In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, maintaining a robust online presence is crucial for any business striving for success. Establishing an effective website not only solidifies your brand but also expands your customer reach exponentially.
As you begin the process of creating a website for your business, one of the first decisions you will face is selecting the most suitable web hosting provider. The variety of hosting services available, such as shared, dedicated, VPS, and cloud hosting, can be daunting to navigate.
Drawing on my extensive expertise in web hosting technologies, I will clarify the differences between cloud hosting web and traditional web hosting. By providing a comprehensive comparison, we will empower you to make an informed decision about which hosting option best aligns with your business needs and objectives.
Table Of Contents
- Quick Summary
- What Is Web Hosting?
- What Is Cloud Hosting?
- What Is the Difference Between Cloud Hosting vs Web Hosting?
- Pros and Cons of Traditional Hosting
- Pros and Cons of Cloud Hosting
- Cloud Hosting vs Shared Hosting: What to Consider
- FAQs About Web Hosting vs Cloud Hosting
- Cloud Hosting Or Web Hosting – Which One Will You Choose?
Quick Summary
Cloud hosting uses multiple servers for better reliability and performance, while traditional web hosting uses a single server.- The choice between the two depends on budget, traffic demands, website performance, and security needs.
- Both hosting types have pros and cons, with traditional hosting being cost-effective and cloud hosting offering better scalability.
Cloud hosting uses multiple servers for better reliability and performance, while traditional web hosting uses a single server.What Is Web Hosting?
Web hosting is when a hosting provider allocates space on a server for a website to store its files. They are therefore hosting your website.
Put differently, by choosing a web host provider, you are renting or buying space to house your website on the Internet. The one server makes all your files, including code, images, and more, viewable online.
You need to consider your exact needs before making a decision. For example, you don’t want to choose between shared and dedicated hosting if your website will require a lot of space or if you expect a very large amount of traffic. In such a case, it is only viable to go for hosting.
That’s because, with this type of hosting, many websites share a dedicated server, and this limits each website’s resources. The single server system is an effective, efficient hosting solution for many businesses.
Here are a few of the web’s most popular hosting options available:
Shared hosting: This is the most basic type of hosting and essentially means you’ll be sharing my own server resources with other websites. Each website, including yours, will have an allocated amount of resources available to each, outlined by the hosting plan. This option is the cheapest because costs are shared. But shared hosting compared to cloud hosting is not ideal for larger sites.- Dedicated hosting: This option allows you to have hosting servers for your site only. This means that your website will not have to compete for resources. This means excellent uptime rates. But, it also means it’s more expensive because you’re not sharing the costs with other sites.
- VPS hosting: This option is very similar to hosting because you still share a server with other websites. But each server houses fewer websites than with hosting. This is because the main server is split into multiple interconnected web servers which are customizable per each individual website. It is also a cheaper option than dedicated hosting.
Shared hosting: This is the most basic type of hosting and essentially means you’ll be sharing my own server resources with other websites. Each website, including yours, will have an allocated amount of resources available to each, outlined by the hosting plan. This option is the cheapest because costs are shared. But To learn more about all the different types of web hosting options avaible have a look at this article.
What Is Cloud Hosting?
Cloud hosting is a type of hosting that doesn’t use a single physical server as your web host, unlike more traditional types of web hosting (shared, dedicated, and VPS). Cloud hosting hosts your website using different single servers around the world which are linked together and updated in real time. And, these are accessed on demand.
The benefit is that these cloud multiple servers are around the globe, meaning that the location of those accessing your website is detected and the closest cloud server to them is used.
cloud hosting options include:
- Software as a Service (SaaS): Also known as cloud application services, this is the most common choice when it comes to cloud hosting servers. This option involves third-party vendors who utilize the internet to deliver applications to their users.
- Platform as a Service (PaaS): Also known as cloud platform services, this cloud hosting option involves providing cloud components to certain software. This is mainly used for applications.
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): This is an on-demand, pay-as-you-go cloud hosting service. IaaS gives you the ability to bypass the cost and complexity of buying and managing a single physical server and data center infrastructure.
What Is the Difference Between Cloud Hosting vs Web Hosting?
The difference between cloud hosting providers vs web hosting is that cloud hosting is newer and offers more benefits.
Web hosting is often referred to as traditional hosting because it has been the longest option around. And, while cloud hosting is new, it is also showing great benefits for website owners. This, however, doesn’t mean that traditonal web hosting isn’t still the best option for some website owners – it is. The hosting service you choose depends on your needs.
Traditional web hosting is the most popular option for small to medium-sized businesses with hosting being the most common choice for those starting out. That’s because this option is low maintenance and cost-effective. The hosting company also does all the maintenance for you.
A big drawback is that spikes in traffic could cause major slow down in site speed. It is also more difficult and expensive to scale up if your business grows a lot.
With cloud hosting, the major difference lies in scalability. Because cloud hosting offers on-demand access to virtual space, you don’t pay for a set amount like with traditional one.
You only pay for what you use and this can scale up or down according to your website’s traffic without affecting performance. However, this added benefit makes cloud hosting more expensive compared to traditional web hosting services.
Pros and Cons of Traditional Hosting
In this next section, we’ll provide a summary of the pros and cons of choosing traditional web hosting vs cloud hosting.
- Less expensive
- Easy to set up for beginners
- It’s upgradable
- Ability to host multiple domains for cheap
- Difficult to scale
- Slow speed with high traffic
- Limited control
- Greater security risks
Difficult to scalePros and Cons of Cloud Hosting
In this next section, we’ll provide a summary of the pros and cons of cloud hosting as a hosting provider for your website.
- Increased uptime
- Cost-efficient (for high traffic sites)
- More security
- High scalability
- More expensive (for low traffic sites)
- Unnecessary for most websites
When it comes to choosing between cloud hosting vs shared hosting, you need to consider your unique business. Here are some of the biggest ones to consider:
Budget
If you’re starting out and your need is to set up a standard website, then shared hosting is probably the most affordable option. Cloud hosting is more costly, although it is becoming more affordable.
There is also the option of using hosting or managed hosting services if your website needs to perform well but unless you are working with a very high traffic website with a great need for a high level of security (think international ecommerce) you won’t benefit from it.
Traffic Demands
You should determine how much traffic your site is likely to experience. Shared hosting is known for being sluggish, so if you have an online business and your website is built to bring in tons of web traffic, cloud hosting may be more suitable.
It is also easier to scale up with cloud hosting vs traditional web hosting. A smaller business, on the other hand, may perform just fine with a web hosting service provider.
Website Performance
If your website demands high performance, cloud hosting is the better option. Because hosting uses dedicated server, split between websites, your resources are limited.
Shared or traditional web hosting, on the other hand, may be sufficient for smaller businesses. A dedicated or managed host offers the same benefits but are much more expensive than cloud hosting.
Security Needs
Cloud hosting can be less secure without the right measures in place. hosting offers less security compared to cloud hosting services. Dedicated or managed hosting plans offer more security.
Choosing a dedicated hosting plan depends on the level of security your website needs.
FAQs About Web Hosting vs Cloud Hosting
What Is the Difference Between a Web Server and Cloud Server?
The difference between a web server and a cloud server is that a cloud server doesn’t require computer server resources. Web hosting requires computer server resources that website owners purchase to host their own servers. Cloud computing on the other hand is a pooled, centralized server resource that is hosted over a network.
Cloud hosting is better than hosting. When it comes to reliability and the ability to handle high amounts of traffic, cloud hosting is the preferred option. It is more costly than hosting, though.
Is Cloud Hosting a Type of Web Hosting?
Yes, cloud hosting is a type of web hosting. Cloud hosting is a solution that uses cloud resources to make multiple websites and applications accessible. Web hosting or traditional hosting which involve using fixed server resources to upload website files to make them available to internet users.
Cloud Hosting Or Web Hosting – Which One Will You Choose?
When it comes to choosing the right dedicated hosting plan, you need to think about your business or website’s needs.
Knowing the differences between commonly used terms puts you in a better position as a researcher and shopper.
If you’re a small business and have a physical store, and your website is more for credibility and support, then a shared or traditional hosting plan could work well for you.
Visit our guide on the 7 Best Web Hosting For Small Businesses to learn more.
But, if your business is fully online or is a huge part of your income, cloud hosting may be the better option for you.
