Shared Hosting vs Dedicated Hosting

Let's face it, hosting your website with a hosting company is a big challenge. One of those challenges is deciding if a shared hosting plan or dedicated server hosting plan is right for you.

First the definitions..

A shared hosting plan is very inexpensive these days. That is because hosting companies can pack 50, 100 and even 400 website hosting plans on one linux web server at their data center. There is nothing wrong with this at all as that is how 80% of websites out there operate. As long as your hosting provider gives you a reputable admin control panel (like C-Panel or H-Sphere) and they have high end servers on fat internet connections, you should be fine.

With a full service shared hosting plan, your provider should give you all the necessary tools to completely control and customize your website. Shared plans have long had tons of options, SSL, dedicated IP options, E-Commerce, etc for some time.

The current rate for a control panel based shared hosting plan starts around $3.95 per month. Beware though, as those very low rates are usually tied to ads and pop up banners on your site, or sometimes the low advertised rate is tied to you buying a domain name from that provider.

What you don't get from a shared hosting plan is the ability to have "root access" to the server. In a shared hosting plan, the provider gives you access to everything you need to customize your site and no access to things that you could "destroy"!

A dedicated server hosting plan gives you the same services as a shared hosting plan but much, much more. Essentially, you are given root access to the web hosting server. Just imagine that the dedicated hosting server is right on your desk. You will be given complete remote access, just as if you were standing right next to the box.

With dedicated server hosting you typically have the ability to load any software you desire.

That being said, you need to have good technical knowledge of this service or you will be lost for good!. Also a typical dedicated server web hosting plan with any provider usually starts around $100 per month.

So, if you need full service and inexpensive hosting, shared hosting is the norm. If you want full control of your own web server, then fork out the dough!

Ken Bonin is the owner and admin of BlackLogic Hosting, a division of BlackLogic Communications, a complete internet services provider.