Planning to launch a new website project? You will need to select a web host now. But selecting the right web host is a very tough decision. Though you may be an experienced developer, it is not an easy task because there are several web hosting providers in the market.
But prior to selecting a web host, it is important to work out on what type of hosting you need.
There are many types of web hosting and so, selecting one of them is very difficult as per your business needs.
In this article, we will discuss about:
- About VPS hosting.
- The difference between VPS vs shared hosting.
- VPS hosting is the best option for you or not.
What is Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting (and how it is different from shared hosting)?
Prior to learning about VPS hosting, let’s start with the most common type of hosting – shared hosting. It will help you understand how VPS hosting is different.
Shared hosting is offered by all the hosting providers and generally, it is offered at very cheap price. Therefore, startups and small businesses or businesses with lower budget always select shared hosting.
When you purchase a shared hosting plan, your web host puts your website on the server along with hundreds of other websites. Each customer on the server needs to share space and resources on the server with every other customer. The resources include CPU time, memory and disk space.
Let’s take an example of an apartment building (server). All residents share the same building and along with things like car parking, elevators and garbage collection.
Hence, shared hosting is considered to be the most economical option in web hosting. You know the quote “you get what you pay for”. Same is the case with shared hosting as it has got some restrictions.
In shared hosting, you actually share your server resources with other sites. So, if another site faces some issue, it can affect your site too. Additionally, you aren’t allowed to customize your server and the risks related to security are more as compared to other hosting because infections will spread, if your host haven’t isolated accounts properly.
Due to these reasons, many businesses consider upgrading to another hosting from shared hosting. There are several options but VPS hosting is the next best one. Similar to shared hosting, you share a physical server with other users in VPS hosting too. But, you are provided with a virtual environment that keeps you independent from others. So, you get a slice of resources that is completely for you and don’t need to share it with anyone.
One thing is for sure that you will need to pay more for VPS as compared to shared hosting.
You can say that VPS is the mid option between shared and dedicated hosting. There are several advantages of VPS hosting – let’s check them in details.
Pros and Cons of VPS vs Shared Hosting
Each web hosting option has its own advantages and drawbacks. Here we will discuss VPS as well as shared hosting pros and cons.
Shared Hosting Pros:
- Shared hosting is an cheap option among all other hosting.
- Users can easily start with it as it is developed as per the new comers.
- You don’t need to configure your server in any way.
- If you choose a good web host, you will experience good performance on small and low-traffic sites.
Shared Hosting Cons:
- You have to share the resources and don’t have resources dedicated, especially, for your website.
- Since you share a physical server, security issues also get shared with other sites.
- You get very few options for your server setup customization.
- If there is a traffic spike on one site, other sites on the same server can slow down.
After looking at pros and cons of shared hosting, let’s check them for VPS hosting.
VPS Hosting Pros:
- Many VPS plans are offered at affordable prices.
- Since your website is isolated from others, other websites won’t affect your performance.
- There are fewer security risks in VPS hosting.
- You have the right to customize your virtual server for meeting your website’s needs.
- VPS plans are basically scalable and so, you can increase and decrease your allotted resources as required.
VPS Hosting Cons:
- It is expensive than shared hosting.
- There is a limit on resources like RAM and storage.
- For managing your server and making changes on it, you should have technical knowledge about it.
You can check that VPS hosting has more benefits than shared hosting. Actually, it’s the best option for many sites. Now, you just need to decide whether it is the right choice particularly for your site.
Is VPS Hosting Right for My Website?
After checking the benefits and drawbacks of both the hosting, you may have got an idea about whether to select or not VPS hosting. So, let’s clear your confusion.
In case one of the below conditions applies to you, it’s time to migrate from shared to VPS:
- Your business has grown and now, you have the ability to spend more on hosting each month.
- Your site needs more resources as compared to resources on shared hosting.
- There is an increase in your website traffic or you expect an increase after some time.
- You can predict your traffic and need a scalable hosting option.
- You need to make changes in your hosting server setup or just want to know about server management.
Conclusion:
After going through the article, you might have got an idea about who should opt for shared hosting and VPS hosting. Remember that the type of hosting you select will affect your website performance. So, select your hosting option keenly.
To make it simple, if you have just launched your website or have a small business, there won’t be high traffic initially. Hence, select shared hosting. On the other hand, if your business is growing rapidly or you are seeing an increase in traffic on your small business, it’s time to move on to VPS hosting.
