Shared Web Hosting Packages in Brief

This blog is the first of two providing an overview of the various types of web hosting available on the market. The focus in this first part is on the various forms of hosting which rely on shared web servers within data centers to host multiple websites.

The following summaries mention some of the benefits and drawbacks of each type of hosting platform and it is important to bear in mind what you actually need from your hosting provider when you weigh these up. Broadly, the two areas to consider are performance and uptime, whilst of course offsetting these against cost.

Data centres are purpose built facilities which are designed to house servers which meet these aims at affordable costs for the clients. They offer complex security and safety systems to ensure that the servers are not compromised whilst they are running and also have extensive systems in place to generate the optimal conditions (heat and humidity etc) for the servers to run smoothly and efficiently.

Depending on the type of hosting package in question, the other features to consider are:

• the ability to control and customise hardware and software if the site needs bespoke or non-standard configurations.
• the access to bandwidth - high bandwidth connections allow large amounts of traffic to flow quickly to and from the web server and so are more important for websites which experience high traffic volumes (i.e., page requests) or need to display a lot of content
• the amount of disk space (i.e., storage) on offer which will determine how big the site can grow and how much content can be stored
• the digital security of the platform, especially for sites that are obtaining or using sensitive data such as ecommerce sites.

Shared Hosting
The ‘shared’ in shared hosting refers to the fact that the web server that hosts the site is shared between numerous clients and their websites. It is the typical ‘entry-level’ option for small scale non-critical and non-sensitive (data) websites.

Features:

• Client rents a portion of a server
• The shared server also hosts other clients’ websites

Benefits:

• Inexpensive in comparison to other hosting platforms
• Simple hosting platform for clients with limited hosting expertise
• Physical security of data center location
• Physical safety of data center location

Drawbacks:

• Higher risk of security issues spreading from other websites
• Higher risk of software failures caused activities by other clients etc
• Limited physical resources such as bandwidth and disk space
• Limited scope for configuration of the software platform (operating system etc)

Virtual Dedicated Servers
Usually shortened to VPS, this type of hosting still shares a single server across multiple sites/clients but each site has its own operating system partition and so it offers more control and security whilst remaining cost effective.

Features:

• Client rents a virtual partition on a server
• The shared server also hosts other clients’ websites on separate partitions

Benefits:

• Inexpensive in comparison to other hosting platforms
• Allows greater customisation of each operating system
• Physical security of data center location
• Physical safety of data center location

Drawbacks:

• Some risk of security issues spreading from other websites
• Some risk of software failures caused activities by other clients etc
• Limited physical resources such as bandwidth and disk space

Cloud Hosting
Cloud hosting essentially uses a large pool of physical hardware and resource to build virtualised hosting environments which are therefore not restricted to physical limitations. It can provide a solution for those who want a flexible platform where complete control and customisation is not a requirement.

Features:

• Client rents virtual hosting resource
• Hardware resource taken from multiple servers
• Hosting resource (bandwidth, disk space etc) supplied on demand

Benefits:

• Not reliant on one server - less risk of failures/downtime
• Clients only pay for what they use
• Seamlessly scalable - extra virtual resource can be assigned as and when it is required

Drawbacks:

• Limitations on the ability to configure the platform
• No scope for customising hardware
• Risk of security issues spreading from other websites

© Stuart Mitchell 2012
If you are interested in finding out more about shared hosting in the cloud visit Cloud Hosting Provider.