When you want to create a website, one of the first things to hire is a hosting service, i.e. hosting on a server so that we can store our site there. And it is that, the cloud, despite what many think, has a physical place, in data centers. Well, when choosing the right hosting we come across countless different companies that provide this service, and a good number of different types of web hosting.
All this makes it difficult to choose the most suitable according to your needs and preferences. For this reason, in this article you will be able to learn about the existing types, their characteristics, and which one you should choose in each case.
What is a hosting?
Explained in simple words, websites are hosted on servers, which store the content and data of those sites. Servers are powerful machines that host and process information, connected to a network. Every part of your website, from image files to text to videos, is stored within these machines for access from any device connected to the server as a client.
The data centers, where the servers are located and maintained, are usually operated by different web hosting companies. Web hosting providers provide the necessary technology and server space to make your website accessible, as well as providing other additional services or features (backups, security features,…) to help customers.
Types of hosting
When choosing a hosting service, it is not only important to know how to choose the right provider, but also the different types offered by each of these providers. In this section you will learn about the existing types and their characteristics, thus knowing the advantages and disadvantages of each one:
Managed vs. Unmanaged
Server administered puts at your disposal some tools or additional functions for the management of your website. In addition, they may include additional technical assistance in the plan. Therefore, this type of hosting has the advantage of having these extra services (backup copies, maintenance, web security, acceleration with LiteSpeed,…), but it also has disadvantages, such as having to pay more for these additional services.
On the other hand, another disadvantage is that you probably won't have full access to the site where your website is hosted, so it can be more complicated to make certain adjustments unless they are included in the chosen plan. In short, it is not an option if you want to have more control.
On the opposite side is the hosting or hosting unmanaged. In this case, you have more control over the service, but you will be responsible for the protection, performance, administration and updates of the site. In this case, there are some advantages such as greater customization and optimization, more control, full access to the root of the server, cost savings for additional functions, complete hosting control panel, etc.
Against it, it also has a greater investment of time and resources to maintain your site, that is, in short, you will have to have more experience to be able to carry it out.
Shared hosting or shared hosting
This type of hosting, making an analogy, would be like living in a shared house to reduce the cost of rent. I mean, it's a shared hosting with other clients in order to get the cheapest service. This would be a good option for small sites. But the most notable disadvantage in this case would be the lack of space and that the problems of others end up affecting your site as well.
This type of service may be best for small websites, for those starting out with a blog or site that doesn't need a lot of space and isn't critical. For example, it could be a good plan for sites that will not exceed 10.000 or 20.000 visits per month.
Advantages:
- Cheaper
- Easy commissioning
- You will not need technical knowledge
Disadvantages:
- Resources shared with other websites
- Performance issues beyond your control
- slower loads
- Not scalable
Elastic hosting or elastic sites
It's a kind of plan more flexible accommodation. It has a peculiarity, and that is that it allows you to grow or scale the limitations of the space of the initially chosen plan, to adapt to the changing needs of your site. For example, if you start with a small website and become more successful and expand your business, this plan will always adapt to your needs.
A point to keep in mind is its automatic expansion, paying a plus to obtain a larger plan. However, it also has its drawbacks, such as that it is not the most suitable for complex web pages or that your options are more limited than in a dedicated hosting.
A good plan for customers with complex sites that plan to grow.
Advantages:
- Cost savings, since it will always be adapted to your growth
- Scalability
- Reliability
Disadvantages:
- It's not always the cheapest
- Not the fastest either
Dedicated Hosting
In this case, you will have a server completely dedicated to you, that is, continuing with the previous analogy, it would be like having your own home, without having to share it with others. You are the owner, and you are assigned a physical server with all its resources. In this way, you have a much more professional service, and you will be the direct administrator of it.
It is ideal for those who need more power and have many visitors. But its exclusivity has a higher economic cost than other services, in addition to the fact that you will have to have advanced administration knowledge or hire specialized labor for administration.
A good plan for those who want more control, with complex websites, such as those of large companies or organizations. It can be useful for sites that have more than 100.000 visits per month, that is, high traffic.
Advantages:
- Full control of the server
- unshared resources
- High load times, performance and availability
Disadvantages:
- higher cost
- Requires technical knowledge for its management
- You will be responsible for everything
VPS or Virtual Private Server
can be a good alternative between shared and dedicated server. This type of hosting has some of the characteristics of a dedicated hosting, but instead of a physical server, you are assigned a portion of a physical server, that is, a virtual machine.
In this way, you are assigned a series of hardware resources (CPU, RAM, storage...) of said physical server so that it works as if it were a dedicated server. The advantage is the price, which is cheaper than a dedicated server, although somewhat more expensive than a shared one.
This type of service can be good for small and medium business sites that need more than just a shared server, but one that is more affordable and simpler than a dedicated one.
Advantages:
- Dedicated virtual resources
- Ability to make custom settings
- High availability
- moderate cost
Disadvantages:
- Shared physical server with other VPS
- Certain control limitations
Cloud hosting
Its name may seem somewhat confusing, but it is a type of accommodation that is in multiple servers simultaneously. This balances the load, with the advantage that if one server goes down or fails, the service will continue to work on the others. But it also has its disadvantages, such as its higher cost.
This service can be a good option for companies with medium or large sites that are growing rapidly, as an alternative to a VPS. For example, such as sites with more than 50.000 visits per month.
Advantages:
- High security
- Scalable resources on demand
- High availability
Disadvantages:
- The price is not the lowest of all types
- Limitations on customization
The importance of good hosting to meet Google's Core Web Vitals
All the Core Web Vitals They are new metrics from Google to measure the user experience on a website. To optimize the web you should comply with these metrics that will be measured by the tools launched by Google in recent times.
For these metrics to come out under suitable values, it is very important to choose a suitable accommodation such as Hosting Raiola Networks. Otherwise, access to the website and its content could be considerably reduced, which will condition the SEO of said website, even if the website is optimized for it.
Keep in mind that until now Google has taken into account certain aspects of optimization for the user experience, prioritizing one page over another. However, as of now they are based on:
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): measures the load time of the content of a site. It takes as a reference the loading time of the largest content without the need to scroll. For a site to meet the standards required by Google Core Web Vitals, it must be under 2.5 seconds.
- FID (First Input Delay): is the time that passes from when the user performs an action on the web until the browser returns a response to said action. It is a metric focused on user interactivity. For good positioning, the FID should be less than 100ms.
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): Unlike the previous two metrics, CLS measures how often layout changes occur while the user is on the page. That is, the visual stability of the web. The CLS value of your website must be below 0,1 for the site to be well positioned.
We hope that with all this information you now have much more clarity on how to choose a hosting and the importance of a good service so that the websites you visit every day load as quickly as possible.
