Would you like to know which hosting (Shared vs Cloud Hosting) you need for your WordPress site? Well, you’re in the post.
Here I’ll explain to you in detail why you may need one or the other, depending on your project, with the main differences between shared vs cloud hosting.
You should now have a much better understanding of what you are getting into by reading this article, and more importantly, you should be prepared to ask the hosting companies important questions, so that you know what you are getting into!
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The process of shared hosting involves the hosting of your website as well as the sites of other users on the same server. In particular, dedicated servers share resources between you and other users, such as files, databases, and email.
Due to the nature of hosting, a dedicated server isn’t the ideal solution for a single customer due to resource optimization. So, shared hosting came into being, whereby a group of users shares the same server.
This is what is most commonly known as a node, where the user is sharing the resources of a server with the rest of that group. Due to the power of most dedicated servers, this is an acceptable practice that can host hundreds of users simultaneously.
Users on shared servers are usually managed by a control panel in the world of shared hosting. Common hosting control panels are purchased and used by hosting companies for this purpose.
Control panels for hosting are plentiful, but cPanel and Plesk Onyx are the most popular. You won’t see VestaCP and Centos Web Panel as often because of their free nature, but they are good examples.
Regardless of whether a customer has a dedicated server or a shared server, the control panel has the responsibility of controlling resources and security. Furthermore, the control panel will handle e-mails and domain-related activities such as DNS.
In summary, shared hosting consists of a single server (called a node) on which different users share resources.
When the hosting company is dedicated and of high quality, shared hosting will usually be faster than cloud hosting. In my opinion, there can be little latency on dedicated servers when they are managed properly.
In addition, a good configuration will be faster than a cloud structure from a point of view of complexity standpoint. When the hosting process is less complex, latency can be reduced and performance can be increased.
It is unfortunate that most companies do not play fairly in this area. They typically try to maximize profits by packing as many users as possible onto each node to maximize profits.
As a result, latency will be increased since the servers may be running at full capacity. Security is also a concern. It can be problematic for security reasons to have too many users on a single server.
By using special Linux versions, such as Cloud Linux, resource allocation can be controlled. It is also not appropriate for running specific scenarios on shared hostings, such as a dedicated application server.
In terms of shared hosting, Bluehost is one of the largest and best examples. Hosting WordPress websites is easy with this popular shared hosting option.
Using a group of servers, cloud hosting provides hosting for a group of users. With cloud hosting, you can create a virtual server of your own with customized tools, which companies offer as a private service.
Using cloud hosting, you can create virtual servers, suspend them, and destroy them easily. The concept of tiny machines is used to create applications and manage virtual servers. For developers, this is a great option since they can use specific resources to host their website or app.
There are a variety of resources available for cloud hosting services, such as storage space, storage performance, bandwidth, CPU, and so on, and you pay for the number of resources versus the time you used them.
CPU performance, memory performance, and storage performance are increasingly expensive as virtual CPUs become more powerful. Essentially, Cloud services are like building your own virtualized computer, where you add features until you reach the right price/performance balance.
Servers in this type of scenario are virtualized, and therefore resources are as well. Hosting companies can use this to expand the number of resources without having to move customers from the virtual node when the demand for resources is sufficiently high.
It is the ideal setup for companies seeking to expand since no resources need to be allocated and no users need to be reallocated. There is no limit to how many servers can be added to a cloud structure, as it can expand to hundreds!
There are two types of cloud hosting: public and private. Typically, companies offering Cloud Hosting use public cloud models. In other words, they use resources from a pool of publicly available virtual servers.
It is the same public network that transmits data. Security is taken care of to ensure that the data remains confidential. Cloudways, a services company on other Cloud services (which we’ll discuss shortly), is a good example of this.
The company owns the cloud network in a private cloud, and the services are better suited for apps where safety is critical. Private clouds are typically customized structures that do not rely on third-party cloud networks.
The main advantage of implementing a Cloud structure is that businesses never need to be concerned about node capabilities. In such a case, they simply add another server to the virtual structure.
This means reducing the allocation of resources while increasing the capacity without requiring any changes to the control center or node users.
Because cloud hosting is resource-based, you can end using a resource and not be charged for it. This occurs because you are charged based on resource usage, whereas shared hosting charges a flat fee (whether you use a resource or not).
The complex nature of the cloud structure is its major drawback. Since the same data is split and stored in a virtualized manner, owning so many data centers online with just about everything virtualized can make it difficult for a business to determine where a problem lies.
This type of structure does introduce lag. A cloud structure may produce less than the ideal results for vital sites on the internet where performance is essential. Another weakness of Cloud Hosting is that it is generally more costly than shared alternative solutions.
For example, 1GB of shared hosting space is typically less expensive than 1GB of Cloud Service space.
Whether you’re searching for dependable and reasonably priced cloud hosting, Cloudways is the way to go. They provide top-tier cloud hosting (DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud, and so on) with an easy-to-use interface to help you effectively manage your sites.
All of this is logical and comprehensible, but hosting companies usually provide clear-cut shared vs cloud hosting proposals. In the present era, numerous hosts are beginning to merge shared and cloud hosting services in ways that make them difficult to differentiate.
Now it is allowable to generate virtual server contexts within which a single node, managed as a Shared Hosting Service, now consists of a number of virtualized dedicated servers. This setup is extremely similar to what Cloud Hosting Companies do with their services.
This can result in a situation in which you pay for an ability to share a hosting service that functions essentially like cloud hosting but is hidden behind such a control panel.
Furthermore, some industries virtualized the control panel within a VPS, resulting in you not even getting a fair share of resources because the actual server where the control panel dwells is not available directly, only a portion of it!
In the end, it makes no difference what the company does with the servers. What really matters, whether it’s dedicated servers acting as pure nodes or a true cloud hosting structure, is how well the company manages the entire package.
An excellent cloud hosting service can handle any of the most demanding applications. The same can be said for good hosting services that are powered by hardware nodes. The hosting company’s quality and commitment to users make a huge difference around the globe.
Let’s say you own a new WordPress site that you’d like to launch. Right now, your primary concerns are cost and effectiveness. In that case, shared hosting is probably your best bet because you’ll save money by hiring a service that requires limited resources to control each node (which translates to better prices per user).
A cloud hosting service, on the other hand, will be more useful if you are a company or an individual who requires to quickly create apps and websites. Cloud hosting panels are typically better equipped for generating and hosting the most bizarre configurations without your intervention.
Remember that most cloud Hosting services do not include a mail server, so you will need to set one up on your own.
The good news is that whether you use shared or cloud hosting, the two services are not mutually exclusive. Shared hosting is ideal for hosting multiple sites that require general e-mail, forwarding, DNS control, FTP, and database services.
Cloud hosting services are much more developer-focused and can be ideal for hosting specific apps or websites. Because of the nature of both services, they generally complement each other well.
For instance, hosting a website and an app at the same time, or having to manage a website that connects to a store. What’s more, most businesses today can provide both services at one time.
To summarize the benefits of Cloud Hosting, you can create custom configurations, control the resources you access, and even pause resources to save money. The only real disadvantage is that resources are more expensive than shared hosting.
Shared hosting offers a better balance of services best suited for websites, and services are typically less expensive than cloud hosting. The disadvantage is that you cannot control resources or start or stop services as you can with cloud hosting.
Whichever service you select, you now have a much better understanding of the pros and cons. What is your preference? What do you think about shared vs cloud hosting? Please leave your feedback in the comments section below!
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