6 Major Differences - Shared Hosting vs VPS Hosting

Even if you are a blogger, small business or a webmaster in search of web hosting solution, in this situation you might we thinking whether you should opt VPS hosting service or Shared hosting solution. Each one is having various benefits that we are going to discuss in this article.

Also Read Various Advantages of Moving to VPS Hosting from Shared Hosting

Basics of Shared Web Hosting and VPS Hosting

In shared hosting environment, your website will be hosted a server which is shared with many other websites. Shared server is an arrangement similar to a building of apartment, you will be provided with a piece of larger building. This hosting arrangement is cost-effective because hosting companies can serve several customer from one physical server. Shared servers offer website owners with less amount of bandwidth, CPU power, less flexibility, lower performance and all the technical stuffs taken care by hosting company including server maintenance, server security, technical configurations etc.

If you are looking for more room to grow and less restrictions then move from shared hosting to VPS server hosting is ideal solution for you. In this type of hosting arrangement you can host your websites, web applications on a virtual server assigned entirely to you to server your contents.

In VPS hosting arrangements you will be sharing the physical server with some other websites, however computing resources including web space, bandwidth, RAM are divided and allocated to each and every user. Since you do not need to compete for server resources and CPU power. In this type of hosting arrangement you don’t need to worry about other websites and applications and consuming too much resources such as bandwidth or web space ad causing for slow down your website. As compare to shared server hosting, VPS hosting is little costlier but contains the power of dedicated server at much affordable cost.

So now let us discuss about the various difference between shared hosting and VPS hosting in details:

Difference No.1 - Server Resources

As the name itself indicates, In shared hosting environment users share server resources with many other websites, while in dedicated server hosting environment users get access to entire server assigned to their websites and they can use entire server based on their needs.

A VPS hosting is like bridge between shared hosting and dedicated server, a cluster of pieces of the same physical server behaving as their own dedicated computing resources. Considering that fact, there are upsides and downsides of the shared as well as VPS hosting resources distribution scope.

Shared Web Hosting

When you share server space and computing resources with other websites, you are going to face few restrictions. Although no single hosting account will affect another's capability, per say, there will be greatest amount of CPU power, RAM, Storage space, bandwidth etc. In this type of hosting arrangement Your site won't have the capacity to utilize and access server and other resources beyond the topmost permitted. In case you do not need more space and other resources for your website then this is not a big issue.

VPS Hosting or Virtual Private Server

In VPS hosting environment, you will enjoy the increased benefits of huge amount of web space, and availability of increased amount of computing resources. This is going to be essential in case you wish to grow your business/website and wish to give your customer and online users at experience that goes beyond the traditional shared server hosting level.

Also read The Pros And Cons Of VPS Hosting Service

Difference No.2 - Performance

Being a website owner you must heard that more resources means more increased performance. The performance of shared hosting is entirely depends upon the technologies and tools your web host use, such as SSD drives instead of HDDs, Catching software, Content delivery network (CDN) etc.

Shared Server Hosting

In the arrangement of shared server hosting, the actions of other websites could definitely affect the performance your website, this is one of the major drawback of shared server. Although, in case your website needs less performance and you are in search of easy to use option then this is right choice for you.

VPS Hosting

It is not hidden that VPS hosting comes with excellent performance and offer increased amount of bandwidth and computing resources to the website owners. In this type of hosting arrangement you will have additional flexibility to install/configure required software and applications on the server, although you will have to ensure that you have a qualified and skilled system admin to retain your server up and running smoothly. In case your website gets huge amount of traffic or you are planning to host multiple website, VPS hosting will be the ideal choice for you.

Difference No.3 - Pricing

Cost is another crucial thing to consider while considering these two options. You need to spend more money if you are planning to buy VPS hosting, whereas in shared hosting arrangement cost of server is divided into various user which make it one of the low cost option to host a website. But compared to shared server, VPS server offers more resources and it is considered as one of the more reliable option to host a website because of this, it costs extra.

Shared Hosting

In shared server hosting arrangement you pay the charges related with running, handling and managing a web server since you are going to share server and its resources with many other websites and applications. As per the price prospective a shared server hosting is one of the cost-effective hosting option and it is an ideal choice for the those planning to host a website or web application with normal features.

VPS Hosting

In you wish to improve your business presence on the web, you need a powerful hosting solution and VPS hosting is one of the best solution with better customization option and increased performance.

Difference No.4 - Security & Safety

While sharing single server and related resources with several website, it is biggest benefits from the security point of view but there are more chances of security related issues in shared hosting arrangement.

Shared Hosting

In the shared hosting arrangement , there is a huge risk of security infringements because there are several websites sharing single server and more websites means more chances for hackers and attackers. The users of shared hosting service are generally having less knowledge and skills related to security precautions. Due to less knowledge and skills there are more chances of server vulnerabilities created by other websites hosted on same server.

Availability of Customer support is generally limited in this type of hosting arrangement as compare to VPS hosting arrangement. Although in case you are are not going to put any sensitive information on your website then shared hosting can be a good option for your website.

VPS Hosting

If you opt for VPS hosting, you will be offered with excellent security and protection with increased safety features. As well as you will be provided with excellent customer support solution in VPS hosting arrangement.

Difference No.5 - Server Management

In simple words, in shared hosting arrangement your web host manage server for you. In VPS hosting you are responsible for server management and related tasks, unless you opt managed VPS hosting.

Shared Hosting

In case you opt for shared server hosting, there is almost no technical expertise or knowledge needed to manage the server as your web host is going to manage it for you. In simple words you can grab the amazing benefits of a server without paying any extra charges for server management.

VPS Hosting

Websites and web applications hosted on VPS hosting environment are much complicated in terms of resources management, so you need to hire an expert system admin in order to manage your server so that you can easily handle your server and its customization related tasks.

Difference No.6 - Scalability

Scalability is one of the important factor to consider while deciding a web hosting service. Scalability refer to the ability of a hosting account to serve the growing needs and demands of your website. In case you are expecting around 20,000 average monthly visit to your website, a shared web host can easily server your needs. But in case you cross the 20,000 monthly visits you may start getting an Internal server errors on your website. In this situation you have to consider going with a VPS server or dedicated hosting plan.

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is enough to serve your short term goal but it can create problems if you are planning to fulfil your long-term goal relying on how your web page grows in the future. In case your storage capacities are increasing day by day or your website traffic is increasing day by day, it is better to scale up your resources for better and increased performance.

VPS Hosting

Due to easy customization features a VPS hosting plan enable you to scale resources as quick as possible and easily. In case you feel, you need more resources, you can scale up on the go to meet your needs.

So Which Hosting Option is Ideal for your Website?

Selection of web hosting service is much important task because choosing a wrong type of hosting option can lead to huge loss in your online business.

The selection of hosting hosting service totally depends on your needs and requirements. So it is always recommended to analyze your needs before selecting a web hosting service for your website. If you are planning to host a large website, need more room to grow or expecting huge growth in traffic and visitors than VPS hosting is right choice for you. Or if you have a small website with less visits and consuming less resources than you can go for Shared hosting service.

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