Why Choose Cloud Hosting Over Shared Hosting for Your Business
So, your business lives on the internet? Chances are you’re torn between deciding whether to go with shared hosting or cloud hosting. Both of these options come with their own set of pros and cons.
This post lists them out so you know when to choose cloud hosting over shared hosting and what advantages it offers over the latter. It is very important to make the right choice from the very beginning. Moving from one option to another will come with unpleasant challenges.
What is Shared Hosting?
Shared hosting refers to an arrangement between multiple websites using resources from a common server. These resources range from disk space, bandwidth, storage, database, etc.
The majority of web hosting companies today provide shared hosting with a few exceptions.
Those who speak in favor of shared hosting use the low cost of hosting as a selling point. Additionally, this type of hosting is easier to implement. However, if your website is prone to sudden traffic spikes, then it is not the ideal option to go with.
What is Cloud Hosting?
Also known as cloud VPS hosting, cloud-based hosting basically makes use of multiple servers spread across the world, instead of relying on a single server to host the website and retrieve information. Basically, multiple servers house the data; not just one.
This is the reason why heavy traffic websites find it the most preferred hosting type because the expansion is easier. Cloud hosting offers added protection if one server is overloaded with requests; you can simply switch to another one to retrieve data and it handles the traffic load.
Quick Comparison Between Features
Uptime
Most providers of shared hosting guarantee an uptime of 99.9%, but it’s hard to maintain that because multiple websites are hosted on the server, and if one server experiences a sudden increase in traffic, this can cause all the other websites to experience downtime.
This is not the case with Cloud Hosting. It promises excellent uptime because each website has its own dedicated server so the activities of a neighboring website don’t affect your own website’s uptime. Of course, cloud hosting also entails commonly shared resources, but in case of a problem, the website simply moves to another server.
Resources
Cloud hosting is a winner in this context because even those with basic plans get plenty of features. They get access to unlimited storage, databases, bandwidth, and more.
Shared hosting, on the other hand, comes with several limits that most web hosting companies care to reveal. You will see that most providers of shared hosting promise to offer unlimited resources, but if their team notices any website consuming too many resources, they can temporarily suspend the website.
Pricing
Hosting a website on a shared server is always cheaper because the cost of resources is distributed among many users. The payment can be made for several years at once in order to enjoy low costs.
Most cloud users say that they don’t pay for cloud hosting services when the server and other resources are not in use, but it’s worth noting that the eventual cost comes down to how you build your infrastructure. If you fail to keep track of all apps and websites you’re hosting on a cloud-based server, you can end up with a huge bill. Therefore, to make sure you don’t pay too much, it’s important to have your objectives clearly mapped out.
Let it be known that even with a high cost of hosting, cloud-based services are better for websites with critical data which cannot compromise security, safety, and performance aspects.
Which One Is the Right Choice for You?
That was a quick comparison between what shared hosting and cloud-based hosting have to offer. If you are a small to mid-scale company that is not big on spending too much on hosting, then shared hosting is the best bet. However, if you are big on security, speed, and safety, and experience sudden traffic spikes, then opt for a plan based on the cloud. Sure, this is a costlier option, but if you look at the overall benefits, then it’s clear that cloud hosting is better suited for business websites. This is just one of many factors. Check out a few web hosting reviews if you can’t make this decision on your own. But, be sure to carefully weigh your options beforehand.
We hope you enjoyed this promoted post as much as we did!
