why people choose shared hosting over dedicated server while there are many problems with Shared hosting

Shared hosting, as most of you should be well-versed, is hosting where a lot of websites share the same resources in one server. Resources here simply mean the total webspace, the memory, the processor speed, as well as the bandwidth. Dedicated server on the other hand, give you the freedom of being alone. Alone means you are the sole owner of the server. You can do whatever you want and no other sites share the resources with you.It sure comes with a price as dedicated server is way more expensive than shared hosting. However, if you believe that the advantages which I shall be listing in a short while are the advantages you long to have, then it’s wise to conclude that these advantages can outweigh the expensive price (but still affordable) of dedicated server.

Here’s a simple analogy; renting a room on your own or finding a roommate to share the room with you. Simply, that’s the problem or risks you might be facing when you opt for shared hosting. Shared hosting is just like you rent a room with a few other roommates. Won’t it be congested to share in a small room? However, there is a reason why people choose to find roommates. Price is the main concern. Same goes to hosting industry. Shared hosting is cheaper and more affordable compared to dedicated hosting.

What are the disadvantages of Shared hosting?

In shared hosting environment, you will encounter certain disadvantages as follows:

Sharing Same IP

Having the same IP address in shared hosting is the main concern when other sites in the server is actually being blacklisted for unethical activities such as spamming or generating illegal script. Since, you share the same server, it’s obvious you will share the same IP address. So, when other sites are blacklisted, those sharing the same IP with them will also unfortunately share the same fate – being banned alltogether by search engine. You will be the victim of crime which you don’t commit. However, there are times where you can buy yourself a dedicated IP but this usually is not needed unless you are getting yourself an SSL certificate. In cases such as this one, it depends on your hosting provider on how they deal with clients who do illegal and unapproved activities. Usually, a reliable and responsible host will suspend those sites which perform spamming in order to rescue other sites who are innocent. In short, to get yourself a shared hosting, get to know how your provider deal with those sites which are hosted in the same server as you.

Slow Server Response Time

Using the same analogy as above, if you and your roommates want to use the bathroom, you have to queue up, correct? Hence, it will slow down your daily work. Same goes to shared hosting. If one of your neighbours have heavy daily traffic, it will consume most of the bandwidth and when things get tighten up, you will feel the slow response time such as difficulty accessing your website. This is because server will respond to the requested file in order of the queue. If one of the visitor happens to request it later and is on a long queue, that visitor will experience slow response time and might eventually end up leaving your website.

Server Crashes Regularly

The factor to server crashes more often than usual, is the fact that certain scripts are generated and it can overload a server’s resources. If webhosting provider does not monitor the server’s activity, those poorly-written CGI script can give you more headache than relief. Hence, it’s vital for host provider to monitor the server regularly to prevent server from crashes and to protect your site from being affected. You as a client, please do take the initiative to question your providers on how they take precautions for cases like this one. A well-knowledgable and reliable host provider will be able to answer your question to your satisfaction.

Despite aforementioned bad points, a lot of websites also use this shared hosting solution and if a proper provider is chosen, you can be assured that such incidents will barely happen.

Dedicated hosting- You are the boss!

Here, it means you have more control of everything. You can install whatever applications and scripts you want. You can do script testing and if anything were to happen, no one else to blame but yourself. You will have the ability to customise the hardware and softwares installed on your server, which you cannot find this priviledge if you are under shared hosting.

No more limitation in bandwidth usage

Compare to shared hosting, you might get yourself a “warning letter” from your hosting provider if you exceed the maximum bandwidth allocated to you. With dedicated hosting, you have the amount of bandwidth of a server. Hence, downloading and uploading any materials from your site will not be a problem if you have a lot of daily visitors performing such activity.

More Secured

Having a dedicated server is in fact more secured compared to shared hosting. This is because dedicated server will be provided its own firewall. Therefore, the information stored in dedicated server is less vulnerable to attacks by hackers or any malicious codes. In addition, hosting provider will usually provide backup for you with added fee, but, in terms of security, it’s actually worth it.

Better Performance

Since dedicated hosting means only you alone are hosted in that server, the response time of the server to requested files will be so much faster compared to shared hosting. Visitors who browse your website will feel happy because your pages will appear on their browser fast enough to satisfy them. Fast loading time will always brighten anyone’s day!

choosing which type of hosting solely depends on your needs. So, to make a wise decision, do more researches and evaluations as well as consult those highly technical savvy people. Remember that a good and smart decision will determine your online storefronts’ success.