Which Hosting Type Suits Your Needs
So you are new to web hosting? You’ve got this online business project but can’t afford a webmaster at this point? No problem. Web hosting is not as complicated as it used to be. There are lots of different services out there so let’s find out which type of web hosting suits your needs better.
Let’s look at the different types of hosting first.
Dedicated Server
This type of web hosting provides you with your own physical server. Some web host providers will allow you to “build” your own server by specifying it’s components like CPU, memory, hard drives, etc. This option also allows you to install your favourite operating system and have it configured the way you want. While a dedicated server can deliver the highest performance and can offer more flexibility, you will need the necessary skills (and time) to run it efficiently.
Dedicated servers are usually offered as managed or unmanaged. A managed server means that you don’t have to care about administering the server itself, it is done by your hosting service provider, which is not free of course. For more advanced system administrators, an unmanaged server offers great flexibility at a lower price.
Usually, those who choose a dedicated server have multiple websites that require a lot of resources. It is the most expensive solution with dedicated servers available from $90 US a month to $300 US a month (or even more).
Virtual Private Server
Also known as a VPS, a virtual private server mostly offers the same flexibility as a dedicated server. The difference is that it shares a common physical server with some other VPS, therefore affecting the overall performance. The virtual server’s hard drive is in fact a single file so it allows you to backup all your system pretty easily. You can then simply copy your virtual hard drive to another host and you’ve got your server running in no time. No need to reinstall hardware drivers.
In my opinion, this is a nice alternative to dedicated servers, if you don’t need a lot of resources, as it offers the same possibilities.
Shared Hosting
This type of hosting is probably the most affordable but offers less flexibility. A shared hosting is a single web server on which multiple user accounts (and multiple websites) are stored. While this is a lot less expensive, it is a lot less secure as you are at the mercy of other users that are on the same server as you. For a simple content website, this would be the best choice but I wouldn’t recommend it for an e-commerce site or any other websites that would have to hold sensitive data such as email addresses, credit card numbers, snail mail addresses, etc.
Hosting Your First Website - Part 2
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