Types of Web Hosting [A Comprehensive Comparison]

With much of our world shifting online in the past few months, reliable web hosting has become a critical business necessity. Whether you are hosting websites, applications, or office infrastructure, it is vital to have the right plan with the right resources.

But how do you choose from the different types of web hosting?

Web hosting options abound and can be overwhelming for the average user.

There are undoubtedly many things to consider outside of the hosting choices themselves. Business owners need to consider budget, age of the project, third party software licenses (where applicable), and the list goes on.

Business owners need to evaluate their needs when it comes to specific web hosting offerings.

We seek to ease your stress by noting the different types of web hosting available and for whom they work best.

What are the Types of Web Hosting?

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting is web hosting where single sites get placed on a single server with other websites, all sharing RAM, CPU, storage, and bandwidth resources. These types of web hosting plans are typically the least expensive of the hosting options. Because of the sharing of resources across multiple websites, performance and security can also suffer.

For those just starting with a brand new site, shared hosting is a good starting point. The low cost is attractive but is only fit for static websites with not a lot of traffic. Businesses that aim to scale quickly should consider shared hosting vs vps vs dedicated server hosting for the long run.

VPS Hosting

Virtual Private Server Hosting (VPS) is a dynamic virtualized hosting server within a parent server on cloud infrastructure. While many VPS servers can exist on the parent server, the resources get explicitly dedicated to the user, unlike shared hosting.

A cluster of servers makes up the cloud infrastructure behind VPS servers. The server instances themselves are independent partitions of the parent server with a set allocation of resources to each server instance.

They are single-tenant, which means the RAM, CPU cores, and storage is specific to a single user instead of being shared among many users.

A central feature of VPS hosting is root access. Users have full control of the environment and can carry out more configuration tweaks.

Liquid Web’s VPS Hosting offers all of this in upgradeable instances with packaged bandwidth. In addition to root-level access, users also get Secure Shell (SSH) and Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) access. InterWorx, cPanel, and Plesk are the available control panels for Linux, and we offer Plesk for Windows servers.

A VPS solution is a great option if you are hosting a few websites and applications that are not resource-intensive. They are also the perfect solution for file storage and sharing.

Cloud Dedicated Hosting

Cloud Dedicated hosting is a single-instance dynamic virtualized hosting server on a parent server on cloud infrastructure. Both exist on the parent server, and the resources get explicitly dedicated to the user. The primary differentiation is the fact that a Cloud Dedicated server is the only server instance on the parent server.

Often called Hybrid Dedicated servers, Cloud Dedicated server hosting also gets backed by clustered cloud infrastructure.

Cloud Dedicated Servers from Liquid Web provide options to fit the needs of business owners, resellers, and agencies needing dedicated resources in an easily scalable virtual server. Whether you’re hosting resource-intensive websites and applications, multiple sites and apps, databases, or want simple upgrade options, Cloud Dedicated servers will work for you.

Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated hosting is a single-tenant environment where physical server hardware and resources belong to a single user. Primarily, the owner of the dedicated server operates off of the physical components with the operating system, web server stack, and optional control panel for their hosting environment.

Dedicated servers are popular among resellers and agencies hosting a large number of small websites and applications. They are also great for more significant sites and apps that need more resources.

Liquid Web has been in the industry for several years, offering Dedicated Hosting solutions. We have everything from smaller, single processor options to larger configurations with dual processors. And customizing your server hardware is easy to do with multiple options available from storage, RAM, chassis, and bandwidth.

Cloud Hosting

There are many implementations of cloud hosting environments. Cloud Hosting in general refers to a network infrastructure that includes multiple physical servers connected via software. Both the private and public clouds are forms of cloud hosting.

Private Cloud

Private Cloud hosting solution is a single-tenant environment. A single organization can take advantage of a cluster of servers in a private cloud environment and use the combined resources to fit their needs.

By leveraging software like VMware, businesses can create as many virtual machines as can be handled to run their SaaS applications, websites, or other projects. Liquid Web’s Private Cloud powered by VMWare and NetApp provides business owners and digital agencies a premier private cloud solution to stand up to today’s demands.

Public Cloud

On the other side of the spectrum from the private cloud is Public Cloud Hosting. Public cloud is a multi-tenant hosting environment where multiple organizations reside in the same hosting environment, siloed from one another.

It is elastic and scalable, much like a private cloud, but the infrastructure is not specific to one organization. The cluster is much more robust and managed by the provider, offering business owners the ability to deploy scalable solutions quickly. It is also more cost-effective than a private cloud since the provider removes the burden of organizations paying for an individual cluster.

Liquid Web is proud to bring our Cloud Servers solution to the masses. For customers looking to move their workload to the cloud and eliminate in-house hardware, this is the solution. Customers can reduce hardware costs for their websites and applications while gaining redundancy and high availability.

Specialized Hosting

Several other solutions exist within the realm of the above-mentioned hosting options. They are either built on top of, or combinations of, traditional or cloud solutions to create a complex infrastructure that meets your specific hosting needs.

Enterprise Hosting

Enterprise customers have needs that go beyond basic hosting. They deal with large amounts of traffic and need highly available solutions with no downtime. Disaster recovery is a must.

For Enterprise customers, Cloud Hosting is not always what they want. They often prefer dedicated infrastructure, running their sites and applications directly off of physical server hardware. They then duplicate it, and failover to another replicated setup should something happen to the production environment.

Liquid Web offers hosting for the Enterprise, including dedicated server clusters, high-performance setups equipped with load balancing, and high availability environments with failover.

HIPAA Compliant Hosting

HIPAA Compliant Hosting is dedicated hosting secured behind lock and key that can only be accessed by specific users with logs maintained, and specific processes followed to ensure data integrity and security at all times.

For business owners dealing with Protected Health Information (PHI) or Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI), it is essential to have hosting that meets HIPAA requirements. The fines for loss or compromise of PHI can be steep, so it is imperative to ensure proper implementation of HIPAA hosting.

An independent auditing firm validated and confirmed that our data centers are compliant with HIPAA security and privacy guidelines. Their findings include administrative, physical, and technical safeguard measures.

Liquid Web has HIPAA Compliant dedicated server packages specific to the needs of those hosting PHI and ePHI. Speak with a hosting advisor today to ensure that you have the right solution and the information you need to get your HIPAA environment set up.

How Do I Choose Which Type of Web Hosting is Right for Me?

With the plethora of web hosting options available, how do you choose which hosting is right for your business? Keep the following guidelines in mind as you make your choice:

• Choose VPS Hosting if you are hosting a few websites and applications that are not resource-intensive.
• Choose Cloud Dedicated Hosting if you are hosting resource-intensive websites and applications, multiple sites and apps, databases, or want simple upgrade options.
• Choose Dedicated Hosting if you are a reseller or agency hosting a large number of small websites and applications or have significant sites and apps that need more resources. Also, choose this hosting option if you need more customizable storage options.
• Choose Private Cloud Hosting to leverage the cloud to create as many virtual machines as can be handled to run your SaaS applications, websites, or other projects.
• Choose Public Cloud Hosting if you are looking to move your workload to the cloud and eliminate in-house hardware. Also, choose this option to reduce hardware costs for your websites and applications while gaining redundancy and high availability.
• Choose Enterprise Hosting for complex needs requiring dedicated server clusters, high-performance setups equipped with load balancing, and high availability environments with failover.

Ready to get started? Speak with a hosting advisor today to set up the hosting environment that’s right for you.