You want to create a website, and now you’re looking for the right web hosting type for you. You’ve been reading a lot of definitions of them, but it seems to be a tad bit too technical. Thus, you now stumble upon this article to find a straightforward explanation of the web hosting types.

If you are new to hosting and want to create a simple website, then use the shared hosting type. If you’re going to go bigger and want to have your dedicated resources for a low price, use VPS or cloud hosting.

I’ll give you the explanations of the main web hosting types available for optimised servers while also providing recommendations on what those types of web hosting are best used for. 

The very first thing you need to do is to find the right web hosting provider that meets your needs and price range. Most popular in India are Hostinger, Siteground, or A2hosting. Once you found the right one, you can determine which one of their types of hosting you want to use. 

Shared web hosting

Shared web hosting is the most affordable type. Here, your website is stored on the same server with other websites.

Using a shared-hosting you share the resources you get like the memory,
disk space, and bandwidth with everyone else on the same server. That’s
why the cost is relatively low because of the shared resources. 

One noticeable drawback is that when another website has issues, it can potentially cause your website to have problems. For example, if another site on the same server is experiencing a high-traffic period, your site might experience a slowdown.

A shared web host is the best for:

• Bloggers
• A small business owner
• Beginners with no technical knowledge of it
• Someone with a tight budget
• Any other type which doesn’t require a lot of interaction

WordPress hosting

As the name implies, WordPress hosting is a type that is specifically designed for WordPress. This type of hosting usually adds extra security layers for WordPress websites since this is one of the most used CMS. 

WordPress hosting is divided into two, shared WordPress hosting, which works the same way as a shared hosting only that WordPress is pre-installed here and managed WordPress hosting. The latter provides extra security, faster loading speeds, and other optimization for WordPress while providing better technical support for your WordPress website. If you are looking for a managed WordPress hosting, visit this site.

WordPress host is the best for:

• WordPress users who want to optimize their website

VPS

VPS, short for Virtual private server, can be said to be an upgrade from shared hosting. Here, you are still sharing your server with other websites. However, the server is divided into virtual sections.

You’ll get your own dedicated memory, disk space, and bandwidth on your server. This eliminates the downside of a shared hosting server where if one website has issues, the others are affected. When using VPS, whatever you do in your virtual server won’t affect others and likewise. 

You gain greater flexibility by having more convenient access to scale your website if it needs more resources. It’s a seamless process and won’t have any downtime or technical issues.

Additionally, you’ll get to enjoy a dedicated IP address and root access.

A downside of VPS is that you are still dependent on the hosting provider’s physical server that’s shared. Additionally, you’ll need some technical knowledge to get the most out of it. For example, if you’re running a site on a Linux based server, it’ll be controlled by a CLI – command-line interface.

VPS host is the best for:

• More tech-savvy users
• Small to medium businesses which can’t afford to have downtime
• Users who have outgrown their shared host resources
• Users who have more budget to spare

Dedicated hosting

With this type of hosting, you are renting an entire physical server for your own use, which means no more sharing your server with others. This allows you to get full admin privileges and get full control over the server, including root access. 

You get a lot more flexibility by choosing your own operating system, allocating your own preferred amount of memory, disk space, and other elements. As a result, this is one of the most expensive types of hosts. 

A dedicated host is the best for:

• Users who want to have excellent uptime with the freedom to customize anything
• Websites which have an extremely high volume of traffic
• Large eCommerce and businesses

Cloud hosting

This is a newer type of hosting. Cloud hosting also allows you to get your own dedicated resources, but instead of sharing a server with other users, you get access to an extensive network of servers. 

You can use all the resources available on those servers, which technically means that you will never run out of help should you decide to scale. This is more cost-effective compared to VPS as you can scale more with similar pricing.

A great thing about cloud hosting is that if one server is having issues, the other servers will pick up what that server is doing, resulting in no downtime. 

Cloud host is the best for:

• Rapidly growing medium or large businesses
• Websites with an unpredictable amount of traffic
• Users who want more flexibility to scale
• Users who rely on excellent uptime

Other types of hosting

There are also other web hosting types, but these are more specific, focusing on a certain niche. Some of them are:

• Reseller hosting – this is for those who want to sell web hosts to other sites. You buy hosting from a provider and resell it to your clients, or use the platform to host client’s websites if you’re a developer overseeing multiple projects long-term.
• Colocation hosting – here, you buy your own physical server and use the space in the hosting provider’s data center rack and use their bandwidth. 
• Self-service hosting – as the name suggests, you basically build your own hosting. From the servers to the software, you do everything on your own. There’s no limit of resources, only the budget you have.
• Managed hosting – a lot of the hosting plans can be managed. The web hosts will provide technical services like the hardware, software, and also technical support that goes beyond their end. 

So, what type of host is right for you?

You know now the different types of web hosting and who they are targeted for. If you are new to hosting and want to create a simple website, then use the shared hosting type. If you’re going to go bigger and want to have your dedicated resources for a low price, use VPS or cloud hosting. Lastly, if you wish for complete control and flexibility, then use dedicated hosting.

Remember that every type of hosting has its benefits and disadvantages. Choose wisely based on your needs and also budget.