Web hosting is a service that allows organizations and individuals to post a website or web page onto the Internet. A web host, or web hosting service provider, is a business that provides the technologies and services needed for the website or webpage to be viewed on the Internet. Web sites are hosted or stored, on special computers called servers.
As a result, in the event that different users/entities on the Internet wish to view your website, all they are required to do is type your website address or domain name in the browser. Their browser will then connect to your server and send a request for your website and your web pages will be delivered to them through the browser.
Most web hosting companies will help you purchase your domain if you don’t already own one.
What is Shared Hosting?
Shared hosting is Web hosting in which the service provider serves pages for multiple Web sites, each having its own Internet domain name, from a single Web server. Most Web hosting companies provide shared hosting.
In order for your website to appear on the Internet your files, pages and software applications need to reside on a server. That server then connects to the Internet and allows people to access your site. Shared hosting means you share the server resources with others. You have complete access to your account and only your account and a set amount of resources and features.
Responsibilities of the Web Hosting Provider
The various responsibilities of the provider include maintenance of the server. Maintenance includes both general maintenance and upgrades to both server hardware as well as software. For example, the host may have to change drivers or upgrade to a newer version of the operating system, etc.
Responsibilities of the User
The user is responsible for managing the website. The user is responsible for overviewing the traffic on the website, installing applications, uploading files, using a control panel to access different parts of the website, etc. Since the multiple users share the server with each other in shared hosting, each of the users is allotted a certain amount of bandwidth, disk space and features that they can access from the control panel.
Difference between Shared Hosting, Dedicated Hosting & VPS Hosting
In shared hosting, all the accounts must share the available resources with all the other accounts on the server. These include CPU time, memory, and disk space.
In dedicated hosting, you are allowed and have access to all resources available on the machine. No one else’s account resides on the machine and would not be capable of tapping into your resources.
On a virtual private server, you are allotted resources that are not shared by everyone. The overall CPU time and memory are shared across all accounts on the machine, but at the same time, portions of those resources are always dedicated to each account. This allows for more power and flexibility than being on a shared account.
Advantages of Shared Hosting
Cost Effectiveness
The fact that shared web hosting is usually offered at extremely an affordable rate is perhaps its biggest advantage.
Customization
Even though resources in shared hosting are shared among several users, the website is still managed by the webmaster using control panel tools. The control panel is user-friendly and a powerful tool that can help you customize your website. The control panels help users to manage a range of features such as uploading files and images, as well as checking site statistics. This means that shared hosting also allows you some amount of customization.
Convenience
We all want convenience when running our daily errands and this includes website management. With shared hosting, your web hosting will be managed by highly professional and well-skilled experts and, therefore, grant you adequate convenience. This means that you can concentrate on running your web business.
Efficiency
Among the most crucial aspects as far as web hosting is concerned is the disk space and bandwidth given by the servers. It is the bandwidth that helps business owners run their businesses efficiently. As stated earlier, you can get adequate bandwidth with shared hosting, which you can use to add more resources to your site.
It also has many disadvantages like Performance of your website can also be an issue in shared hosting. Let us utilize a simple example, something that actually happens all the time. That user’s sudden change in traffic can have a direct impact on the performance of your website making it take forever to load pages.
When you are starting out for the first time, Shared hosting is the best choice. With this choice, you will save money, and there are unlimited resources for hosting which can meet all of your basic requirements. Moreover, VPS and dedicated hosting are costly, and for any beginner, these would represent overkill.