Shared, Virtual, and Dedicated Web Hosting - What Are The Differences?

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Before committing to a web hosting plan it's important to understand the differences between the most popular types: shared hosting, "real" dedicated hosting, and "virtual" dedicated hosting.

Shared Hosting

Shared web hosting makes it possible for hundreds or even thousands of users to host their sites very cost-effectively. However, there are a few drawbacks.

Because so many web sites are hosted on the same physical server each site must share that server's resources. These resources include bandwidth, disk space, memory, and CPU usage to name a few. The need to share resources is rarely a problem for small and medium size web sites.

The biggest limitation with shared hosting, therefore, is that you cannot control any of the system-level software such as mail servers, http servers, et. al. You also are not able to choose your own operating system, compile programs, or perform other administrative activities such as installing firewalls and spam filters.

Real Dedicated Hosting

"Real" dedicated web hosting, on the other hand, solves all the problems with shared web hosting, but at a significant cost. With real dedicated hosting you have exclusive use of an entire server: all the memory, all the disk space, all the CPU horsepower.

Therefore, no other web sites' problems, glitches, or whatever, will have any effect on your web site. You have total control over the server, its resources, and its administrative functions.

This is the ideal web hosting solution but it isn't cheap. You have to pay for an entire server with no one else to share common expenses. So, typically, a "real" dedicated hosting plan will cost a minimum of $100 per month and goes up from there. And, unless you opt for managed hosting which is even more expensive, you have to do all the technical server administration yourself.

You run your business. I'll run mine.

The fact is that most web site owners don't need total control of their servers as they simply want to run their businesses. They have neither the interest nor the ability to perform all the technical tasks associated with a fully dedicated server and are more than happy to let their shared web hosting provider handle them.

However, when an online business begins to ramp up its transaction volumes, expand its product line to a large number of online offerings, or simply needs more control over its environment, there is a very cost effective alternative to a fully dedicated server.

Virtual Dedicated Hosting

Virtual Dedicated hosting, also known as virtual dedicated server, or VDS, is the term for a physical server which, by means of software, has been partitioned into a number of "virtual" machines operating independently of each other as if they were standalone dedicated servers.

At Web-Host-Watch.Com our nine-part Introduction to Web Hosting

covers everything you need to make an informed decision when selecting choosing a hosting plan or looking for a new web host.

About the Author

Anthony Hamill is the founder of Web-Host-Watch

which provides webmasters with all the information they need to find a hosting plan that's right for their business.