In the last article I went into some detail about shared hosting. Today we’re going to talk about the other types of hosting that are most applicable to bloggers, starting from the smaller and going all the way to having your own dedicated server and so on.

Just to do a quick recap, shared hosting is where many people get together to share a webserver. Everyone is guaranteed a certain amount of space and bandwidth, but that’s it. However what’s not mentioned is that all other resources are shared. So for example, if someone is abusing their account and overloading the other computer resources (processing power, etc.), then you’ll probably feel the effects. Now with cheap hosts, since they’re generally already overloading the servers, this will happen fairly often, which is why I recommend going with a more reputable host and paying a little more.

VPS (Virtual Private Server)

What do you think the next level up from shared hosting is? Pretty much the exact same system except that you’re now also guaranteed a minimum level of computer resources. So for example, you’re guaranteed at least X amount of memory, X amount of processor performance, etc. This is great in that you now know the minimum performance you’ll get!

However there’s an additional bonus with this. Since we all know that most people don’t use their full resources, the people who designed this technology decided to let unused computer resources be shared with other accounts on the same computer. In un-technical terms, if for example you’re allocated 500Mb or memory and you only use 100Mb of memory, the system will give away your unused 400Mb of memory to whoever wants it. If all of a sudden you need that memory back, it gives it right back to you! It only shares what you don’t need, nothing more.

Why is this great? It doesn’t really help you if your the person using less than your minimum guaranteed resources, actually you wouldn’t notice anything at all! But if for some reason you use more, maybe you get a spike in traffic at 3pm every day, or you’re growing faster than your resources, you can now temporarily have access to other people’s unused resources. So although you may only be guaranteed 500Mb of memory, you might end up using 1Gb of memory (1GB = 1000MB) or more. The disadvantage is that it’s not guaranteed, it can be taken away from you at any moment. So all of a sudden your site might be performing well then it gets really slow because you had to give back the extra resources that weren’t really yours, and back and forth. It also almost acts like a buffer to give you some warning for when it’s time to move up your account, to make sure that you get those resources consistently!

This type of hosting also gives you a virtual root access. It acts as though it’s your own computer. You get what’s called root access. You can modify the webserver settings for your own little VPS (the keyword being “virtual” private server). Therefore you can host multiple domains with one VPS account, you can configure the server to your liking, etc. This is great if you need some more advanced features.

Of course, as you can expect, VPS hosting is more expensive than Shared Hosting. Firstly, the hosting company needs to purchase software to manage the VPS accounts (so that the resources are correctly guaranteed). They also now need to guarantee the computer resources, and have some additional resources to run the software to manage the VPS’s. Generally, expect to start paying around $50/month for a decent VPS. I’ve seen it as low as $20/month, but I can tell you from people I know who’ve used these cheaper accounts, you get what you pay for.

Now VPS accounts can quickly climb in price. They can get into hundreds a month. It’s possible to get some very large VPS accounts that are more powerful that dedicated servers (which we’ll talk about next)! The good news with VPS is that you can start with a smaller package and work your way up. Generally all you need to do to move to a higher plan is tell your host. They just change your account settings to increase the minimum guaranteed computer resources and you’re ready to go.

Dedicated Server

This is the next level of hosting, and most bloggers never get here. However I think it’s worth mentioning because it offers some great advantages. A dedicated server means your the sole account on the whole computer. You get the full resources! But what’s more than that, you can configure it however you want! You basically get a full computer server to do with as you want.
Very powerful! You no longer have to worry about anything but your own mistakes!

Dedicated servers come in two flavors, managed and non-managed. Managed means that your host will apply the latest patches for you, check your server here and there for certain things, etc. The one thing to remember about managed solutions is that they’re not all created equal, there are some large differences in what they offer. It’s important to look at what you get when you choose a managed solution, as well when comparing the prices of different managed solutions.

An un-managed solution means that you’re responsible for everything on the server, including installing the patches, upgrading the operating system, etc. Basically you have to take care of everything. Of course this type of dedicated server solution is generally cheaper as you’re paying for resources and bandwidth.

I won’t get into any more details of dedicated servers, but needless to say, its a nice growth path for when you outgrow VPS hosting.

In terms of cost, dedicated servers will be more expensive than VPS as you get the full machine. Managed is more expensive than non-managed. After that, other issues play different roles. The type of machine you get makes a very significant different. What type of processor, how many. How much memory? How much disk space? And so on. These greatly affect the price, probably more than anything. Then it comes down to the hosting company. What type of service do they offer. What type of internet connections do they have (redundant, etc.). What about backup generators, etc.

All in all, expect to pay at least $100/month for a dedicated server, but closer to $200+/month for a decent system. For a higher end system, you can easily go to $500-1000/month and more!

And Beyond

Although I won’t really talk about it, I’ll just quickly give you a teaser of what’s next. The next level is renting a “rack”. This is basically space in a Data Center. In plain english, you can rent a physical rack to stack up computer servers in a building that’s made just for this (for example it has multiple connections to the internet backbone, etc.). You bring in your own computers and do what you want.

As well, you can also rent multiple dedicated servers. That’s another option. Have them all acting as one through something called clustering. You can also separate your dedicated servers into a database servers and web servers, etc. You can do a lot with multiple dedicated servers!

After that, well you get into another level where only corporations go!

So now that we know about hosting, what’s next? Well, we need a website. How do we start blogging? That’s the next topic in this series.

Comments(0)