Finding the right website hosting service can be overwhelming for any site owner. The hosting service plays a crucial role in the performance of the site and the success of the business. Hence, before you purchase a hosting plan, it is important to find the best one for your site.
There are various options available today, like Shared Hosting, Cloud Web Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Server Hosting, etc. The choice of the hosting type should be based on the size of your website and its resource requirements. In this article, we will focus on small business websites and compare Cloud Web Hosting and Dedicated Server Hosting to help you find the better among the two.
When you buy a Dedicated Server Hosting plan, your website is the sole user of a webserver. Hence, all the resources of the server are dedicated to your site. It is great for websites that need complete access to the server, full customization capabilities, advanced security, privacy and are willing to shell out the money for these features.
On the other hand, in Cloud Hosting, the hosting resources are shared, and your site data is hosted over a cloud storage network. Cloud Server Hosting is a great option for growing websites, high traffic websites and businesses that need a highly scalable and cost-effective hosting solution.
Comparing Cloud Hosting and Dedicated Server Hosting for small businesses
Here is a quick comparison of the two:
| Features | Dedicated Server vs. Cloud Hosting |
| Availability of resources | With Dedicated Hosting, the hosting resources are entirely dedicated to your site, which leads to Dedicated Hosting plans being costlier than Cloud Hosting solutions. However, most small business owners have websites with basic resource requirements. Hence, they usually don’t need dedicated resources. Also, Cloud Hosting services offer instant resource scalability to manage traffic spike with ease. This makes Cloud Hosting a better option for small businesses. |
| Customization | People expect large organizations to offer a customized and unique site experience. However, when it comes to small businesses, the expectations are more basic, like security, availability, and performance. While a Dedicated Server plan can offer these features, it also offers in-depth customizability options with full root access that are not needed by most small businesses. Hence, paying more for a Dedicated Hosting plan can be avoided by opting for a Cloud Hosting solution that ensures a well-performing website that is reliable and has maximum uptime. |
| Costs | This is one of the primary differentiating factors between the two services. While business Cloud Hosting plans (SSD-based) range from $6.5 per month to $10 per month, Dedicated Server plans (SSD-based) range from $95 to $125 per month. This is a huge difference, and usually the deciding factor between the two. Dedicated Server plans are costlier since a web server is dedicated to your site as opposed to a Cloud Hosting plan where the server is shared. |
Summing Up
Both Cloud Hosting and Dedicated Server Hosting plans have their own pros and cons. While we cannot predict which of the two will be better for your site, you need to assess the hosting requirements before making the decision. If your site demands a Dedicated Server, then opting for Cloud Hosting companies to save costs can have a negative impact on your business. On the other hand, buying a Dedicated Server plan when it is not needed can put an unnecessary burden on your pockets. Choose wisely.
