At IS&T, we provide our clients with the best hosting options available. We host both .NET/MSSQL (Microsoft) and PHP/MySQL (Linux) websites at our Tier IV Data Center in Houston, which runs a 100% SLA - 5 Node Cluster Failover system on all Dell/Cisco equipment running the latest server hosting platforms and infrastructure. Our data center provides multi-pier HSRP connection to multiple carriers (Cogent, Zayo & NTT) for the ultimate in bandwidth redundancy. We also utilize state-of-the-art security, monitoring, and management tools, along with Datto backups for complete client confidence and failover.
Website & Web Application Hosting
No matter what your web hosting needs may be, IS&T can be trusted to host your site. Contact us today for more information on our hosting services.
Launching a website or web application project is big for businesses, no matter what industry they operate in or how many employees they have. Countless decisions go into designing, building, and launching a website, not the least of which is choosing who to host the site with and what type of hosting to use.There are many different web hosting companies out there, as well as different styles of hosting to consider, each with different services, features, benefits, and drawbacks. It’s essential for business owners to understand the ins and outs of web hosting in order to make an informed decision.
Here, we’ll go over web hosting, the different types of hosting available, and the pros and cons of each.
What is Web Hosting?
Web hosting is a service provided by a web hosting company or IT services company in which server space and resources for a website or web application are provided, making the content accessible on the internet.
A business with any kind of web presence needs to store its files and data on a server that is connected to the internet so that users can access the website or web application from anywhere in the world. Web hosting provides the technology and resources needed for the operation, security, and data storage of your website.
Types of Web Hosting
There are different types of web hosting methods available, including shared hosting, virtual private server (VPS) hosting, dedicated hosting, and cloud hosting. The type of web hosting that your business chooses for its website or web application can have a significant impact on its performance, security, and availability. In addition, the features, benefits, and costs of each style of hosting differ.
Below are the most common web hosting methods along with their pros and cons.
Shared Hosting
For first-time websites or small businesses, shared hosting is the most popular kind of hosting because it is simple and quite affordable. When you choose to use shared hosting for your business, your website is placed on a server alongside hundreds of other websites. Because all of the websites share the same server, this means they also share resources such as disk space, CPU time, memory, and more. As a result, there is less financial investment required by each client. However, the downsides to shared hosting include slower speeds, increased risk of security breaches, and a lack of direct control over the server’s performance.
To put things into perspective, shared hosting is to web hosting like apartment living is to a place to live. It’s more economical to live in an apartment, as you’re sharing land, a building, and common areas with other tenants. However, this means that if anything goes wrong, like a plumbing leak in another unit, your home could be effective and there is little you can do to manage the overall infrastructure of the apartment complex.
Shared hosting is economical and easy to get started, but it has limitations that may be dealbreakers for some businesses.
Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting
Another popular option for hosting is virtual private server, or VPS, hosting. Like shared hosting, VPS-hosted websites share a server with other websites. However, the physical server is separated into multiple virtual servers, allowing each client to have more control over their website’s resources. VPS hosting is more expensive than shared hosting, but it offers a guaranteed allotment of resources, which can result in better security, faster speeds, more control, and easier scalability.
Think of VPS as living in a condominium or a townhouse. It’s certainly an upgrade from apartment living, as there are fewer people living alongside you, residents have more control over their own house, and homeowners are allowed to handle general maintenance. However, the land and buildings are still shared between residents, which means there are still some limitations.
In terms of limitations for your VPS, speak with potential providers about their baseline guarantees for VPS clients’ performance and security, and be aware that accommodations can easily be made to VPS hosting to better fit your needs.
Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated hosting is a higher-level approach to hosting that means your website is hosted on its own physical server. No other websites are hosted on it, giving you complete and total control over all resources, configurations, and specifications. However, this is the most costly option, because you must purchase the physical equipment, have space to put it, and handle all management and maintenance. Dedicated hosting offers high performance and security at high cost.
Dedicated hosting is akin to owning your own home. You live without other residents on the property, so you have free reign over all the home’s details and features. However, this means you must maintain everything on your own, including infrastructure and security measures.
The high cost of ownership and the responsibility of dedicated hosting, like owning a home, can be a deterrent for many clients.
Cloud Hosting
Cloud hosting is a very reliable form of web hosting that uses a cluster of virtual servers to host multiple sites. With cloud hosting, a website isn’t hosted on a single server, rather on a virtual portion of a server that gets its resources from a network of cloud-based servers, meaning that if one server fails, the others can compensate and ensure no downtime.
Cloud hosting is similar to VPS, because resources are utilized by multiple clients at a time, however, because of the higher number of servers involved, there are more resources to go around.
Cloud hosting may be scalable, flexible, and capable of handling high traffic spikes, however it can be more expensive depending on who you’re working with for hosting and is difficult to set up for beginners.
Choosing the Right Type of Hosting For Your Business
Choosing the right type of web hosting for your business depends on a variety of factors such as the size and complexity of your website or web application, expected traffic, your business’s security needs, your budget, and the services offered by the hosting provider you’re considering.
Be sure to consider all of these factors carefully to ensure that you choose the right hosting plan for your needs. Whatever hosting method you choose should provide the necessary resources and performance for your website and offer the services and features you need.
