When you launch a new website and start looking for web hosting services, there are many options to choose from. You can opt for Shared Web Hosting, Cloud Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Server Hosting, etc. Once you have selected the server type, you can choose between Windows and Linux web hosting and select the plan that offers the resources that your site needs.
Today, we are going to talk about the basic hosting service – Shared Hosting and look at scenarios where you should opt for it.
What is Shared Hosting?
In the Shared Hosting setup, your website resides on a server that is shared between several users. There are no resources dedicated to your site and the server’s storage and computing power are shared between all the users on the server. You can opt between a Windows and Linux website hosting plan based on your site’s needs.
Here are some scenarios where you can opt for a Shared Hosting plan
1: Your site is expecting low-to-medium traffic
Since the resources are shared, these plans are ideal for websites that are expecting low or medium traffic. For heavy-traffic websites, dedicated resources are necessary to ensure uninterrupted services. Hence, beginners are the most common users of Shared Hosting services since they don’t expect heavy traffic as soon as they launch.
The following video explains why Shared Hosting is perfect for beginners:
Why Do Beginners Prefer Shared Hosting?
2: Your site uses basic software
Shared Hosting services are also ideal for websites that are using basic software that does not need frequent upgrades. If you have used PHP on the OS level to design your site, then you will need a better hosting plan since PHP needs to be updated regularly. Remember, you are sharing the server and its resources with other users. Nothing can be resource-intensive to use this service.
3: Your site is not offering critical services that need maximum uptime
While all site owners want their sites to be available at all times, no hosting service can guarantee that. Planned or unplanned downtimes are to be expected with web hosting services. However, Dedicated Servers and Cloud Servers tend to offer a higher uptime assurance than shared servers due to the way they are designed. Usually, higher uptimes translate into higher costs since the host needs to take care of a lot of things to ensure lower downtimes.
If you are not offering critical services on your site and the information shared is not time-sensitive, then a Shared Hosting plan is good for you.
4: You are not comfortable managing the technical aspects of hosting
Running and managing a website is a technical process. Hence, the site owner needs to have basic technical skills and know-how of web hosting. As a site owner, you would need to run updates frequently, security scans, and take care of various other maintenance tasks for your site.
If you are not comfortable with it, then you can either opt for managed hosting services in Dedicated or Cloud or VPS Hosting or look for a Shared Hosting plan. In Shared Hosting, the host takes care of all the technical aspects and offers a platform that is easy to use. These plans usually have a preinstalled OS and software with the host managing updates, upgrades, security, etc.
Summing Up
Shared Hosting offers Windows and Linux hosting and is available in many variants. Remember, not all Shared Hosting plans are the same. Hence, ensure that your research the market and choose a plan that is best suited to your site.
If you are opting for a Shared Hosting Linux server, then make sure that you compare similar plans across hosting providers and compare features and benefits carefully. Good Luck!