Powered By Network Solutions: What is Shared Hosting? Beginner's Guide
Getting your website online for the first time should be exciting, not complicated or expensive. That's where shared hosting comes in. As the most popular and affordable way to get a site public, it's the perfect starting point for most new projects. This guide will walk you through what shared hosting is, whether it's the right fit for you, and how it compares to other options.
- What Is Shared Hosting?
- Is Shared Hosting Suitable For You?
- Does Shared Hosting Come With a Free Domain?
- Shared Hosting Pros and Cons
- Shared Hosting vs. VPS Hosting vs. Dedicated Hosting
Shared Hosting
Shared hosting is a type of web hosting service where a single physical server hosts multiple websites.
Being in a shared hosting environment is like renting an apartment unit and sharing the building with other tenants. Hundreds or even thousands of tenants can share the same server. Tenants divide the costs, thus making shared hosting the most practical and popular option of all the web hosting setups. As your hosting provider, we will manage your shared server for you so you can focus on your business and your website’s content.
Is Shared Hosting Suitable For You?
Shared hosting is ideal for a person or business that:
- Has a limited web hosting background
- Desires to save on costs
- Wants hassle-free website management
- Needs a simple website for small businesses or personal projects
- Is interested in learning web design, coding, or WordPress
Choosing the perfect web hosting setup is crucial to establishing a good website development foundation. Starting on a shared hosting plan allows you the flexibility to scale without hiccups.
Does Shared Hosting Come With a Free Domain?
Yes! Network Solutions offers free domain registration with our shared hosting plans when you sign up for a 12-, 24-, or 36-month renewal cycle. This offer extends to .com, .org, and .net TLDs only and applies to new and existing customers.
Shared Hosting Pros and Cons
Pros
- Cost-effective. Since multiple users share the cost of the hosting server, the charge is kept low.
- Flexible. You can choose shared plans that best fit the needs of your website. If you need another website, more cloud storage, or additional FTP users, you can upgrade to a different plan anytime.
- Secure. Although the space and resources are shared on a server, your information is secured. Other users utilizing your shared server are not able to access any of your website’s data.
- Straightforward setup. Shared hosting is beginner-friendly. It is designed to help you set up your website with maximum efficiency and minimum technical knowledge.
- Effortless maintenance. As your web host provider, Network Solutions maintains the shared server, so you can stay focused on growing your website rather than working out bugs or installing software updates. Leave that to us.
Cons
- Traffic. Shared hosting includes sharing resources like CPU power and memory. Because of this, a sudden spike in activity on another site could cause a temporary lag on your website. Most of the time, speed changes are barely noticeable.
- Limited customization. To uphold security, the backend of shared servers is locked down. Shared hosting supports limited custom installations. If you have special technical requirements, shared hosting may not be for you.
Shared Hosting vs. VPS Hosting vs. Dedicated Hosting
If you are on a shared server and your website utilizes more resources than your hosting plan provides, you may want to consider upgrading your hosting package. When your website outgrows shared hosting, VPS hosting is typically the next step up.
VPS Hosting
VPS hosting stands for Virtual Private Server. It allows you access to more resources. VPS hosting has a limited number of websites on a single server and provides a reserved amount of disk space and bandwidth for your website.
On a virtual private server, your website won’t be affected if another website on your server has a spike in traffic. VPS hosting users have more customization available. It is perfect for sites that are too big for shared hosting but too small to switch to a dedicated server.
Dedicated Hosting
If your website needs more resources than VPS hosting can provide, you can upgrade to dedicated hosting. With dedicated hosting, a server is solely used by one user. This means your website benefits from increased bandwidth, privacy, security, storage space, and speed.
However, it is the most expensive web hosting setup and requires a decent amount of technical skill to manage. If you value dedicated resources, peak website performance, and greater control over programs and security, dedicated hosting is the way to go.
To learn more about our hosting plans, please contact us for further details.