What is the Difference Between Shared Hosting and Dedicated Servers?

Choosing the correct hosting solution is crucial for your business to perform properly. When it comes to choosing a hosting solution, you may feel a little overwhelmed on how to choose the best service for your business needs. How do you know which is best for you and your business? Today, we are going to discuss two options for hosting plans –  shared hosting and dedicated servers.

Dedicated Servers

Dedicated servers are known for their high performance features in processing power and storage speed.  They are connected to high-speed internet connections and are hosted in data centers. Dedicated servers can be used for any number of things, some of which are hosting websites or database-intensive applications. A good example of this could be CRM systems such as Microsoft Dynamics or SAP. As the name implies, each server is dedicated privately to you.  You receive access to a physical server with the agreed upon hardware specifications, processing, and storage, all in one unit.

Shared Hosting

Shared hosting means you are sharing a physical server with other users. Shared hosting is an  option where a single physical server hosts multiple users. That includes all physical resources such as hard drive, CPU power, memory usage, and bandwidth. Each user will usually have a limit on the total amount of server resources they can use, but this will be defined by your hosting package.

Main Differences Between Shared Hosting and Dedicated Servers

With shared hosting, there are other businesses that host their sites on the server, right alongside your business. Dedicated hosting means that your business is the only user hosted on the server. It is important to understand the differences between shared hosting and dedicated servers:

• Configuration
  With shared hosting, the amount of space and bandwidth you are allotted is limited since you are sharing the resources and server with other users. With dedicated servers you get as many resources as you need without sharing the resources between users.
  
• Security
  Dedicated servers are generally said to be more secure than shared hosting. This is because shared hosting servers are shared with other users  which provides the opportunity for security breach. With dedicated servers, your IT team has full control over the server’s security, and since it is dedicated to your business (you are the only user) the chances of catching malware, spyware and other viruses are low.

• Costs
  With shared hosting, maintenance cost is divided among the multiple users, which costs less.

A dedicated server is dedicated entirely to one user, which costs more. A dedicated server is relatively more expensive, as it provides an array of features, like better support and security. Shared hosting is more cost-effective but dedicated hosting gives you full control making it more scalable and secure.

Dedicated Hosting or Shared Hosting?

Now that we have covered the similarities and differences between shared hosting and dedicated hosting plans, which option should you choose?

Determining the best requirements for your hosting needs can be challenging. Establishing the requirements for your business can help save you time and money. Make sure to check out some infographics to decide what you might need.

• Infographic: colocation vs. cloud
• Infographic: colocation vs. Dedicated Servers
  
  

Finding a hosting provider, you can trust!

Netrouting is here to help you make the right decision for your business needs. Our experts are happy to assess your business needs with you to help improve your business’ IT infrastructure. Please contact us at sales@netrouting.com or +31 (0)88 270 02 00.

Do you have any questions about our hosting solutions and why you might need one? Get in touch with us today and we will be happy to help!