If you have heard
terms such as, ‘Web hosting’, ‘Web servers’, ‘Web Hosting Companies’, etc., and
you are wondering about the purpose of these, or if you are not an uninitiated
but you are curious to understand the difference between hosting and servers,
then you have arrived at the right place.
In this blog we
shall elaborate on what web hosting, web servers and web hosting companies are
and subsequently proceed to providing information specifically on Shared
Hosting and dedicated servers to cast light upon the difference between these
two.
Web Hosting and Web Hosting Companies
Web hosting,
which is also referred to as website hosting, is a service; whereas a web
hosting company, which is also called a web host, is the service provider of
this service. There can be different types of web hosting solutions as well as
different web hosting companies that provide this service professionally. For
example, HTS Hosting is a top-tier
service provider of a range of web hosting solutions. Its hosting services are
immensely popular among global clients due to their efficiency and
affordability, wherein the lowest priced website hosting plan starts at Rs.31/month and includes free SSL certificate along with many
other features. Undoubtedly, HTS Hosting
is regarded as the Best Web Hosting
Company, which has ensured that the demand forits various website
hosting plans is on the rise globally. What exactly is this service of web
hosting? Let us answer that first.
Web hosting is a
service that is meant for making websites publicly accessible over the Internet.Its
role doesn’t end there, as this service has to ensure that the websites are
seamlessly available to site visitors.Web hosting is provided by web hosting
companies through various website hosting plans which are purchased by website
owners in order to render their websites accessible online. Every web hosting
plan provides web server space for the purpose of website hosting and includes
numerous web hosting features that play an important part in ensuring the
efficiency of the service and the convenience of the user.
Depending on your
hosting requirements and taking your budget into account, you can opt for
either a Shared Hosting plan, which is the most economical option for hosting
websites, or you can opt for a Dedicated Hosting plan or a VPS Hosting (Managed
VPS Hosting, Self-managed VPS Hosting) plan.
If you have a
WordPress site, then professional and reputed web hosting companies, such as HTS Hosting, do offer WordPress
Hosting. WordPress Hosting is a type of web hosting service that is meant exclusively
for WordPress websites and caters to such sites’ hosting requirements,
especially with regard to their security and performance. These are the main
web hosting solutions that almost every reliable web hosting service provider
will offer. Moreover, you can choose between a Linux hosting plan and a Windows
hosting plan for Shared Hosting, Dedicated Hosting, Managed VPS Hosting,
Self-managed VPS Hosting and for Reseller Hosting. Reseller Hosting is another
popular web hosting service, which makes it quick and easy to become the
service provider of web hosting services at minimum capital investment and at
the least financial risk. In Reseller Hosting, the web hosting service of a
reputed service provider, such as HTS
Hosting, is purchased and is subsequently sold by the reseller through his
profitably priced hosting plans. Now that you know about web hosting, which is
a service provided by web hosting companies for making websites available
online to site visitors and includes various technologies and services; it is
time to understand how a website is rendered accessible to website visitors and
get to know the role of a web server in this regard.
The Role of a Web Server in Web Hosting
As mentioned
previously, every web hosting plan provides web server space for the purpose of
website hosting. Why is this web server space needed? You will find the answer
to it, in this part of the blog. Websites, regardless of their type, are made
of files. It is only when these files are available on our Internet-connected
devices, such as tablets, smartphones, laptops, etc., that the websites become
accessible to us. What is the role of a web server in this?
A web server
offers the platform, wherein the files of a hosted website are saved as well as
get processed. When you avail a web hosting plan, you essentially purchase web
server space, which can be either shared or dedicated, depending on the web
hosting plan that you have opted for. As soon as the web server receives an
incoming request from a browser for your website, the server locates the files
of your website in its storage and processes those files, which are then
retrieved by the browser. This is how any site visitor gets to access your
website or any other hosted website. Since it is web hosting companies that
have these web servers and all the infrastructure and resources for ensuring
the safe and fast accessibility of websites, it becomes necessary to purchase
the service of web hosting from a professional service provider.
Here, it needs to
be mentioned that HTS Hosting is not merely a service provider of excellent,
value-for-money web hosting solutions but also an efficient and fully-equipped
data centre. HTS
Data Centre is a top-grade data centre, that has all the infrastructure
to deliver secure, reliable and efficient hosting services to global clients.
Its web servers, which are constantly monitored and managed by experts, offer
outstanding performance and keep the hosted websites up and running securely at
all times.
Based on the type
of web hosting service, a web server can be classified as a shared server or as
a dedicated server or as a Virtual Private Server (VPS).Let us touch upon
shared and dedicated servers, in brief over here, as these two types of web
servers are at the opposite ends of the spectrum.
A shared server
is the web server on which the files of your website will be stored and
processed, if you have purchased a Shared Hosting plan for either Linux or for
Windows. In this type of web server, multiple websites are hosted on the same
server. This means that several websites will be stored and processed on a
single web server (shared server). Hence, the server space and the resources of
such a server will be shared among the hosted sites. In short, a shared server
offers shared server space, shared web server resources and a common IP address
to all the sites that are hosted on it. Moreover, server customization is not
possible on such a server due to the shared aspect of it. A shared server,
which is part of every Shared Hosting plan, can effectively cater to sites that
are not resource-intensive and which do not need dedicated server resources.
A dedicated
server is totally opposite of a shared server, although both the web servers perform
the same function, i.e. store and process the files of website/websites and
respond to the requests of browsers. Unlike a shared server, a dedicated web
server hosts a single website on a single web server. Hence, it is able to
offer its entire server resources for the exclusive use of the hosted website,
which ultimately results in the hosted website’s enhanced site speed, powerful
performance and augmented security. It is possible to customize the web server
when using a dedicated server, as the entire server space and server resources
are meant for the use of a single client. A dedicated web server ensures that
you derive the benefits of having dedicated server space, dedicated server
resources, dedicated IP address and server customization for the peak
performance of your hosted site. If budget is not a constraint, then it is
always better to opt for a dedicated server.
Differences between Shared Hosting and Dedicated Servers
The obvious
difference is that Shared Hosting is a web hosting service and a dedicated
server is a web server. Hence, the plans for the former are availed as web
hosting solutions for rendering websites accessible online, while the latter is
a web server that is used for storing and processing the files of a single
website which is hosted on a dedicated server. Let us, summarize the main
differences between Shared Hosting and dedicated servers.
- Shared Hosting is
a web hosting solution (service). A dedicated server is a web server (physical
component).
- Shared Hosting is
availed as a service in the form of Shared Hosting plans for rendering websites
available over the Internet. Dedicated servers store and process the files of
websites that have availed a hosting plan for the same.
- In Shared Hosting
multiple websites are hosted on a single web server, whereas a dedicated server
hosts a single website on a single web server.
- Shared Hosting
involves shared server resources, shared server space and a shared IP address.
When a website is hosted on a dedicated server, it is entitled to dedicated
server resources, dedicated server space and a dedicated IP address.
- Server
customization is not possible in any Shared Hosting plan. It is possible to
customize a dedicated server.
- There can be
issues regarding the speed and the security of the sites hosted through Shared
Hosting plans, due to the shared aspect of the web server. A dedicated server
offers enhanced site speed, powerful security and peak site performance.
- Shared Hosting is
the most economical web hosting solution for hosting a wide range of websites.
Since a dedicated server hosts a single website per server, it is more
expensive to avail.
Conclusion:
Shared Hosting,
as a web hosting service, is totally different from a dedicated server, which
is a web server. Whether you opt for Shared Hosting or you opt for a dedicated
web server, will depend entirely on your hosting requirements and on your
budget.
As a Top Web
Hosting Company and as a popular data centre, HTS Hosting offers you a wide range of plans to choose from, for
availing either its efficient and affordably-priced Shared Hosting or any other
type of hosting solution; or its value-for-money dedicated servers or VPS. You
can connect with HTS customer care at any time and an expert will help you
select the best hosting solution for your requirement and within your budget.