What type of hosting to choose for your website

If a website takes more than 3-4 seconds to load, about half of the visitors will leave the site before they see the content. And only ~12% will try to reload the page. Long load times affect not only user retention, but also SEO rankings + conversion rates. That is, on your bottom line, friends.

A site can take a long time to load for many reasons: unoptimized code, uncompressed images, errors in JavaScript, lack of content delivery network (CDN), excessive advertising, abundance of heavy content, and so on.

Some of the problems can be solved by automatic optimization tools, and some can be solved by developers alone. But if you have bad hosting (your own server or from a provider), it is not a fact that the problems will go away.

From this article you will learn how to choose the right server to host your website and what types of hosting are better, pros, cons and what to choose from.

Types of servers for website hosting

Important: popular sites, portals, news resources, etc. may require several (or even dozens) servers - depending on the volume and nature of traffic.

Before choosing hosting, you need to understand the theory. You have two options: rent from a cloud provider or your own server. Let's start with the first one.

Rent from a hosting provider

Let's assume you've taken the path of least rent. First, you need to at least choose one of three services.

1. Shared hosting

Shared hosting is a budget type of hosting, where dozens and sometimes hundreds of sites are placed on one physical server and share its resources. Shared hosting is most often used for small websites, blogs, personal projects and small business tasks.

Advantages of Shared hosting:

• Low cost - one of the cheapest options (can be found from 100 rubles per month), suitable for beginners and small projects with a limited budget.
• Ease of use - users get a ready-to-use solution with a control panel, such as cPanel or Plesk, which simplifies site administration.
• Maintenance included - administration does not require in-depth technical skills as most of the maintenance and updates are done by the hosting provider.
• Easy to scale - if traffic grows, most providers offer a quick and easy upgrade to a more advanced plan.
• Redundancy - usually available, but sometimes not included in the prime rate.

Disadvantages of Shared hosting:

• Limited resources - since other users' sites are running on the server, the available resources (bandwidth, disk space, RAM) are limited.
• Possible performance issues - if one of the sites on the server (not necessarily yours) dramatically increases in traffic or falls victim to a DDoS attack, it can stop or severely slow down your site.
• Limitations on customization - you won't have full control over the server settings and its hardware.
• Limited scalability - if your site grows very large, you'll have to change hosting.
• Security - poorly configured or hacked neighboring sites can access your site.
• Support - most problems will have to be solved through support, and its quality is rarely good.

2. Hosting on virtual machines - VPS and VDS

VPS (Virtual Private Server) and VDS (Virtual Dedicated Server) is a popular type of hosting where the client receives a virtual server with a predetermined amount of resources.

Usually the terms VPS and VDS are identified, but some providers have a division where VDS costs more and gives more "premium" or "guaranteed" virtual machines. Therefore, when you choose, carefully study the contract, terms and conditions and guarantees for VPS/VDS services.

If we do not go into technical peculiarities, VDS resources are guaranteed - you will get as many cores and memory as you choose. And in VPS the common pool of server resources is divided between all VPS. That's why there can be a fight for resources between clients, if the provider sells more VPS (it's called oversells) than the physical server can handle, hoping that not all clients will use the resources allocated to them at the same time. Not all hosts are plush.

Advantages of VPS/VDS hosting:

• Minimal capital investment - you rent capacity, not buy; you don't need space for infrastructure; many providers give free trial periods.
• Cost-effective lease option - it is more expensive to rent a server in its entirety (dedicated) than to lease part of its resources as a VPS/VDS.
• Greater freedom of action - you can install any software, OS and customize the platform as you need, including root rights at the level of your virtual machine.
• Isolation - your data and resources are inaccessible to other server users.
• Data redundancy - often included in the tariff or available for a small fee.
• Scalability - you can add resources quickly without having to migrate or reinstall.
• Support - the quality of support is higher than with shared hosting. Most of the responsibilities still lie with the provider.
• Reliability - VPS/VDS is more reliable than Shared hosting because the virtual machines are isolated from each other.

Disadvantages of VPS/VDS hosting:

• Overselling - some providers sell more resources than they actually have, so you need to choose hosting carefully and read the contract with guarantees.
• High entry threshold - you'll need to be tech savvy and sometimes hire a system administrator (can be part-time, depends on complexity). With unmanaged VPS/VDS, you get the hardware resources and basic operating system, and all other configuration, upgrades, and problem-solving tasks will fall to you.
• ISP dependency - your site can go down if there is a failure on the ISP side. A DDoS attack on your ISP or another customer could affect your site. Your personal and sensitive data will be stored on third party servers.
• Regular monthly payments - rent is rent.
• Limited freedom of action - yes, you will be able to realize a lot, but not everything, every hoster has rules and restrictions, but usually all prohibitions are within the law and common sense.

3. Dedicated server hosting - Dedicated server

A Dedicated Server is a type of hosting in which the client receives a separate physical server entirely. Other clients of the provider will not have any access to your dedicated server, and therefore you will be able to use all the resources of the equipment for your tasks. This concept gives a lot of advantages, but there are disadvantages too.

Advantages of Dedicated hosting:

• Low capital investment - you don't need to buy the space and equipment to run your site, but you can integrate the server with your infrastructure if you wish. There are often free trial periods.
• High performance and stability - especially good on highly loaded sites, faster performance and higher stability, but you need to be able to realize the potential.
• Full control and flexibility in management - you will have full access to the server resources, you can customize, choose any compatible software, OS, make virtual machines and perform other tasks in addition to hosting.
• Security - since only you will have access to the server, you can get a high level of security if properly configured. You can implement hardware and software means of protection against failures: RAID arrays, firewalls, backups and much more.
• Guaranteed resources - all server resources will be available to you: CPU, memory, bandwidth and so on.

Disadvantages of Dedicated hosting:

• High cost - Dedicated servers are more expensive than other types of hosting due to high hardware and maintenance costs. You have to pay all the time.
• The need for management - you need to either understand server administration, or hire a sysadmin, or choose a managed solution, when the provider takes care of the technical part (it is more expensive).
• Physical limitation of resources - you will be limited by the capabilities of the server, but usually it can be scaled: put a second or more productive processor, add several memory cards, SSD, etc. But this is an additional cost, sometimes significant.
• Idle capacity - it is difficult to load a whole server to the optimal 70-80% without virtualization and hyperconverged systems, so in periods of low load your server may be partially idle, but you will pay for 100% of its potential.
• Dependence on the hoster - DDoS-attack on your neighbor's server will most likely not affect you, but if your ISP is attacked or has a fire/flood/accident, the rented equipment may stop responding.
• Limited freedom of action - in general, working with the server will be as if the server is yours, but the hoster may have bans on mining (or you may have to pay a lot of money for electricity and network traffic).

Shared, VPS/VDS or Dedicated server for website hosting: comparison table

Your own server to run your site - On-premises

"On-premises" means that the IT infrastructure for running the site (e.g. servers, data storage, network devices) is placed in their server room or data center.

The reasons are different: mainly because of greater freedom and security, because of full control and high performance. Often to integrate the server with existing infrastructure or to comply with standards, regulations and/or law. Sometimes because of personal experience and interest, and sometimes to save money: they deploy sites on old servers or on new servers that pay for themselves over time (which is not the case with endless renting).

Advantages of running your site on your own server (On-premises):

• Full control and independence - you will be able to choose and customize systems, hardware, software, data storage, security and more only for your needs. You will not depend on the stability of the hoster.
• Security and privacy - storing important data on your servers removes the middleman, and therefore another link in the security system. But some providers give such protection, which independently to make very difficult. Here everything depends on you.
• Regulations and laws - only on your servers can you be sure that data is processed and stored in accordance with specific regulations, industry standards and legal requirements of the country.
• Fixed costs - after the initial server purchase and setup, you'll reduce your subscription costs, plus it's easier to predict - no unexpected rate changes.
• Local integration - your server is easier to integrate with other local systems and applications.
• Fast response time - you'll have constant access to your hardware, which means any changes and upgrades can be made quickly without waiting for approval from your provider.

Disadvantages of running a website on your own server (On-premises):

• High initial investment - purchase hardware, rent space, hire staff, setup and integration; may require significant capital investment if you don't have IT infrastructure and expertise.
• Management and ongoing costs - will need qualified staff to manage, maintain and secure the server. Possible repair and upgrade costs.
• Risks of failure, downtime or data loss - the server could fail, plus external risks (e.g. fire, flood). Need 3-2-1 redundancy and a plan to get out of downtime quickly.
• Security and privacy - storing important data on your servers removes the middleman (an unnecessary link in the security system). But some providers give you the kind of protection that is very difficult to do on your own. It's up to you.
• Lack of external support - when you rent hosting, the provider gives technical support, but with your own server all the problems will have to be solved by you.
• Power consumption and cooling - servers run around the clock, consume a lot of electricity and generate heat, which means you will need cooling.

If you have a small website, one tower server may be enough for its work. Tower servers do not need a separate room and a complex cooling system: they may well work in the part of the office where there are few people. These are risks, but there is an opportunity to save money.

But there is another option - to place your physical server in the provider's data center.

Own server in someone else's data center for site operation - Colocation

Colocation is a common service when you rent space in a data center to place your server equipment there. Something between classic hosting and on-premises hosting.

Usually you rent fixed space measured in "units" (from 1U), whole racks or server cabinets for your servers.

The provider provides all critical infrastructure: air filtration, cooling systems, uninterrupted power, physical security, and high-speed internet connection (traffic and power beyond the prime rate are charged separately).

Not a bad option for small and medium-sized businesses when you need the advantages of your own equipment and a professional, safe and reliable data center at the same time.

Advantages of running your website on your own server in someone else's data center (Colocation):

• Professional infrastructure - you get access to high-end data center infrastructure, including state-of-the-art cooling systems, uninterrupted power and other resources.
• High-speed connectivity - data centers usually have multiple high-speed links with excellent bandwidth, ensuring fast and stable access to your site.
• Physical security - data centers are equipped with state-of-the-art security systems, including security guards, video surveillance, biometric access systems (ACS) and fire protection systems.
• Stability and reliability - in case of power outages, most data centers have uninterruptible power supplies and generators.
• Operational savings - you save on costs associated with maintaining and supporting your own data center (e.g., cooling or security systems).
• Scalability - you can easily scale your resources by renting additional space or bandwidth as your business grows.
• On-site support - many data centers provide hardware support and maintenance services, which can be helpful when problems arise.
• Geo-distribution - by placing servers in different geographic locations, you can improve fault tolerance.
• Network reliability - data centers usually have redundant links, which reduces the risk of downtime due to network problems.
• Cost optimization - under certain conditions, Colocation can be a more cost-effective solution than full cloud hosting or hosting and operating your own data center.

Disadvantages of running a site on your own server in someone else's data center (Colocation):

• Initial investment - buying your own server hardware and setting it up can require a significant investment.
• Equipment responsibility - you are responsible for purchasing, upgrading, repairing and maintaining your own equipment.
• Physical access - if you need to make hardware changes or troubleshoot a problem, you may have to visit the data center in person, which can be inconvenient, especially if it's far away. Sometimes access is only available on a scheduled basis.
• Additional costs - Despite saving money on certain aspects of infrastructure, data center services are not cheap.
• Less control over your environment - although most data centers provide high-quality services, you have less control over your environment compared to your own data center or server room.
• Contractual obligations - many data centers require long-term contracts, which can limit your flexibility.
• Third-party risks - relying on third-party services can entail risks such as unforeseen changes in terms of service, price increases, or even data center closures.
• Limited scalability - rapid scaling can be a challenge if the data center has high occupancy rates.
• Unanticipated costs - charges for power, traffic, maintenance or other services may be levied in addition to the base rent. Especially for higher loads - on top of the prime rate.

Conclusions

There are two challenges:

One - web server optimization plays a role, but without an optimal server, your website may experience performance issues, affecting the number of visitors and overall conversion.

The second - in-house IT infrastructure requires significant investment and is difficult to maintain.

It's worth considering: is a large capital investment really beneficial to your business when there are reliable and productive solutions - VPS/VDS, Dedicated or Colocation?

If you don't have a technical background or you want to save time and resources on maintenance, the best solution for your website is cloud providers.

Peerobyte offers high-quality, reliable and scalable hosting solutions, taking into account all your tasks, needs and budget.