In this post, I will review what Shared Web Hosting service provides. In other words, what should you expected to be in a typical shared web hosting package, Pros, Cons and things you should be aware of when taking a shared hosting plan.
So what's shared web hosting?
In simple terms, it's a hosting account or a disk space in a server connected to the Internet, where other user accounts are also present.
Why Shared Web Hosting is one of the most popular web hosting plans out there?
OK, let me go into details into what each of the above means.
Cheap Shared Web Hosting:
Shared hosting is cheap because hosting providers places many customer accounts into one server connected to the Internet. This way, 1 server is able to consolidate allocated spaces for accounts into several partitions on the same server. Doing so, allows the web hosting provider to save on hardware, licenses, administration and resources and therefore provide affordable web hosting plans. Some will be as low as $2 a month. Some web hosts even offer discount when taking annual plans.
Shared Hosting Control Panel:
A web hosting control panel allows managing various web hosting space features. Back in the days, all actions preformed on a web hosting account has to be done via shell by typing a lot of commands. Fortunately, with the advance of hosting control panels, it has not become very easy to do various tasks on web hosting account with a few clicks.
Pre-Installed Features:
There are many and different features depending on the web hosting provider you decide to go with. All the features should be available via a control panel. Just to give you an idea, here is a print screen of my personal favourite: cPanel control panel.
As you can see there many pre-installed features that's usually available once your web hosting account is activated. Following are some of the features can be easily configured from cPanel control panel: File Management, email, MySQL Databases, Sub domains, Addon Domains, Website Stats and much more at a click of button. Each option usually have details on what it does.
Free domain name:
Not all shared web hosting providers offer free domain name, but most does. Some even offers a free domain forever. Which means, you don't have to pay the domain yearly renewal fee as this is covered as part of the web hosting account.
There are other hosting control panels out there, but I've provided cPanel example here because it's one of the easiest to work here in my opinion.
No hosting server patches or fixes to worry about:
Having to keep up with various patches, fixes and system security vulnerabilities is a lot of work. Delegating this task to your web hosting provider is ideal for many reasons. For starters, most web hosts know their business well and have dedicated teams of experts on the subject. So looking after the web hosting server is just part of their daily tasks, while if you are an individual or a small company, it can become a strain on your resources. Also, when the web hosts covers this side of the administration, you can focus on growing you content, visitors, business or whatever you are looking to gain from your website.
Technical Support:
Web hosting technical support is very helpful especially for beginners that need guidance or support on how to do various things. Most web hosting companies will highlight this part of the service as their key differentiator, although support delivery and experience may vary from one web host to another.
As you can see, there is a lot to be said for shared web hosting, hence it's the most popular option for individuals and companies alike. However, there are some cons to shared web hosting. Most are relevant to large and demanding organisations, but there are drawbacks you should be aware of.
Share Hosting Cons:
- Custom applications may not be supported by the web hosting provider or can not be installed.
- Single IP address for the server is shared among all user accounts.
- SSL - Secure Socket Layer certificate not available or shared with other accounts for a cost. SSL is required if you are running an e-commerce website and collecting credit card information or other sensitive details. It ensure that a transactions between the client computer and hosting server is encrypted.
- Security related issues as there are many user accounts on the same hosting server.
Most reputable web hosts do a good job of ensuring this doesn't happen, but it can be an issue.
- Performance issues if your account happens to be hosted on a server where there are more user accounts than should be. Most web hosts, monitors the performance of their servers and will take action if they notice resource degradation issues on a server. However, on some cases, it may need to be reported for them to take notice.
- No backups. Most shared hosting servers are not backed up, although some hosting providers run a routine backup, but if it's outlined in the contract, web hosts will not have the obligation to restore your data or content in case of disaster. This can be easily cover by doing your own routine backup using the provided control panel. If it's not available, I suggest you ask for it before you sign up.
I've tried to cover all the plus point as well as drawbacks of shared web hosting, but if you think there are any more I should add, please let me know by using the comments option.
So what's shared web hosting?
In simple terms, it's a hosting account or a disk space in a server connected to the Internet, where other user accounts are also present.
Why Shared Web Hosting is one of the most popular web hosting plans out there?
- It's cheap
- Provides a control panel such as cPanel, Ensim, DirectAdmin, Plesk and more
- Pre-installed features
- Free domain
- No need to worry about server patches or fixes
- Technical Support included
- Provides a control panel such as cPanel, Ensim, DirectAdmin, Plesk and more
- Pre-installed features
- Free domain
- No need to worry about server patches or fixes
- Technical Support included
OK, let me go into details into what each of the above means.
Cheap Shared Web Hosting:
Shared hosting is cheap because hosting providers places many customer accounts into one server connected to the Internet. This way, 1 server is able to consolidate allocated spaces for accounts into several partitions on the same server. Doing so, allows the web hosting provider to save on hardware, licenses, administration and resources and therefore provide affordable web hosting plans. Some will be as low as $2 a month. Some web hosts even offer discount when taking annual plans.
Shared Hosting Control Panel:
A web hosting control panel allows managing various web hosting space features. Back in the days, all actions preformed on a web hosting account has to be done via shell by typing a lot of commands. Fortunately, with the advance of hosting control panels, it has not become very easy to do various tasks on web hosting account with a few clicks.
Pre-Installed Features:
There are many and different features depending on the web hosting provider you decide to go with. All the features should be available via a control panel. Just to give you an idea, here is a print screen of my personal favourite: cPanel control panel.
As you can see there many pre-installed features that's usually available once your web hosting account is activated. Following are some of the features can be easily configured from cPanel control panel: File Management, email, MySQL Databases, Sub domains, Addon Domains, Website Stats and much more at a click of button. Each option usually have details on what it does.
Free domain name:
Not all shared web hosting providers offer free domain name, but most does. Some even offers a free domain forever. Which means, you don't have to pay the domain yearly renewal fee as this is covered as part of the web hosting account.
There are other hosting control panels out there, but I've provided cPanel example here because it's one of the easiest to work here in my opinion.
No hosting server patches or fixes to worry about:
Having to keep up with various patches, fixes and system security vulnerabilities is a lot of work. Delegating this task to your web hosting provider is ideal for many reasons. For starters, most web hosts know their business well and have dedicated teams of experts on the subject. So looking after the web hosting server is just part of their daily tasks, while if you are an individual or a small company, it can become a strain on your resources. Also, when the web hosts covers this side of the administration, you can focus on growing you content, visitors, business or whatever you are looking to gain from your website.
Technical Support:
Web hosting technical support is very helpful especially for beginners that need guidance or support on how to do various things. Most web hosting companies will highlight this part of the service as their key differentiator, although support delivery and experience may vary from one web host to another.
As you can see, there is a lot to be said for shared web hosting, hence it's the most popular option for individuals and companies alike. However, there are some cons to shared web hosting. Most are relevant to large and demanding organisations, but there are drawbacks you should be aware of.
Share Hosting Cons:
- Custom applications may not be supported by the web hosting provider or can not be installed.
- Single IP address for the server is shared among all user accounts.
- SSL - Secure Socket Layer certificate not available or shared with other accounts for a cost. SSL is required if you are running an e-commerce website and collecting credit card information or other sensitive details. It ensure that a transactions between the client computer and hosting server is encrypted.
- Security related issues as there are many user accounts on the same hosting server.
Most reputable web hosts do a good job of ensuring this doesn't happen, but it can be an issue.
- Performance issues if your account happens to be hosted on a server where there are more user accounts than should be. Most web hosts, monitors the performance of their servers and will take action if they notice resource degradation issues on a server. However, on some cases, it may need to be reported for them to take notice.
- No backups. Most shared hosting servers are not backed up, although some hosting providers run a routine backup, but if it's outlined in the contract, web hosts will not have the obligation to restore your data or content in case of disaster. This can be easily cover by doing your own routine backup using the provided control panel. If it's not available, I suggest you ask for it before you sign up.
I've tried to cover all the plus point as well as drawbacks of shared web hosting, but if you think there are any more I should add, please let me know by using the comments option.
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