There are many considerations and options to choose from when it comes to the world of hosting, especially if you are a startup or an individual utterly new to this online journey. When you first look at all types of hosting, you may feel that everything is the same. Choosing any option is a minor deal and won’t impact your website. However, this statement is not acceptable in the web hosting environment because you need to be aware of your website’s needs and choose the wrong type to ensure your hosting experience, degrade your website, and affect your website’s performance. Users feel no value in visiting and buying your products or services.
Before heading into your online adventures, the first and most crucial step on your web hosting journey is understanding your website’s needs. Understanding this will help you choose the perfect hosting type that aligns with your website’s expectations and budget. Our guide will demystify two of the most commonly used types of web hosting: shared and cloud. With this knowledge, you can make the best decision for your website.
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One of the most popular and affordable web hosting options accessible worldwide is shared hosting. Several websites are hosted on a single physical server, and this hosting shares resources like memory, processing power, and storage space. Linux shared hosting is a cost-effective solution because of its practical resource usage, which makes it perfect for individuals, small enterprises, and startups that need simple website resources. It’s also easy to use and ideal for people without technical knowledge, providing a dependable and reasonably priced platform for quickly launching and maintaining websites.
| Pros of shared hosting | Cons of shared hosting |
| Compared to other types of hosting, it is the most affordable. | Sharing resources with multiple users leads to security issues. |
| It does not require any technical knowledge, as it has pre-configured options. | It has a strict usage policy and technical restrictions. |
What is cloud hosting?
Cloud hosting is entirely different from shared web hosting. Cloud hosting uses virtualization technology to divide a physical server into multiple virtual servers and uses a network of servers to host websites, ensuring better performance and stability. It’s like having a team of servers working together to keep your website running smoothly. If one server experiences high traffic or a problem, the remaining server will take over and maintain the site. So, businesses with multiple websites and large shopping sites like e-commerce can choose this kind of web hosting to host their website.
| Pros of cloud hosting | Cons of cloud hosting |
| Cloud hosting is highly scalable to meet all your business needs. | Cloud hosting is more vulnerable to cyber threats. |
| It has more control over your server’s configuration and software. | It requires more technical skills and knowledge to manage. |
Differences Between Shared Hosting and Cloud Hosting
Some differences between shared and cloud hosting will give you a detailed overview of what is best for your website.
Performance
Shared hosting can have slow performance at certain times, but only sometimes. As we mentioned above, multiple users share one physical server. In addition, several factors slow down website performance when using shared hosting, such as the number of websites shared on the same server and the optimization of your website. On the other hand, cloud hosting can provide better performance because it uses more physical servers to host websites. This makes cloud hosting more reliable and secure than shared hosting. In addition, cloud hosting is more flexible and scalable than shared hosting.
Reliability
If all web pages use resources simultaneously, it will lead to performance degradation. This makes shared hosting less reliable compared to other types of hosting. Multiple users sharing the same physical server may result in performance issues, such as traffic spikes or other technical problems. These issues can affect the speed and availability of your website, potentially leading to a negative user experience and loss of business. While cloud hosting does not have this problem, as websites are hosted on multiple virtual machines, each website’s resources can be allocated independently, providing better performance and reliability.
Security
Multiple websites share the same IP address on a shared server, increasing their vulnerability. With shared hosting, if one of the websites encounters malware or a cyber threat, it will automatically affect the other website as they share the same server. Regarding online business, the most notable for visitor and search engine optimization is security. Once the visitors visit the website, but the message that the website needs to be more secure appears, your target audience will not give you a chance to revisit your website; they will immediately regret your site. While cloud hosting provides better security because it is not affected by other websites, other security features include firewalls, identity management, access control, SSL for data transmission, etc.
Price
When it comes to price, the real winner is shared hosting. Since resources are shared among multiple users, this type of hosting is more affordable and cost-effective. If you are a startup or an individual looking for a cheap hosting platform and only want a few resources for your website, you can start with shared hosting. Cloud hosting is more expensive than shared hosting. But it will give you quality performance for your website. Compared to the price, if you want more dedicated resources and high performance for your website, you can choose cloud hosting, but the cost of this type of hosting is very worthwhile.
Conclusion
Shared and cloud hosting have unique characteristics; choosing between them depends on your site’s requirements. Invest some time to find out how many resources your website needs, the approximate amount of traffic, and whether you have the technical knowledge to manage the server. With this in mind, you select the best option to ensure your online experience is enjoyable rather than a nightmare. If you plan to buy affordable web hosting, you can check out eWallHost, a reputable web hosting provider in India. EWallHost offers a wide range of hosting services at affordable prices, making it a suitable choice for startups and individuals with limited budgets.
