What is shared hosting?
Shared web hosting refers to hosting multiple websites on the same web server that is connected to the world wide web. Shared hosting is a cost-effective hosting solution primarily used by many individuals or people within a small industry. A shared hosting solution utilizes one server to store all the files for various sites at once and is responsible for serving information about them, as opposed to a dedicated server that hosts a specific website.
Shared hosting is the most basic type of web hosting and doesn’t require a lot of technical knowledge to get started with. Web hosting providers allocate rentable space on computer servers for storing, serving, and maintaining files to help individuals and organizations make their websites accessible to users via the world wide web.
Benefits of using shared hosting
For new website owners and ones with smaller, low-traffic sites, the advantages of shared hosting can considerably outweigh their drawbacks. Here are some of the benefits a shared hosting solution offers:
- Cost-effective solution: Shared hosting is one of the most affordable hosting options as it involves sharing a host server with another user. Sharing a server is economical and lucrative to the user. As the web technology industry evolves, shared hosting plans provide the ability to new website owners with low to moderate traffic, to test and build their website without spending a huge amount of money. There are many hosting providers who can provide a shared hosting plan at a low rate with all the required features.
- No technical expertise needed: The service provider assists with any technical queries or server administration-related requests from the user. Additionally, this saves the organization the cost of hiring an external server administrator if they lack technical expertise.
- Ease of control: Hosting a website can be a complex task, especially when starting out. Shared hosting plans offer access to the control panel used for monitoring and governance of all activities of the website.
- Easy to manage and scale: Shared hosting doesn't require the organization to manage the server that their website is hosted on. Server management is taken care of by the hosting provider. Furthermore, once websites have outgrown their server space and traffic, it is simple to scale and upgrade the website from one shared hosting plan to another. Website downtime is reduced with quick responses and technical support. Since many clients make use of the same server, a technical issue impacting one user is expected to affect others as well.
- Ability to host multiple domains: Organizations can install multiple websites in their user directory after ensuring that the domains they purchase are connected to it. Shared hosting is well suited for hosting multiple domains.
Basic elements of shared hosting
Here are a few general elements that a shared hosting solution includes:
- cPanel: cPanel hosting is a form of shared hosting that involves the use of a high-performance web server shared with other users and the cPanel control panel. It facilitates easy customization and management of the account. cPanel is a user-friendly interface that allows the organization to manage email, domains, files, and more.
- Free SSL certificate: All shared hosting solutions come with an SSL certificate which is free of cost and is enabled upon purchasing the plan. The SSL certificate is used to make the website secure and it acts as a visual assurance to visitors that the website is trustworthy.
- Free solid-state drives (SSDs): SSDs provide high reading and writing speeds and enhanced uptime over traditional hard disk drives, allowing for faster delivery of content to people visiting the website.
- Free domain registration: All shared hosting plans include one free domain registration or domain registration transfer for a year.
- Live 24/7/365 support: Shared hosting solution provides assistance through in-house support for catering to the organization's hosting needs via phone, chat, or email on a regular basis.
Shared hosting best practices
In order to make shared hosting work, these best practices should be followed:
- Selecting a shared hosting solution: Unless root access to install specific software or configurations is needed, shared hosting is the perfect solution, to begin with. New website owners with less experience in server management may select a shared hosting plan in which this responsibility is typically handled by the provider. Shared hosting is also helpful if the technical skills of the user are not very advanced, or in case they want to dedicate their time towards maintaining the site itself.
If the organization wants to opt for a custom site framework that is not already installed on the server or wants to allocate optimum server resources for certain site tasks, it is lucrative to select virtual private server (VPS) hosting or dedicated hosting plan. These plans are ideal if there is a need to install specialized software or create new server configurations to get the website up and running as they require more knowledge and technical experience. But this also allows the organization to customize the server based on their requirements.
- Restrictions of shared hosting plans: In a shared hosting environment, one single server is shared among many end users. Every organization wants to grow and expand and shared hosting lacks the flexibility and dedicated resources required for this purpose. This translates to certain limitations which a shared hosting solution will generally be subject to, such as:
- Memory limits: Many shared web hosting providers narrow down the network bandwidth and other resources that a particular site can utilize. If the user’s site grows to the point where it’s consuming more than its dedicated share of resources, they may need to upgrade their current hosting plan.
- File restrictions: In certain cases, shared servers can pose a threat to website security. If malware infects one site, it could possibly spread to all other sites on the same server. To avoid this, some providers put restrictions on the types of files that can be uploaded to the user’s website.
- Spam and hacker activity: Many hosting providers carefully monitor activities on shared servers for tackling security and performance-related concerns. If there is proof of spam or hacker activity taking place on the user’s site, the provider may make a call to temporarily or permanently disable it.
Shared hosting vs. dedicated hosting
In shared hosting, multiple users can host their websites on a single web server while dedicated hosting uses a single server that is dedicated to one user.
Following are the key difference between shared hosting and dedicated hosting:
- Resources: Shared hosting users share their resources, such as bandwidth access, CPU time, memory, disk space, and more. As a result, the response time and speed of applications and data access gets reduced. However, organizations using a dedicated hosting plan do not share a server with other customers, and hence their usage of resources has fewer or no limitations. Therefore, applications and data are more responsive and easily accessible.
- Security: Shared hosting solutions may be subject to security issues arising from within their own website code, malicious files uploaded control panel settings, and more. A dedicated server is more secure, allowing almost all types of scripts and software to be run on the server. Some providers also offer two-factor authentication for a small additional fee.
- Cost: Disk space, bandwidth, and other assets are shared among several users under a shared hosting solution, as such the cost incurred by the organization is less. A dedicated server is devoted solely to one user which is why it costs more. The higher cost brings faster speed, better performance, and exclusive access to resources.
Shared hosting vs. virtual private server (VPS) hosting
Shared hosting is a simple and inexpensive web hosting solution. It allows the user to rent space on a server shared with other users. With a VPS hosting solution, one physical server is shared, but each user gets a definite set of resources, which means that other websites on the same server won’t affect the organization’s website. VPS hosting provides a dedicated virtual partition for each user, making sure resources are always available at their disposal.
Following are the key difference between shared hosting and VPS hosting:
- Performance and security: If there’s an error on another website on the same server, it can affect the user’s website under a shared hosting plan. Additionally, if other websites take up too much of the shared resources, the user’s website might suffer due to low speed. However, under a VPS hosting plan, the partitioned servers ensure the proper functioning of each website.
- Control: Shared hosting plans only offer standardized server setups. This is more convenient for organizations that do not want to take up server management tasks. In case the organization is looking for more advanced solutions for their website, VPS hosting is more suited as it grants the organization root access to the server so that they can install their own OS, control panel, and applications to enhance site performance and security.
- Scalability: Shared hosting is a good option for a short-term plan or small website owners. However, there will be performance issues once the site reaches high traffic numbers.VPS hosting is easier to scale as compared to shared hosting. It allows the organization to scale quickly based on its needs, and if future growth in traffic volume is anticipated, VPS hosting might be a great solution for the organization to invest in.
- Pricing: Shared hosting plans are more economical as compared to VPS hosting. VPS hosting costs more than shared hosting plans since they provide more benefits, such as increased storage space and bandwidth.
Shared hosting discussions on G2
by Sujith Nair
by Mara Calvello
