When it comes to business web hosting, there are four main options that you need to consider: shared hosting, dedicated server hosting, virtual private server hosting, and cloud hosting. Each of these options has its own advantages and disadvantages. Here is a breakdown of each types of web hosting services.

1) Business Shared Hosting Service

This is the least expensive and most popular web hosting solution. In shared hosting, multiple websites run on a single server. Providers of business shared hosting spread the costs of maintaining servers across multiple web sites.

Although shared hosting has cost advantages, there are several disadvantages including higher risk of downtime, limited bandwidth, limited custom functionality available to your web application and reduced storage space. Most providers offer multiple versions of shared hosting plans but the underlying risks remain the same.

2) Dedicated Server Hosting Service

With Dedicated Server Hosting, you own or rent a single server dedicated to your site or application. The system, bandwidth, and storage are yours and yours alone. This option offers the most in terms of reliability and flexibility, but it is the most expensive option and requires an understanding of the underlying web hosting software. You have a “raw system” with limited software applications and tools on it and you are typically responsible for server management.

3) Virtual Private Server Hosing Service

Virtual Private Server Hosting or “VPS Hosting” offers a blend between dedicated server hosting and shared hosting. Unlike shared hosting, where your site has to share the same server resources with other web sites, VPS Hosting divides the system into virtual private servers so that each site gets its own private and secure environment.

With a virtual private server, you have full administrative control over the VPS software and the costs are lower than a dedicated server. However, you will need some understanding about the underlying hosting environment and server operating system in order to work with the server properly.

4) Cloud Hosting Service

Cloud hosting is a relatively new option where your site or application is hosted in a “cluster” of different servers, rather than on a single server. Each server in the cluster serves a specialized purpose, for example, it can be a web server, database server or file server and there will typically be multiple redundant servers in the cluster that are load balanced so that requests can be distributed among the different servers. This allows the cloud servers to provide a highly scalable hosting environment with virtually no limits placed on the amount of bandwidth, storage space and computing power available to web sites.

Cloud hosting offers an inexpensive option for businesses that outgrow the resources of a shared hosting provider. Instead of moving to a costly, fully dedicated server, businesses who need more bandwidth or more space can use cloud hosting.

Cloud architectures can easily scale up to handle traffic spikes and then scale back when resources are not needed. You pay for the resources you use, rather than a fixed fee as in other hosting options.
Which Hosting Service Is Best For Your Business?

Shared hosting is the easiest and most economical option for most businesses. If your needs are fairly straightforward with not alot of custom programming, you will be fine with shared hosting.

If your business has higher levels of security, traffic, or needs guaranteed up time, then either a VPS or dedicated environment is a better solution. If you expect to host multiple sites or have specialized applications, a dedicated server is the preferred solution.

If your traffic needs are growing or you need to handle traffic spikes, such as registration for events or new product launches, cloud hosting is the best choice.

If you are still unsure, feel free to Contact us. We will be able to help find the right hosting solution for your business.

This blog post is written by David Lason, CTO at Custom Software Lab.