refers to a physical server that’s divided into virtual servers, which are private from other sites that share the same server.
VPS hosting refers to a self-contained host environment that ensures the site is unaffected by the neighbors you share it with. At the same time, you don’t have to pay sky-high rates. Such a plan brings the best of both shared and dedicated features, minus the shortcomings such as security risks or high costs. This makes it one of the best web hosting plans for small businesses.
Site owners can choose from unmanaged or fully-managed VPS plans depending on how much you know about web hosts and whether you want admin access and remote server access. For instance, an unmanaged option requires that you have more technical expertise.
One of the best things about VPS is that the servers are easy to recover owing to its virtual nature. You’re also free to optimize the private server exactly as you want using the virtualization software. On top of it, VPS is affordable and cheaper than a dedicated server, even though it acts just like one.
Cloud Hosting
This is a plan where cloud resources are utilized for hosting the site. Unlike the above types of servers, cloud hosting relies on multiple virtual servers or a network of servers accessible over the web.
When you compare VPS to cloud packages, the former uses just a server, and the latter uses hundreds to power a site. In such a case, the website’s uptime, performance, and load time remain excellent and uninterrupted. Users also get unlimited virtual resources to utilize when they choose cloud hosting.
The best thing about this option is that businesses don’t need to rely on physical hardware to power their sites, unlike a dedicated, VPS, or shared server. However, this isn’t the best choice for sites that deal with sensitive information such as banks, finances, hospitals, military, and government.
It’s not impossible to create private or private-public cloud networks with this host option. You might find it ideal, especially if backing up and restoring information is important to you. Cloud solutions are a winner compared to any other server for the infallible 100% uptime it guarantees.
Dedicated Hosting
Unlike shared, VPS, or cloud, this type of plan refers to a single server dedicated to one site and its functionalities. In such a case, you’re not sharing resources with other websites, and the complete server is for your use alone. There aren’t any restrictions imposed by the web host unless its privacy policy says otherwise.
The most significant advantage of dedicated hosting is that you configure everything about the server based on your needs. In such a case, nothing goes to waste. The physical storage and maintenance of dedicated servers are also stricter than shared or VPS servers. However, this is why dedicated servers come with a huge price tag.
Users get the highest level of security, root access, and complete control over the server’s hardware and software. This is why you can install applications and modify configurations without facing any backlash or restrictions from the web host.
