Every business needs an address in the cloud and this is what websites are for. It is usually a choice between cloud servers or shared hosting. In this article, we will talk about cloud servers and cloud server hosting. We will also look at shared hosting and then piece together the difference and what it means for your startup.
What are Cloud Servers and Cloud Server Hosting?
Cloud hosting is a way to host websites and applications on the internet using the cloud. It pools computing resources from a network of virtual and physical servers. This makes it easy to scale your infrastructure up or down as needed, and it also provides more reliability and redundancy than traditional on-premises hosting.
In cloud hosting, your website’s resources are hosted on a network of multiple virtual servers that run from the cloud. If one server goes down, the other servers can pick up the slack, so your website will remain available. This makes cloud hosting a very reliable way to host your website.
Cloud hosting is also becoming increasingly popular because it is very scalable. You can easily add or remove resources as needed without worrying about managing your servers. This makes cloud hosting a good choice for businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises.
Finally, cloud hosting is typically pay-as-you-go, which means you only pay for the resources you use. This can be more cost-effective than traditional hosting, especially for businesses with variable traffic needs.
What is Shared Hosting?
Shared hosting is a web hosting service where multiple websites are hosted on the same server. This makes shared hosting a relatively inexpensive option, but it also means that your website’s performance and reliability can be affected by the other websites on the server.
With shared hosting, your website’s resources are pooled with those of other websites on the same server. This means that your website’s performance can be affected by the traffic and activity of the other websites on the server. If one website is experiencing a lot of traffic, it can slow down all the other websites on the server.
Shared hosting is also less reliable than other types of web hosting, such as cloud hosting. This is because if the server goes down, all the websites on the server will be unavailable.
Limitations of Shared Hosting
Shared hosting has several drawbacks that can affect your website’s performance, security, and reputation. Consider these drawbacks carefully before choosing shared hosting over cloud servers or other options.
- Limited Resources and Bandwidth: One of the biggest downsides of shared hosting is that resources—CPU, RAM, and bandwidth—are shared among all the websites hosted on the server. This can lead to slow loading speeds and decreased performance for your website.
- Security Risk: Another downside of shared hosting is that all the websites on the server share the same IP address. This means that if one website is attacked, all the websites on the server may be affected. Additionally, the lack of customization options on shared hosting servers can make it difficult to mitigate security risks.
- Limited Control and Customisation Options: Since you share the server with other websites, you have limited control over your hosting environment. This means that you may not be able to install certain software or change the server’s configuration.
- Performance Issues: Shared hosting servers can experience performance issues due to the limited resources and bandwidth available to each website. Additionally, if one website on the server uses a lot of resources, it can influence the performance of all the other websites on the server.
- Risk of Server Overload and Downtime: When too many websites are hosted on a single server, it can lead to server overload and downtime. This can happen during times of high traffic volume or if one or more websites are using a lot of resources.
Benefits of Cloud Server Hosting
Cloud hosting is a flexible and scalable hosting solution that offers several benefits over traditional hosting options.
- Scalability: Cloud hosting can be easily scaled up or down to meet the changing needs of your website or application. This is because cloud hosting uses a network of virtual servers, so you can simply add or remove servers as needed.
- Flexibility: Cloud hosting offers a high degree of flexibility. You can choose the specific resources you need, such as CPU, RAM, and storage. You can also customize your hosting environment to meet your specific requirements.
- Cost: Cloud hosting can be more cost-effective than traditional hosting, especially if you have variable traffic needs. With cloud hosting, you only pay for the resources you use.
- Security: Cloud hosting providers offer robust security features to protect your data from malicious actors. These features include firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and data encryption.
- Reliability: Cloud hosting is very reliable. Because your website or application is hosted on a network of servers, if one server goes down, another server can take over. This means that your website or application will be up and running despite a problem with one server.
- Ease of use: Cloud hosting providers typically offer easy-to-use dashboards that make it easy to manage your hosting environment.
- High performance: Cloud hosting can provide high performance for your website or application. This is because cloud hosting providers use powerful servers and load-balancing technologies.
- Global reach: Cloud hosting providers have data centers worldwide so that you can host your website or application close to your users. This can improve performance and reduce latency.
How Cloud Hosting Can Benefit Your Website
- If you expect a sudden spike in traffic, you can easily scale up your cloud hosting resources to handle the increased load.
- Supposing your website is experiencing a performance issue, you can quickly scale up your cloud hosting resources to improve performance.
- If one of your cloud hosting servers goes down, your website will still be available on the other servers.
- Cloud hosting providers offer various security features to protect your website from cyberattacks, such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and DDoS protection.
Cloud Servers vs Shared Hosting
| Factors | Cloud Servers | Shared Hosting |
| Performance | Generally higher performance due to dedicated resources. | Performance can be limited as multiple websites share the same resources. |
| Scalability | Easily scalable to meet growing demands. | Scalability is limited. |
| Resource Allocation | Dedicated resources such as CPU, RAM, and storage. | Resources are shared among all hosted websites. |
| Security | Better isolation from other users, providing | Lesser isolation, more risk of cross-site |
| higher security. | contamination. | |
| Control | Greater control over server configurations and | Limited control over server settings. |
| software installations. | ||
| Cost | Generally higher cost due to dedicated resources | More cost-effective due to shared resources. |
| and scalability features. | ||
| Reliability | Higher reliability with redundant resources and | Less reliable due to shared resources and |
| failover capabilities. | potential for “noisy neighbors.” | |
| Support and Management | Often comes with better support and management options. | Support and management might be limited. |
In a nutshell:
- cloud servers provide better performance, scalability, security, control, and reliability than shared hosting, but at a higher cost. They are suitable for larger businesses or applications with growing traffic.
- Shared hosting is a more cost-effective ideal for small websites or applications with lower traffic. However, it lacks performance, scalability, and security compared to cloud servers.
Things You Need To Consider When Picking The Best Servers For Your Startup
Security and Infrastructure:
- Choose a cloud hosting provider with many data centers, high-speed computing, and strong security layers like firewalls and access control. This helps keep your services running smoothly, even when things go wrong.
High-Performance Computing (HPC) Servers:
- If your applications are heavy or you have many users, pick a provider with HPC servers to make sure everything runs fast and smoothly.
Backup:
- Check how the provider backs up your data, how often they do it, and how you can get it back if needed. This will help keep your data safe.
Customer Support:
- Look for providers with good customer support available 24/7, especially if you rely heavily on cloud services.
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR):
- Ensure the provider has solid plans to keep your business running and protect your data during emergencies.
Service Level Agreement (SLA):
- Read the SLA carefully to understand what the provider promises to deliver and what happens if they don’t meet those promises.
Data Migration:
- Choose a provider with experience in moving data to the cloud to reduce the risk of losing any data during the migration.
Price vs Quality:
- Don’t just go for the cheapest option. Pick a cloud hosting plan that meets your technical needs and ensures your data’s safety.
In simple terms, when choosing a cloud hosting plan, it’s like picking a safe, comfortable, and well-located house for your digital belongings. You’d want a house that’s strong (good infrastructure), has good locks and a security system (security features), a plan to keep everything safe in case of emergencies (BCDR), and a landlord who will fix things when they break down (customer support).
Plus, you’ll want to know the rules and agreements (SLA) you’re getting into, and if you’re moving, it’s great to have a provider who knows how to handle a move without losing or breaking anything (data migration). And of course, while everyone loves a good deal, the cheapest house might not be the best one if it doesn’t meet your needs or keep your belongings safe.
Why Choose PipeOps?
PipeOps is a no-code tool that can help companies of all sizes slowly become cloud-friendly as they migrate to the cloud. By automating many of the complex tasks involved in cloud management, PipeOps can free up companies’ IT teams to focus on other priorities.
PipeOps can help companies become cloud-friendly by reducing costs, improving performance, increasing scalability, and reducing risk.
Conclusion on Cloud Servers and Shared Hosting
PipeOps is a no-code tool for cloud deployments and infrastructure management that can help startups deploy better software on the cloud. It automates many of the tasks involved in cloud management, such as build and deploy, infrastructure customization, updates and maintenance, analytics and monitoring, Git integration, debugging, databases, microservices, and automatic scaling.
PipeOps is also easy to use, even for those with limited technical expertise, making it ideal for startups that are new to the cloud or that don’t have a large IT team.
If you’re a startup looking to deploy better software on the cloud, try PipeOps for free today. You can get started with a 7-day free trial.
