Web hosting is crucial for a successful, well-maintained website. Choosing the right web hosting and hosting provider is crucial for your website’s security and speed. There are several types of web hosting in the industry. The primary types are cloud hosting and traditional web hosting. Each hosting provider and web hosting option has its benefits and drawbacks.
As an SEO expert with over a decade of experience, I have used shared hosting and cloud hosting for multiple websites over the years. I have tested out multiple hosting services and identified their strengths.
In this article, I will go over the significant differences between cloud hosting and shared hosting so you can choose the right type of hosting for your business.
Table Of Contents
Shared hosting is a type of web hosting that uses one server to host multiple websites. Web hosting is a service that stores files on a single dedicated server at a data center, which is different from a cloud hosting solution, which uses a network of servers.
A web host offers software, hardware, and the network to maintain your website on the same server. The amount of storage you have depends on the hosting service.
“Web hosting servers are the lifeline of any website. The servers should be up and running 24/7.”
― Dr. Chris Dayagdag, CEO of Marketlink Web Solutions
The common types of web hosting include:
Shared hosting uses a single server and is used to host several companies. It is the least expensive option because you are sharing hosting instead of having dedicated hosting. Shared hosting comes with less performance and security compared to a cloud server.
If a single website has an uptick in traffic, it can use up more of the server and can slow down other websites, unlike dedicated servers. Also, if one website experiences a cyberattack, every site becomes vulnerable.
2. Virtual Private Server Hosting
With VPS hosting, websites are stored on one physical machine known as a dedicated hosting server. VPS hosting gives you an increased level of control over server software and more. VPS hosting is more expensive, but there is better security and performance. Increased traffic and possible cyber attacks aren’t likely to affect your website.
3. Dedicated Hosting
With dedicated hosting, you will have full access to the physical servers and don’t share any resources with another business, such as disk space. Dedicated hosting is expensive and can require maintenance, and you need to have an IT staff to secure the server.
What Is Cloud Hosting?
Cloud hosting is hosting using a network of cloud servers. Unlike traditional web hosting, your website isn’t hosted on a single physical server, and everything is available virtually on a cloud server.
Cloud servers and hosting offer more scaling and availability due to interconnected servers and flexible resources. Cloud hosting platform types include:
Public cloud hosting servers- Private cloud servers
- Hybrid cloud servers
- Multi-cloud servers
Public cloud hosting serversHere, we will discuss the differences between shared web hosting and cloud hosting.
Web Hosting
Performance
The performance of your website depends on the server and server resources. The server processes requests and offers up resources to keep the website running. An ideal server provides fast page loading and high performance.
If your website doesn’t have a lot of traffic, you may not need your own server, and a traditional shared web hosting provider will work best for you.
Security
Server security is crucial to protect against stolen data and cyberattacks. Traditional hosting risks your downtime and data loss with failures and attacks, unlike cloud hosting. With shared hosting, if one website is attacked, all websites are vulnerable.
Flexibility And Scaling
As your business grows, your web host needs to grow with you. Scaling a physical server is challenging. There isn’t a lot of flexibility to increase bandwidth or storage RAM, and you have to add a second physical server.
Reliability
Hardware and software failures can lead to a server failing if you don’t have cloud hosting or a dedicated hosting server. This can make your website unavailable for hours or days until the issues are fixed. Shared hosting and traditional web hosting reduce the overall available resources, which can affect performance and reliability.
Resource Allocation
Correct resource allocation gives your website the proper performance. You will need to identify the resources you need for your website. Shared hosting consumes more space, and it isn’t possible to allocate resources in real time. If you need more RAM, memory, or computing resources, these have to be added over time.
Architecture
With a traditional web hosting provider, it is a challenge to design an architecture that is scalable because it is limited to the location of the data center. This can significantly limit your capabilities if you want to operate your website in another country.
Cost
The best shared hosting services often comes with fixed pricing, in which you have to pay for it whether you are using it or not. The price of shared hosting is usually between $5 and $15 a month.
Cloud Hosting
Performance
Web hosts that offer cloud hosting can offer even better performance and improve the user experience and search engine ranking. If your website has a large amount of traffic, cloud hosting providers will be ideal. A cloud hosting service also utilizes a control panel for cloud server management of server resources.
Security
With cloud hosting services, your data is stored on multiple servers instead of physical hardware, which reduces the risk of loss of data and downtime and enhances server security. The provider also often has copies of data for fast recovery.
Cloud hosting uses security features like SSL certificates, firewalls, login security, and other security measures to prevent attacks.
Flexibility And Scaling
With cloud hosting, you can compare several different providers to find the right one to meet your needs. Cloud hosting services offer more flexibility with scaling. You can easily scale up based on your website demands, and you have unlimited resources. Some cloud hosting companies also offer autoscaling, which adjusts server resources based on traffic to keep your website running smoothly.
Reliability
A cloud hosting solution offers an entire network of cloud computing to store data, and if one server goes down, another can keep your website up and running reliably. This significantly reduces the chance that your website will go down for hours or at all. Your users also won’t experience a large decrease in the speed of the website or performance.
Resource Allocation
With cloud hosting, it is easier to adjust resources than with shared hosting. Cloud hosting is more flexible with resource allocation limits, shares, and policies. Cloud hosting allows you to manage memory, RAM, and more in real time.
Architecture
Due to the fact that cloud hosting doesn’t rely on a physical server, you can easily expand your business to several countries, unlike shared hosting, which is tethered to a physical data center. Cloud hosting instead relies on the internet and a network of servers to reach various countries worldwide.
Cost
Cloud hosting will allow you to pay for what you use, and you can pay as you go. A cloud hosting solution is more expensive, between $10 and $200 a month, but if you need fewer resources, there are less expensive alternatives.
How To Choose The Hosting Solution That Is Right For You
When choosing a web hosting type, there are a few key factors to consider.
1. How Much Traffic Does Your Website Get?
If your website doesn’t get many visitors, shared hosting can work for you to save on server costs. If you get more traffic or don’t know how much traffic you can expect, cloud hosting is a better idea.
2. What Is The Budget?
If you are running a website with low traffic and you have a small budget, shared hosting can save you a lot of money. However, you also need to think about possible website expansion and plan accordingly.
3. Can I Risk Reliability?
Shared hosting means that you are sharing computing resources and other resources, which means that your website can be slow or go down. Dedicated hosting also can’t handle sudden traffic surges. If you can’t risk the reliability of your website, then cloud hosting is the right choice for you.
FAQs
Yes, shared hosting is a good hosting choice for beginners. It is inexpensive and a good way to host a new website. However, it can be slow, and security is a concern, so you will have to consider your budget and if these factors are a concern for you.
How Do Cloud Servers Work?
Cloud servers work the same as physical servers, except they perform those functions over a network through the internet. Just like a physical server, they store data and run applications.
What Hosting Is Right For You?
The hosting that is right for you typically depends on your goals for your website, your budget, your traffic level, and more. If your website is small and doesn’t get much traffic, shared hosting may be ideal for you. However, suppose your website has a large volume of traffic, or you can’t deal with the reliability issues of shared or dedicated hosting. In that case, cloud hosting is a better solution for you.
Cloud hosting offers more flexibility, security, and reliability than traditional web hosting to keep your website up and running smoothly. To make things easier for you, I have created a list of best cloud hosting providers you can start using today.
