Shared Hosting
Web Publishing Tools, Techniques and Methods
Organizations can purchase either shared or dedicated web hosting services. In a shared hosting environment, a website shares web server resources with other websites that are hosted on the same server. Computer resources include computer disk space, bandwidth and CPU cycles.
In a dedicated environment, a website uses a dedicated computer that doesn't share resources with other websites. This can provide greater flexibility and dependability but it requires that you assume more responsibility.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both shared web hosting and dedicated web hosting. These are summarized in the table below:
| Consideration | Dedicated Server | Shared Server |
|---|---|---|
| Costs | more expensive | less expensive |
| Data storage | handles large data volumes | depends on the plan you buy |
| CPU usage | your site gets 100% of CPU | other sites can impact yours |
| Bandwidth | 100% of amount purchased | other sites can impact you |
| Security | more secure if properly set-up | can be less secure |
| Maintenance | responsibility is yours | maintenance done centrally |
| Complexity | more complex to set-up | environment is set-up |
| Backup/Recovery | you decide; you implement | scheduled backups |
| Flexibility | environment can be tailored | pre-defined environment |
In general, shared hosting plans are adequate for the needs of most organizations. An organization can always upgrade to a dedicated server should issues be encountered in a shared environment.
A third web hosting option called "Virtual Private Hosting" or VPS has become quite popular. This hybrid solution provides advantages from the two option previously discussed.
