Shared vs. Dedicated Web Hosting


When purchasing web hosting you need to decide which kind of web hosting you need, shared and dedicated are the two of the most popular choices.  The thing that you need to decided between the two is if you need your own personal server or are you willing to share your server with other websites.  Many may assume that by having a dedicated server that it is more secure but this is just not the case.  Just because your site is shared on a server with other sites does not make your site less secure, so do not take security into consideration when making your decision.

You should have some kind of idea to which kind web hosting you need before you purchase.  Below are some descriptions of each type of server so that you can see which best suits your needs.

If you are like most on the internet and just want to have personal webspace for you to create websites then all you will need is a shared webhosting package.  Shared webhosting is the most affordable webhosting on the market and there are tons of different companies to choose from so shop around and find the best deal that you can before purchasing.  

If you have a smaller to medium-sized websites many people use what is called "virtual hosting" where a number of Web sites reside on the same server. Because the sites share a server, they also share an IP address.  

If you are a larger or very busy site that does not have the space to share a server (mostly due to a high volume of traffic that will overwhelm the server) then you should typically go for a Dedicated hosting package.  Dedicated webhosting means that your website is the one and only website residing on the server and so you will not be sharing an IP address with anyone.  

Shared Hosting

Shared Web Hosting plans typically share your server space with about 200-500 other websites.  Although you do not share web files, pictures, or emails, you are essentially sharing disk space and bandwidth that is assigned to one specific server.  In a typical shared web hosting plan, you are only allowed to use a certain percentage or amount of the central processing unit (CPU): which is the computer processor that handles all of the requests made to the server.

If you own a small or personal website that does not receive heavy amount of traffic, downloads, pictures, video, or audio files, and/or which does not require SSH/Shell Access for installing applications or programs, then shared website hosting is the right choice for you.


Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated Hosting on the other hand is where you site requires use the space on the entire web server.  If your site has very heavy traffic and requires a lot of bandwidth then dedicated hosting will work better for your needs than shared hosting. Dedicated webhosting makes it possible for you to host your entire website without sharing hard drive resources, CPU, or bandwidth with any other website in the world.  With dedicated web hosting you can host unlimited domain names and customize the server to your specifications by choosing the amount of hard drive storage space, bandwidth, RAM, backup space, and by adding managed hosting services, choosing your own control panel, and even operating systems.

Dedicated hosting do cost more money but they do offer many more features and benefits such as more control, faster response with high traffic loads, easier setups, and no bandwidth penalty. With dedicated hosting, you have your own personal IP address and you will be the only site on the server .
 

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