If you own a website, hosting is an important factor that lets people know about the website’s existence. Web hosting makes it possible for your website to have an address using which people can find you online. You have various options to choose from when it comes to hosting.
However, selecting the web hosting service wisely can have a significant impact on the success of your website in the long run. Two of the most popular hosting choices you have are cloud and shared hosting. Knowing the difference between the two can help you find the right host for your website.
Read on to find out about cloud vs shared hosting.
Learning About Cloud Hosting
The current method of web hosting, known as cloud hosting, enables the co-hosting of several websites. Instead of relying on only one server, as with the majority of conventional hosting options, a website’s data is saved across many servers in cloud hosting. Utilizing cloud computing resources and cloud hosting, you can create computer resources that can benefit you in various ways.
Since cloud hosting offers excellent scalability and flexibility, it makes it simple to add or subtract resources based on your requirements. For websites with a lot of traffic, it is a beneficial aspect of this hosting type. It also offers high speed and adaptability for high-demand operations on your website. As they do on full servers, processors such as RAM and SSD storage guarantee performance when used for cloud hosting.
Features of Cloud Hosting
Below are the features of cloud hosting that you can leverage for your website.
- It offers on-demand resources from popular platforms like Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, AWS, and more.
- Custom hardware and abstraction layers are used to increase security and quicken resource access for users.
- By allowing them to add or subtract computing, storage, networking, and other assets as needed, resource pooling allows scalability for cloud providers and customers.
- Monitoring and reporting on resource and service utilization is possible between the supplier and the client.
- To prevent downtime, cloud providers employ a variety of strategies, such as reducing regional dependencies to prevent single points of failure.
Everything About Shared Hosting
The most affordable, well-liked, and accessible kind of hosting service is shared web hosting. In shared hosting, a single physical server’s space and resources are shared by several websites. However, other websites’ performance could suffer if the server is overworked owing to the heavy volume of visitors.
However, new website owners and bloggers continue to favor shared hosting as the best option. Shared hosting gives you convenient management opportunities while offering affordable hosting plans. It does so by delegating server management and maintenance to the hosting company while splitting the expenses among the customers.
Features of Shared Hosting
Here are some of the features of shared hosting that will benefit your website.
- It is beginner-friendly and does not need you to hire cloud engineers to set it up.
- Your web host maintains the server, hardware, and other important components with the help of highly qualified systems administrators.
- The risk of a website going offline is reduced through technical assistance and quick responses.
- Simple control panels allow you to complete routine site administration tasks much faster.
- Shared hosting is built to accommodate many users on shared servers.
Differences Between Shared Vs Cloud Hosting
Shared and cloud hosting have differences that make them better choices for specific websites. Here are the factors that distinguish between shared vs cloud hosting.
- Cost
One of the major differences between cloud and shared hosting is their pricing. Shared hosting is considered an affording web hosting option for those on a budget. It can benefit you if you are a beginner and seeking a cheap solution that provides enough capabilities to get you started. The more cost-effectiveness of shared hosting could be all that’s needed for a business whose website traffic is predictable and relatively modest and whose emphasis is not so much on online sales.
On the other hand, cloud hosting is an expensive alternative. However, it has replaced on-premises hosting for businesses where the scalability and dependability of their websites are essential. Website hosting on the cloud is the obvious option if that is your main sales channel.
- Performance
Instead of using only one server, your website will be hosted across a number of them, ensuring that it will not be affected by server failure. The cloud’s other servers instantly pick up any slack left by a disabled server. A backup server is instantly brought up to take over if those servers are having trouble. Cloud hosting’s main goal is to provide your website with the assured service level it requires.
When it comes to shared hosting, individual users cannot rely on a server performance guarantee since other customers use the same physical hardware. This might not be a problem for websites and apps that have few requirements or few visitors, but many customers find that shared hosting is inadequate when it comes to operating demanding and mission-critical business activities.
- Security
Since any website hosted on a shared server is exposed to attack if a hacker gains access, shared hosting security may be subpar. As a result, if you are hosting a website on shared hosting, you need to be very vigilant about your security level and constantly monitor your security precautions to avoid malicious attacks.
Security is not a major issue with cloud hosting. While no website can ever be 100% safe, cloud hosting does offer a level of protection that shared hosting cannot. It typically uses various safety measures such as SSL certificates, firewalls, data mirroring, encryption, and more.
- Handling Traffic
If you have a small-scale website that expects few visitors regularly, shared hosting is a good option. However, it is not built to handle high traffic, and it may become difficult for your website to keep up during rush hours. This can affect your website’s performance and retention of visitors on the site.
For companies with medium to high traffic levels, cloud hosting may be the best option. Due to the high resource availability, your website’s performance won’t suffer even if you have sudden increases in traffic brought on by viral content, seasonal demands, and popular products.
Conclusion
Shared web hosting will make take out the burden of expenses for you if you are new to the web. However, if your earning and business depend on your website, cloud hosting is the better alternative. Whatever option you choose, seek the advice of professionals who can give you a better idea of what will work for your unique needs.