Shared hosting is ... What is the difference between shared hosting and a dedicated server?

Creating a website is only the beginning of work. For the rest to see the creation, you need to post it on the Internet. To do this, special Internet providers rent space on the server - in fact, hard disk space. Shared hosting - what is it? Pros and cons, criteria for choosing the right company - we will consider in our article.

Shared hosting is ... Definition of a concept and service

Shared hosting is a rental of disk space on the server of the hosting company. A server can host thousands of sites; they share among themselves its RAM, processor power and have common software. Since the resources of the section are limited (often by the administrator of the provider, so that the swollen traffic of the site does not slow down the work of neighbors), shared hosting is suitable for business cards, small portals, landing pages, the traffic of which does not exceed 800-1000 people per day.

A company that offers virtual hosting services identifies users by domain names (the IP of the host is the same), or by IP - in this case, the host has several separate web interfaces.

Shared Hosting Features

The cost of a monthly placement depends on the characteristics of the tariff option:

• The size of the disk space on which code files and content are stored is usually from 1,500 MB to 10 GB or more.
• Monthly traffic - how many people can visit a site every month without overloading the system.
• The number of sites and subdomain names that can be registered in one section - usually 1 site requires 1000-2000 MB.
• The numbers of available mailboxes.
• The number of databases and memory under them.

Benefits of Using Shared Hosting

For small sites, shared hosting is the best choice, as it:

1. It’s economical: the owner of the Internet resource only pays the rental space on the hard drive of the company’s server, and the maintenance of the data center, timely updating of databases and software, security concerns, and the attendance analytics are taken over by the hoster.
2. Easy to maintain: site management is carried out through a convenient Russified administrative panel. Work with the site does not require special knowledge.
3. The size of memory and traffic, the number of domain names depend only on the chosen tariff plan, that is, you can choose the placement conditions in accordance with the budget and needs of the site.
4. Various promotions and special offers of the hoster: free domain name, trial period, the ability to host sites written on different CMS, etc.

Cons of shared hosting

1. Hosted Internet resources cannot use their software. This is critical if the site is based on a self-written or unpopular CMS - you have to transfer it to the provider's software.
2. The level of security provided by the hoster always leaves much to be desired. Even if the protection is worth it, among the sites hosted on one server there will be at least one whose code is vulnerable to hackers - this will be the weak link in the overall system.
3. The site shares processor power and RAM with its server neighbors. If there are no traffic restrictions, then the domain that is gaining popularity will take resources from the rest. From here - long loading, "lying" pages, not responding databases.

Those who care about the security of an Internet resource (for example, a corporate portal or a page with subscription forms), whose traffic is greater than the provider offers, should pay attention to the virtual server. Hosting on a shared server is for small sites, a separate machine in the data center is for larger sites.

What is the difference between shared hosting and a dedicated server?

A dedicated server (VPS, VDS) is located on a separate computer.

1. VPS administration rests entirely with the server tenant. It can install software, include scripts of varying complexity, flash animation, etc. However, managing such a system requires special knowledge, programming skills in a web environment.
2. VPS can be used for various trading platforms (Forex, auctions), game servers (from browser to MMORPGs), etc.
3. If the administration of the provider is responsible for the availability of the portal on the Internet on dedicated hosting, then when renting a VPS the hoster monitors only the physical state of the computer. Protection against hacker attacks, software updates, general security of a web resource are the problems of the site owner.
4. VPS resources are limited by the performance of the leased machine. But none of the neighbors in the data center can take these capacities.
5. Hosted users depend on the OS installed on the provider's server: Linux or Microsoft. In some cases, VPS completely modulates the physical server: you can install any OS on it, configure it.

So, shared hosting - what is it? This is a separate place for placing the site on the server of the provider company. On a space of 1500 MB or more, the code, content files, databases are stored - all that is needed for the functioning of the Internet resource. Hosting options are limited, so this type of placement is chosen for sites with traffic of less than 1000 people per day. However, it is easy to manage your partition using the admin panel, and the landlord takes care of the server . For large projects, a dedicated server is suitable - a separate machine in the provider's data center.