7 Types of Web Hosting Explained

When launching a website for yourself or your business, one of the most important things to consider is the type of hosting that you’ll use. You may be fine with shared hosting, or discover that you need a more substantial hosting solution such as a virtual private server (VPS) or managed hosting. Read on to learn about your options for web hosting and how to choose the right one.

Key takeaways:

• Types of web hosting explained with advantages and disadvantages
• When to choose managed hosting
• How to choose the right type of hosting

What Is Web Hosting?

Web hosting is where your website is located physically. In the simplest terms, it’s the service that runs the server for your website and the connections needed for people to visit your page.

For small websites, web hosting uses one part of a single physical server. A single website may be hosted on multiple physical servers or spread over multiple geographic locations for larger websites.

Most Popular Types of Web Hosting

Understanding the different types of web hosting technology allows you to decide which is right in what situations. The various technologies can be quite complicated, however. So, this page gives you a basic introduction to the best choices for individuals and small businesses.

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is the most popular option, especially for small businesses and personal websites. This technology allows many websites to share the resources of a single web hosting server. The specific number of sites hosted on one server varies greatly between the different hosting providers.

While each site’s files are kept separately so that only the website owner can edit them, all the sites have access to resources such as disk space, central processing unit (CPU) power, network capacity, and memory. Finding a good shared hosting provider is a great way to get good service at a very affordable price.

Advantages of Shared Hosting

• Inexpensive ― often starting at less than $5 per month
• Available from most hosting companies
• Typically easy to set up new sites

Disadvantages of Shared Hosting

• Other sites can impact your page’s performance
• Limited control over various features

VPS Hosting

A VPS works similarly to a shared hosting environment in that multiple sites are run on one physical server. However, the big difference is that each account is assigned exclusive access to specific system resources. This exclusive access means that even if another site on the same server is getting flooded with traffic, it won’t cause slowness on your site.

It’s often possible to get a great VPS hosting package for not much more than it costs for shared hosting, which makes it a great option in many cases.

Advantages of VPS Hosting

• Exclusive access to assigned system resources
• Can make custom configuration changes
• Often very affordable

Disadvantages of VPS Hosting

• Can be difficult to determine what system resources you need
• Technical know-how required for advanced configuration

Dedicated Server Hosting

When you select a dedicated server for your hosting, your website is the only one running on a given server. This means that you’ll have full access to all of the system resources on that server and can even configure it to meet your specific needs. If you have a site that gets a lot of traffic, it’s even possible to link multiple physical servers together and have your one website running across them all to handle all the visitors.

Different hosting companies offer different types of servers, so you can always find the exact level of service you need. Some even let you purchase your own server and have it housed in their data center.

Advantages of Dedicated Servers

• Virtually limitless growth potential
• Access to all the resources on the server
• Full control over server configuration

Disadvantages of Dedicated Servers

• Can be very expensive
• Generally requires a high level of technical knowledge

Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting solutions use the incredible power of cloud environments to power websites. The web hosting company will set up a virtual environment to host websites for their clients. Rather than having multiple clients on one server, such as shared and VPS, cloud hosting puts multiple websites onto multiple servers.

Cloud hosting environments usually use dozens of separate physical servers to create one virtual hosting environment, which you can use for many websites. You can configure the environment to have the sites sharing all system resources of servers, or each site can be assigned a specific amount of system resources.

Advantages of Cloud Hosting

• Very reliable hosting
• Easy to upgrade when needed
• Housed physically in massive data centers

Disadvantages of Cloud Hosting

• Can be hard to figure out what resources you’re getting
• Price varies significantly from company to company

Reseller Hosting

Reseller hosting is a unique option designed only for people or businesses who want to offer web hosting to other individuals or businesses. If you sign up for a reseller hosting account, you can turn around and sell hosting services to other parties at a profit.

For example, if you operate a web design business, this can be a great upsell opportunity for your clients. Of course, you’ll need to have a technical understanding of how hosting works to sell and support this service.

Advantages of Reseller Hosting

• Great income stream for your business
• Easy to get started

Disadvantages of Reseller Hosting

• Not typically used for individual site hosting
• Lots of variability in price

Managed vs. Unmanaged Hosting

When looking at the different types of hosting, you should consider whether you’ll be getting managed or unmanaged hosting. Generally speaking, you can provide all types of hosting mentioned above as managed or unmanaged services depending on what the hosting company offers.

Ensure you know the difference between managed and unmanaged hosting when signing up for any new hosting package.

Managed Web Hosting

Managed web hosting is when the hosting company manages almost all aspects of the hosting environment. When they manage the aspects, you don’t need to understand how hosting works, which makes it much easier.

In most managed hosting situations, the only thing you need to take care of is setting up and managing the content of your website. The hosting company handles the rest.

Advantages of Managed Web Hosting

• Very little technical knowledge required
• Allows you to focus on your site
• Avoid worrying about back-end upkeep

Disadvantages of Managed Web Hosting

• Little to no say in when upgrades or patches happen
• Typically cannot make configuration changes to the server
• Costs more for comparable hosting

Unmanaged Web Hosting

Unmanaged web hosting services are where the hosting company provides you with the hardware and networking connections, and you’ll handle the rest on your own. This means you can decide what operating system you use, when to upgrade the database version, and much more.

Advantages of Unmanaged Hosting

• Greater control over server configuration
• Less expensive
• Schedule upgrades during times that are ideal for you

Disadvantages of Unmanaged Hosting

• Must know how to manage the server
• May be responsible for costs of software you put on the server

Which Type of Hosting Is Right for You?

The type of hosting that is best for you’ll depend on several factors, including your budget and the type of site you’re running.

Most people launching a new site want to start with either shared hosting or cloud hosting, and then they can upgrade from there if needed. If you expect that your site will get a lot of traffic right from the beginning, it’s often a good idea to go with a VPS or dedicated server.

Take the time to understand your options and choose the type of hosting that’ll meet your needs today. Remember, you can always upgrade to more advanced hosting in the future if the need arises.