If you have taken your decision to expand your business the first thing that should be there in your to-do list in 2020 is to have an online presence and that is through a website. It is only after you create your website, that you can have the information available online for your customers, and later on, you can even expand your website so that your customers can also order products, and offer other services. Well, after you have taken your decision to open your website, the first thing that you have to do is, choose a domain name, which isn’t the most complicated thing at all. However, the next most important point is to choose a hosting service and that is when things start becoming complicated.
The hosting service is the place, where your website will exist and the customers can access your website from the hosting server. Consider the hosting service to be the storage device on your computer which plays an important role in your storage requirements at the same time, choosing the appropriate storage device is very important if you want optimum performance from your system. The same applies to a hosting service. There are different types of hosting services available, and today I will talk about the two major types of hosting services available. I will be talking about the differences between shared hosting and cloud hosting, so that you can make a decision about which hosting service to choose, depending upon your requirements, budget, and everything else that comes in question.
So, without any further delay, let’s get started with the difference between shared hosting and cloud hosting to help you understand, which one is better for you.
Implementation of the servers
How the web hosting services are implemented plays an important role in which one delivers better performance when you are hosting a website using it.
Shared hosting, as the name suggests, is a physical server that is shared among multiple users who are hosting their websites on that particular server. The shared hosting server has a finite set of resources like RAM, hard drive, and processing power. Those resources are shared among all the users, who are hosting their website on that particular server. That is all about the basic implementation of shared hosting.
Cloud hosting on the other hand also shares the same server that is shared among multiple users, who are hosting their websites, but there is a difference. Unlike shared hosting, in the case of cloud hosting, the resources are scattered in several strategic geographical locations so that the load on one server can be mitigated and can be shared across several servers, which eventually makes it different from shared hosting. Additionally, the websites run on powerful virtual machines, for better resource sharing.
The differences in implementation, lead to the advantages and drawbacks of the two different types of hosting solutions.
Performance of the servers
In the case of shared hosting, a limited set of hardware resources is shared, and multiple users host their websites on that particular server. As a result of that, the websites suffer from sluggishness resulting from inefficient resource sharing. Additionally, if one website is being accessed by multiple users, and a lot of traffic is coming to one website on the server, it will hurt all the other websites, that are hosted by the same server. This is one major drawback of shared hosting, and it is mainly because only one web server is hosting all the websites. However, most hosting service providers take active steps to mitigate this issue by imposing a limit on the number of computing resources a single user can access. In this situation as well, if a single user is hosting multiple websites, and the computing resources allotted to the user are shared among all the websites it will also lead to performance issues on the individual websites that a particular user is hosting, even if the other websites by other users are running smoothly.
Cloud hosting on the other hand offers better performance, as the load is distributed tactically among several web servers across the globe or in a country. That way, if one website requires a lot of resources, and is being accessed by multiple users at the same time that particular website can be made to serve from a different server in a geographical location so that the access to the other websites remains intact and smooth. One more advantage of hosting a website using cloud hosting is that, if a particular website is being accessed from a particular geographical location more than from other places, the website data can be cached to that location to offer better performance to the local users.
Scalability
Scalability in shared hosting services is quite limited, as it is only one web server that is hosting several websites. So if you are hosting a website on a shared hosting server, and you need to offer more services, due to possible expansion of your business or anything else, it might not be possible with the existing infrastructure within the shared hosting server. If you want to make small changes, that is possible, however, if you suddenly need more computing resources, that include, extra RAM, extra storage space, and extra processing power, you might not get it.
On the other hand, scalability in the case of cloud hosting is easily possible due to the flexibility of cloud hosting that is scattered across several geographical locations. If you want a business expansion, and you need more features to run on the website, it is easily possible with cloud hosting due to the availability of a lot of extra resources and flexibility at the same time. As cloud hosting services use the combined power of multiple servers at several geographical locations, some spare computing power can easily be assigned to your server on demand which eventually makes cloud hosting services more scalable.
Affordability
You might have already got it, that shared hosting is available at affordable rates as the same resource is shared among multiple users. That way, if you want to have an online presence or want to build a website that does not require additional resources and is especially to show information, shared hosting can be the best solution for you. You can get shared hosting at very cheap prices and that eventually makes it a go-to choice for small businesses and website owners, who do not want a ton of features on the website.
On the other hand, cloud hosting service providers can offer you a cost-effective solution to host your website, but it is comparatively the most expensive compared to that shared hosting. As the cloud hosting service providers need to upgrade their servers from time to time, and they need to add new servers depending upon the individual requirements of the users, the overall cost of operating a cloud hosting is relatively more expensive. Additionally, if you want your website to be more responsive, fast, and rich in features, it is always a good idea to pay some extra and go for cloud hosting.
Server uptime
On shared hosting, the server uptime is a real issue, as it is hosting several websites, and depending upon the number of requests the server has to handle, the overall performance of the server can be affected. If at a certain time, the server has to handle an overwhelming number of requests, it can even crash which is one big problem with shared hosting. Additionally, if one website on the web server has a faulty script, or some code is acting up, it will also affect the overall functioning of the shared hosting. So, if considered for an integral amount of time, the uptime of shared hosting can disappoint you at times.
On the other hand, as cloud hosting has servers in several locations, and one server starts malfunctioning due to an overwhelming number of requests or something else, the websites that are hosted by that cloud hosting can be hosted by the other servers, and thus, the uptime of the individual websites are not affected at all. If there is one web server that is facing several troubles, the cached version of the website will be available across all other web servers and thus, if uptime is an important aspect for you, cloud hosting is the perfect cost-effective solution that you can count on.
Data security
In the case of shared hosting, the data is there on a single server, and if there is some attack on the server, all the websites that are being hosted on that server are under attack. Additionally, if due to some technical glitch or natural calamity, there is a data loss, it can be very difficult to get back the data, as all the data was present only on that server. As the data is not shared across multiple web servers, data security is a big problem, when it comes to shared hosting. However, certain shared hosting providers can also have a backup strategy, however, restoring the backup can even take some time, and the websites will not be available meanwhile.
If you are depending on cloud hosting, that data is shared across multiple web servers, and if a particular web server is under attack, it doesn’t mean all the websites that are being hosted by that cloud server are under attack. Additionally, due to the availability of extra resources, antimalware and other security software can also be made to run smoothly on cloud hosting servers. Even in the case of a data loss, the data can easily be retrieved and the websites can function from other web servers of the cloud hosting. So, data security is also comparatively better in the case of cloud hosting.
Shared hosting is especially meant for those website owners, who want to host a simple website that is meant especially for information and general-use purposes only, and it will not require a lot of features and resources. Cloud hosting on the other hand is meant for those users, who want to run feature-rich programs on their website and it requires a lot of extra resources that are hardly available in the case of shared hosting. If you look at the price, shared hosting is much more affordable compared to that cloud hosting. When it comes to controlling the features, and simplicity of usage, both cloud hosting and shared hosting comes with a cPanel from which the user can have control over his websites. When it comes to features, cloud hosting is the winner, but you will have to choose the cloud hosting with a lot of care to make sure that the cloud hosting that you are choosing, supports the cloud platform of your choice.
So, those were the difference between shared hosting and cloud hosting, that you should understand. Do you have any questions or have anything to say? Feel free to comment on the same below.
Shared hosting is not too fast as compared to cloud hosting for the simple reason that the number of servers deployed are less. Cloud hosting typically outperforms shared hosting simply because a large number of servers are deployed.