Hosting Guide


Hosting is a key element to your online presence; you need it to give your website global access. Different types of hosting exist and choosing the best one for your needs can be confusing. Irrespective of the hosting service selected, your website will run on hardware called a server. The configuration of this server can determine the type of hosting you receive, and its suitability for your website’s requirements.

Shared Hosting

As its name implies, this type of hosting means you share the server with other website owners, potentially hundreds of them. You are assigned a small portion of the server’s resources for your website.

  • Advantages
    • Shared hosting can be low cost, typically under £100 per year
    • You are free from server maintenance
    • There are no issues with software licences  
  • Disadvantages
    • Unsuitable for high-traffic websites
    • May not support your website scripts
    • Shared resources may affect performance
    • Usually comes without a Service Level Agreement (SLA) 

Virtual Dedicated Server/Virtual Private Server

This type of hosting is becoming more popular within the industry. In simplistic terms, you are provided with your own server, yet sharing hardware with others. For example, there may be five other virtual servers on one physical server.

  • Advantages
    • More economic than a dedicated server
    • Access to high specification hardware at a saving
    • Faster recovery from system failures
    • Probably includes an uptime guarantee, and SLA 
  • Disadvantages
    • Resources may be monopolised by other virtual systems on your server
    • Performance not as robust as a dedicated system  

Dedicated Server

This type of hosting is aimed at websites requiring ultimate flexibility and security. Only your website would be  hosted on the server, thus giving you freedom to do what you want with it.

  • Advantages
    • Complete control over the entire server
    • No problems with sharing the server
    • Provides better security
    • Able to accommodate many flexible scripts
    • Likely to include an impressive uptime guarantee, and SLA 
  • Disadvantages
    • Can be extremely costly
    • Needs good technical server management skills, or payment for this service
    • May have to purchase your own software licences to run on the server