When you are ready to launch your website, purchasing hosting is the most important step. But before buying a host or a virtual server, we must come to the conclusion which type of service is suitable for your site.
Many website owners think before building their website that a virtual server is better or a host? Experience has shown that most of these people start their work with shared hosting, which is usually simple and cheap. But as the site grows and visits increase, by purchasing a virtual server (VPS) you can increase the resources of the site without having to pay a huge fee.
When you compare the prices of shared hosting and virtual server, your mind will definitely go to the cheaper service. At first glance, this is completely normal. But if you take a closer look, in addition to the price difference, you will notice the difference in performance and flexibility of the virtual server. Of course, there are differences and a dedicated server includes other things.
In this article, we are going to discuss whether a virtual server (VPS) is better or not.
What is shared hosting?
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Almost every hosting provider also offers shared hosting (Windows hosting, Linux hosting, cloud hosting, etc.) and it is usually the cheapest service that can be chosen. This shared hosting feature makes it the best choice for new sites on a budget.
When you get a shared hosting, you are actually renting space on one of the hosting company’s servers. As the name suggests, shared hosting means that your site shares server resources with other sites. This is the main reason why shared hosting is not expensive. This type of service is very suitable for sites that have few visits and do not have extensive activity.
What is a virtual server?
In a virtual server, RAM and processor resources are provided to you under an independent server. But these resources are launched virtually on another physical server.
The use of virtual server comes back to its more features and flexibility compared to shared hosting. You can change the server settings and allocate more resources to the site. Therefore, your website is processed faster and loaded faster in the virtual server.
One of the reasons why most users prefer to use a VPS virtual server is the limitations of shared hosting. For example, your site may need more RAM resources that cannot be provided in shared services. In general, it can be said that a virtual server is more flexible, faster and more secure than shared hosting.
You may pay a little more than shared hosting. But considering the more resources that are available to you and the features that the virtual server has, its price is quite reasonable. Keep in mind, the features and price of a VPS virtual server is something between a shared service and a dedicated server.
Advantages and disadvantages of shared hosting
Disadvantages | Advantages |
There is always a risk that other sites’ security problems can affect your site as well | Site information and even emails are automatically backed up, so that information can be easily restored in case of problems. |
You cannot change the server settings according to the website requirement | It is easy to set up a site in them. This service is designed in such a way that people can easily work with it |
It has limited resources and the loading speed of the site is limited to these resources | The prices of shared hosting are cheaper than virtual servers |
The overload of another site that has a lot of traffic can also affect your site. One of them is when another site is attacked on the same server as yours | Server problems and problems not related to site coding are solved by the hosting company |
In cases where your site violates the shared hosting restrictions in any way, your hosting will be disabled | It does not require server settings and maintenance, and you do not even need to worry about updating server software |
When your site shares server resources with other sites, it means that if a site causes a problem on the server, it can affect your site as well. On the other hand, there is always a risk that when one of the sites on the shared server is infected, your site will also be infected.
Advantages and disadvantages of virtual server
Disadvantages | Advantages |
Virtual server hosting is more expensive than shared hosting | You have full access to the server and can manage it yourself |
You need technical knowledge to manage a virtual server | The security risk in these services is much less, while you can change the security settings as per your requirements |
The process of setting up, maintaining and managing your server is the responsibility of the service provider | You can customize the virtual server and install and run your favorite operating system and software |
The system does not have an automatic backup and you are responsible for backing up the site information | The virtual server can be upgraded and you can allocate more resources to the site by upgrading it at any time |
The site loading speed is faster in the virtual service |
The difference between shared hosting and virtual server
Server resources
As mentioned earlier, those who use shared hosting use the resources of their hosting servers with other sites hosted on that server, and those who use a dedicated server use completely dedicated resources.
But a virtual server lies in the gray area between the two, a dedicated part of a server that uses far more resources than shared hosting.
Function
As mentioned earlier, more resources means better performance. The performance of shared hosting depends on the technologies used in your hosting server. (such as using SSD hard drive, cashing software, CDN, etc.) But in virtual server, you can have more possibilities for your host.
security
While shared server resources have many advantages in terms of cost, they can wreak havoc on object security. This fact depends on how much the hosting provider has invested (in terms of operational/team and net financial resources) to ensure dedicated protection and security for shared hosting customers.
Pricing
Pricing for shared hosting and virtual servers is very diverse, you can get a suitable hosting for a low cost, but the current costs of virtual servers may be a little higher.
Server management
In short, hardware and network management is with the hosting company from which you got the hosting space. But if you have a virtual server, all things like fixing bugs and patches are your responsibility.
flexibility
The flexibility factor is an important consideration for a virtual server compared to a shared one. If your site is going to get 30,000 visitors per month or you expect it to, a shared hosting can be the right option for you and meet your site hosting needs. But if you see that you are getting a lot of errors, you should quickly move to a virtual server or a dedicated server and start your site more powerfully.
Which type of service is suitable for your site?
Shared hosting is suitable for people who:
- They have little knowledge about hosting and setting up a site.
- They need a service that is cheap.
- Shared hosting resources are enough for them.
- They do not have many visitors.
The virtual server is suitable for people who:
- They can pay more for site hosting.
- Their website consumes more resources than the shared hosting.
- The number of visits to the site has increased or is expected to happen in the near future.
- The volume of site visits cannot be predicted.
- Uptime of the site is very important.
- They intend to change the server settings according to their site or install special programs to support the site.
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