What is web hosting: how it works, the different types, and which one is best for you
Web hosting is a service that provides users with online storage for their website files. In other words, it’s a place to store your website’s images, videos, and HTML files. When someone types in your website’s URL, their computer will connect to your server and display the files stored there.
How does web hosting work?
Every website is hosted on a server. A server is a powerful computer that can store websites and serve them to visitors. When you buy web hosting, you’re essentially renting space on a server for your website.
When you are looking to start a website, one of the first things you need to decide is what type of web hosting plan you should choose. There are many different types of hosting plans available, each with its own set of pros and cons. In this blog post, we will discuss everything you need to know about web hosting: what it is, how it works, and the different types of plans available. We will also take a look at Amazon Lightsail – a new player in the web hosting market – and compare it to other popular hosting plans. By the end of this article, you should have a good understanding of which hosting plan is best for your needs.
Web hosting service in Canada
web hosting in Canada is a $2.5 billion industry and it’s growing every year! There are many reasons for this, but one of the most important is that Canada has some of the fastest internet speeds in the world. This makes it a great place to host websites and other online services.
Before we dive deep into the different kinds of hosting plans and what each one is, let’s take a simpler legacy look at on-premise web hosting.
On-premise web hosting
There are two main types of website hosting: on-premise and off-premise. On-premise hosting means that your website is hosted on your own server, either in your own office or in a data center. This can be a good option if you have the resources to manage your own server, including the hardware, software, and security. Off-premise hosting means that your website is hosted by a third-party provider, usually in their data center. This can be a good option if you don’t have the resources to manage your own server, or if you want to take advantage of the provider’s expertise in managing and securing their data centers.
the main advantage of on-premise web hosting
The main advantage of on-premise hosting is that you have complete control over your server. This can be a good option if you have specific security or compliance requirements. The main disadvantage of on-premise hosting is that it can be more expensive than off-premise hosting, and you’ll need to have the resources to manage your own server.
If you’re considering on-premise hosting, be sure to consider the resources you’ll need to manage your server, as well as the cost. If you’re considering off-premise hosting, be sure to consider the provider’s reputation for security and management, as well as the cost.
of premise managed hosting services
Web hosting can be defined as a service that provides users with the technologies and resources necessary to create and maintain a website. A web host typically provides users with a server, storage space, and a domain name (e.g. www.example.com). In order to make their website accessible to others on the internet, users must upload their website files to the server provided by their web host.
the main advantage of off-premise web hosting services
The main advantage of off-premise hosting is that it can be less expensive than on-premise hosting, and you don’t need to have the IT resources to manage your own server. The main disadvantage of off-premise hosting is that you don’t have complete control over your server, and you’ll need to rely on the provider for management and security.
Types of Web Hosting Services Available
There are many different types of web hosting plans available, each with its own set of features and price points. The most popular types of web hosting plans are shared hosting, VPS hosting, and cloud hosting.
Shared web hosting service
Shared hosting is the most basic and affordable type of web hosting. As the name suggests, shared hosting plans involve multiple users sharing the same server resources. This can lead to decreased performance during peak times, as multiple users are competing for the same resources. Shared hosting plans are best suited for small websites with low traffic levels.
Shared hosting services costs
Shared hosting plans could start from only one dollar per month to about 15 dollars per month depending on the features and resources available. Some of these plans also allow multiple sites to be hosted on a single plan which really reduces the hosting costs to lower than one dollar per month.
service Uptime
when choosing you need to make sure that the service provider can offer you good uptime. Uptime is the amount of time that your website is online and accessible to visitors. A good uptime percentage is around 99.9% or higher.
Technical support availability
Low cost comes with the price of limited or no technical support or an account manager who you can reach to resolve technical challenges. Most shared hosting plans may only offer limited support for up to one domain and only during regular business hours. Therefore it is recommended that business websites and applications that do require a single IP address to operate do not get hosted on shared hosting plans.
VPS web hosting service
VPS hosting is a step up from shared hosting, as it provides users with their own virtual private server. This means that VPS users have more control over their server environment and can customize it to meet their specific needs. VPS plans are more expensive than shared hosting plans, but they offer better performance and scalability. VPS plans are best suited for medium-sized websites with moderate traffic levels.
VPS semi-dedicated hosting services costs
VPS hosting plans could start from $30 to $40 per month depending on the features and tiers of the resources available. Some hosting providers like SiteGround may run promotions from time to time to bring the total cost of VPS hosting closer to the shared hosting cost but only for the first year of service. VPS plans typically allow multiple sites to be hosted on a single plan which really reduces the hosting costs but you got to be careful not to overload the web server resources otherwise the true benefit of VPS which is the higher speed will go away.
Cloud or Dedicated web hosting service
Among all the hosting plans, Cloud hosting is the most expensive type of web hosting, but it also offers the greatest flexibility and scalability. These plans involve using a network of servers to host your website, which can provide improved performance and uptime. Cloud plans are best suited for large websites with high traffic levels.
Cloud hosting services cost
Cloud or dedicated hosting is really the foundation of many large-scale web applications and cost could drastically vary from only $50 per month to thousands of dollars depending on the usage, and the underlying infrastructure’s complexity.
Cloud hosting usually come with many important but optional add-ons that could be purchased separately and get tied into the hosting plan. There is a long list of add-ons so we only mention two of them here.
This type of hosting is also the most recommended type for hosting business-critical applications hosting. Many Application Management Services (AMS) companies use cloud services to host and maintain their clients’ applications.
Content delivery network (CDN)
A content delivery network (CDN) is a system of distributed servers (network) that deliver webpages and other Web content to a user, based on the geographic locations of the user, the origin of the webpage, and the content delivery server.
CDNs are a large part of the Internet infrastructure, providing a way to distribute content more efficiently and with greater reliability. When done correctly, a CDN can improve the load performance of a website or application for geographically distributed website visitors by reducing latency and delivering content much faster.
Load Balancer
If you are hosting a system-critical application, you want to make sure that it is always available and can handle high traffic levels without crashing. One way to do this is to use a load balancer.
Often times as the volume of the traffic goes up and you attract more and more visitors to your website, you may want to have more than one server on the cloud to host your website. This is when a load balancer may come in very handy.
A load balancer is a piece of hardware or software that distributes traffic across multiple servers. This ensures that no single server is overloaded and that visitors can always access your site.
Amazon Web Services
Amazon is a super reliable hosting company that has many service offerings for different types of hosting needs and hosting applications. Below we will only look at Lightsail and Container hosting services. You may read the full list of their service offering on the AWS website.
amazon lightsail
Lightsail is a new player in the web hosting market and has been around for a few years now. It is a service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS), and it offers users an easy way to set up a virtual private server (VPS). Lightsail plans include everything you need to get started with AWS, including a pre-configured server and storage space, and you can purchase and assign the domain to your hosting plan fairly easily. name. Prices start at just $3.5/month in 2022, making Lightsail one of the most affordable VPS hosting options on the market.
AWS Container Hosting services
Aside from traditional VPS hosting, AWS offers container hosting services that provide a more robust, flexible, and cable environment for high-performing application development and deployment.
The container-based hosting prices
The higher flexibility of the container hosting comes at slightly higher entry costs and these plans start at about $7/month in 2022. If your company needs o run containerized applications this hosting solution is really a good fit.
some final thoughts on the web hosting services
So, which type of web hosting plan is best for you? If you are just starting out with a small website, a shared hosting plan can be a good option. If you have a medium-sized website with moderate traffic levels, a VPS plan can give you the performance and scalability you need. And if you have a large website with high traffic levels, a cloud hosting plan can provide the best possible performance. Ultimately, the decision comes down to your specific needs and budget.
If you are looking for an affordable and easy-to-use VPS option, Amazon Lightsail is worth considering. It offers all of the features you need to get started with AWS, and prices start at just $5/month. So, if you are looking for a new web hosting provider, be sure to check out Amazon Lightsail. updated
Echofalre can help your business get an online presence
We work with some of the best web hosting service providers in Canada and can take your most business-critical applications and websites online reliably. We assess the true technical requirements of your application and create the most cost-effective hosting plan for you. In the process we always ensure your plan meets your current and future needs in the following criteria:
Compliance and Security
If you are in Canada, your business may be required to keep its data in Canada by law. There are more shared hosting plans and services that may put your business at risk of non-compliance. At Echoflare, we first review the data complaince laws and access requirements applicable to your business before even diving into the technical solution creation.
Type and the size and volume of your data
Depending on the type and volume of the data your business processes from day to day, you may be required to plan for customized solutions for your business. if you are dealing with a large amount of data on day to day basis, it is best to plan for hard disk-optimized hosting plans where IOPS or read and writes get optimized to save bandwidth. Also, you may have structured or unstructured data where a totally different database management system would be required to efficiently handle the access and processing of the data. Regardless the type and volume of the data are key factors when we build a hosting plan for our customers.
Speed and features
Depending on the geographical location of your business, head office, warehouses, or centers of operation we can use Amazon or Azure infrastructure to build virtual private clouds and which keep the servers and hosts in close proximity to where most of your users are. We can also deeply CDN and load-balancing services for you if your online application requires these services.