When you plan to purchase hosting for your website, you have to sift through a range of options. While every website is unique and has specific hosting requirements, understanding the benefits offered by different hosting services like Shared Hosting, Cloud Hosting, VPS Server Hosting, Dedicated Server Hosting, etc. can be difficult.
Typically, new site owners start with a Shared Hosting plan since it is affordable and can get them started in no time. As the site grows, they look at upgrading to another hosting service. With a VPS Server being the preferred choice for an upgrade from a Shared Hosting service, today, we are going to talk about Shared Hosting, and VPS Server Hosting and highlight the differences between them.
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Shared Hosting and VPS Hosting
Shared Hosting is the most basic type of web hosting where a web server is shared between multiple users. When you buy a Shared Hosting plan, your site resides on such a shared server and shares resources with other users of the server. This is the cheapest type of web hosting and is usually preferred by new websites or those with basic resource requirements.
On the other hand, when you use a VPS Hosting service, your site resides on a virtual server. The web host divides a physical web server into multiple virtual servers by using server virtualisation techniques and allocates dedicated resources to each of them. Also, all virtual servers are isolated from each other and have full root access to customise the hosting environment as per their needs. A VPS Server is like a Dedicated Server with certain limitations.
Difference between VPS Hosting and Shared Hosting
| Feature | Shared Hosting | VPS Hosting |
| Cost-efficiency | Since the resources of the web server are shared between multiple users, these plans are cheaper than others. Hence, they are ideal for websites with lower budgets and resource requirements. | VPS Hosting is costlier than Shared Hosting plans. This is because virtual servers offer you a Dedicated Server-like hosting environment. However, they are much cheaper than a Dedicated Server plan. This makes them highly cost-efficient and is typically used by sites that have outgrown a Shared Hosting plan. |
| Security | Since all the resources of the server are shared between multiple websites, the security of one site depends on the others. If one site gets hacked and the server gets infected, it can cause havoc on other sites using the server. While hosting companies take maximum precautions to keep Shared Hosting servers safe, unless each site owner is not responsible, there is a chance of a hacker getting into the server. | While the physical server is shared in a VPS Hosting plan too, account isolation ensures that your site does not get impacted by another site on the server getting hacked. Also, full root access with Linux VPS Hosting plans allows you the flexibility to install any third-party security application boosting the security of your site. |
| Managing the webserver | When you opt for a Shared Hosting service, you don’t have to worry about any server management tasks since the hosting company takes care of them. Hence, you don’t need to be technically proficient to manage your shared hosted website. | In VPS Hosting, if you are opting for unmanaged services, then you need to take the responsibility of managing the VPS. While this requires some amount of technical expertise and time, most VPS Hosting companies in India offer Managed VPS services to help site owners run and manage their site with ease. |
Summing Up
Both VPS Hosting and Shared Hosting services offer certain pros and cons and are designed to suit websites with certain requirements. If you are launching a new website and confused between the two or planning to upgrade from Shared Hosting to VPS Hosting in India, then ensure that you assess your site’s hosting requirements and find the perfect hosting plan for your site. Good Luck!