The new era of digital information requires Internet presence. The two main aspects for this are wed domain and hosting for your web. Whatever your purpose, your web needs these two elements to be present in the digital world. Here we’ll talk about the most popular hosting services, their types and functions.
The importance of hosting
Hosting is more important than it seems. It is the place where your domain will be allocated as well as the content of your webpage. The storage is directly related to avoiding the loss of significant amounts of users. The key to take into consideration is:
The hosting has to reach certain quality to guarantee resources, web performance and loading speed. If possible, the hosting should be allocated in the same country as the webpage. Web storage avoids error codes, improving the positioning in Internet browsers and the SEO strategy. The hosting also allows fast access to common issues troubleshooting. A good hosting service also includes accurate security measures to avoid computer attacks.
4 most used hosting services
Shared hosting
This kind of hosting allocates several websites in the same server. All the clients share the server’s resources, such as CPU, processor, RAM memory, bandwidth and IP address.
Pros
- Is the cheapest hosting service in market.
- Easy to install and manage.
Cons
- A problem in any project may affect the rest.
- Less flexibility.
- Sharing resources may cause speed and availability of your webpage to drop.
If your site does not need special requirements or huge storage space, shared hosting may be the best option.
Virtual Private Server
The VPS is a web storage service composed of a physical server individually fractioned in virtual portions. Each project has its own operative system and does not share any resource. This hosting service is slightly better than shared hosting. The web performance is not affected. RAM memory, bandwidth and processors are used individually. But it is not a dedicated server.
Pros
- More flexibility and access than shared hosting services.
- A problem in a project does not influence others.
- It is cheaper than a dedicated hosting.
Cons
- Server resources are not fully available.
- It is more expensive that shared hosting.
- The setup process is harder than in shared hosting.
It is very useful for projects with specific setups and requirements. As long as server resources needs aren’t that high.
Dedicated server
In hosting services, this type is used for one client only. The server is not shared with any other project. It also allows full access to server hardware and software, adapting the capacity to the specific needs of the user.
Pros
- Web traffic does not affect performance.
- Allows optimized functions.
- More flexibility in setup, access and speed.
- More resources available.
- More security.
Cons
- It is expensive.
- Hard to setup and maintain.
This type of hosting services are recommended for huge projects, those that need a server for their own project entirely.
Cloud Hosting
The cloud hosting services distribute projects in various servers intertwined in the cloud. If one of the servers fails, the rest compensates the loss of resources. The cloud hosting services include various forms, such as shared, virtual or dedicated hosting.
Pros
- It is more efficient than dedicated hosting.
- It can be adapted to each projects needs in real time.
- Has better availability.
- Very flexible.
- More secure by using various servers.
Cons
- It requires advanced knowledge for managing.
- It is expensive.
- Depending on the resources used, the price may change.
- Data transfer between countries may imply law restrictions.
Cloud hosting is a model for huge projects such as Gmail, Dropbox and similar.
Considerations for choosing hosting services
You have to think about the size of your project at the time of choosing hosting services. You need to pick the most secure and accesible according to your budget. It is also important to provide a fluent web service to your users.