Shared Hosting vs. Dedicated Hosting, this is the first comparison you need to make when starting your business start-up. The hosting you choose can determine the future of your website, thus, always ask: Shared Hosting vs. Dedicated Hosting, which is better?
Comparisons are always made on certain defined parameters. You need to know what are the advantages and disadvantages of both these servers to decide what is best for you.
Before getting into shared hosting vs. dedicated hosting pros cons, we need to get familiar with what they are.
What is Shared Hosting?
Shared Hosting is a type of web hosting in which many websites, belonging to different clients, are present on a single server. This server host and caters to the needs of all these websites at the same time.
The resources of the server get distributed among the different clients of the server. This is the reason why you have access to only a limited amount of resources when you host a website on a shared server.
Since there are limited resources, the cost of hosting a website on a shared server is very cheap. It is the cheapest solution for hosting a website, especially for start-ups who need to follow a budget during their initial years.
What are the advantages of Shared Hosting for start-ups?
1. It comes with the lowest cost
The most important thing for any start-up is managing their capital and resources cost-efficiently. You cannot hope to spend high amounts on hosting your site when there are other things to take care of, like website maintenance and development.
More than most start-ups opt Shared Hosting to host their website in their initial years. It proves to be very cheap and solves your purpose of getting your website launched in the market.
2. You do not need technical knowledge
When you choose a Shared Hosting service, the company handles the server. You do not need to worry about hiring external technical support to manage your website. If you are not a tech-savvy, Shared Hosting proves to be very helpful.
This allows you to focus on getting your services to the market and expanding your business without worrying about website management.
3. Website Management is very easy
In Shared Hosting you get a control panel which is very user-friendly. Using this control panel you can customize and manage your website. Control Panel has features like file management, server statistics, auto installer, email account, and many security features.
For start-ups, this control panel is a very useful feature as they do not have to spend much time managing their websites.
4. There are many plans for you
Starting from the cheapest plan, you can upgrade you Shared Hosting plans as and when you want. This will help you adapt to the increased demands of your websites with its gradual growth.
Shared Hosting is a very scalable hosting service and most Shared Hosting providers will also help you migrate your website free of charge!
Also Read: Everything about shared web hosting
What are the disadvantages of Shared Hosting?
1. Security is a huge concern in Shared Hosting
Many websites belonging to different clients use the same server in Shared Hosting. This leads to many security breaches as your website is prone to attacks from other websites on the same server.
2. There is a limitation of software choice
When you host your website on a Shared server you do not get to choose the software you want to use. You have to use the software that is provided by the host.
3. You might experience slow speed
Since many websites are using the resources and CPU of the shared server you might experience slow website loading speed. Your images and heavy links will take time to load which may reduce traffic to your website.
4. There is a limit to database and no. of websites you can host
Again, since many websites are running on a Shared server, the resources need to be distributed among all the websites. You cannot get the benefit of unlimited databases and websites in a Shared Hosting environment.
Since start-ups do not have as many services and websites, this is a factor which does not affect you.
What is a Dedicated Server?
As the name suggests, a dedicated server is one which is completely devoted to a single website. A single website is hosted on the server and all the resources related to this website are stored on it.
This means, the entire server is yours and you can customize and use it the way you want. Since you get an entire server dedicated to a single website, it is quite expensive too.
Dedicated server hosting pricing may start at $100 per month, which makes it the most expensive hosting among all. The advantages that come with this high price make investing in dedicated hosting worth it.
What are the advantages of Dedicated Hosting?
1.You get unlimited resources
In dedicated hosting, you have the entire server at your disposal and get unlimited resources. These resources include RAM, databases, no. of websites, etc.
2. Your website will never face slow loading problems
Since the server is only managing a single website, all the resources stored on the server can be quickly accessed by the website. This allows the website to load faster.
3. Security is not an issue with Dedicated Server
There is only one website on the server and so the threat of attacks from other website is eliminated.
Dedicated Hosting is one of the most secure hosting services.
4. You can customize according to your needs
If your website requires a particular kind of software or technology, you are free to customize the server according to your needs. You do not need to compromise your website’s functionality for anything else.
What are the disadvantages of Dedicated Hosting for start-ups?
It is expensive Hosting
As mentioned earlier, dedicated hosting is the most costly hosting of all. Start-ups cannot afford to spend such a huge amount of money on hosting a website. The amount spent on a dedicated server can be used to strengthen other operations in a start-up.
If you have the capital to invest in a dedicated server, this is the best hosting option.
You need to maintain the server on your own
Usually, you need to manage and maintain a Dedicated Server on your own. The company may provide basic assistance; but, the rest of the operations and management is up to you.
For people who do not have prior knowledge, this proves to be a huge problem. You need to hire external help to manage your server which results into additional costs.
Also read: Dedicated Hosting Facts
People who do have prior knowledge about server management need to dedicate a significant amount of time in managing the server. This is again a waste of time and resources which can be spent on expanding your startup business. Having discussed what the two types of hosting are and their pros and cons we can now figure out which hosting is better for your start-up.
Dedicated Hosting has many long term advantages, and you should know that as your business and website expands and grows you will need to upgrade to this server.
This hosting is not recommended for bootstrap start-ups as they cannot afford to spend such hefty amounts of money on website hosting.
Start-ups usually start slow and small and use Shared Hosting server instead of Dedicated servers. This is because it cost-efficient and also offers all the essential features required to host a start-up website.
Shared Hosting is the more logical choice of the two when it comes to start-ups. With the growth of your business you can always shift from a shared server to a dedicated one, so starting small is a smart choice.
We hope that this comparison of Shared Hosting vs. Dedicated Hosting helped you decide what the better option for your Start-up is. We would choose Shared Hosting, what will your choice be?