When you’re first buying hosting, you probably will have to make some decisions. There are a lot of choices in the hosting field, and in order to benefit the most, you need to know which one is best for you. This article will compare and contrast the two most common forms of hosting, cheap web hosting and VPS’s.
We’ll start with cheap web hosting. Basically, cheap, or shared, web hosting, is where you purchase a very small percentage of a server. You share this server with about 50+ other people, sometimes up to several hundred. Obviously this isn’t as good as having your own server, but it’s much cheaper. Cheap web hosting costs only about $5 per month, which makes it a good choice for webmasters on a budget.
VPS’ on the other hand are more like dedicated servers than anything else. When you purchase a VPS, you’re basically buying a mini-server. Technically you are sharing one large server with about 10 other people, but it’s much more separated. You will usually get your own dedicated IP with a VPS, and you will be able to manage your VPS just like it was a real server. VPS’ are usually managed, which makes them much easier to maintain than dedicated servers. However, VPS’ are usually at least $50/month, so if you can’t afford that, get cheap web hosting.
In reality, most people will do just fine with simple cheap web hosting. A lot of webmasters get overexcited and end up buying things that they really don’t need. For instance, if you are JUST starting out, you will definitelly do fine with cheap web hosting, and a VPS is just a waste of money. If you’ve been a webmaster for about a year or so and you have large site(s), then a VPS may be a worthwhile investment.
Written by Web Hosting Expert on Oct 25, 2009.
