Top 4 Types of Web Hosting Services Explained

Having a good understanding of the different type of web hosting services available can be advantageous when selecting the best option for your needs. Selecting the right web hosting is critical when building a website for any business. As a bonus, if you have a basic understanding of the different types of website hosting available, it will make discussing this easier with your website developer. As Big Rock Graphics is based in the Northern Rivers and Gold Coast region, we’re often asked; What are our options for website hosting on the Gold Coast?

The primary role of web hosting is to make digital content easy to view and accessible on a website via a variety of connected devices. Those looking to outsource their web hosting services could look for server space to rent, to store data such as images, documents and more. Website server hosting services include additions such as hardware and software maintenance as well as potentially additional cyber security. With all that being said, the available options of website hosting each have their own pros and cons. 

Now that you understand what the purpose of web hosting services look like, even local Gold Coast web hosting, we can move on to explain the four primary kinds of services to be considered.

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is possibly the most popular because it is fantastic for lightweight websites and those just starting and requiring the essentials. This option allows users to utilise a single server to configure and run their websites and is easy to use as it requires no technical knowledge. Starting plans are budget-friendly and rise in price as the user upgrades to a higher tier.

On the flip side, customisation is often limited and therefore is not the best for an intricate and unique design. Moreover, due to its very nature of being shared hosting, customer abuse can affect other users on this system. Performance can lean towards the slower side in many cases as well.

 

Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting

Virtual Private Servers (VPS) provides resources rather than a shared plan. With this option, you can enjoy improved performance and loads of customisation. The VPS option provides ideal hosting services for lightweight applications and websites yielding high traffic. And while VPS also runs on a single server, it is divided into multiple units which do not depend on each other and offer dedicated resources for user convenience.

However, this service is more costly than shared hosting and does require some technical knowledge to set up and maintain effectively. Assigned resources, such as storage, CPU, and RAM, are not easily upgradable to a higher tier plan and in most cases require migrating the VPS to another server entirely if such changes are required.

Dedicated Hosting Service

A Dedicated Hosting Service is when customers can rent an entire server for their site, and it works best for high traffic websites, gaming servers, video streaming, or eCommerce. The user receives exclusive rights to running any apps and gains complete control regarding the maintenance and optimisation of the security and system.

While the price to rent a dedicated server is high, it does provide highly stable performance benefits, improved privacy and security and impressive computing power. However, something to bear in mind is that this option requires frequent software and security updates.

Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting is often compared to a VPS service with more capabilities and a greater pool of resources, which are easily upgradeable between instances on offer. True cloud hosting options offer instant upgrading and downgrading capabilities with no downtimes and is ideal for applications that demand a high computing power, such as Forex trading, AI and more. The pricing with this option is highly flexible, can be billed hourly, making it easy to keep within budget.

Nonetheless, customisation of servers is limited and requires a degree of technical experience to manage efficiently.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is one of the most utilised Cloud Hosting platform for high-end users. However, there are lots of alternate Cloud Hosting options available, so discuss this with your web developer first.