Type of Hosting Services: Comparing Strengths and Weaknesses

Do you know the right type of hosting services for your website needs? If not, it's a good idea to know that there are four types of hosting that are usually offered, namely Shared, Cloud, VPS, Dedicated Hosting, WordPress hosting, Managed WordPress Hosting, and Email Hosting. 

This article will help you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each in order to determine the right type of hosting service. Happy reading! 

The Best of Hosting Services

What is a Web Hosting Service? 

Web hosting is a server rental service to store data on a site so that it can be displayed to internet users who access it. 

To understand more about how web hosting works, you can read this article.

7 Types of Hosting Services 

Each web hosting company offers different types of hosting. However, there are four types of hosting services that can be found in general, namely: 

1. Shared Hosting
2. Cloud Hosting
3. VPS Hosting
4. Dedicated Hosting
5. WordPress Hosting
6. Managed WordPress
7. Email Hosting.

In this section, you will be invited to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each type in order to choose the best suitable web hosting service.

1. Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is the right type if you are not experienced in building and running websites. Not only that, this hosting service is also suitable for websites with low traffic or small number of visitors.

Strengths

Shared hosting is a great choice for beginners because of its ease of use. This type of hosting is fully managed. In other words, the management and configuration of the server is borne by the provider.

From an operational perspective, shared hosting users are usually pampered with an easy-to-use control panel, such as cPanel. 

No less interesting, these hosting services are generally offered at affordable prices. At Niagahoster, for example, you can purchase this service for $1 per month. 

However, shared hosting can be relied on for websites that do not take up large resources. 

To get more resources, there are two options you can choose from: cloud hosting and VPS hosting. For those of you who want convenience, cloud hosting is a more appropriate choice. However, VPS hosting is more suitable if you have the technical expertise to manage servers.

Deficiency 

Shared hosting is easy to use and does not cost a lot. However, the resources that this type of web hosting offers are very limited. In addition, one shared hosting server is used by several websites. Therefore, an overload on one website can have an impact on other websites. 

In addition, users of this type of hosting do not get access to change the server configuration to suit the needs of the website.

2. Cloud Hosting 

You have no technical knowledge but the website needs more resources? Cloud hosting is the answer. This type of web hosting offers the ease of use found in shared hosting, but with higher storage capacity and bandwidth.

Strengths

As just mentioned, cloud hosting is a type of hosting that is also user-friendly. Like the previous types of hosting services, cloud hosting is also fully managed. That way, your attention and time can be more focused on managing the website — or the online store, for those who have it. 

However, the main advantage of cloud hosting lies in the mechanism. User website data is duplicated and stored on multiple servers. If one server has a problem, the other server will be activated to keep the website running. 

Plus, cloud hosting server resources are not shared as in shared hosting. Thus, your website will not slow down if another website is overloaded.

Weaknesses

Despite the sophistication that cloud hosting offers, the costs that users need to incur are not low. For example, Niagahoster's cloud hosting service starts at $15 per month. In addition, server configuration access is also not provided in this type of web hosting.

3. VPS Hosting 

VPS or virtual private server hosting is an option for users who need large resources and more flexibility in adjusting server settings to their needs. The good news is that this type of hosting service is generally more affordable than cloud hosting. 

Strengths

The concept of VPS hosting is actually similar to shared hosting — one server is used by several websites at once. 

However, VPS hosting resources are dedicated. In other words, the performance of your website will not be affected by problems that occur on other users' websites. 

Not only that, VPS hosting users can enjoy the following advantages: 

Freedom to choose the server operating system — you can choose the operating system the server uses to suit your technical capabilities or the needs of the website
Flexibility in specifying the type of control panel — VPS hosting offers advanced control panel options such as Webuzo and VestaCP. However, users can also choose cPanel for convenience
Root Access — You have the freedom to change various hosting server settings used
Dedicated IP — Your website's IP address reputation will not be affected by other websites. To understand this further, you can read this article. 

You can get these features at a lower price than cloud hosting. At Niagahoster, the cost of VPS hosting services starts from $10 per month. 

Weaknesses

Although it offers root access, VPS hosting is self-managed which means you are responsible for managing the server alone. 

Therefore, knowledge of servers is the main thing that you need to have if you want to use VPS hosting. The reason is, various existing server settings require expertise in using the command line that is in accordance with the server operating system. 

If you don't have technical knowledge but need more storage and bandwidth than shared hosting, cloud hosting is a more suitable choice for you. 

4. Dedicated Hosting 

Dedicated hosting is an “upgrade” of VPS hosting. Its capabilities are the same as the type of web hosting just discussed. However, one server is only used by one user.

Strengths

With a server dedicated to you alone, you don't have to worry about downtime. In addition, the storage capacity obtained is certainly greater than that offered by the three types of hosting services above. This is why dedicated hosting is perfect for websites with a lot of data and visitors. 

In addition, dedicated hosting also has the advantages of VPS hosting, including root access, dedicated IP, and the freedom to choose the operating system and control panel.

Weaknesses

Like VPS hosting, the operation of dedicated hosting requires you to have a high level of technical knowledge because server management is not carried out by the hosting provider. 

Plus, the cost of this type of hosting is the most expensive compared to other types — the average price is above $100 per month.

5. WordPress Hosting

WordPress hosting is a shared hosting based service that is optimized for the use of WordPress websites. 

So for those of you who are familiar with WordPress, this hosting is the right choice. Because, you can immediately focus on business development instead of site technical matters.

Strengths

WordPress Hosting services offer a variety of great features that maximize website performance. Starting from WordPress Accelerator to skyrocket site speed, WordPress Management to manage sites, etc. 

Without much tinkering technically, you can start using a WordPress website right away. Because, your server configuration has been done by Niagahoster. So, the performance of your WordPress website is considered optimal. 

Even so, you still get access to cPanel. So you can still tinker with the technicalities of the web independently, if you want. 

Weaknesses

Since it is designed for WordPress use, this hosting service is bound to have some limitations. For example, your access to the server or configuration is not as extensive as other types of hosting such as VPS. Because, everything is set by the System Administrator. 

In addition, hosting resources are also not as big as VPS or Cloud Hosting. The reason is, WordPress Hosting uses a shared hosting system whose servers are shared with other users. So, there could be an overload or interference together.

6. Managed WordPress 

Unlike WordPress Hosting, Managed WordPress Hosting is designed to be more friendly to novice users. And because it uses a dedicated WordPress server, site performance is faster, optimized, and secure.

Strengths

Of course, Managed WordPress is friendly to the layman. Especially if you are new to hosting and want a website that is ready to use and has top-notch performance. 

With Managed WordPress Hosting, you can manage your website through a simple panel. You can also easily find out the statistics of website visitors through the visitor tracker, to custom designs and install new features through thousands of available plugins. 

The good news is, the ability of Managed WordPress Hosting is quite capable. Your site can accommodate 15 thousand to 450 thousand visitors per month. 

Every day, your website will be backed up automatically and Hack Recovery is also available. So, you don't have to be afraid anymore of losing data when the site crashes or gets hacked. 

Weaknesses

With great capabilities and abundant facilities, Managed WordPress Hosting is indeed somewhat more expensive than other types of hosting services. In addition, the technical configuration that you can modify is quite limited.

7. Email Hosting

Other than the types of hosting above, email hosting is web hosting specifically for email. This means that the server you are using is designed to send and receive email in a professional manner. 

Using email hosting, you can have email with your own domain. For example, ray@goddady.com.

Strengths

Instead of regular or default email from hosting services, email hosting provides more complete features. Starting from weekly backups, email guarantees to consumers, safe from spam, to the ability to send thousands of emails per day. 

And, not a few of you know. Email hosting allows you to send 100 to 400 emails/hour. This means that you have a share of sending up to 9600 emails/day. That's a lot, isn't it? 

In addition, email hosting is also on a separate server from web hosting. Thus, the performance is even more optimal. 

Weaknesses

Despite its advantages, email hosting has some disadvantages. First, you can only create email accounts with your primary domain. 

ray@goddady.com, for example. You cannot use another domain like robert@pattinson.com. 

The features and capacities you get are also somewhat limited. There are no addon domain, sub domain, and park domain features. Regarding storage space, the amount depends on the package of your choice.

Which Type of Hosting Service is Right? 

You can think of web hosting services as a long term investment. Therefore, you need to know the right type of web hosting for your website. If you choose the wrong one, your site may not run as planned and your money will be wasted.