Shared, Dedicated, VPS, Managed, Reseller or Managed?
As of today, there are around 27,976 web hosting companies worldwide listed in WHTOP Web Host directories. Most companies are from the United States, Canada, Germany, and the UK.
No matter which of the Top Hosting Companies you visit, you’ll see typically a five-type of hostings they offer;
1- Shared Hosting,
2- Dedicated Hosting,
3- VPS (Virtual Private Server),
4- Reseller Hosting, &
5- Managed Hosting
Today we are going to discuss all the features each of these web hosting types has to offer you, their PROs and CONs and based on that which of these hosting categories you should opt for.
Let’s briefly go over all these web hosting packages and find what exactly differentiates these hosting from each other.
1- SHARED HOSTING
Shared hosting is a type in which a single server hosts multiple websites.
Shared Hosting is the most common and basic type of hosting plan. In this type, basically your host is renting you space on one of its servers and sharing that same server with a number of other customers.
Shared Hosting Pros
• Most Affordable
• Design for Small Website
• Requires minimal hands-on time
Shared Hosting Cons
• No dedicated bandwidth
• Mostly Limited Storage
• Shared IP
2- DEDICATED HOSTING
As the title predicts, you are getting an entire server on rent for yourself. You don’t share, any resources, you are in full control.
Self-managed and dedicated Managed Hosting.
Self-managed & Dedicated Managed Servers
Dedicated Hosting Pros
• Dedicated bandwidth
• Better Storage Options
• Customized Server Setup Option
Dedicated Hosting Cons
• Higher in price (compared with shared hosting)
• Involves technical staff to manage technical requirements.
• Ideal for those in need of large storage and bandwidth requirements.
3- VPS (VIRTUAL PRIVATE SERVER) HOSTING
VPS (Virtual Private Server), is the second-best thing to dedicated hosting in simple words.
It is basically a hosting server maintained on the cloud – with no actual hardware attached. Similarly, storing your data on google drive.
Technically a VPS server is sectioned off into multiple ‘virtual’ servers, each having its own operating system installed. Yet, in a sense, it is more of shared hosting because each of them storing limited but more than one customer’s data on each server. The number of clients is much less, still, it’s not fully dedicated to one.
Dedicated VPS hosting is also an option but it requires you to manage every technical aspect on your own similar like having your own local dedicated in-house sever.
VPS Hosting Pros
• Must affordable when compared with dedicated hosting.
• Performance typically well.
• Huge storage space and bandwidth
• customize server setup Option
VPS Hosting Cons
• Higher in price than shared hosting
• If self-managed then requires advanced technical knowledge
• No physical backup
VPS is ideal for those websites that require more storage and bandwidth than of availed on a shared server. Also ideally for someone looking for extra security and won’t like to share the I.P with anyone else. Dedicated VPS requires you to have someone to handle all server related technicalities as a server admin while managed VPS is the option where hosting companies do all the technicalities for you.
4- RESELLER HOSTING
Reseller hosting plan is technically a shared hosting type given to partners who would like to host other businesses on their hosting plan and earn a profit on the top of it.
In a reseller account, you get a special reseller user interface from where you can create more sub-account allocate space and bandwidth.
In a reseller account, you mainly manage client dealing and billing. You can generate bills and shared with your customers while the technical aspect of hosting such as providing support to your client will be handle by the actual hosting company from which you have bought the reseller account.
Reseller Hosting Pros
• Sufficient Storage & Bandwidth to host multiple clients.
• Much affordable than VPS
• No server admin requires unlike in VPS and dedicated hosting
Reseller Hosting Cons
• Additional admin panel to create and manage further sub-accounts.
• Hosting Performance more likely to be affected by other sub-accounts sharing the same server.
• Requires someone to allocate and manage storage and bandwidth for sub-accounts.
5- MANAGED HOSTING
In simple words, in managed hosting, you get a dedicated server admin to manage all the technical aspects of hosting (excluding website) for you.
Unlike all the other hosting plans discussed above, which requires a certain level of involvement from your side to manage technical aspects of hosting, in managed your host company do the following things for you;
• Installing your site
• Handling regular updates
• Protecting your site from hackers and malware
• Assessing plugins and themes for malicious content or security exploits
• Creating site backups
• Blocking spam and brute force attacks
• Setting up a Content Delivery Network (CDN) – if you plan to use one
• Protecting member personal information if allowing member registration,
• If processing credit cards, protecting the card information
• Managed hosts on the other hand typically focus on a specific type of sites such as WordPress, Ghost or eCommerce, and some or all of the above site management tasks will be taken care of for you as part of the service.
Managed Hosting Pros
• Typically optimized for speed and performance
• Highest quality for support from the host
• Biggest Storage and Bandwidth
• Dedicated server admin
• Higher security
Managed Hosting Cons
• Highest Price Tier
• The fewer website allowed than shared
Managed hosting is ideal for the eCommerce website because the eCommerce website generally expects more traffic and have dedicated bandwidth. It requires checkouts hence required additional web security. You have priority support. More importantly, you have experienced hosting technical support to manage all your hosting needs.
If you only intend to run a small site with modest traffic this may never become an issue for you. However, if you plan to grow your site’s traffic it’s better, in my opinion, to choose a company that tells you up front exactly how much bandwidth you have available so you can monitor your usage regularly throughout each month and never get out of your allocated limited. And that’s how you’ll have no nasty downtimes or required to pay more for up-gradation.
With countless CMS, Databases, Plugins, web application, and securities requirements from customers, hosting business is really complex and technically demanding business, and for this reason, you must ensure that the web hosting company you are considering to choose is 100% in all ways with their core business – web hosting.
In hosting business, seamless experience and excellent customer support are essential.
