Opportunities and Challenges for Web Hosting

November 3rd, 2010 | Posted by admin in Uncategorized

In today’s highly competitive market even small businesses need to have online capabilities. They use their websites to create a competitive edge and remain successful. There are a lot of options in front of a manager of a small business for web hosting. He must opt for the best balance between functionality and price based on his business’s needs and his preferences.

One disadvantage of shared hosting is that you have to share the bandwidth and disk space with the other websites on the server. This means that when one website receives increased traffic the others might suffer. They could be temporary unavailable or slow. Furthermore, shared servers are less secure than the other options on the market. However, the attractive price of such a service remains the decisive factor for many businesses that do not plan to invest extensively in online capabilities.

The opposite of shared hosting is dedicated hosting. This is when the website leases a dedicated machine where it will be hosted. The customer enjoys the highest possible level of autonomy and the best possible resources. He also has almost complete control over all features of the website. Of course this comes at a much higher price.

For example, in case of a website crash you receive very good response time when you opt for a dedicated server. The problem will be dealt with and you will have your website online in a matter of minutes. Another important factor why so many specialists recommend for dedicated servers is the advanced website building capabilities involved with this option. You have the choice among a good range of advanced applications, control panels and tools at your disposal.

One challenge to dedicated servers is that they are much harder to manage that their shared counterparts. Therefore, they require that you have certain level of skill and experience in the field. If you don’t then it is maybe a better idea to start with another option and move on to a dedicated server later.