What are types of web hosting?

By Desire Athow, last updated: March 3, 22, Désiré has been reflecting and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He ventured into website builders and web hosting when DHTML and frames were all the rage and began narrating about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the hysteria of the year 2000 at the beginning of the last millennium. Shared hosting is the most basic and affordable type of web hosting plan available. Web hosting companies invest in servers where all the files that make up their clients' websites are stored.

For customers who choose a shared web hosting plan, your website will live on the same server as other websites. Shared hosting works because for simple sites, the amount of storage and bandwidth needed is a fraction of what a full server can provide. Having a server shared by several different websites means that each one divides the cost and pays a small part of the total. For many new website owners, especially small businesses and individuals, a shared web hosting plan is the most practical and affordable way to create a website.

You can think of shared hosting as a neighborhood pool pass for your website. For a few dollars, you can use the Olympic-sized pool without having to do pool maintenance and upgrades. If you like to go swimming from time to time, don't mind the occasional crowds, and host small parties that comply with the pool manager's rules, shared hosting may be your option. Since shared hosting means that your site shares a server with many other sites, their traffic volume and security practices can affect you.

Cloud hosting is not performed on a physical server. Instead, it happens through connected servers that link together to form “the cloud”. That means that a website that uses cloud hosting never depends on a single server. By linking multiple servers, cloud hosting leverages more power and storage space.

And if something happens that could cause problems for a server to need repairs, or the sudden popularity of a bandwidth-limiting website, the rest of the network will take care of the load, so your website won't be affected. Today, most of us use services that use cloud technology, such as Dropbox or Google Drive. So, even if you don't understand all the details of how it works, the concept behind cloud hosting is probably familiar to you. Cloud hosting is like having your own VIP pass to the water park.

You can enjoy a wealth of exciting updates, amenities, and features without the hassle and expense of maintenance. Cloud hosting allows you to access the features you need when you need them by using resources from multiple servers again, without the high cost of a dedicated server. It's like being able to skip the waterslide lines and attract as many guests as you want to the log channel, because cloud resources make it easy to scale your site, handle traffic spikes, and load super-fast. If you're the technically minded type of person who prefers to build your own water park, cloud hosting may not be your best option because it doesn't give you root access to customize it.

It's also more expensive than shared hosting, so it may not be the best option for a new website on a tight budget. VPS hosting, which stands for virtual private server, is a step up from shared hosting. While technically you still share a server with other websites, the part of it you rent is divided from the other parts. VPS web hosting is a common option for websites that have outgrown shared hosting but aren't on the point of requiring a dedicated server (or the price that comes with it).

For midsize businesses, website owners who want more customization options, or website owners who want to try out new site ideas without interrupting the functions of their current site, this is often the best option. You can also visit our list of shared hosting PHP configurations. There, you can see which PHP web hosting settings are static with shared hosting and how you can change them in the Web Hosting Manager if you have a dedicated server or VPS hosting plan. Even if your custom site can work with a shared hosting plan now, it's worth thinking about whether you'll want to make more customizations in the future that require you to move to a dedicated server or VPS.

If that seems likely, you might want to start with one of those hosting plans to save time migrating websites later on. Shared website hosting is the cheapest and most common form of web hosting. If a website hosting company doesn't make a big deal with the type of hosting they offer, then it's probably shared web hosting. Cloud hosting takes VPS virtualization to the next level by hosting your site on a computer network.

When you choose traditional shared hosting or VPS web hosting, if the server goes down for any reason, then your website is not available to customers. This is not the case with cloud hosting, because if one server goes offline, visitors will seamlessly go to another server on the cloud network. Having your website “in the cloud” has other benefits. Your site can be cached on different servers around the world, making it load faster for international visitors.

It's also easy to scale a website on cloud hosting. If your website takes off the ground, you can buy more traffic and storage space without having to worry about moving servers or installing new hardware. Cloud hosting is more applicable for large-scale websites, but many web hosting companies are moving to this type. This means that the price of cloud hosting is falling, so it's becoming relevant even for small creative-based sites.

To get a physical web server for you, you need dedicated server hosting. You won't share any resources with anyone else, so you'll have full control over how the server works and your website should perform better. Website hosting is divided into hardware used behind the scenes and compatible software. It's common to see WordPress hosting as a separate option from web hosting companies.

Another consideration to consider is if you need managed hosting. With a managed hosting plan, the hosting provider will perform many of the daily maintenance tasks of running a website for you. The host will perform software updates, check for security breaches, perform backups, and generally ensure that your website runs smoothly. Without managed hosting, you're essentially on your own.

But most good web hosting companies offer their users a reasonable level of technical support and assistance. A particularly popular type of managed hosting is managed WordPress hosting. Basically, the web hosting company takes care of all the daily maintenance of your WordPress website for you. In some cases, the host will even help set up themes and plugins.

Web hosting companies often have long lists of different types of hosting to choose from. Shared web hosting is fine for small sites, but as traffic increases, you may want to consider VPS web hosting, cloud hosting, or dedicated servers. Another way hosting is defined is by the particular features and services they offer. WordPress hosting, for example, includes tools that make it easy to create and operate a WordPress website.

Managed hosting means that the web hosting provider will take care of most of the daily maintenance of your server and website for you. This is a perfect accommodation for entry-level accommodation. In this, your websites will be stored with many different websites on the same server, which would be anywhere in a range of hundreds or thousands. Usually, when most people start an online business, they start with a shared hosting scheme to reduce costs; the same server resources, such as RAM and CPU, are used for all domains, but this hosting is very low.

VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. VPS hosting is one of the types of Internet hosting accounts that you can select for online hosting. You must have your database files on a web server to have a website on the Internet. These physical servers are generally divided into several different or shared VPS servers.

Nowadays, cloud hosting is more popular. The cloud is a concept that is used in many technological areas and is now also used in the field of hosting. Cloud hosting provides a service provider with its infrastructure services in a utility model for outsourcing an organization's computing and storage resources. There is nothing physical in the cloud that I can indicate and label as a cloud.

Just as there is no physical server with cloud hosting, you can say that it is a cloud host. Dedicated web hosting means that you pay for a single server, which means that there is no other web page on that server. That means you fully control the site owner; even the owner also has root access. Due to high traffic, people use this dedicated web hosting.

This means that if you plan to use dedicated web hosting, you should know how to use and manage the server. Dedicated web hosting offers you a managed and unmanaged server. This managed WordPress web hosting is only used for WordPress. Your host takes care of everything instead of using cPanel, Plesk, etc.

This type of plan is for those people who don't like all the technical things that come with web hosting. This is a guide to types of web hosting. Here we also discuss the basic meaning with different types of web hosting with their detailed explanation and their advantages and disadvantages. You can also check out our other suggested articles for more information: All-in-one software development package (600+ courses, 50+ projects) Explore 1000+ varieties of mock tests See more Special offer: all-in-one software development package (600+ courses, 50+ projects) More information.

This type of hosting combines several servers grouped together to provide your site services based on individual needs. Crucial factors to consider when selecting a web host include the type of website you have, the resources you need, your budget, and the expected traffic. Ultimately, it's important to clearly know what types of web hosting exist and what each one is used for. Users can have root access to their own virtual space and a better protected hosting environment with this type of hosting.

Because the cost is extremely low, most websites with moderate traffic levels running standard software are hosted on this type of server. All you need to do is type your web address or domain in the browser if you want to view your website. Now that you know the basics of each type of web hosting, you can make an informed decision when selecting your plan. As a category, it's less about the type of server or part of it you rent, since the additional services that come included in your web hosting plan.

Managed WordPress hosting is a type of web hosting plan that supports websites created specifically on WordPress and provides a number of features to make your website work easier. . .

Marlin Faltin
Marlin Faltin

Extreme student. Award-winning bacon trailblazer. Lifelong beer specialist. Incurable internet scholar. Lifelong travel practitioner. Total coffee nerd.