Shared Web hosting (oftentimes called virtual hosting or just shared hosting) is simply using one web server to host multiple websites. Each website has its own hard drive space on the server to keep it separate from the other websites.
If your website is a personal or small business website, consisting mostly of static web pages, shared hosting may be an economical option you'll want to consider.
Let's look at some of the advantages of shared hosting, and then we'll explore some issues you'll need to consider before deciding if shared hosting is right for you.
The Advantages
The main advantage of shared hosting is the low cost. Web hosting providers are able to keep the cost low because everyone on the server is sharing the overall expense of maintaining the server. As a result, you can get feature packed shared hosting plans for less than $20.00 a month!
Another advantage with shared hosting is that you don't need to be a technical guru to get your website up and running. Most shared hosting plans include some kind of web-based control panel (such as Plesk, cPanel, Helm, etc.). Some of the larger hosting providers will have their own custom-made control panel. Through the control panel, you can easily manage your website. Script installers (such as Fantastico) are typically included, and allow you to quickly install a blog, add a shopping cart, a forum, and many other programs that help promote customer interaction with your website.
Last, but not least, with shared hosting you don't have to worry about the technical aspects of keeping a web server operating smoothly. Since the hosting provider takes care of the server maintenance, you can focus on building and promoting your website.
Now that you know about some of the advantages of shared hosting, let's explore some other issues you need to consider.
Sharing Crowded Servers
How many shared hosting websites are on a server vary widely between hosting providers. Typically, it's common to have a hundred or more on one web server. In addition, if the hosting provider allows reselling or unlimited websites, there could be literally thousands of shared hosting websites on one server.
The more reliable providers will limit the number of shared hosting websites they place on their servers. Other providers, in an effort to maximize their profit per server, will pack as many shared hosting websites on a server as possible.
Before signing up for a shared hosting account, ask the provider how many websites they place on each server.
Website Uptime
With shared hosting (as with any type of hosting), your website uptime is an issue you need to pay close attention to. An uptime guarantee of 99.9% is the most common. In a 30-day month, this amounts to 43 minutes and 12 seconds of downtime per month.
With shared hosting, you are at the mercy of the other websites hosted on the same server. Some of these websites may have scripts that hog server resources, others may try to run malicious programs that consume server resources, and others operate questionable websites that attract troublemakers. Even a denial of service (DOS) attack against another website hosted on the same server as yours will cause your website to be unavailable.
Because of these other websites, the server becomes unstable. At this point, rebooting the server is the only option. Typically, servers used for shared hosting require rebooting more often than VPS (virtual private servers) and dedicated servers.
A reliable and committed hosting provider can manage these problems and take action against the offending website(s) and attackers before the situation gets out of control. However, even with the most knowledgeable staff working on and tweaking the server, downtime can still happen.
IP Banning/Mail Delivery Problems/SSL
Many times with shared hosting, all the websites hosted on the server have the same IP address. Known as name-based hosting, this can create some IP banning, email delivery issues, and secure certificate issues.
First, let's look at the IP banning issue. At one time, search engines would ban offending websites by blocking the IP address. Today, the bigger search engines and directories typically block a website by the domain name. Although, through the control panel, a website can still block email delivery and web page access by the IP address.
The mail delivery problems start when one of the other websites hosted on the same server as you repeatedly sends out SPAM messages. To stop the SPAM messages, some ISP's (Internet Service Providers) will blacklist that IP address and mark all email as being SPAM. As a result, your email is marked as SPAM because of the actions of somebody else.
In addition, with name-based shared hosting, you can't have your own SSL certificate. If you only have a few products to sell, and intend to use the PayPal button option, you can get around this issue. On the other hand, if you're planning on a more robust ecommerce enabled website, you'll need to have your own IP address.
Server Resources
Another issue with shared hosting has to do with server resources (CPU, memory, bandwidth, etc.). For the most part, the majority of websites using shared hosting are static web pages. A visitor goes to a web page and then spends some time reading it before loading another page. While the visitor is scanning or reading the page, the server is free to process other requests. As a result, the server is able to multi-task very efficiently.
However, everything has its limits and the same goes for a server. The server can only process so much information at one time. If there is one website that receives a lot of traffic, this website will be using more of the server's resources. The more requests made at one time will eventually result in a slight delay in displaying your web page.
Typically, with shared hosting you can only consume a certain amount of server resources at one time. For example, most terms of service agreements will state something like "you can use no more than 20% of the server resources for no more than 90 seconds at one time". If you have a popular website or a script that uses too many server resources, you will have to upgrade to a more advanced hosting solution.
Standard Server Setup
With shared hosting, you will have less control over which modules and OS (operating system) versions are available. This holds true for both Linux and Windows shared hosting. Therefore, it's important to know in advanced what scripts you'll be using and what their minimum requirements are. Depending on what you want your website to accomplish, this may or may not be an issue for you.
Security Issues
There can be security issues with shared hosting because other customers are on the same server. While the risk is slight, there is the chance that they might be able to view your directories and sometimes even overwrite your files. This of course, could be serious problem for any website, and especially one just starting out.
Moreover, let us be honest for a moment. The Internet is not all about peace. There are hackers that spend their day trying to raise havoc on the Internet. Even regular people tend to be far less honest on the Internet. Perhaps it is that degree of presumed anonymity that brings out the worst in people.
At any rate, if you're dealing with highly sensitive data, the security risks associated with shared hosting may pose a serious security problem.
Exit/Upgrade Plan
As you build and nurture your website, eventually you will outgrow shared hosting. When this happens, you need to have a plan that will allow you to move from shared hosting to a more powerful hosting solution.
Preferably, the host providing your shared hosting can accommodate your growing needs and requirements. If they can't, you'll have no choice but to find a new host that can handle your growth requirements.
So, is shared web hosting right for you?
For most personal websites, blog type websites and small-sized businesses with mostly static web pages, shared hosting is usually a very practical solution. Since you can find many reliable providers that offer shared hosting for less than $20.00 a month, shared hosting can fit into the smallest budgets.
One last critical point to remember is the fact that the hosting provider you select will determine if shared hosting works for you. Select a host that's not committed to providing excellent service and support - and your shared hosting experience could very well turn into a nightmare. Nothing is more stressful than learning from one of your customer's that your website is unavailable.
Kevin Chilton is the President/General Manager of YourHostingStore.com, a website dedicated to providing small and medium-sized businesses with the webmaster resources they need to successfully build and maintain an online presence. Two resources currently available include the Web Hosting Directory and the Business Forums.
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