Finding the right web host for your website can be an overwhelming process. Right from assessing your requirements, to finding the right hosting type, provider, and finally the plan – it requires a lot of time and understanding of the various hosting services available to you. Over the years, the web hosting landscape has evolved to accommodate various requirements of different types of businesses and sites. Some websites are cost-sensitive, while some others peg more importance on speed and uptimes. Some hosting types available are shared hosting, dedicated hosting, VPS hosting, Cloud Hosting, etc.
Today, we are going to look at Cloud Hosting and the reasons behind it being more effective than Shared Hosting.
What is Shared Hosting?
In Shared Hosting, multiple websites are hosted on the same web server and share the resources of the server. This is a cheaper option as compared to most other hosting types and is popular among websites with lesser traffic and non-critical data/applications.
What is Cloud Hosting?
The core concept of Cloud Hosting is ‘Divide and Rule’. The resources required to host a website are distributed across multiple virtual servers which are collectively called the cloud.
Why is Cloud hosting more effective than Shared hosting?
| Feature | Explanation |
| Instant Resource Scalability | In Shared Hosting, if your website experiences a sudden spike in traffic, then scaling up your resources can take a lot of time and money.
On the other hand, most Cloud Hosting providers offer instant scalability of resources allowing you to manage traffic spikes efficiently without it affecting the performance of your website. |
| 99.9%+ Uptimes | In Cloud hosting, on the other hand, most providers offer 99.9%+ uptimes due to features like data mirroring, automatic failover, etc.
In Shared Hosting, you can expect 99.9%+ uptime from your service provider but your website shares the resources of the server with other websites. This means that uptime is also dependent on the security measures taken by all the sites on the server. |
| Better Security | In Shared Hosting, since the web server is shared between many sites, any security-related problem with one site can affect all the sites on the server. Hence, your website is slightly more prone to security threats.
On the other hand, in Cloud Hosting, your site is hosted on multiple servers with dedicated resources. Hence, the performance of other sites does not affect you. Also, most providers deploy the latest security tools to ensure maximum security of your website. |
| Faster Page Load Speeds | In Shared Hosting, if one website on your server experiences a traffic-spike, then the speed of all other websites is affected.
On the other hand, in Cloud Hosting, no such correlation exists. The speed of your site depends on the resources added by you and the steps taken by the provider to improve speed like CDN, caching servers (Varnish Cache), etc. Hence, Cloud Hosting is faster than Shared hosting. |
| Costs | Shared hosting is cheaper than Cloud Hosting. However, if you are looking at cost-efficiency, then you must consider the features and benefits offered by both hosting types and then compare the costs. |
Summing Up
There is no ideal hosting plan that suits all websites. You must choose one that meets your current requirements. Both these hosting types have their own pros and cons. Therefore, before you delve into the hosting market, spend some time on understanding your requirements from the web host and then look at which hosting type best suits your requirement. Remember, a web host is your website’s home – choose meticulously.