VPS vs Shared Server vs Dedicated Server: How to Choose The Best?
So now that you’re all set to make your website presentable to the world and you’ve already finalized the domain name or your website, it’s time to choose from all of the different hosting alternatives. Hosting or web hosting is a type of internet hosting service that allows you to make your website visible to others via the World Wide Web and to do that you need to publish it with a legit web hosting service.
Web hosting is more than just one thing; it’s where your website sits on the internet. Most hosts offer multiple service packages depending on your requirement and budget.
Do you need to host your website on the internet but confused by different types of web hosting? You are landed on the right page at the right time. Before finalizing cheap web hosting services you need to consider a lot of factors that have a direct impact on your website or online business. In this article, you will learn about the basics of web hosting, different kinds of web hosting, advantages and disadvantages of each type and a chart of VPS vs Shared server vs dedicated server to select the appropriate one that will meet your business requirements in an efficient manner.
Basics of Web Hosting
Consider a real-life example to understand web hosting concepts. A person wants to build his house, he will need a piece of land at any place where it will stand. The same concept is used when you want to build your online business or website, you need space where it will be stored or hosted.
Web hosting is the name of getting a piece of space where your website will be hosted. Unlike the houses, you can change web hosting provider by transferring your domains at any time.
The concept of web hosting is based on two main components, a domain name and a hosting provider. Every house has a complete address where it is located. In the case of website hosting, every website has a unique virtual address which is known as domain name.
Whenever a user wants to visit your website using a web browser on his machine, he will type your domain name. Now, the DNS server will identify and point to a specific IP Address to locate the server where is your data stored. The dedicated hosts (servers) provided by your dedicated hosting company loads the requested data for your users. If you are a startup business and can’t afford the dedicated web hosting solution, you can get the shared hosting services to host your website on the internet. We will also talk about the shared web hosting and dedicated server in this article. As you can see the concept of how a user accesses the website files in the picture given below:
How Many Types of Web Hosting Exist?
Dedicated hosting provider or any other company offering the hosts services will provide you with different solutions with the variation of price. This article is specially written to explore all of the quality web hosting services for you to take the most important decision to select the best one which is suitable for your online business.
Although there are many ways to distinguish the services but hosting services are mainly categorized on the base of technology. We will talk about the three most common hosting types: shared, VPS and Dedicated hosting solutions. As you can see in the picture, dedicated server solutions are like a house which is completely yours. Shared vs VPS is like an apartment and a townhome where you owned your portion, not a complete house.
Shared Server – Beginners’ Choice
Most of the startup businesses choose affordable shared hosting because they don’t have much visitors on their website at this moment and their website is located on a server having many other websites. It is a simple answer to what is shared hosting. Now another question arises that how many websites are located on the same server? There is no limit, it totally depends on your hosting provider and the setup. Shared server vs dedicated server concept can be accomplished with this example:
shared and dedicated hosting: your website and other websites are hosted on a single server are known as shared, and your website on a single server utilizing all the resources is the example of dedicated server website hosting. As you can see in the picture given below:
Advantages:
Cost
It is the biggest advantage of this special option that you share the total cost of your server with many people. This solution is more lucrative because there are usually more than 2400 accounts on each server where many people have no traffic and don’t consume the resources of the machine.
If are running the small website developed using WordPress, Joomla or any other Content Management System (CMS) with daily visitors of hundreds or thousands. If your daily visitors are more than a specific number, it is highly recommended to use the dedicated or VPS. Another main advantage of using shared services that server is almost configured you can concentrate on your website completely. If you have limited funds, or just starting the business it is perfect for you to start your online business journey.
Ease of Use
There is no need for any technical person or the knowledge of databases and server-side languages. Hosting providers take care of server’s security, monitoring and other necessary tasks. It is very simple, you are able to install CMS (WordPress etc.) or a forum with a single click through cPannel auto-installer or using Softaculous.
Adequate Bandwidth and Disk Space
These two factors play a vital role in the performance of the website. If the bandwidth or disk space is low from the required level then your visitors may face bad experience. In a Shared server, there is enough space and bandwidth for your online business or personal website to add resources.
Adaptability
It is easy to adapt, there are no configuration, upgrades, maintenance and server management headaches. You will experience a solid performance for smaller and low-traffic websites. Always try to get the services of well-reputed windows or Linux shared hosting provider for good customer experience.
Disadvantages:
Shared Resources
As the business grows and the number of visitors is increased the shared resources not fulfil the online business requirements. Nowadays, speed matters the most and slow speed can lead to the bad experience of your customers. So, it is the best option for you to choose shared hosting and upgrade your hosting plan as your website traffic increased.
Server and Bandwidth
Server resources and bandwidth is the main difference between shared and dedicated server. Users will get fewer resources in a shared technique. There is a chance of limited resources because hundreds of businesses are hosted on a single server with different requirements. Bandwidth and all resources utilized in managed dedicated web hosting are fully dedicated to your website. You can shift to a dedicated solution if you have any problem in the shared server or increased the traffic of your website.
Security
You can’t install your preferred software like anti-virus protection or any others on your server because of the shared property. You can only make the changes in your blog websites or email accounts. It is not a big problem, if you need customization at any stage you can buy a dedicated to fulfilling your business needs and requirements.
Shortage of Root Access
There are limited rights for admin access and might affect your specific tasks.
Virtual Private Server (VPS) – Next Level Shared Server
The concept behind the Virtual Private Server hosting is similar to the shared but there are fewer resources and space. You will get a virtualized machine with the access of additional resources as your site traffic increase at notice to your servicer provider. In the VPS, the user will also share a single server but he will get a Managed virtual server and able to perform his own tasks. As we talk about the real-life example earlier, you will buy a separate house but you are still in the same building. As compared to the apartment, you may get a car parking space in your house.
Virtual private server vs dedicated server: VPS is a complete server machine but it is virtualized whereas the dedicated server is a complete physical server. The main benefit of your Virtual host is to upgrade the resources when you required at the lowest prices.
VPS Advantages:
Costs savings
These servers are more affordable because you increase the resources and pay for what you need. You are getting a life of complete house which is located in a TownHouse with the costs lesser than house outside of the TownHouse.
Fully customizable control
On-demand hardware upgradations with the freedom to choose the software and Operating systems on your virtualized host. It is the big benefit of VPS that there is no fear of affecting the other from your actions.
Root Access
You have a complete virtual machine with the root access that will allow you to change configurations and desired software installations for the interface of your control panel.
Free Weekly Backup
In VPS solutions, there is a free data backup on a weekly basis to deliver you exceptional quality services with the peace of mind. It is an inexpensive way to enjoy the control of the resources with multiple domain hosting.
More Control to Configure your Server
With the help of virtualization software, you have more control to configure your server as you want to meet your business requirements.
Disadvantages:
Expensive than Shared
It is understood, you are using a virtual machine with admin access having customizable feature then definitely you will pay more than shared. It is also less expensive as compared to a dedicated server web hosting.
Limited Assets
You can’t access the full assets of the physical server on which your virtual machine is running. So, you have limited access to assets. Don’t worry you can increase the assets as you want for a virtual host.
Required Technical Knowledge
You can also buy a fully managed server but if you are using unmanaged VPS, you must have the technical knowledge to configure the server.
Shared Physical Server
As you know, VPS is a virtual machine with shared hardware of the physical web server. It is possible that there are many other websites are using the same hardware of the server. so, you may not be able to use RAM or other resources at maximum performance.
Dedicated Server – No # 1 Choice of Big Business Brands
Dedicated server definition: Every website is stored on a single physical server which is fully dedicated (all resources) for your website. Your server is yours, nobody can share your server because you have full rights to all resources of the dedicated server hosting services. Consider the real-life example, it is like you own a house where you are the only one who is the resident with his family. You can paint your house, build more rooms, and park your car where you want. You must pay a handsome amount to enjoy the luxury house. If you want to know about the prices of these dedicated and fast hosts, you can visit the dedicated server hosting plans.
Read another wonderful article to get more knowledge about why dedicated servers are so famous?
Advantages
Good Performance and Reliability
If you are unable to fulfil your business requirements, you can increase the resources to get more performance. It is the simple philosophy; you will get what you pay. It is reliable for every big business brand to become more active with 99.9% uptime. Get affordable dedicated hosting from a range of services to get the highest performance.
Speed and Accessibility
It is fast. You get 100% access to all resources of your reliable dedicated server hosting. You have maximum speed and accessibility to run more sophisticated websites. It is also a perfect choice for web apps to provide custom and stable environment.
Security
There are many options available to secure dedicated server with the IP address blocking feature, DDoS protection and other server-level security. It is easy to install custom software and RAID configurations in a physical machine.
Technical Assistance
You pay a good amount for your services, so the hosting provider makes sure the quality of the support 24/7/365.
Best Option
It is the best option for running websites with massive traffic on a daily basis, ERP applications, game server or hosting company. You can also get the dedicated hosting packages to run big businesses without the fear of bad performance and speed up your website.
Freedom
Managed Hosting Dedicated Server is reserved for a single website or organization to deliver freedom and flexibility. There are no dependencies or other parties that can utilize your resources, you are the only one who can change the configurations or other custom settings.
Full Control
It is a physical server with the hardware required and recommended by IT experts to server thousands of users per day. Moreover, you have full control without worrying about bad neighbours. What is dedicated server hosting? It is a name of getting full control of a physical server which is connected to the internet and providing services to host your applications or websites.
Disadvantage
Expensive
It is an expensive solution for small businesses. If you are getting huge traffic and business on a daily basis then it is the best options to boost your business in an efficient manner. Many hosting provider companies are delivering cheap dedicated hosting for those businesses who want to get a physical machine to serve their users. Cost is the main factor to be considered in shared vs dedicated hosting.
Dedicated Server vs Shared server vs VPS – Key Differences
| Parameters | Dedicated | VPS | Shared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Suitable for | SaaS, large scale applications like ERP, Gaming etc. | Applications and websites with many users | Websites |
| Real-Life Example | A house | An apartment | TownHome |
| Costs | High | Normal | Low |
| Managed by | Mostly End-user staff | End-user staff or hosting provider | Hosting provider |
| Security | Very high | High | Average |
| Performance | Very high | Average | Low |
| Storage Space | Usually in Terabytes | Less than dedicated Servers (Upgradable) | Limited |
| Bandwidth | Very high | Average | Low |
| Scalability | Very high | Average | Limited |
| Note | Ultimate performance with a complete control for the ultimate price. | Better performance and bandwidth but limited as compared to Dedicated. |
The best option for every business Startup. |
Fully Managed Dedicated Server Hosting
If you have the complete technical knowledge you can manage your server and save the cost. But you can reduce your efforts by getting the Managed dedicated server hosting. It is an ideal and efficient way to reduce the costs on your in-house IT Experts and dedicatedly focus on your business with a high level of assured security.
Unlimited Bandwidth
It is not a good approach to get unlimited bandwidth without an in-depth understanding of your visitors. Most of the people pay a huge amount and get unlimited bandwidth but their usage is only a few TBs. it can be bad strategy. If you want to become proactive, buy a limited bandwidth and check its usage on a regular basis, and increase the bandwidth when you required.
Application Hosting
Application hosting is also known as “software as a service”. It makes your applications available remotely using the internet. It can reduce the cost with an amazing feature of instant deployment and easy to maintain. There is no need to synchronize your data with multiple devices, and easy access globally without software licensing costs. But you have to connect with the internet whenever you need to access your services. Dedicated Server is a perfect hosting solution for large scale applications like ERP, Gaming etc.
