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Written by Larry Dearing
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Sunday, 14 February 2010 14:34 |
There are several different hosting plan options available for all sorts of websites. To help determine which type might be best for you, I thought I'd throw out some general differences and characteristics in different plans you might encounter. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages so like so much of finding a good fit for hosting, it comes down to what is best for you. We'll take a quick look at shared, semi-dedicated, and dedicated hosting.
Shared Hosting:
This is by far the largest and most common type. In fact if hosts offer a really good package and don't even actually use the term, you can bet its shared hosting none the less. Shared hosting means you are sharing a server with several other accounts. Here, a web server will host many accounts where all for the resources are pooled, or shared. Almost all shared hosting plans are on "oversold" servers. Overselling means they put many more accounts on the machine than should fit.
Let's imagine a server with a 500gig drive. If they offer 200 or 300 gig plans, they could only fit one or two accounts on that server. But since they know most accounts will only use around 200 - 300 mg, they can put hundreds of accounts on it. This is an industry standard practice and a good hosting provider is watching their resources and will move things around to make sure no one really runs out of space. In short with Shared plans it's more about the processor resources than the actual disk/bandwidth usage. Shared hosting providers watch how much CPU time slices an account uses.
The advantage of shared hosting is the very low pricing. The disadvantages include the possibility of being suspended if your site uses too much system resources, other peoples accounts can slow down your performance because of their over usage. Taking all this into consideration, shared hosting is perfect for probably 85% of all hosting needs.
Semi-Dedicated Hosting:
This is the next category up the scale. Here hosts take a server and only put maybe 6 - 12 accounts on it and split the resources between them. It's like shared hosting only it usually isn't oversold. This means that there is almost no way other accounts will impact your website's performance. Everyone has a much larger "share" than on the Shared plans. Also you will see disk/bandwidth offerings that are lower than shared hosting offerings. That's okay, as it's more in line with what the server can actually hold. The advantage of this plan is the ability to use more CPU time and fewer accounts are competing for the server resources which means a faster more stable platform. The only real disadvantage is he cost. This type of plan will command a slightly higher premium than simple shared hosting. Also, though there are fewer accounts per server, you are actually still sharing a common resource pool on the server.
Virtual Private Server (VPS):
While often termed the same as semi-dedicated hosting, there is a significant difference with an actual virtual private server (VPS) plan. Much like semi-dedicate hosting, this type of plan takes a server and divides it up into maybe 6 - 12 accounts, but by using server virtualization software, it turns each account into virtual web servers. In this type of plan, your account is on its own virtual server with definite reserved storage space, bandwidth, CPU usage for just your account. You are not sharing resources, just the physical server. The advantages to this have just been stated, these resources are all yours. The disadvantage to this plan in addition to being pricier is that you need some server administration ability, or be willing to pay someone to do it for you. Again, its basically an independent web server.
Dedicated Server:
This is the top of the line. You have your own entire server at your host's data center. Generally at this level, your host doesn't care what you do with your server as you're not impacting anyone else. You can use all the server resources, share it, resell it, run your own web services and applications or whatever. Dedicated servers can be acquired in two types of plans, managed and unmanaged. In an unmanaged plan, you are the admin responsible for virus protection, email services, updates, and fixing things when they go wrong. The host only takes care of physical problems with the server like a bad drive, or motherboard. You are responsible for all aspects of the operating system and functions. On managed plans, your hosting provider does all the admin, updating, and troubleshooting for an obviously higher fee.
Finding the right plan for you is simply a matter of understanding the options, the plans available and your particular needs. You should always pick a plan that allows you room to grow, but without breaking the bank for features way above your needs or for features that you'll never utilize. The key to successful selection is to monitor your site's performance. Whatever plan you choose, if it's not giving you what you need you can always upgrade your account to the next level. With a little thought in the beginning however, you can probably steer yourself towards the best type of hosting for your needs. |
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