The Similarities Between Shared Website Hosting And Managed Dedicated Servers

One of the frequently asked questions when choosing a hosting environment, is whether to opt for a shared, or dedicated setup. A number of factors have to be thought about when making your choice, a shared hosting package could mean your not given the resources needed

The cost factor of hosting

Perhaps the most prominent consideration in selecting business hosting is going to be your budget. The pricing for a hosting environment can be massively different for different solutions and also the level of the company. There is a big difference between business class web hosting and standard shared hosting. Business class webhosting will offer much great support and the reliability of the service will be second to none but does come at a premium. Shared hosting providers are often working on tight budgets. Are you hosting your website for personal use or business? If it is going to be for business and your business relies on it then find a business class host. If the website is just for a personal blog, do you really need to pay a premium to get it hosted? If not then it is safe to say that a shared web host would be fine.

The other consideration is if you need a server or shared hosting. Will your website need to use a lot of resources? Busy websites are typically not suited for hosting on a shared platform. If your website only has a few visitors a day, a server will be completely overkill. Although dedicated servers are a lot more expensive compared with shared hosting.

Unmanaged or managed dedicated servers

With real business class hosting, getting a managed dedicated server is normally the best option.

With a managed dedicated hosting server you will find that the server gets taken care by the hosting provider. Management levels vary, but you can choose between just having security updates and patching, right through to having your websites tweaked and taken care of. Expect a price hike if you opt for a managed server. If you are experienced in server administration then you are most likely wanting to opt with an unmanaged dedicated server. This is of course a much cheaper option but you are responsible for taking care of the security and updates through to OS issues etc. The hardware and network side of things will still be taken care of by the hosting company. On a shared hosting platform the server level security and hardware issues will be dealt with by the hosting company. But you still have maintain a secure website your self.

Another option- virtual dedicated servers

To add another option, you could look at virtual dedicated servers. This is looked upon as the middle ground. While you don’t have your own dedicated hardware, you will have your own dedicated resources. You are of course separated from other accounts on a virtual server which might give you issues on a normal shared hosting environment. Virtual dedicated servers are generally in the middle, cost wise, and you can modify the resources you need and pay for as necessary.

How do I find a dedicated server or shared hosting provider?

You have now made your decision, you will need to look for a provider to match requirements. Don’t forget to research the host, ask them some questions and try them out if possible. All good hosts will give you confidence in the solution they are offering you.