When you develop and implement a website and want other people to see it, you will need to upload (or publish) it with a web hosting service. Web hosting services work by storing your website files in web servers (high-powered computers) connected to a very fast network. As technology has continuously progressed, diverse types of web hosting have appeared to meet the different needs of customers and websites. Today we will make the difference between Shared web hosting and Dedicated server hosting.
Shared web hosting
Shared web hosting represents the most common type of web hosting, being a service where one server is shared between many customers. This typically provide the following advantages and disadvantages:
• Cheaper – you do not have to pay for the whole server upfront.
• Easier to use – the server is implemented with the most popular options and your hosting company will take care of any security updates and maintenance for you.
• Less flexible – you probably won’t have the possibility to block a specific port or modify a core component.
• You share the server resources – if one website becomes really busy it may affect and slow down all other existing websites on that server.
As has been mentioned before, shared web hosting is the most common type of web hosting, thus, most hosting companies simply call it web hosting or website hosting.
Dedicated server hosting
Dedicated server hosting is another type of hosting. By using it, you get your own server and all its resources, dedicated to you for your own use. Usually, it offers the following advantages and disadvantages:
• Dedicated resources – you do not share your server resources with anyone else and the performance is guaranteed.
• Flexiblility and Customization – you can choose the hardware and software specifications of the server to meet your needs.
• Control – you have full access to your dedicated servers and can configure and optimize your setup to meet your needs.
• Technical skills are required – it will be your responsibility to manage and configure the server and the technical knowledge will be compulsory.
• More expensive – you have to support the entire cost of the server because is not shared with any other customers.