Hosting ABCs

Web hosting is nowadays a common feature for individuals and businesses alike. Here is a brief outline of different types of hosting available.

Shared HostingAn economical way to host anything from personal websites to large-scale web presentations. Shared hosting means that many websites reside on one web server connected to the Internet. Each site though has its own space to keep it separate from other sites. The site owners share only the costs of server maintenance which is provided by the hosting company. This includes the installation of server software, security updates and technical support and offsets the customer of these tasks. Depending on individual needs shared hosting plans differ in the provided space and bandwidth. Having a big number of media files such as images, videos, mp3 etc. will increase the need for space while intense traffic will require more bandwidth. Both may be limited with some plans, which requires some planning beforehand. Most individuals and small businesses however fare quite well with most of the standard plans.

Dedicated ServersDedicated Servers are entirely leased by an individual client and not shared with anybody else. The hosted website has its own resources and works much faster and more efficiently. This type of dedicated hosting suits organizations who run large websites with vast amounts of traffic.  Assisted Plans can be provided to help clients managing their server(s). These plans may include updates to the core system to install the latest security fixes, patches, and system-wide vulnerability resolutions. Updates to core operating systems include kernel upgrades, service packs, application updates, and security patches. Operating system updates and support relieves the burden of server management from the dedicated server owner. In dedicated hosting there are usually ready-to-go-plans and custom configurations available depending on the client’s requirements.

Virtual Dedicated ServersVirtual Dedicated Servers (VDS), also called virtual private servers (VPS), are bridging the gap between shared hosting and  dedicated servers. In this type of hosting a website resides in its own partition which appears as a server in itself. Each of these virtual servers can run its own operating system and can be independently rebooted. The website too has its own resources as it would have with a physical server. This allows clients to run large websites with a similar amount of control but at a lower cost. Again, in virtual dedicated hosting there are various Assisted Plans available to help customers with maintenance routines as they need.