Hosting is an important thing to know about, regardless of what kind of business you run. Having the right type of hosting can be the difference between having your website be reliable all the time, or it being down from time to time. Additionally, if you have the wrong type of hosting, you may be paying too much for something that you don’t necessarily need.
Fortunately, hosting is relatively easy to understand. There are a few different kinds of hosting, all with different costs and benefits. If you are unsure what kind of hosting you need for your website or business, check out these different kinds of hosting so you can figure out which one is right for you.
Free Hosting
Yes, there is such thing as free hosting! Many Internet service providers offer free hosting, although the quality of that hosting isn’t great compared to the other hosting options. If you have a personal site that doesn’t get a lot of traffic, free hosting might be a good option for you.
In most cases, you won’t get your own domain name, as your URL will likely be something relating to the hosting provider’s name. If you’re making a site for an event or for family, this probably isn’t a big deal, but if you’re doing anything more than that you’ll want to have your own URL. Free hosting might not offer great security options, too, which is something you should keep in mind when choosing a hosting provider.
Virtual Private Server Hosting
A VPS hosting is one of the most popular types of hosting, due to a number of factors. For one, VPS hosting is tailored to the customer’s needs, so you’ll be paying for exactly what you need. Chances are there are virtual private servers and data center near you that offer great VPS hosting services at a great price.
A virtual private server offers similar features as dedicated hosting, but for a much more affordable price. It’s very secure, and you are able to choose exactly what type of operating system you want to run with VPS hosting. In most cases, VPS hosting is the best option for businesses of all sizes.
Shared Virtual Hosting
Shared virtual hosting is less expensive than virtual private server hosting, and for some important reasons. With a shared hosting service, your site will have its own domain, but it will share the server with lots of other websites (possibly hundreds).
The server you’ll get is powerful, but it will be shared. You’ll have your own email, great support, and other good features, but the Internet use activities of others on the network might slow down your site, which is why many people opt to use a VPS instead.
Dedicated Hosting
For large businesses that get a lot of Internet traffic, dedicated hosting is a great option. While it’s the most expensive hosting option, it is very powerful and allows for multiple domains with top-notch security.
You’ll get great support with dedicated hosting, but you’ll be paying the top price. Dedicated hosting is the costliest hosting option, but worth it if you require those kinds of options.