Shared Hosting vs VPS Hosting – Why A Windows VPS Is Better

As a number of businesses continue to make the transition from shared hosting over to VPS hosting, some business owners and traders are still reluctant to do so for fear of change, or simply through fear of not fully understanding what VPS hosting is. Now, don’t get us wrong, we’re not saying that shared hosting is dead, far from it in fact as shared hosting still has a place in the tech and business world like many other products, it just isn’t perhaps the most beneficial resource now currently in operation. It’s like all things in life, there are products that do a pretty good job and keep things ticking over nicely, and then there are products that not only do an amazing job, but also help to improve whatever it is they’re designed to be used with, and that is how best to describe a windows VPS. If you’re a trader or business owner and have been thinking of upgrading from shared hosting to VPS hosting, here’s a look at a few comparisons between the two, taking a look at exactly what each one is, what the benefits of each example could be, as well as a few drawbacks and disadvantages as well. So, first off, let’s take a look at shared hosting, shall we?

What is shared hosting? – Shared hosting is basically a form of web hosting which incorporates one and one only physical server, with any allocated resources available on that server then being shared equally between all other users that share that very same server. On shared hosting platforms, users are assigned unique limitations on various resources such as disc space, traffic, databases, FTP accounts, emails, and memory etc. Think of shared hosting like living in an apartment complex, where common space is shared equally between you and your neighbours. Nothing can be customized or altered but maintenance responsibilities and costs are shared equally between you and your neighbours. Shared hosting is still the most common form of hosting, though that looks set to change very shortly thanks to the increase in popularity in VPS hosting. For customers who happen to have chosen low cost packages, shared hosting can indeed prove beneficial. If users fall into any of the following categories, shared hosting COULD be beneficial for them:

• Utilizing a plan to begin a business venture using their own, or borrowed, capital
• Individuals planning to maintain and host a smaller website, plus a blog or two etc
• Individuals that expect very low rates of traffic I.E less than 400 per day
• Individuals with a limited amount of email accounts due to a limited number of members of staff

There are a few advantages of shared hosting, with the main benefits including the following:

• Ideal for small websites due to easy maintenance
• Economical
• Extra storage space can be supplied
• Users don’t need to take care of the technical side of things.

However, with good there is also bad and here’s a look at a few of the disadvantages:

• Very limited resources
• Limited customer support
• Much slower
• Security settings must be configured by you
• Less secure
• Long-term back up and scalability issues
• Website performance affected by other websites on the same server

What is windows VPS hosting? – A windows VPS, or Windows Virtual Private Server, is a specially allocated server which is hosted inside a hypervisor that can actually be configured with memory resources and a dedicated CPU, making it extremely efficient indeed. One great benefit of a windows VPS is that it comes with a specially customised and fully tailored setup which will help to ensure that any of your applications running will be doing so correctly, in the right environment, and on top of that you can also configure it with various roles and features to help your business meet its objectives. Think of VPS hosting like living within a simplex or condo, in which you can customise furnishings and other items to suit your own specific tastes, but you will be responsible for looking after your own area. People best suited to VPS hosting include the following:

• People looking to expand their business
• People that expect a large increase in traffic to their site
• People that require a safe and secure server
• People that require a fast and efficient server
• Individuals that plan on hosting numerous websites and blogs
• People that require a safe and secure connection 24/7 265 days a year.

The main benefits of a windows VPS include the following:

• Easy backup and scalability without any downtime
• Much faster performance
• Incredibly safe and secure
• Remote access from other locations on other devices
• Fantastic customer service and support
• Fully customizable
• Your own batch files and services can be run within the server
• Subscriptions can be upgraded or downgraded anytime
• Huge bandwidth and space
• User-friendly
• Improves the performance and ranking of your site

As you can see, that’s quite a list of benefits, though here are a few potential drawbacks:

• Slightly more expensive (though many argue it’s worth every penny)
• Users need to be wary of some applications due to the fact that they could face issues running in virtualized environments.

Other than that however, that’s really only the real downsides we can think of when talking about a windows VPS. As you can probably see, though shared hosting is still beneficial, when compared with VPS hosting it doesn’t get a look in, so just bear that in mind for the future.