Table of contents:
- Introduction
- Understand the basics!
- What is cloud hosting?
- What is traditional hosting?
- When should you choose cloud hosting?
- When should you choose traditional hosting?
- Conclusion
Introduction
We all have been in a situation where it was crucial to make a quick decision. Choosing a hosting provider for a website is amongst these decisions. We tend not to focus on our choice, as we believe it is irrelevant. “If it is quick then everything is right” - many people refer to choosing the right hosting provider like this.
However, it should be more than just an irrelevant decision. Hosting providers are the heart of websites, and if the chosen one does not fit well for your industry, or use of a website, your online presence will be a complete nightmare.
In this article, we will introduce two of the main hosting provider options, the cloud and traditional hosting. We will also mention their strengths and weaknesses, and give industry type recommendations.
2. Understand the basics!
In this part of the article, we will meet with the basics of the two hosting options.
a. What is cloud hosting?
In cloud hosting, your website’s data isn’t only stored in one physical server. Instead, it is run by virtual servers in the cloud. Of course, these virtual servers have physical resources that make this whole system work. However, these resources work from all over the world, with a wide range of power options.
The good thing is, if you have more resources than one server can ensure, the provider can quickly switch to another server with greater power. This way, the possibility of controlling a slow-loading website is relatively low.
But there are a bunch of other great features:
- The locations of the physical servers can be anywhere in the world, therefore it can be a cheap option.
- Scaling is not a problem, as they can ensure more power just in time.
- Software and hardware updates happen automatically
- You don’t need to pay the server fee; it's just the amount of power you need.
However, we must mention some of its negative aspects:
- Cloud misconfigurations can lead to data breaches if not properly managed.
- Once you are locked in, the exit fee is expensive (it is a time-consuming activity).
- It can quickly be expensive due to your success.
Overall, cloud hosting options are robust ways to handle some of the hosting issues, but they can also generate some concerns.
b. What is traditional hosting?
The term 'traditional hosting' refers to its longevity. These hosting options have existed since the early days of the Internet. Of course, throughout the years these hosting options have evolved and improved to keep up the pace with the modern alternatives.
Traditional hosting options are all centered across one or more physical computers. These store your website’s data, secure your site, and support it with extra features.
Here, you can have your own dedicated server (the physical computers only store your data), or you can share servers with others (therefore multiple websites maintained by the same computers). Traditional hosting offers you a wide range of options, therefore its price can vary. A shared hosting option can even be cheaper than cloud hosting options, but a dedicated server will be more expensive than that.
Let’s mention its positive attributes:
- Great control of your server’s configuration.
- Fixed or annual fee up-front, so you can calculate more precisely
- Wide range of options, with a wide range of price
- You can be sure where your data is stored if you need to document that
And move on to the negative attributes:
- Switching plans or upgrading hardware can be time-consuming and expensive
- You are responsible for downloading the updates, patches, and backup saves
- If your website grows, the server can’t follow it instantly with more power
3. When should you choose cloud hosting?
Cloud hosting is great when your traffic can grow rapidly. A physical server can work perfectly between a traffic range, but if your traffic becomes higher than that the whole site becomes slow, and an urgent act is needed. The problem is, that switching to another plan takes time, and meanwhile, your visitors can change their mind on you, and switch to other sites to solve their problem.
So, if scaling is a future opportunity, choose a cloud hosting plan!
Also, if you want to serve a global community, cloud hosting is the best option. In this case, the physical servers locations are unclear, and they are spread across the globe. That’s why they will be approximately the same amount of distance from all of your visitors. Therefore, there will be no lags, and slow-loading websites because of long-distance connections.
On top of that, If you don’t want to be bothered by updates, security patches, or hardware maintenance, cloud hosting should be your choice. Cloud hosting handles these tasks automatically, and even though you have fewer decisions in customizing your site, you can’t spoil anything up at the same time.
4. When should you choose traditional hosting?
Even though traditional hosting includes a wide range of hosting options, some forms are generally cheaper than all the cloud hosting options. For example, the shared traditional hosting opportunity, when you share one physical server with others, is one of the few budget alternatives.
It is great for those who haven’t established a buyer circle yet and are starting their new business now without any offline activity.
Also, strict data laws can require websites to show the physical locations of their stored data. And according to what we wrote earlier, it is almost impossible to show this in the case of a cloud hosting opportunity.
If you have IT teams, or at least have a complete image of your future website with some expertise to implement that, traditional hosting provides you with a wide range of customizing options. If you want your own web server setup, database configuration, or network configuration a traditional hosting plan lets you do that on your own.
5. Conclusion
In this article, we met with the two most prominent members of hosting types, mentioning their strengths and weaknesses, and their most important characteristics.
We recommend you to explore your options, understand your website’s needs first, and make the decision right after that. Don’t forget that your hosting option will determine your site’s speed, the maximum amount of stored data, your maximum email accounts, and most importantly: your website’s and your brand’s future success!