Web hosting can simply be defined as hosting your website on the Internet. It can also be defined as the process of physically setting up a website on a physical server, in a secure location, with a particular hosting provider.
A server is a physical machine (computer) that is intended to serve a specific task, in this case, the maintenance of the website that is placed on the server. Maintenance refers to the stability of the website, security, speed of display to end visitors, the ability to update the data on the site, and so on. There are several hosting types, one aspect in which they differ is the sever that they are using and its physical or virtual location. So let’s look at the most commonly used types of hostings.
- Reseller Hosting.
Reseller hosting involves selling hosting services to clients. As such, it’s undoubtedly not for everybody. If you’re building a tiny website from scratch or simply trying to host an internet site on your own, you should not consider this hosting solution.
But if you want to get into the hosting industry reseller hosting is the way to do it. As a reseller, you are the one that sets a price point for your customers. Since you’ll be paying wholesale rates to the supplier, you have the chance to form substantial profit margins. It is an excellent opportunity to generate stable income with little effort. However, you need to have a lot of IT knowledge.
- Shared hosting.
Shared hosting is the most comment option for website owners. On this kind of setup, one physical server is shared among multiple users. Although you’ll share resources with other users, you can’t access their files, personal info, or other information.
The positive side of shared plans is that they come at a low cost, since hosting suppliers will divide server maintenance prices among multiple users. The downside is the limited resources you get. This however may become a problem if your site gains a substantial traffic increase. In other cases, if you are sure that your site will attract only a local audience for instance, hence your visitors are limited, you will have no problems. Your site will function properly on a shared hosting plan.
- Virtual private server (VPS) hosting.
A virtual private server (VPS) could be a virtual area set on a physical machine or network that integrates multiple private servers. All the settings for every VPS are independent of each other, regardless if they are all hosted on one physical server.
The users will manage their own server resources like RAM, CPU, disk space, IP, etc, as per their needs. This is often considered a great hosting solution because of the scalability of resources and security it comes with.
Every VPS has its physical resources that ensure efficient performance. Besides, you don’t share resources with others, so your site won’t suffer due to the performance of another site, like in the case of shared hosting.
- Dedicated server hosting.
A dedicated server offers the highest management level over the server your website is stored on. You completely rent a whole server, so your website is the single website kept on there. Everything ranging from configuration, upgrades, maintenance is in your hands. You can completely operate the server according to your needs. However, you need to be an IT expert or hire one.
If you are thinking of getting a dedicated server, you should expect extraordinarily high time period rates and lightning-fast loading speeds. But it will come at an extraordinarily high price.
- Cloud hosting.
Cloud hosting primarily refers to the servers supported by cloud computing technology. Simply put, it’s web hosting on virtual servers, so one doesn’t need to rely on a physical machine. The great thing about cloud hosting is that your site will never be affected by a hardware issue. This will ensure the higher stability of your site, compared to other hosting solutions that operate on physical servers.
Cloud hosting plans are not based on flat fees or fixed packages. You will be able to use as many resources as you need, and you will be required to pay only for what you have used. It is a great structure that allows the scalability of resources without any additional hussles.
- Managed hosting.
Managed hosting refers to a hosting solution in which the server’s operation is completely controlled by the host company. The host will take care of any updates, security concerns, technical issues, and so on. It is ideal for a business or individuals that want to keep focus only on the appearance of the website, rather than what goes behind running it. It may be slightly more expensive than an unmanaged hosting plan, but that is the price you pay to not spend time fixing hosting issues.