If your web site has outgrown its shared hosting solution, it may be time to move it to virtual hosting, which is often seen as a low cost alternative to getting your own dedicated server. A virtual server gives you most of the advantages of a dedicated server at a fraction of the price. The web hosting service takes advantage of the fact that few small to mid-size web sites need the full resources of a machine and puts several web sites on the same server.
But, you're thinking, that sounds like the shared hosting plan I'm using now. What's the difference, and why do I pay more for a virtual server?
While there are some similarities, there are also marked differences between shared web hosting and virtual server hosting. While a web hosting company puts multiple accounts on the same server in both kinds of hosting, the resources of the machine are portioned out differently.
On a shared hosting server, generally the cheapest kind of web hosting available, all the server resources go into a common pot. If one account gets 'greedy' and scoops out more than its share of CPU time, for example, every account on the server is affected.
When you're on a virtual hosting account, that can't happen. All the resources of the server are portioned out and assigned to each account in the amounts that they're allowed to use. Rather than every web site reaching into a common pool and grabbing what they need, each one is handed a 'bowl' of CPU, server space and traffic. When they use it all up, they can't just grab more.
In addition, each web site is set up with its own operating system and assigned an isolated segment of the disk that's separate from other web sites on the same disk. In some cases, each may even have their own hard drive on the server. If something crashes one web site on the host server, it doesn't affect any other web site.
Having your own operating system also means that you can make changes to it that you may not be allowed to make on a shared server. This allows you to customize the way your web site behaves almost as if you were on a single dedicated machine without worrying about affecting other customers on the same machine. To go back to our bowl of soup analogy, if your next door virtual neighbor decides to add extra salt to his bowl, your web site visitors aren't stuck with over-salted soup.
Prices for a virtual server range from about $35 a month to $99 a month and up. Your own dedicated server will run several hundred dollars a month, depending on the options that you choose for it. Overall, it's an excellent web hosting choice for a small-to-mid-size web site that needs more flexibility than shared server hosting allows without overstretching their budget.
To view our top recommended companies for web hosting, visit: recommended web hosting companies online.
Carrie Reeder is the owner of recommended web hosting companies online, an informational website with articles and the latest news about various topics including web hosting.
affordable house cleaning Park Ridge ..Thousands of companies, tens of thousands of different plans and... Read More
If you're shopping around for an affordable web hosting plan,... Read More
Sooner or later, as everyone finds out, nothing in this... Read More
The first thing that you must realize when looking for... Read More
So you've decided about your website design and now you... Read More
Overselling is a big trend in the web-hosting world at... Read More
John's online business is expanding. His customers are increasing day... Read More
Most Internet service providers do not give you static IP... Read More
John is very happy today, for the first time in... Read More
These days, web hosting companies are popping up faster than... Read More
The market is good for new Web hosting companies. According... Read More
Many start-up web hosts in their desperate attempt to get... Read More
Are you looking for web hosting? If you want to... Read More
With literally thousands of web hosting companies in the industry... Read More
If you're in business, one of the most important things... Read More
The ProblemToo often new webmasters sign-up with the first good... Read More
Here are some things you should know before finding a... Read More
AutoResponders are nifty scripts that run in your web server... Read More
With hundreds of web hosting companies to choose from today... Read More
Anybody who decides to get a web hosting service or... Read More
How To Select A Web Hosting CompanyWhen starting out, it... Read More
If you run a website hosting business, you already know... Read More
What is web hosting you ask? Web hosting refers to... Read More
This article is meant to all who already have a... Read More
One of the most confusing decisions someone new to web... Read More
affordable house cleaning Mundelein ..You've made your decision to move from your website from... Read More
If you're about to set up your first web site... Read More
There are a couple of key things to look at... Read More
If you've ever browsed the World Wide Web and wondered... Read More
When building your first site the main things that you... Read More
If you are looking for a solid, reliable web host,... Read More
Dedicated web hosting has its difficulties and problems from time... Read More
Well? you've purchased a domain name? created a pretty design?... Read More
Perhaps your web hosting company has a technical support group... Read More
You've decided to get a reseller web hosting account to... Read More
Chances are if you host multiple domains or websites you... Read More
The fact that an estimated 40,000 new blogs are being... Read More
All the good ones are taken. The really good ones,... Read More
Web Hosting in 2005 --- Finding the Niche and Cashing... Read More
The Basics of Linux & Windows :Linux (and its close... Read More
Blogging is an abbreviation of "web-logging". The simplest definition of... Read More
John's online business is expanding. His customers are increasing day... Read More
So you've decided about your website design and now you... Read More
Business web hosting is what you need. You have a... Read More
You have carried out the hard part and that's creating... Read More
Bandwidth in its simplest terms refers to the amount of... Read More
Many business owners find themselves in a quandary over the... Read More
Your new website is ready to upload, and now you... Read More
What is web hosting? Whenever you visit a website, what... Read More
Virtually anyone with an email address knows what Spam is,... Read More
Web Hosting |