Without an iota doubt, selecting the best web hosting package for your website is just as  important as your whole site, if not more. When you get the basics wrong, you either end up  paying for something you don’t need or end up with an underperforming service. 

This piece will compare two of the common types of web hosting: Shared hosting and  dedicated hosting. With this, you can have an insight into the package that suits your site more  before committing to it. 

Shared Hosting 

Shared hosting involves hosting multiple sites on a single server. These sites can be hundreds or  even thousands co-existing on the central server. This implies that your website will have to  share resources with various other websites on a single server, if you subscribe to shared  hosting. 

This hosting package is suitable for sites with modest traffic. Small-scale businesses and  websites that only need online presence without so much activity can make do with this  package. However, like when you live in a rented apartment with multiple neighbors, your  neighboring websites can be your undoing on shared hosting. More on that later. 

Dedicated Hosting 

Dedicated hosting requires having a whole server dedicated to your site alone. There is no case  of sharing, giving you close to full autonomy over the server. 

Dedicated hosting is for large sites and businesses that have very high traffic. With the cost of  setting up and maintaining this package, it is the befitting option for companies with an  established online presence. 

HOW THEY COMPARE 

After the brief introduction into these two web hosting types, let’s compare them using basic  web hosting parameters. 

Control and Customization 

Dedicated web hosting gives you total control over the server. You can make changes to the  backend, select any operating system of your choice, and make changes to any software. There  is also the option to customize the environments for some applications, select memory storage  that suits you, and optimize your bandwidth. Your website will be in a world of its own. This  flexibility is not possible with shared hosting, and if possible, it is very restricted. This is because  any changes made to the server’s integral part, for example, backend changes, will affect all 

websites on the server. Hence, you have to live with what you have, even if it is not what you  want. 

Scalability 

Scalability is the ability of your hosting to cope with the growth of your site. This feature is one  of the strongholds of dedicated hosting. 

Scalability is very much possible on dedicated hosting because there is no limitation for you on  your server. In short, you are the only one that can limit your growth with dedicated hosting. Unsurprisingly, this is not the case with most shared hosting package. This is because you have  limited resources from the server you are sharing, and there is a limit to the space available on  it. However, hosting with web hosts like Teqporte cloud enables you to have a fully scalable  package irrespective of your plan. 

Performance and Reliability 

With uptime and page loading speed, the common determinants for performance shared  hosting sometimes suffer from this critical parameter. This is mostly caused by “bad neighbors  “i.e., websites sharing the same server with you. If they often experience a spike in traffic, your  performance will be affected as more of the processor’s processing power will be focused on  them, causing shortages to your website. Consequently, you experience slow page loading and  sometimes downtime. 

However, with dedicated hosting, you get peak performance from your server at all times,  provided you take care of the maintenance. This makes dedicated hosting the best option for  sites with very high traffic. 

Cost 

Shared hosting is the clear choice when it comes to price. It is the cheapest of all hosting types  and has that affordability edge over dedicated hosting. This is one of the main reasons why it is  suitable for beginners’ sites. 

Apart from the high starting price of dedicated hosting, which can be almost ten times that of  shared hosting, there is the additional cost of server maintenance and repair cost when  needed. 

Security 

Dedicated hosting is the preferred choice in terms of security as you have your unique IP  address, and you can manage your exposure to security threats well. 

There is no such security privilege and guarantee for shared hosting. This is because your site is  not alone on the server; consequently, a bad neighbor can get the server’s IP address in trouble.  Thankfully, security issues can be reduced by hosting companies that take the physical security  of the servers seriously.

Lastly, your IP address and the server can be blacklisted by Google and other search engines  with shared hosting. This happens when a “bad neighbor” is involved in fraudulent activities  with your server’s IP address. Note that a blacklisted IP address makes your website invincible. Technical skills 

With the total server control of the dedicated hosting comes the need for technical knowledge.  You might need to employ an expert for the operation, maintenance, and repair of the server.  However, if hiring a professional is daunting for you or your firm – you can subscribe to a fully  managed dedicated web hosting package. As expected, this comes at an additional cost. Shared hosting, on the other hand, needs almost no technical know-how. It is the easiest to  manage of all web hosting types because the web host takes responsibility for the  maintenance, security, and administration of the server. 

Final Words 

The two hosting plans are excellent options depending on your need and resources. Shared hosting is the go-to option for sites with modest traffic. Also, it is the preferred option in  terms of cost and technical knowledge requirements. In comparison, dedicated hosting is the  best for sites with high traffic rate. It is also the best in terms of security, efficiency, and  reliability. However, these features come at a steep price. 

Lastly, if your site falls somewhere in the middle, i.e., moderately high traffic and healthy  finances, you can try the VPS hosting. Better still, if you want a package that suits all types of  sites, especially those with rapidly growing traffic, cloud hosting at the Teqporte cloud is your  best option.