Sometimes there are just too many choices, especially when it comes to where you host and how you host your website. Today we are going to help you decide whether you need a shared, dedicated, or VPS web host.
Chances are you will be just fine with a shared web host. Here is how the internet works, websites are actually running on computers. These computers with hard drives, with access to the internet, and so on. One single website does not have to be limited to one computer. You can one computer hosting dozens or hundreds of different websites.
That is exactly what a shared web host is. You have space on a computer that serves websites, and web pages. You might be sharing that computer with hundreds of other people who own websites, and not even realize it.
The draw backs to this is that the server might be a little slower, but you probably will not notice the difference on a normal website. The good news about shared hosting is that they are extremely cheap. $ 10 per month is a good price for Shared Hosting, and I recommend Hostgator for that purpose.
What if you need something larger? If you have a large website containing thousands of pages or you have thousands of websites of your own, or you need to use your website to send out email messages – you will be better off on a dedicated server.
A good dedicated server will cost you about $ 100 per month, and there is a little more technical know-how involved. You may need to be able to log into the server and type in different commands. You will more open to people hacking your server. Only get a dedicated server if a shared server is slowing you down.
A shared server is more for people who have a few dozen websites, which may include blogs, shopping cart systems, and so on. Many people who need to use the email marketing component will have their auto-responder be a third-party, such as Aweber.
Use a dedicated server if you have a big site, or you need to send out email messages from your own server.
So what is a VPS – Virtual Private Server? A virtual private server is a type of web hosting account where you have a happy medium. You can still have a fast server, and you can have more control over it. Which means that you can log in and type in commands if you know how to do that, and the server is shared with a few less people.
Basically, you have the server that is shared with many people but they all act as if they are their own computer. A VPS is good if you have hundreds of sites but they are not massive, or if you need to send out emails but you do not have a huge list of subscribers. You will only really need a VPS if you are a techy-programmer.
So, your decisions are narrowed down to Shared or Dedicated Hosting.
If you are brand new and do not know what you are doing, start with shared hosting and as your site grows, work your way up to a dedicated server.