With so much data being generated every day and new websites coming up, the security and management of these resources becomes extremely crucial for organizations.
These organizations need to manage the resources and elements of their websites in a convenient place, from where they can be accessed instantly at the request of the user.
The 2 main options with managers today are traditional web hosting and the next generation concept, or rather the ease, of cloud hosting. As businesses continue switch to online modes data storage like cloud space, cloud hosting services are gaining popularity, although many managers are still confused between web hosting and cloud hosting.
For those who are familiar with the concept of Cloud Computing, this may not seem like a huge challenge, especially for those who have a cloud computing certificateHowever, managers who are deprived of them need to analyze the pros and cons of both services, and determine which of these 2 is the most suitable and most beneficial for their organization.
In this article, we try to illustrate the main differences between these 2 hosting modes, focusing on different parameters. You need to analyze each of them separately to make the final decision on which hosting service to use in your business. Before discussing the difference, let’s take a quick look at what exactly these 2 hosting services are.
Web hosting
Web hosting is the traditional mode of website hosting whereby organizations host their web resources on local servers. Resources are stored on a local server, and when a user makes a request on a website, those resources are accessed from the server and presented on the website.
There are different types of web hosting you can use for your website, such as virtual, dedicated, shared, and managed. However, the 2 most common are virtual and dedicated web hosting services. The main difference between these 2 is given below.
Virtual Web Hosting: This is also called VPS (Virtual Private Server), and allows the web host to purchase a particular share of the server where files can be located. The rest of the server is used by other companies and websites, so multiple users have access to the full server at once.
Dedicated web hosting: In this, the entire server is owned by one organization or entity, and hence you don’t need to share your resources with anyone else. Because of this added functionality, dedicated web hosting is often more expensive than virtual web hosting.
Unlike hosting your website resources on local servers, cloud hosting allows you to store your website resources on the digital space of the internet through various platforms. You can take advantage of this cloud space online, by simply paying for as many services as you expect, rather than paying to buy fixed server space.
With the growing popularity of cloud computing, cloud-based hosting is also gaining stability mainly due to its various advantages. Some of the benefits of this type of hosting service include better security, less cost, flexibility, ease of access, shareability, etc.
Web Hosting vs Cloud Hosting
As we now know the basics of both types of hosting, let’s check out what are the main differences between them and which type of hosting excels in a particular category.
Resource control
- With web hosting, you buy a small space on the server, not the full server. This means that along with you, other users also store their resources on a shared platform.
- Also, with web hosting, you buy a limited space on the server which is fixed. In case of cloud hosting, you do not buy a particular space but access services according to your needs.
- This is especially useful for growing websites that don’t have a great idea of their needs and just want to adapt to circumstances.
- However, growing websites also want to stay economical and less involved in managing the hosting service due to little knowledge, and web hosting seems to be a better option in such cases.
Services
- Web hosting platforms come with services that complement normal resource management.
- They also offer automated backups of your resources, just to prevent you from accidentally dumping resources. Additionally, as competition in the hosting market intensifies, many web hosting service providers now also offer completely free domain registration.
- In the case of the cloud, most services (not all) are integrated with their servers. They also help recover data when the server goes down, and since major providers host multiple servers, they also provide better service by switching between different servers, when one goes down or encounters a problem.
Scalability
- If you are using a web hosting service and somehow need to expand your resources or space, the options you will have will include either changing your plan or switching providers. Services. It is both tedious and time-consuming.
- In the case of cloud hosting, scalability is an important feature and allows you to dynamically change your space and resources with just a few clicks. You can buy new space, remove unnecessary space and also connect your additional resources like RAM.
- For those who have stable traffic and know how much space their business would need, web hosting can be a good option. However, traffic for most websites remains dynamic with constant ups and downs. This has increased further since the pandemic era.
Security
- Web hosting providers often offer good security from authorized providers. However, sometimes the costs are extra and you may even have to purchase a security plan on your own.
- In case of cloud hosting, security features are built-in. Moreover, the security is far superior as most of the cloud platforms are offered by major IT giants like Amazon, Google, IBM and Microsoft which have a substantial capability to provide good security coverage.
Making a correct decision about your hosting service provider is crucial because it’s not something you can change from time to time.
There is a lot of planning and brainstorming that takes place in an organization before arriving at the final decision. Carefully analyze all these parameters and choose the service that best suits your company’s needs, mission and objectives.
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