In order to be able to decide what type of hosting to use, you must first assess the different options available and decide what is best for your site. But don’t just think short term. The host you choose must be able to meet your immediate needs, in addition to being able to scale with the growth of your website and traffic.
There are two types of specific formulas that you will need to consider. These two types are shared hosting and VPS hosting. There are notable differences between the two that we will discover in this article.
What is shared hosting?
The shared hosting is the hosting forms the most basic. Shared hosting simply means that multiple websites share the same physical web server. Shared hosting distributes a web server to operate and serve multiple websites.
Because you share the same server as other websites, you use the same database, the same bandwidth, the same storage, and so on. This type of hosting is economical and easy to manage.
What are the advantages of shared hosting?
The very affordable price is one of the main advantages of this type of hosting. Indeed, the shared hosting plans at DMT start at just $2 per month. This makes it the obvious formula for businesses or individuals who want a website, but don’t have a large budget.
Another reason why shared hosting is very different is that it requires very little technical maintenance. Your web hosting provider assumes this responsibility for you, so you don’t need specialized skills to operate and maintain your site. Even better, thanks to user-friendly content management systems such as WordPress, most users can manage with a shared hosting formula without having to have any programming knowledge.
If you have a small website and expect only a minimal amount of traffic (for example, a maximum of 500 visitors per day), you may not need more than shared hosting.
What are the limits of shared hosting?
Perhaps the biggest problem with shared hosting is its inherent performance limitations. As you share a server with multiple websites, resources can become scarce.
For example, a site using shared hosting usually does not have the bandwidth necessary to handle a high volume of traffic. If a page on your site goes viral and experiences a large increase in traffic, this can affect the performance of your site. Your site can potentially be affected by other sites on your server.
While this may not be a problem for smaller sites, it can certainly be a problem if you have a large site that receives tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of visitors each day. On a shared hosting plan, a site receiving this volume of traffic could experience downtime and poor performance.
What is VPS hosting?
Short for ” Virtual Private Server “, VPS hosting is significantly more robust, offering tons of features that you won’t find with shared hosting. Although you are still technically sharing a server, you get a dedicated share of it.
A virtual private server (VPS), also known as a virtual dedicated server (VDS), is a virtual server that appears to the user as a dedicated server, but actually serves multiple websites.
What are the advantages of VPS hosting?
First, you have more space and bandwidth with VPS hosting. This is essential if you plan to generate a lot of traffic or if you expect considerable growth in the future.
A VPS solution provides all the power you need for optimal performance. Thanks to its high-performance components, you can be assured that your site will always have access to the necessary resources.
This guarantees two important things: stability and reliability, which greatly reduce or even eliminate the threat of downtime.
VPS hosting also allows you to expand your site over time while making the transition without too much friction. VPS solutions can help you grow as your website grows.
In terms of setting up the control panel, you also have a much higher level of control with VPS hosting. If you have a lot of technical skills, you can use it by configuring the parameters according to your own specifications. This gives some personalization to VPS solutions that are simply not available with shared hosting.
In addition, you will benefit from support with most VPS plans. In the event that you encounter a problem outside your field of knowledge, you just need to contact a technical support specialist who will be able to help you.
Finally, you can expect more complete security on a VPS plan. Although shared hosting is also secure, VPS hosting allows you to take extreme security measures, if necessary. This is an important asset for large companies.
What are the disadvantages of VPS hosting?
When you consider the long list of features and additional performance of this option, it is not surprising that it comes at a cost. You can expect to pay much more for VPS hosting than for a shared plan. However, most midsize to large businesses will still find these rates reasonable, especially in relation to the benefits provided.
When to choose shared hosting?
It is best to choose shared hosting when:
- You want to experience web hosting and you don’t want to make a huge investment.
- You run a small business and do not anticipate major growth.
- Your site or blog is quite small.
- You do not need a lot of space and bandwidth and you only plan to generate a minimum volume of traffic (no more than 500 visitors per day).
- You are on a very limited budget, and VPS hosting is not financially viable
When to choose VPS hosting?
Choose VPS hosting when:
- You run a business that is already well established
- Your business is medium or larger
- The development of your business will be significantly over the next year
- You generate a high volume of traffic. Lots of disk space and bandwidth will be required.
- You are looking to enhance security beyond what ordinary shared hosting can offer.
- You have a sufficient budget to justify the payment of VPS hosting
Shared hosting or VPS: Conclusion
One choice is not necessarily better than the other. In many cases, shared hosting is more than enough for individuals or small businesses.
On the other hand, most medium and large businesses will want to invest in VPS hosting. Indeed, this meets their immediate needs and allows, if necessary, scalability. This gives them enough bandwidth to meet customer demand and maintain positive growth.
At this point, you should have a clear idea of the main differences between shared hosting and VPS hosting 😉
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