Deciding Which Form of Web Hosting You Need
There are many different forms of web hosting available which are all tailord for different needs, with some web hosting providers offering special web hosting services that have been designed to be used by customers who are in specific industries. Such speciality web hosting providers are few and far between, but they are able to offer much needed services to their customers that aren’t offered by other web hosting companies. Besides the standard forms of web hosting, you will find that most web hosting companies will be able to tailor a web hosting solution to fit your needs; although such a solution may not be advertised on their website, it is always a good idea to contact web hosting companies to see if they can offer you such a service. As a web hosting provider it is a good idea for you to be able to offer the main forms of web hosting, such as shared web hosting, reseller web hosting, VPS server hosting and dedicated server hosting; by doing this you are able to ensure that your web hosting packages appeal to all those who may be after web hosting. As a consumer it is important for you to know which form of web hosting you need, since you don’t want to end up paying too much for something that you’re not going to use or find that you are going to have to upgrade your web hosting service at a later date.
Shared web hosting is designed for those who are new to web hosting, or may not necessarily have the budget for a higher end form of web hosting; if you have a small website then shared hosting is also your safest bet since you can get a good deal for your money these days. Shared web hosting services can be hosted on either Linux or Windows web hosting servers meaning that you should be able to find a low cost web hosting package to meet your needs regardless of your requirements in terms of scripting languages and operating systems. Shared web hosting services can provide you with advantages such as:
- low cost – shared web hosting services are the cheapest around, and as long as you shop around you should be able to find a good deal that is within your budget and may be even more than what you originally wanted from a web hosting package
- easy to use – control panel access is normally provided with shared web hosting services which will allow you to manage the different aspects of your shared web hosting account with ease, and since a GUI is normally used along with a manual, msot web hosting control panels are very intuitive and easy to use.
Although shared hosting may offer users with a good starting point, it isn’t suitable for the hosting or medium to large sized websites since there are going to be many websites hosted per a server. Other disadvantages which you could face with shared hosting may include:
- slow servers – web hosting providers need to make a profit out of the web hosting services that they sell, and because of this they will try and fit as many shared hosting accounts as possible on each server – the more accounts there are, the slower the web hosting server will be
- up and down servers – because of the higher loads which are faced by shared web hosting servers, you will find that shared hosting services may not have the highest level of uptime unless high specification servers are being used for the hosting of shared hosting services.
Reseller web hosting is designed for the hosting of more than one website and are seen as the first place to start if you wish to start off your own web hosting company. Reseller web hosting accounts are normally hosted on the same servers as shared web hosting accounts for the reason that the main hosting principle is the same, except that reseller web hosting accounts allow you to create your own web hosting client accounts. Reseller web hosting should be your preferred solution if you wish to host multiple websites for others, but if you want to host multiple websites for yourself then you should maybe consider purchasing a shared web hositng account that will allow you to host multiple domains. The main advantages that reseller web hosting can offer you include:
- the ability to create client accounts – if you want to start your own web hosting company or are a website designer that is looking into hosting client websites then being able to create client accounts so that your customers can manage their own domains will provide you with many advantages and will look much more professional
- advance management – in the case of cPanel reseller web hosting, you are provided with access to WHM (Web Host Manager) which will allow you to manage all your client accounts but most importantly will allow you to create your own web hosting packages that you can then sell on to your customers.
However, since reseller web hosting accounts are normally hosted on the same servers as shared hosting accounts, you will find that reseller hosting also comes with similar disadvantages. It is important to note that if you go with a reputable web hosting provider then you are less likely to notice disadvantages. Such disadvantages that you may face with reseller web hosting could include:
- server performance – as reseller web hosting accounts are hosted on shared web hosting servers, it isn’t worth the extra cost of upgrading from one to the other purely because of server performance since you aren’t likely to see any increase in performance or uptime
- lack of resources – in some cases you may find that your web hosting provider is overselling its web hosting servers which directly affects you in the way that you may not be able to use up all the disk space or bandwidth that you have assigned to your reseller hosting account.
VPS server hosting costs a bit more than reseller or shared web hosting services but much less than a dedicated server but comes with more or less the same level of features that you would expect from a dedicated server. VPS servers running either Linux or Windows Server 2003/2008 are available meaning that there will always be a package to suit everyones needs, and most web hosting providers make use of the Virtuozzo VPS daemon to allow them to offer their VPS hosting services. VPS server hosting services are perfect for those who need the flexibility of a dedicated server but are unable to afford the high costs; typical usage scenarios may include if you want to host multiple websites which are all rather resource intensive or if you need to install an application that isn’t available on shared or reseller web hosting. The main advantages offered by VPS hosting include:
- dedicated environment – with VPS hosting you have root or administrator access to your own dedicated environment in which you can install any applications of your choice, and the best thing is that your activities won’t effect the performance of other VPS servers hosted on the same node, and vice versa
- low-cost alternative – many websites require a dedicated server for their needs since they are ever expanding, but for one reason or another are unable to afford the high costs which are affiliated with having a dedicated server – VPS servers have been designed to bridge the gap between shared hosting and dedicated hosting not only in terms of resources but also cost wise since you will find that the cost of a basic VPS server is similar to that of a high end reseller web hosting package.
However, there are advantages to using VPS hosting. Although the disadvantages may not affect you directly, you may notice them having a certain effect over a long amount of time. The main disadvantages which you could face with VPS hosting could include:
- CPU share – although it depends on how the hosting nodes CPU is shared between hosted VPS, it some cases it an take just one of the VPS hosted on a node to take down the entire server by overloading the hosting servers CPU
- management – in order to manage a VPS correctly you will need to have medium level server management skills at the least in your chosen operating system, although managed VPS hosting services can be purchased if preferred.
Dedicated servers are by far the most reliable form of web hosting but are also the most expensive. They are aimed mainly at businesses who are running mission critical websites that require a high amount of uptime but also a dedicated hosting environment because of the sensitivity of the data that is being held. Individuals are also welcome to purchase dedicated servers, but because of the costs many ordinary people aren’t able to justify the need for a dedicated server. Since dedicated server hosting provides you with your own physical server, you don’t have to host anyone else on your server meaning that you can have full use of your servers resources. The main advantages that you will find with dedicated server hosting could include:
- dedicated environment – as with VPS hosting you are provided with your own dedicated environment in which you can run any application you wish to, the only difference being that you don’t have to worry about other users since you have full use of the hardware
- sole use of the server – as the owner of the server you get to decide whether you want to host others on yoru server or not, and if you don’t then you are able to ensure that you have sole use of the server as you won’t have to share any of the resources with any other users as is the case with other forms of web hosting.
Although dedicated servers are glorified by many web hosts, and in some cases over glorified, there are still flaws to this web hosting solution; however, in the case that you are considering dedicated server hosting then you will probably find that it is your only real choice.
In conclusion, you should be able to decide which form of web hosting you need based on the advantages and disadvantages that are offered by the main forms of web hosting. It is important to note that shared hosting services are designed for smaller sites, and if you are running a large website which is important to you financially you should be conisdering a higher end form of web hosting such as dedicated server hosting. It is important for you to know what form of web hosting you need for the reason that you want to be able to find something that is within your budget and suits your needs, since you don’t want to be paying for something which you don’t need.
