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In web hosting types, shared hosting is most used and given priority amongst all types when it comes to hosting a website. If you’re looking to start a blogging platform or any small start-up website then consider shared hosting.
If you want to learn more about shared hosting then check this article to understand everything about shared hosting.
What is Shared hosting?
Here various users together use one server to host their website.
In this setup, the server’s resources, such as CPU, memory, and disk space, are shared among all the websites hosted on that server.
With shared hosting, each website has its own allocated portion of the server’s resources, but they share the underlying infrastructure. This makes shared hosting an affordable option as the cost of server maintenance and resources is divided among multiple users.
Medium size websites are the example of shared hosting servers. It is an easy and cost-effective solution for individuals, small businesses, or organizations that don’t require the dedicated resources and advanced features of a dedicated server or VPS (Virtual Private Server).
Since the server resources are shared, the performance of a website hosted on a shared server can be influenced by the activities of other websites sharing the same server. If one website experiences a sudden surge in traffic or consumes excessive resources, it can potentially affect the performance of other websites on the server.
Shared hosting often provides a user-friendly control panel that allows website owners to manage their websites, set up email accounts, install applications, and perform various administrative tasks without requiring extensive technical knowledge.
Overall, shared hosting is a popular and economical choice for hosting websites that have modest resource requirements and don’t anticipate extremely high levels of traffic or custom configurations.
Read: Why WordPress Website is running slow (Complete Guide)
Features of Shared Hosting
Affordability: Shared hosting is one of the most cost-effective hosting options available. Since the server resources are shared among multiple users, the cost is distributed, making it an affordable choice for individuals and small businesses.
User-friendly control panel: Shared hosting plans often come with a user-friendly control panel, such as cPanel or Plesk. This control panel allows you to manage your website, set up email accounts, manage databases, install applications, and perform various administrative tasks easily, even without advanced technical knowledge.
Server management: With shared hosting, the hosting provider takes care of server maintenance, security updates, and infrastructure management. Also, you don’t need to worry about server hardware, network connectivity, or software updates.
Pre-installed software and applications: Shared hosting plans often include a variety of pre-installed software and applications that can be easily set up with a few clicks. This may include content management systems like WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal, e-commerce platforms, and other popular web applications.
Email hosting: Shared hosting usually includes email hosting capabilities, allowing you to create and manage email accounts associated with your domain name. You can typically access your emails through webmail interfaces or set up email clients like Outlook or Thunderbird.
Scalability: Shared hosting plans generally offer scalability options to accommodate the growth of your website. While the resources are shared, hosting providers often provide upgrade options to higher-tier plans or additional resources such as increased disk space, bandwidth, or RAM, allowing you to scale up as your website’s needs expand.
Technical support: Shared hosting plans typically include technical support from the hosting provider. You can reach out to their support team via email, live chat, or phone for assistance with server-related issues, troubleshooting, or general inquiries.
Security measures: Hosting companies implement security measures to protect shared hosting servers and the websites hosted on them. This may include firewalls, regular security updates, malware scanning, and spam filtering. It’s essential to choose a reputable hosting provider that prioritizes security.
Backup and restore: Shared hosting plans often include regular backups of your website’s files and databases. This feature helps you restore your website in case of data loss or accidental deletion.
Uptime guarantee: Hosting providers typically offer an uptime guarantee for shared hosting plans, ensuring your website remains accessible to visitors. The uptime guarantee represents the percentage of time your website should be available and accessible on the Internet.
Cost of Shared Hosting
The cost of shared hosting varies from web hosting provider to provider. You can expect $ 1.96/ mo to $ 5.96/mo for the space on a shared server.
Working of Shared Hosting
Shared servers are equal to computers in that hard drive space, a central processing unit (CPU), and RAM. These resources are consumed by other users hosted on the server. Users can store your website’s saved files, data, and information. When anyone appeals to access your website from their computer, the stored data of your website is sent from the server to the internet user. Shared hosting users can take advantage of the server’s optimal utility since website traffic varies in terms of traffic at different times.
Understand Shared hosting plans
Many web hosting companies provide different plans for shared hosting. The reason is you only pay for what you want and your website. These plans consist of important features and some unknown jargon.
- Website: You can select a plan that permits you to host more than one website on a single server instead of buying two unique plans. This streamlines the management of all different sites.
- Disk space: An amount of hard drive space available to users. In many cases, a shared hosting plan comes with enough space for small businesses or personal projects. Websites may face issues if they have large images or audio files. That’s why companies like Hostripples guarantee unlimited disk space and this eliminates the issue of reaching the limit.
- Monthly bandwidth: It is the amount of traffic and data on your website. With low bandwidth, the speed of your website will get affected by higher traffic on a shared server. Hence, we can’t compromise the speed of the website. To overcome this issue, we have plans that have maximum bandwidth.
- MySQL databases: MySQL is a data management system that sorts the data. In short, you’ll need a MySQL database for various independent sites on one shared account.
- Support: We are available 24*7 at your service. In case, you’ve any questions then contact our support team.
- FTP users: FTP is a file transfer protocol. FTP is where users can access the domain. If you’re an owner of a personal blog then one FTP is enough. In large-scale businesses, multiple FTP users are better.
- Email addresses: Getting professional email addresses will enhance the image of your brand.
- Websites: You can select the plan that grants you to host more than one website on a single shared server instead of buying two separate plans. This streamlines the management of all your unique sites.
Pros of Shared Hosting:
Cost-effective: Shared hosting is the most affordable option to host your website. The cost of server maintenance and resources is divided among multiple users, making it a budget-friendly choice, especially for small businesses and individuals.
Easy to manage: Shared hosting providers usually handle server maintenance, security updates, and technical support. This means you don’t need advanced technical knowledge to set up and manage your website, making it a user-friendly option for beginners.
Scalability: Most shared hosting plans offer scalable resources, allowing you to upgrade your hosting plans as per your website growth. This flexibility enables you to start small and expand gradually, depending on your needs and budget.
Convenient setup: Shared hosting plans typically come with pre-installed software and control panels, making it easy to set up your website, manage domains, and install popular applications such as content management systems (e.g., WordPress) with just a few clicks.
Cons of Shared Hosting
Performance limitations: Since multiple websites share the same server resources (CPU, RAM, bandwidth), the performance of your website can be affected by the activities of other websites on the server. If other websites experience traffic spikes or resource-intensive processes, it may slow down your site.
Limited control and customization: Shared hosting restricts access to the server configuration. This limitation means you have less control over server settings and customization options compared to dedicated or VPS hosting.
Security vulnerabilities: The shared nature of the hosting environment means that if one website on the server is compromised, there is a potential risk to all other websites hosted on that server. Though we implement strict security measures, the risk of security breaches is higher compared to dedicated hosting.
Resource limitations: Shared hosting plans often impose restrictions on server resources such as CPU usage, RAM, and bandwidth. If your website experiences high traffic or resource-intensive activities, it may surpass these limitations, leading to performance issues or additional charges.
Lack of scalability for large websites: While shared hosting offers scalability to some extent, it may not be suitable for large websites or those with high traffic demands. If your website requires significant server resources or advanced customization options, you may need to consider alternative hosting solutions like VPS or dedicated hosting.
Shared Hosting V/S VPS Hosting V/S Dedicated Hosting
Shared hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting are three different types of web hosting services available to individuals and businesses. Each option offers its own set of features, advantages, and cost considerations.
Shared Hosting
In shared hosting, multiple websites are hosted on a single server, sharing its resources (CPU, RAM, storage, bandwidth) among all the users.
This sharing of resources makes it cost-effective, but it also means that if one website experiences a spike in traffic or resource usage, it can affect the performance of other websites on the same server.
Shared hosting is suitable for small websites, blogs, or startups with low to moderate traffic and resource requirements.
Advantages:
Cost-effective: Shared hosting plans are generally cheaper as the server resources are divided among multiple users.
Easy to manage: Here, our team will take care of server maintenance, security, and software updates.
Suitable for beginners: It comes with user-friendly control panels and pre-installed software.
VPS Hosting (Virtual Private Server)
In VPS hosting, a physical server is divided into multiple virtual servers, where each user gets their own dedicated resources and operating system.
Although multiple users share the same physical hardware, their virtual environments are isolated from each other.
VPS hosting is suitable for growing websites that require more resources, flexibility, and control.
Also Read: All About VPS Hosting is Explained
Advantages:
Dedicated resources: Each user gets guaranteed CPU, RAM, storage, and bandwidth, ensuring better performance and stability.
Scalability: VPS hosting allows users to easily scale their resources as their website’s traffic and requirements grow.
Customization and control: Users have root access to their virtual server, allowing them to install custom software and modify server settings.
Relatively affordable: VPS hosting is more expensive than shared hosting but still more affordable than dedicated hosting.
Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated hosting provides the highest level of performance, control, and resource allocation. With dedicated hosting, you have an entire physical server dedicated solely to your website(s). This option is suitable for large businesses, high-traffic websites, or applications with specific resource-intensive requirements.
Also Read: Why Dedicated Hosting is the Best Option for Hosting a Website?
Advantages:
Complete resource control: You have full access to all server resources, including CPU, RAM, storage, and bandwidth.
Maximum performance: Since the server is dedicated to your website, there are no resource-sharing issues.
Customization: You can customize the server hardware, software, and configurations according to your specific needs.
Enhanced security: With dedicated hosting, you have better control over server security measures.
Wrapping Up
In summary, shared hosting is a budget-friendly option suitable for small websites, VPS hosting offers better resources and control for growing websites and dedicated hosting.
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