What Is The Difference Between Cloud Hosting & Shared Hosting?

Shared hosting is exactly what it sounds like: Your website shares space with other sites on the same physical server. Resources on that server are accessible to all tenants. While sites themselves are logically separated — meaning they don’t “see” each other on the server — there are a finite number of resources to go around.

Cloud hosting, meanwhile, provides full access to a server in the cloud that is yours alone. You can quickly add or remove sites or services and enable autoscaling options that automatically provide more resources as needed to handle traffic or bandwidth spikes.

In-Depth Differences Between Cloud Hosting and Shared Hosting

When it comes to shared web hosting vs. cloud hosting, there are also more granular differences, such as:

Management

On the management side of the cloud hosting vs. shared hosting discussion, some similarities exist. For example, both can help you make the most of the available resources with site management consoles that allow you to customize website settings, add new pages and remove old content.

The difference? With shared hosting, management only extends to your digital resources. In the cloud, you get direct access to resources themselves since you’re not sharing servers.

Security

When it comes to security, cloud hosting typically outpaces shared options. Here’s why: In the case of shared hosting, you depend on the provider’s security practices to ensure your data stays safe. Since you’re one of many tenants on the server, you have limited access to critical security functions. While you can take steps to safeguard your data with encryption or access controls if provider security measures are breached, your data could be at risk.

In the cloud, meanwhile, you have total control over the security of your server. While this doesn’t eliminate the risk of attack (since clouds naturally create larger attack surfaces), the ability to implement preferred security controls can provide peace of mind for IT teams.

Performance

Performance in a shared hosting environment is governed by two factors: how many tenants share the same server, and the physical components that underpin this server. With many tenants and limited resources, performance can suffer.

Performance in the cloud, however, can be improved with the addition of new resources on demand.

Scalability

Clouds are naturally scalable. Instead of being limited by the physical hardware of a shared server, cloud hosting allows you to scale up storage, bandwidth and other resources as required. It’s worth noting, however, that the additional flexibility and scalability in the cloud does come with additional costs.

In a shared hosting situation, meanwhile, servers have a finite resource capacity. While it’s possible to replace these servers with a newer version that offers increased scalability, it means potentially significant downtime for your site.

Cost

Costs in cloud hosting vs. shared hosting environments depend on the type and number of resources you need, and the consistency of your resource needs over time.

In a shared hosting model, you typically pay a fixed amount per month for services. In the cloud, there’s often a base amount you pay per month that may increase or decrease based on the number of services consumed.

As a result, it’s important for companies to carefully monitor their resource use to avoid “cloud sprawl”, which can result in higher costs for services that aren’t consistently used.

Name.com: Hosts With the Most

No matter your hosting needs, Name.com can help. With cloud hosting and shared hosting options, we can help meet your current website needs, and help you scale up as your business grows.

This starts with straightforward WordPress Hosting. Easy, hassle-free hosting lets you get a WordPress site set up in minutes with one-click installation.

If you need something more robust, opt for a Web Hosting package. This is perfect for simple websites: You get cPanel, WordPress and other CMS options, and yearly plans include a free domain for new customers.

Looking for even more performance and control? Choose Cloud Hosting from Name.com. Powered by Digital Ocean, you can easily spin up or destroy digital “Droplets” to find the ideal balance between performance and cost.

Need website hosting solutions? Name.com has you covered.