If you look into the market you will see that hosting companies are offering a variety of web hosting services such as Shared, Cloud VPS, and Dedicated servers.
So before getting into why you should choose cloud hosting over shared, let’s have a quick intro of both types of hosting services.
Contents
Shared hosting as the name shows is a type of web hosting where resources are shared among the numerous websites on the same server.
It’s like renting a room for multiple peoples. Among all the hosting types, Shared hosting is the cheapest however you will be given all the features and tools to run a website smoothly. Usually, it’s the first option when you are going to start a new website.
Cloud Hosting:
When it comes to cloud hosting, here you enjoy flexibility and control. In cloud hosting or Cloud VPS, the company allows you to make use of resources backed by multiple servers.
So unlike shared hosting, in cloud hosting, you are not dependent. In this, multiple servers are connected so to act as a single machine thus this hosting type is able to offer you more stable speed and uptime.
If you are just starting out a website then Shared hosting is a considerable option however Cloud hosting is a potential choice for growing projects.
1. Budget-Friendly Billing
Although cloud hosting is usually defined as high-performance web hosting for websites and applications, it doesn’t necessarily mean high cost.
Unlike shared hosting where most companies offer annual plans if you want to avail the lowest prices, Cloud hosting services are affordable even in the case of hourly and monthly billing.
In shared hosting, what most companies are doing is that they offer the lowest prices when you buy their services for like 3-year. And after the expiry of the money-back guarantee which is usually 30-days if you want to discontinue their services you will not get any refund.
Whereas most cloud hosting companies offer very affordable monthly and hourly billing cycles thus allowing you to discontinue the services anytime and stop the further billing.
2. Scalability
Scalability is one of the major reasons for opting for Cloud hosting. Easy scalability means you can easily and quickly avail more resources at the time of need.
In shared hosting when your website is experiencing a high traffic spike the company temporarily shut down your services or told you to upgrade to the higher plan which is, of course, going to cost you more.
On the other hand, in the case of cloud hosting if your site receives a high traffic spike you don’t have to completely upgrade the plan instead you can increase the resource during that spike and then scale down when traffic gets to the normal level.
Also, cloud hosting allows you to increase the specific type of resources like RAM, Storage, and CPU, etc. which makes it a more cost-effective solution.
3. Security
Talking about security in shared hosting, the companies now provide a variety of measures such as virus scanning, system monitoring, auto-updates for covering loopholes, and web application firewalls etc.
A cloud hosting is characterized by more improved security where you are accompanied by a totally isolated environment.
Furthermore, the use of cloud technologies makes sure your data is being stored on multiple locations and your data will stay safe in any disastrous situation.
Just like shared hosting, most cloud hosting companies offer web-based firewalls, auto-updates, and some other in-house security measures.
Also for backups, the cloud providers offer easy and cheap (if not free) backups. Now due to simplified cloud computing, it is pretty fast to recover from any disastrous situation.
4. High Availability
In the situation of traditional shared hosting, you are dependent on a single server which simply means if for some reason that server goes offline your site will also go down.
On the other hand, cloud hosting is not backed by just a single server and your site is virtually utilizing multiple servers.
So if somehow a server goes down the system automatically transfers your site to another server thus making your site stay online.
5. Choice of Operating System
For setting up a simple WordPress website the choice of an operating system may not bother you. However for specific features like MMSQL and ASP.Net then you must go for Windows hosting.
When it comes to shared hosting most companies offer Linux based web hosting and you don’t have the permission to change the operating system.
While Cloud hosting provides administrative access to the server. It enables you to change the operating system whenever you want with a matter of a few clicks.
Here note that there are some companies that only support Linux however they won’t restrict you to the use of any specific Linux distribution, unlike shared hosting.
Many cloud hosting providers allow you to choose between Linux or Windows or even upload your own customized operating system.
6. More Data Centre Locations
The location of the data centre is one of the important factors to consider while selecting a web hosting provider. A data centre near your targeted audience will help in fast page loading speed.
Mostly with shared hosting, you will get fewer data centre locations, while cloud hosting companies offer more choices.
So if you want to target the specific audience then choose the data centre near your potential audience.
7. Easy to launch
Shared hosting is usually considered as the ideal solution for non-tech-savvy guys because of its straightforward account launching process.
Also, most companies design step by step wizard processes helping the beginner to start a website without any hassle.
Luckily, Cloud hosting also featured with a simple easy to launch server setting up process. After the signup process, the companies take almost 30 sec to launch a new server. Even if you are a beginner, you won’t face any trouble in launching a server.
8. Control
Usually, in shared hosting, the companies offer more like a managed environment where most things are managed by the company. You have the ability to create databases, install CMS and create email accounts, etc.
Whereas cloud hosting provides a high level of control where you can easily change the operating system and make use of a 1-click installer. You can better control the resources i.e. scale up or down the resources without requiring any prior permission.
Final Words
I hope you will find this article knowledgeable in helping in deciding the better hosting option for you. No doubt shared hosting is a good option for a new site but it is not as stable as cloud hosting.
Above you can see some of the very serious advantages of cloud hosting. So if you want to take advantage of easy scalability, high-performance services, widespread infrastructure, and affordable services Cloud hosting surely has an edge over shared hosting.
