Business websites, of the nature of their business, need a certain amount of resources to operate. Some of them need speediness over everything, while others don’t need anything at all and can fully function with just the bare minimum – a place to host their website.
Shared hosting and VPS hosting are one of the most popular hosting options out there, each having their strengths and weaknesses. So, which one should you go with?
In this article, We’ll try to answer the question by comparing the two hosting types.
The main differences between VPS and Shared Hosting
1. Assets
First, let’s start with shared hosting. It is exactly what you think it – there’s a lot sharing going on here, which mainly revolves around resources like bandwidth and performance.
As you host your website on a shared hosting server, it could be said that you share the same assets that the provider gives you with your “neighbors” (other people hosting on the same server).
The main advantages of Shared hosting is the fact that it is the least expensive option to host your website by far. However, the trade-off here is the fact you depend much on others. If others get hacked or slow down, your site becomes vulnerable to malicious effects as well.
With a VPS however, you get much more flexibility as you get your own Virtual Private Server.
While the price is significantly higher, it’s certainly a worthwhile option as you get more control over your resources and significantly better performance.
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To summarize:
A VPS might be more expensive, but it gives you more resources and flexibility in terms of managing them. However, if you own a very basic website then you should definitely go with a shared option.
2. Performance speed
It’s pretty obvious by now that a VPS hosting has more resources, which naturally means it will offer more speed for the website owner. With a shared hosting option, you only get a dedicated amount of resources, which you then have to share with others.
If your hosting provider isn’t generous, and doesn’t have allocated SSDs or the newest cache software, your website might struggled majorly in terms of having decent website speed.
So, if you prioritize speed, then a shared hosting option won’t do justice for you, as you will have to share space with other people also consuming the resources.
A VPS, however, will have more optimized resources dedicated specifically for you, which also means better performance speeds for a growing website.
To summarize:
If you need more stability and speed for your website, then VPS is the way to go. However, if you prefer the cheaper option for your small website and you don’t want the hassle of managing your own resources, then by all means go with a shared hosting option.
3. Safety
Once again, a shared hosting option is a brilliant idea for those who don’t need much and have a small low-traffic website. However, it’s worth noting that such a plan puts your site at more of a cyber risk, than others.
If there’s a breach on any of the websites hosted on your server, you are at a danger of suffering something similar for your own site. Such dangers include hacks, malware, viruses and so on.
Of course, if a VPS hosting provider is really good, it will have taken measures to ensure that its shared servers are protected at a top-level.
Regardless, your best bet is to go with a VPS, if you want better protection measures.
To summarize: Though a shared hosting option is pretty safe option, there’s a risk of a breach or malware if other websites on your server are hacked. If you work with especially sensitive information, you should definitely go with a VPS which offers significantly better protection.
All in all
A VPS and a Shared Hosting option can both work effectively, depending on the situation. All you have to do is think carefully about the things that matter to you the most in terms of hosting: low-cost, resources or safety.