What is web hosting? And you need to know some benefits or drawbacks of web hosting before choosing a web host.
Web hosting is an online service that allows establishments and individuals to distribute website files on the internet. A web host, or web hosting service provider, is a business that supplies the technologies and facilities needed for the internet site or webpage to be regarded on the Internet. Websites are hosted or stored on special computers called servers.
At the point when Internet users need to see your site, they should just type your site address or space into their program. Their computer will then connect to your server and your web pages will be delivered to them through the browser.
Web hosting is important currently. Because every person has a website today. All want a server space to host their website. The web hosting business plays a vital role in today’s modern environment. Web hosting services have many benefits but the drawbacks are very limited.
We can give many benefits as below:
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- Most of the web hosting companies give cPanel, where a normal man with slight internet knowledge can upload his website files, control his website, etc. with one or two clicks
- Install the application in one or two clicks
- Many hosting plans are available in the market. One can pick a plan that suits him or his business
- Easy progress from one plan to another plan
- Customer support service (both sales and technical)
- 24/7 available online
- Several payment methods
The drawbacks of web hosting:
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- Renewal charges are high
- Website hacks through the database or website loopholes
Different kinds of web hosting
Most web hosts offer different kinds of hosting so that they can meet the needs of different customers, whether you want to make a simple personal blog or own a large online business and are in awful need of a business website composite. It’s finest to start small and when your site ranges higher traffic numbers, upgrade to a more progressive type of plan. In any case, we’re going to define each one in more detail.
There are many types of hosting, but the main five are Shared hosting, VPS, Cloud Hosting, Dedicated, and Reseller hosting. While all types of servers will act as a storage center for your website, they differ in the amount of storage capacity, control, technical knowledge requirement, server speed, and consistency.
Here’s a quick summary of them.
Shared hosting
A shared hosting account is one in which each client shares resources client on a particular server. Best suited for low-traffic websites and small businesses, a shared hosting package doesn’t give you any control over your server environment. Instead, you simply work with whatever you’re given – which in most cases is more than enough.
All beginners enter the web hosting world by signing up for shared hosting. This type of hosting is the most common answer for most web hosting needs and it’s an excellent solution for most small businesses and personal blogs. The easy to use tools and a high level of customer support is very welcoming to startups and small business. The technical aspects, such as website security, maintenance, etc. will be taken care of by the provider. Clients just need to focus on developing their business using various strategies.
Most shared hosting plans leaned out by web hosting providers include free domain name registration, unlimited email accounts, drag, and drop website builder, etc.
Some benefits of Sharing hosting are:
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- Easy for beginners and small business
- Affordable prices
- Free add-on services possible
And drawbacks are:
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- Sharing limited resources, such as bandwidth, storage, RAM, etc.
- Less control over security and downtime
- One client can use up the majority of resources leaving other clients in a fix
VPS hosting
A virtual private server provides as much control as a dedicated server, with one caveat – you can’t do anything with your physical hardware. A virtual private server ‘virtualizes’ an operating environment for a client – meaning that environment exists independently of the physical servers that are running it. Usually, that hardware is shared between a few clients.
These are known to be effective to bridge the gap between shared and dedicated servers. VPS resources are distributed to only a few dozen clients, unlike shared hosting. Machines can run their OS. Users have full control over software programs. Resources are dedicated to each machine. You can add or remove processing power according to your site’s audience.
This requires high technical skills and knowledge from clients owing to performance, security, and reliability goals. Some of the best low-cost web hosting providers will allow their clients to employ their server technicians to fix technical glitches. They may also provide strong hardware to power dedicated resources. VPS hosting can be great for medium-sized businesses with a rapidly growing number of websites and traffic.
Some benefits of VPS hosting are:
- Control over the environment
- Dedicated resources
- Good performances
And drawbacks are:
- More maintenance required
- Quite expensive
- Still a form a shared server
Cloud hosting
Cloud and Virtual Private Server use the concept of virtualizations. Cloud uses advanced technology where your web files will be in a network of servers. This will allow your site to load quickly, irrespective of traffic. Resources are scales according to the flow of visitors. Multiple hardware allows your site not to go down even if a server crashes. It usually transfers your website to a level plan which ideally has more storage, bandwidth, etc.
Some benefits of cloud hosting are:
- Scalable resource allocation
- High performance and reliability
- Pay-as-you use structure
And drawbacks are :
- Complicated management
- Costs are unpredictable
- More technical knowledge expected from the site owner
Dedicated server hosting
These types of servers for the sole purpose of those clients who didn’t want to share resources and owing to security reasons. It is a single server entirely for a single website, allowing for 100% control over bandwidth, storage, performance, reliability, etc. Site owners can configure a machine to their requirements. It is expensive and requires a lot of technical knowledge and experience to manage configurations and maintenance of server components. If you are not an expert, you can also hire a technician separately but this is an added expense for you.
Cheap and best web hosting providers give 24/7 customer support and server setup and also add other support services.
Some benefits of dedicated server hosting are:
- Zero risks of being harmed by other sites
- Better security and performance
- Unlimited customizations
And drawbacks are:
- High cost for a small business
- Technical experience required
- Hiring a technician can be an added cost
Reseller hosting
Reseller hosting is the service in which a company rents hard space and bandwidth to other companies for a profit. Features include in Reseller hosting plan disk space, Bandwidth, Domain setup, email ids, MYSQL Database, sub Domains. Reseller hosting is the most effective and affordable way to start your own web hosting business.
Some benefits of Reseller hosting are:
- Low financial cost
- Unlimited SSL certificates as well as features such as cPanel
- Income opportunities
And drawbacks are:
- High level of Difficulty
- Need to dedicate time to customer service
- Limited access to the server
Most important factors when you picking a web host
Even though some things might sound like technical gibberish, it is still important to go through the functionality of your chosen plan. Let us help out by explaining the most important ones:
- Disc space– This will show you how big you can make your website. Remember that you should aim for plans with bigger disc space if you plan to upload a lot of images or videos.
- Bandwidth – Determines how many visitors will be able to visit your website at the same time.
- Uptime – This shows how reliable host servers are. You should aim for 99.9% or higher, to make sure that your website is always up and running.
- Website Backups – Check if your web hosting provider has backups for free. In case something goes wrong, you will always be able to restore your website, with no hassle.
- A free SSL certificate ensures the safety of your website and protects your user’s data. Once you have installed it, a little padlock will show up next to your domain name.
Conclusion
We have discussed here what is web hosting, types of hosting, and their advantages and disadvantages. Hopefully, you have a better understanding of how you can take advantage of these by choosing a high-quality hosting provider.