What Is Web Hosting and Its Types?

Web hosting is renting space from the web hosting provider on the web server that allows businesses to make websites accessible online. One can store files, images, videos and content through web hosting on the server. 

If you look at 2020 statistics, the global web hosting market amounted to $75.03 billion, which defines significant demand for online services and the growing number of businesses shifting towards e-commerce business.

There are innumerable types of domain and hosting, such as Shared Hosting, virtual private server hosting, dedicated server hosting, and Cloud Hosting, each with varying features, control, security and scalability based on business website needs and budget. 

Through this article, we shall study what web hosting is and the different types of web hosting that will help you choose the best option for you.

What is Web Hosting?

Web hosting is a service provided by a web host to increase your website’s effectiveness and secure operation. 

They are focused on enforcing security measures and securing that data such as texts, photos, and other files are transmitted successfully to the visitors’ browsers.

What are the Types of Web Hosting? 

1. Shared Web Hosting

Shared Hosting is web hosting in which a website is shared on a common server, i.e. server has several other websites. That means all domains have the same server resource making the cost of hosting cheap.

Pros

• Affordable price
• Stress-free setup and management
• It doesn’t need any technical skills

Cons

• Decreased control over your hosting arrangement
• Doesn’t offer dedicated resources, making it unreliable for high-traffic sites
• Other sites on your server may influence performance

Such hosting is perfect, to begin with, especially for small businesses, communities or bloggers. Moreover, such hosting has several supporting tools and bonus services, such as website builders, email marketing tools for newsletters and WordPress Hosting. 

However, the disadvantage of Shared Hosting is the weak user experience due to the shared server.

2. VPS Hosting

This type of website hosting plan falls between a shared server and a dedicated server. The idea behind VPS Hosting is that some business owners need more control over their websites but won’t need a dedicated server.

 The best part of such web hosting is that the website is hosted within its own space on the server though it shares a server with other users too. Also, VPS Hosting offers clients customisation and storage, although they are not as powerful to handle high traffic or spike in usage. 

They are best for those business owners who need a dedicated website but don’t have technical knowledge.VPS is also comparatively cost-effective as Shared Hosting with the benefits of Dedicated Hosting. 

There are also several best web hosting in Australia to choose from based on your website size, complexity and traffic requirement.

Pros

• It is affordable as compared to Dedicated Hosting
• Customisable to meet precise needs
• Readily scalable as your website grows
• You get more control over Shared Hosting
• Identical technical aid as Shared Hosting
• The choice of semi-managed or fully-Managed Hosting

Cons

• Comparatively high priced than Shared Hosting
• Prospect for resource allotment issues with some web hosts
• It may generate server problems affecting all sites on the server

3. Dedicated Hosting

As its name suggests, Dedicated Hosting gives the website owner control over the server. However, such web hosting servers are expensive as owners have to rent the entire server for the website exclusively. On the other hand, it offers complete access and control over security and operating systems. 

Also, one needs to have technical expertise for installation and ongoing management of the server. 

Pros 

• High-Performance Reliability
• Comprehensive Control
• Total Security
• Devoted Support

Cons

• Pricey and Not Affordable for Everyone
• Needs Technical Knowledge
• Challenging to Scale

4. Cloud Hosting

Cloud Hosting is the current trend in the technological industry. This type of hosting allows the website to be hosted on a group of servers instead of just one server, ensuring that the website is running irrespective of whether one server goes down.

Pros

• Affordable
•  Comfortable to Implement
• Scalability and Flexibility
• Backup and Disaster Recovery
• Accessibility

Cons

• Bandwidth Issue
• Little Control
• Privacy control issues
• Powerless to Attacks
•  Downtime

5. Managed Hosting

Managed Hosting is the most common type of web hosting and is very popular, especially for Australian web hosting. The hosting companies manage this type of web hosting, which takes care of all technical aspects such as hardware and software setup, maintenance, support, updates, monitoring etc.

Such hosting frees you from worrying about technical handling with various plans based on your needs. Instead, you can choose the best plan that suits your business needs without understanding your requirements.

Pros

• Saves time
• Lowered risk
• Adaptable up-to-date technology
• Superior performance and high speed

Cons

• Expensive
• No access to own servers

Conclusion

With so many choices in the market, choosing the best option can be challenging. Although with a complete understanding of your business web hosting needs, one can choose the best plan that caters to the specifications. 

Also, it is essential to remember that while choosing your web host, the type of website you have and the resources you will need now and later should be based on your budget.