Web Hosting Box

Web hosting is simply a service that allows you to lease a web server, which can be used to provide server resources to all of your websites. Since each webmaster has a different set of needs and requirements, there are a plethora of hosting types and plans available on the market today. For the inexperienced or aspiring webmaster it can be extremely difficult to choose a hosting type without knowing the main attributes of each hosting environment. Although there are many sites online that review plans individually, very few actually explain the different types of hosting and how they relate to webmaster capabilities/requirements. It doesn’t make much sense to begin comparing plans and prices without first knowing the type of hosting that will be most suitable for your online endeavors. The following is an overview of the three main hosting types, which can be categorized into three levels of experience.

Novice (Shared) Hosting

Shared hosting is by far the most popular hosting type, and most people that have a shared hosting plan don’t even realize it. The shared hosting environment bears its name because you’ll be given access to a web server that is shared by dozens or even hundreds of webmasters simultaneously. Shared web servers utilize unique load-balancing technology to ensure that a single webmaster cannot overload the server with the tasks of their websites. While this prevents significant performance problems, it also limits your capabilities as a webmaster and makes it impossible to accommodate thousands of site visitors across a large network of sites. Thus, shared hosting is usually recommended for novice webmasters that only have a couple of websites.

Intermediate (VPS) Hosting

Although most webmasters start out with a shared hosting plan, it is extremely common for successful site owners to upgrade to a VPS (virtual private server) hosting plan after reaching the limits of their shared plan. VPS hosting is by far the most diverse hosting type, with plans ranging in cost from $20 per month to $200 per month depending on the capabilities and allocated server resources. Virtual private server hosting is similar to shared hosting in that you will be sharing a web server with other webmasters, however the way the server is shared is very different. Rather than sharing the entirety of the server you are given a specific partition that is solely devoted to the tasks of your websites. This enhances performance and eliminates the possibility of another website affecting the performance of your sites. VPS hosting is an economical option for webmasters that need a powerful solution but cannot yet afford a comprehensive dedicated hosting plan.

Advanced (Dedicated) Hosting

Dedicated hosting bears its name because it gives you dedicated access to a web server that is solely used to power your websites. By having access to an entire web server the amount of tasks that your websites can perform are seemingly limitless, as a vast amount of bandwidth and disk space can be accessed at any time. In fact, many large corporations and Internet entrepreneurs utilize dedicated hosting plans to host hundreds of websites simultaneously without error. Since the cost of dedicated hosting can range anywhere from $100 to more than $400 it is usually a service marketed towards advanced webmasters that have an established online business presence.

VPS (virtual private server) hosting is definitely one of the most popular types of web hosting plans available on the market, as most novice webmasters utilize VPS hosting plans after graduating from smaller shared hosting plans. With a VPS hosting plan you will receive access to a partition of the web server, which can be used to power all of your websites simultaneously. Although you will not have access to an entire web server for your own purposes, VPS hosting is slightly more secure and stable than shared hosting because rather than sharing the entire server is shared with the dozens or even hundreds of others webmasters you’ll receive exclusive access to a separated partition of the server. Although VPS hosting presents many advantages over shared hosting it does have some commonly overlooked limitations, which are discussed below.

Limitations of Conventional VPS Hosting

It is important to note that there is a new type of VPS hosting available on the market – cloud hosting. The cloud hosting environment is very different from the conventional VPS hosting environment because it utilizes a network of web servers rather than a single server. Thus, instead of gaining access to a single server partition you’ll have instant access to a vast network of servers they can distribute and allocate workload evenly as traffic arrives. The cloud hosting environment barely has any limitations because it is not comprised of a single web server, and is therefore capable of accommodating many more requests and tasks simultaneously. The following limitations pertain to conventional VPS hosting, and most of them do not apply to the cloud hosting environment.

Software Configuration and IP Addresses

Fortunately, unlike a shared hosting plan, with a VPS hosting plan you be able to adjust the software configuration of the web server by installing new applications and changing/adjusting your operating system. Unfortunately, VPS hosting usually only comes with one IP address (although there may be the option to purchase multiple IP addresses for an additional monthly cost), which makes it not quite as powerful as dedicated hosting. Before selecting a VPS hosting plan it is important to ensure that you have the capability to install new software if you have the need to do so. This is especially true for webmasters that utilize Microsoft Web application such as SharePoint for business purposes. If you have the need to use Microsoft Web applications you will need to ensure that you purchase a Windows VPS hosting plan.

Monthly Costs and Upgrading

VPS hosting is perhaps the most diverse hosting type, with plans ranging in cost from $20 to over $200, depending on the hosting provider and plan capabilities. Some hosting providers offer more than seven VPS plans, all of which have varying feature sets and capabilities and are specifically targeted towards a particular audience or webmaster skill level. With a cloud VPS hosting plan you do not have to choose a specific plan type, as you are only billed on a monthly basis for the server resources used during the billing period.

Dedicated web hosting is usually seen as the top of the hosting industry, offering unparalleled access to customized Web server resources that are only allowed to be utilized by one webmaster at any given time. The majority of cheap web hosting plans offered by major web hosting providers are operating within the shared hosting environment, which is much less robust than dedicated hosting because you have to share a web server with hundreds of other website owners, which usually amounts to thousands of other websites.

While dedicated hosting is definitely preferable over shared or some types of VPS hosting, not all dedicated hosting types are the same. The enhanced functionality and additional capabilities offered with a dedicated server come with difficult server administration duties that must be performed to ensure optimal server performance. Fortunately, managed hosting provides an all-inclusive solution that does not require the webmaster to be familiar with Web server administration. The following paragraphs provide a brief overview of the pros, cons, and types of managed web hosting.

Partially Managed Versus Fully Managed Web Hosting

There are two main types of managed web hosting – partially managed hosting and fully managed hosting. However, the boundaries that separate these two types of managed hosting are not always made clear by individual web hosting providers. For example, what one web hosting provider may call fully managed, may be another hosting provider’s idea of a partially managed plan. In general, a fully managed hosting plan will include 24-hour customer service, on-site technical support, and fully managed server administration and performance maintenance. On the other hand, a partially managed web hosting plan would only provide services such as routine server resets, and ensuring basic functionality of the server. Partially managed hosting is therefore only ideal for webmasters on a budget that are experienced with server administration. The following are the pros and cons of fully managed hosting.

Pros of Fully Managed Hosting

Perhaps the most appealing advantage of fully managed web hosting is the ability to focus on more important tasks associated with managing an online business, while the managed hosting provider handles all of the administrative server duties on a continual basis. Since you no longer have to update, optimize, and maintain the performance of your web server, you can boost the productivity of your business in other areas, expanding your outreach into more diverse endeavors. Instead of spending several hours of your day trying to fix technological bugs within hosting control panels and performing server maintenance, you can spend the same amount of time soliciting new clients and expanding your business for greater profits.

Cons of Fully Managed Hosting

Unfortunately, for webmasters that are experienced and demand the utmost control over their web server, a fully managed hosting plan may not be the best solution. Along with the simplified server management and included technical support comes reduced freedom over the software configuration of your server. Hosting providers tend to think that webmasters that do not know how to use a Web server should not have full control over it, as they may accidentally cause software errors that will consume the time of the hosting providers employees unnecessarily. Fully managed hosting also tends to cost more than other types of dedicated hosting.

VPS hosting is perhaps the most diverse type of web hosting available, with plans ranging in cost from $20 per month to more than $200 per month, depending on the provider and the amount of server resources allocated to the client. As such, many people have trouble deciding when a powerful VPS plan is needed, and in many cases they end up purchasing a plan that is either too small, or a plan that provides excessive resources that go unused and garner exuberant monthly costs unnecessarily. The information contained herein eliminates the aforementioned stress of deciding what type of VPS hosting plan is most suitable for your situation.

Assessing Site Needs

Accurately estimating your needs as a webmaster before building a site can be nearly impossible, which is why the experts always recommend that you have more than is needed to prevent site downtime and slow page loading. However, with cloud VPS hosting, this concept does not necessarily hold true, as it is possible to upgrade instantly without purchasing a new plan. The following paragraphs outline some of the most likely scenarios in which a comprehensive VPS hosting plan, or cloud VPS hosting environment may be needed.

Multiple Web Sites or Mega Sites

If you are currently in the process of planning the construction of more than one site, then you may need to plan for fast expansions. Some of the most successful online entrepreneurs will tell you that in order to be prosperous you have to plan for abundance. This is especially true if you’ve done extensive research and you’re preparing to utilize advanced tactics like autoblogging, content syndication and old fashioned content investing. When you’ve got several projects running parallel to each other on the same web server, disk space can become scarce quickly if you do not have a comprehensive hosting plan. Likewise, if you’re building a mega site that is rapidly gaining web traffic, you’ll also need to consider the benefits of a robust VPS plan. Any webmaster that is planning on building more than one successful web site that is regularly updated should consider a powerful VPS hosting plan.

When Cloud Hosting is Needed

Cloud hosting is ideal for webmasters that need an infinitely expandable hosting environment. Cloud hosting provides a unique server configuration that combines the power of dozens, or even hundreds of web servers within a datacenter to create a massive network of server resources that can be allocated to individual hosting accounts on the spur of the moment. This means you’ll no longer be limited by the physical confines of a web server or a specific partition on a server. This unique resource allocation method allows the hosting company to bill customers in a revolutionary new way that is similar to the billing structure of a pay-as-you-go cell phone. With cloud hosting you only pay for what you use each month, so you never have to worry about guessing how much power your sites need to operate.

If you are a dedicated online business owner, then you know that expansion is the key to continued success in any niche. The moment your business falls victim to inertia is the moment that all progress comes to a halt, and in most cases profits begin to regress. The expansion of an online business directly correlates to the expansion of their web hosting capabilities and the size of their hosting plan.

The largest companies typically utilize a dedicated hosted plan, however for the budding entrepreneur with a decently sized domain portfolio, an enterprise VPS or reseller hosting plan will do just fine. If you’re having trouble deciding which plan type would be best for your business model, you may want to consider the following information.

Server Stability

In terms of server capabilities and sheer performance, the most robust VPS hosting plan offered by a hosting provider will usually outdo the most powerful reseller plan offered by the same company. This is because VPS hosting plans are design to accommodate a seemingly infinite level of expansion, especially in the cloud environment. Web hosts understand that VPS plans are used by business owners that need the resource for their own sites, whereas reseller plans are used as a means to obtain wholesale server resources in order to resell them for a profit. Nonetheless, some webmasters do utilize their reseller hosting plan for their own needs, and if you’re planning on doing so it is important to ensure there is enough left for your clients. The VPS hosting environment is generally more conducive to uninterrupted server power than reseller hosting because of the way the server resources are pooled from various server partitions simultaneously.

Price and Performance

Unless you own and operate an exuberant amount of sites, or several extremely large sites, you probably won’t notice a significant difference between the performance of an enterprise VPS and an enterprise reseller hosting plan. However, once you reach a certain point, the VPS will eventually outperform the reseller plan as it is overloaded with bandwidth and data. This is because the capabilities of a reseller hosting plan are usually capped at about 1500 GB bandwidth and 200 GB disk space, while VPS enterprise plans provide up to 3200 GB bandwidth and 250 GB disk space. Also, it is important to note that the server hosting the reseller hosting plan may tend to slow down more because of the various control panels and client accounts that may be utilizing the server’s resources.

Reliability and Ratings

In terms of  reliability, although there is no conclusive evidence to support this, it seems as if the VPS environment would fair better in the face of massive traffic spikes. This is because the server hosting the reseller hosting plan is more likely to be congested with segmented partitions for each of the reseller’s clients. However, this may not be true f the reseller account is being used solely for the benefit of the webmaster. As far as ratings are concerned, VPS pans ins general are more popular and more desirable.