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Harish Dhivare
Harish Dhivare

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SHARED HOSTING vs CLOUD HOSTING

So, before you read on let’s briefly touch on what is the difference between shared hosting and cloud hosting. Cloud hosting allows your website to be hosted on multiple synced servers all sharing resources. Shared hosting has multiple websites on a single server sharing resources.

Cloud hosting, for example, is not simply shared website hosting with a cloud badge stuck on the front of it. Cloud hosting is in a league of its own when compared to more traditional forms of shared hosting, and offers many unique advantages that qualify its existence.

Let’s understand first, what is Shared Hosting & Cloud Hosting,

SHARED HOSTING
Shared Hosting on the other hand is a web hosting solution where each customer receives a portion of the same physical server hardware to run their website or application. Shared hosting is often the most economical way to get a project online, because the service provider houses multiple customers on a single web server, resulting in lower costs overall.

While shared hosting can be perfect as a cost-effective platform for less demanding projects, it certainly has its limits. With several customers sharing one set of physical hardware, individual users can’t rely on a guaranteed level of server performance.

Let us see some pros and cons of using Shared Hosting.

Pros :

  • Pricing structure – It’s cheap.
  • Ease of use – Beginner friendly.
  • Well managed security, upgrades and maintenance.
  • No administrative responsibilities

Cons :

  • Slow load time as it is shared.
  • Security gets affected due to shared.
  • Lack of server control during overcrowd.
  • Does not offer good scalability

CLOUD HOSTING
At its most basic level, the critical differentiator of cloud hosting is the cloud. No prizes for that part. Just like cloud computing, cloud hosting gets its name because it draws computing power from “the cloud,” i.e. a pool of dynamically allocated resources across a large network of physical components, instead of a fixed set of hardware.

Cloud hosting is, in theory, infinitely scalable because it allows an unlimited number of machines to effectively act as one system. By leveraging virtualization, multiple physical servers are pooled together and presented to the website or application as one machine.

Let us see some pros and cons of using Cloud Hosting.

Pros :

  • On demand resource – pay on time.
  • High availability – reliable.
  • Better scalability – flexible.
  • Recovering lost data.

Cons :

  • Advanced cloud knowledge is required.
  • Limited Control to users in use of services.
  • Platform dependency – cloud vendor collaboration.

What is the difference between Shared Hosting and Cloud Hosting
In cloud computing the website is hosted on a set or a cluster of servers, many servers and machines are working synchronously as a single entity and In shared hosting one server hosts multiple websites.

Shared hosting is one of the most common plan in the market for web hosting and Cloud hosting is one of the premium plans in the market for web hosting.

1. Website Performance
Shared Hosting : Website performance is related to server performance among many other factors, and the importance of website performance cannot be understated. With the inclusion of site speed as an important SEO factor in the search engine algorithm, many website owners have been extra cautious with their deteriorating site speed. Shared Hosting is suitable to provide satisfactory site speed for smaller websites.

Cloud Hosting : However, when it comes to handling resource-intensive websites or for sites which have a huge volume of traffic inflow, Cloud Hosting will boost your performance. Cloud Hosting guarantees lightning-fast speed since the data is stored and accessed through multiple servers for a website.

2. Reliability
Shared Hosting : Shared Hosting may experience performance degradation if some or all of the websites start consuming a lot of resources at the same time. In fact, many websites may stop working, causing concern for the website owners.

Cloud Hosting : In contrast, Cloud Hosting utilizes technological advancement and is considered by many as the most reliable option for web hosting. It makes use of data mirroring where data is stored on multiple servers and can be restored seamlessly in case of any failures.

3. Price
Shared Hosting : Shared hosting is very less price and it is the most affordable option and is suitable for website owners who are not looking to spend a fortune. Usually the cheapest starts from around $1.99 per month for Indsoft Shared Hosting.

Cloud Hosting : On the other hand, Cloud Hosting is costlier compared to Shared Hosting. However, for the features it offers, Cloud Hosting provides the most value for your money. Usually the cheapest starts from around $9.99 per month for Indsoft Cloud Hosting.

4. Security
Shared Hosting : For a shared server, multiple websites have the same IP address, and this may lead to greater vulnerability for websites. However, a good hosting provider takes extra precaution since multiple websites are at stake. It is the responsibility of the hosting provider to monitor and upgrade to the latest security patches to keep away major cyber threats.

Cloud Hosting : Cloud Hosting, on the other hand, is more secure as it uses advanced cloud storage solutions that employ efficient data mirroring.

5. Architecture
Shared Hosting : As discussed above, Shared Hosting servers host multiple websites on a single server, with all the resources, including data storage, being shared between every website on the server. This usage is usually subjected to a fair usage policy by the hosting provider.

Cloud Hosting : On the other hand, rather than using a single server, Cloud Hosting makes use of multiple servers to store the data of a single website. The added advantage is that multiple websites can be hosted together while ensuring advanced data protection and data redundancy.

Shared Hosting vs. Cloud Hosting: What’s Best For My Website?
As always the short answer as to which is better between cloud hosting and shared hosting is that it depends on your requirements.

Given its advantages, it really isn’t a surprise then that Cloud hosting is widely considered a better option as compared to shared hosting. However, it’s important to note that these advantages come at a cost and as a rule of thumb, cloud hosting is more expensive than shared hosting plans. That said, if you plan to scale your online presence and have use for the advantages of cloud hosting, then cost wouldn’t be a factor in helping you decide. In other words, for those organizations where the reliability and scalability of their websites are critical, cloud hosting has become the de facto standard. If your primary sales channel is your website, then cloud hosting is a no-brainer.

On the other hand, if you’re just starting out and are looking for an inexpensive option that offers enough features to help you get the ball rolling, then shared web hosting will work for you. In the same vein, for an organization where website traffic is relatively low and predictable, and selling online is not so important, then the greater affordability of shared hosting may be all that is required.

Now all you have to do is decide where you sit…

At INDSOFT, we have affordable Shared and cloud Hosting plans if you are looking to start your website. We offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee and customer support. Also, if you change your mind or are not satisfied with our services, we have a 15 days money-back policy!

To know more about the other web hosting categories and to choose the right option for your business, Visit Our Hosting Blogs Category.

Contact us for Free Trial : +91-022-2863-1151 or email us : mailto : billing@indsoft.net

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