What is Shared Hosting?

November 22nd, 2010

The word ‘shared’ in ‘shared hosting’ is key, pointing as it does to the fact that a single host will consist of various websites all of whom will be sharing the same server resources. Each website hosted on the server can be allocated different amounts of web space, bandwidth, database allocations and so forth, and prices will differ accordingly. What is not malleable however are the server’s physical resources such as memory and CPU power.

Shared hosting is the most common form of hosting found on the internet and is generally the cheapest form of hosting on offer. There are many eyecatching offers out there, but as in all things, buyer beware. An offer that seems too good to be true almost definitely will be and it is important to study the small print to see what is really on offer.

Generally there are restrictions on what your website can and can’t do, and these restrictions fall into three categories:

Restrictions on space and file size. A website will have restrictions imposed on its total size, perhaps to a few megabytes and additionally, there may be restrictions on sizes of individual files; this will prevent the hosting of large, multimedia files which tend to use up bandwidth as well as disk space.
Bandwidth restrictions. If a site is popular and much data is passed from the server over the web, the site can fall foul of this limitation. Websites that are very active or that provide multimedia content should be wary.
Script type restrictions. Certain scripts will be banned, particularly those that require high levels of memory or CPU power to run. Simple websites will usually not be affected by these restrictions.

Where possible it is best for the customer to arm themselves with as much information as possible before choosing a shared hosting provision. Acceptable Use documentation should be freely available and of course, the provider can be asked directly whether or not a web site will be suited to a particular shared hosting package or not. It is better to be pre-armed that a site is susceptible to being suspended due to violation of Terms of Use than to be surprised by it. Any monies spent on marketing and advertising that promote a site would be wasted once a site is removed from internet because it superseded its restrictions.

Shared hosting may be the platform on which to start a germinal website or development project, with a move to dedicated hosting once a site begins to flourish. It is important therefore that a provider be able to offer a seamless transition from one hosting package to another.