Web Hosting Comparison

You can go right to the web hosting comparison of hosting companies, breaking down the service offerings of various hosting providers here. Or you can learn about the important differences between the types of hosting available to you.

Different Types of Hosting

If you are looking at starting a website then it is best you compare the different types of web hosting services. Before you can put your website on the World Wide Web, you have to find a hosting service. Your hosting service will either be a dedicated server, shared server, or virtual server. Each has its pros and cons, so before you decide, consider this web hosting comparison.

What Is a Shared Server

In a shared server hosting setup, each client is given a portion of a server to use. The percent is based on the package purchased, but several clients will have their websites hosted on the same machine (in most cases there are at least 100 clients on one machine). The websites will share IP addresses in most situations, so to an outsider, they appear to be from the same server (an important note on this when we get to the cons section).

Dedicated Server Web Hosting Comparison

A dedicated server is a server that is used by just one client or computer network. It has its own IP address but can have more than one IP address assigned to it if required. A Dedicated server can stand up well to heavy traffic to your website because your sites are the only ones hosted on it. A dedicated server can be better customized for the unique needs of the business that is hosting the website since you have full control of what you can place on the server in terms of software and special scripts, you can even modify the web server software itself and streamline it to your needs, since no other hosting client will be affected.

Another factor in the web hosting comparison is price, naturally the shared server will be the low cost solution, but there is more to meeting your needs than just saving a few dollars, you have to consider the price of server security and with the prices of some affordable dedicated servers in the entry level category being very reasonable it may be the better option in the long run.

Typically when doing a web hosting evaluation you will want to consider if your data that you keep on the website needs to be secure. If the answer is yes than more often than not in a web hosting comparison between a shared server, a dedicated server or a virtual server, you would choose the dedicated server followed in close second by a virtual server option.

Virtual Server Web Hosting Comparison

Virtual server web hosting provides a balance between dedicated hosting services and shared hosting. In a virtual server setup, the host machine is actually shared, but it does not appear to be. The machine is broken up into segments, or "virtual servers," that are completely separate from one another. To users and webmasters, the virtual server looks like its own server. The websites are not affected by the actions of others who share server space, and the IP address is unique to each client. Quite often you will be given a set amount of sever resources but allotted an addition burstable resource such as additional RAM and CPU resources when your website gets busy. Keep these in mind when looking at the Virtual server web hosting comparison.