8 Popular Types of Web Hosting Services
With hundreds and thousands of companies on the internet competing for your business with thousands of different hosting plans for web hosting, it can become confusing quickly. Add on all the “technical geeks” terms such as bandwidth GB, and DNS and it’s easy to see the way someone wanting to begin an online business and earn money online can easily get disillusioned.
As your online business grows and expands, your Web hosting requirements will rise and become more complex. Web hosting that is free and cheap plans may have been fine at the beginning of your business online, but if your website has begun to get sluggish as it continues to grow and you are seeing more site visitors, you might need to look into beefing up your Web server.
This is the evolution of hosting services and plans for growing companies can pick from. Let’s take a look at some of the most sought-after web hosting plans to help you choose the one that is right for your business, whether you’re just beginning out or are looking to grow your online business.
Shared Web Hosting
Shared hosting means just that. Your site will be hosted on a server which is shared by other sites. This configuration has the advantage of sharing a cost. It is possible to pay as little as $5-$10 per month to share a super server with (probably) hundreds (or thousands) of other websites.
The main drawback of a shared hosting account is that you’re dependent on the other websites on your server. There could be a decrease in speed if your website is connected to a well-known one. On the other hand in the event that you’re the most popular site on the server you get to use a super server at a very affordable cost.
Many people start their online businesses with shared hosting plans to lower expenses. They aren’t likely to see lots of visitors at first.
Shared hosting is good for a brochure-type site or a website that doesn’t get much traffic.
Price range: $5-$20/month
Bluehost is a renowned shared web hosting option.
Reseller Web Hosting
Reseller hosting plans can be described as a shared hosting account that comes with additional tools to permit you to resell hosting space.
Reseller packages include greater technical control, often through the Web Host Manager control panel, billing software to help clients invoice, and many other perks.
Some of those perks include:
- Free website templates
- white label technical support -this means that the hosting company takes care of the tech support for your clients’ issues
- private name servers — make your company seem even bigger by telling your clients to point their domain name servers to ns1.yourwebdesignfirm.com
Pricing range: Reseller plans can cost from $15 to $50 based on the features and resources offered.
If you’re thinking of selling web hosting as a business and you’re looking to sell web hosting through resellers, then this is ideal for you. If you are just starting out, stick with an affordable shared plan.
Also, if you’re looking to earn money as a web hosting affiliate, you’ll want to check out this article on how you can make money with affiliate marketing.
Cloud-based Web Hosting
Cloud Based Web Hosting is a new technology that lets hundreds of servers work together and appear as one server. As the demand grows the hosting company is able to add more commodity hardware to create a larger grid or cloud.
Cloud-based web hosting is where if you experience an unusually high volume of traffic to your website, the hosting plan will handle the increased traffic – rather than shutting down your website.
This is the best time to upgrade to the shared hosting plan if you’re website is growing rapidly and increasing traffic.
Price range: All grid computing packages are subject to the pay-for-what-you-use pricing model.
Additionally, iPage Website Hosting Review
Virtual Private Server (VPS).
Virtual private servers are one physical server but behave as several separate servers. It is a step into shared hosting or purchasing your own personal machine. Each VPS instance has its own hardware resources but they share a portion of the computing resources.
VPS stops your website from being hacked by your neighbors, and also saves you the cost of dedicated servers.
VPS Hosting Packages: VPS hosting packages typically cost between $50 and $200. Prices depend on the amount of memory and processor you have.
Check Out: Namecheap Web Hosting Review
Web Server with Dedicated Web Server
A dedicated server is a physical server you lease from a hosting provider. You can have full control (called “root” permissions in Linux) If you wish to it.
You don’t have to be concerned about shared servers eating up your resources and slowing your site.
If your business online is growing rapidly and you require hosting for large volumes of traffic, a dedicated server is the most suitable option. While the costs of dedicated servers are substantially more than shared hosting, your company will be at a stage that can easily manage the costs of owning a server.
Prices: Servers are sold starting at $100. If you’re thinking of a dedicated server, you must think about the cost of employing a system administrator to manage the technical aspects.
Additionally, GoDaddy Web Hosting Review
Colocation Web Hosting
Colocate lets you lease rack space in a data center. They provide power, cooling, and security, as well as the internet. You are accountable for all aspects of the server’s software, including backups and data storage. If hardware fails then you’re accountable for replacing it and getting the server up and running.
If you do not have the technical know-how in-house colocation might not be worth the investment in time, experience, or money for most small businesses.
See Also: The Benefits of WordPress Optimized Web Hosting
Self Service Web Hosting
Hosting is simple when you can do everything yourself. You’ll purchase the servers, set up and configure the software, make sure there are sufficient cooling and power sources in your machine room, and then double the system to ensure redundancy. Here are some of the things that you will be required to keep in mind:
- Space for data centers
- Cooling
- Power (with backup)
- Bandwidth
- Hardware for servers
- Administrator of systems
- Backup and data integrity
- … and the list continues
Similar to colocation web hosting it’s probably not within the realm of what you’d need to do as a web-based business owner.
Managed WordPress Hosting
With the growing popularity of WordPress as a building platform, numerous hosting companies are now offering what is referred to as “Managed WordPress Hosting.
Managed WordPress hosting, in a nutshell, is where your web host will keep your WordPress installation up-to-date. This will help safeguard your site from security threats that could let hackers gain access to it.
Although not as affordable as shared web hosting This is a fantastic option for businesses that are just starting out as well as established companies that utilize the WordPress platform.
