What’s the Difference Between Shared and Dedicated Servers

As a website owner, one has many things to think about and many things to consider. One of the most important things is the appearance of the website, and determining what and how you will achieve both represent what your business or services are all about and lure people to visit the website. To put it shortly, to stand out from all the rest. But, all that is just one piece of the puzzle, and when we finish designing the website, there are other, for some even more important matters to take care of, and one of those things is SEO optimization. Now, we all know what SEO stands for, what its purpose is, and how significant a role it has, but many still have trouble optimizing their site adequately. It is a problem for many website owners, which is why hiring professional businesses with vast experience in dealing with search engine optimization costs a lot. And yet, it doesn’t stop there.

Even when we are with all these things mentioned above, one question arises, and yes, it is about the hosting package and which option to select. There are two basic types, and depending on what your website is about, how much traffic you expect to have, and whether or not you have technical skills to manage the site yourself, you can choose between shared and dedicated hosting servers. But what each of them offers? Well, let’s have a look.

For those feeling comfortable managing the server and have excellent technical skills, dedicated servers are the best option. But even if someone is not that familiar with all these things, there are many other benefits and advantages of why these servers would fit nicely and meet your needs. They are much like those servers you store and maintain in the office or some other physical office space, with only one difference, the provider is responsible for managing it. Namely, by choosing these servers, one gets complete maintenance and protection package provided by the provider they choose.

Shared ones are particularly for those who are not that comfortable with managing all the things server-related. And even though most will now say that the first one would be a better and safer option, these servers cost much less, and if someone doesn’t need all the access and all the features and options, why not pay for only those things they will use. But that is only one difference between these two hosting types, so let’s further discuss those differences.

Is the cheaper option always better?

As already mentioned, the price is one of the main differences between these two servers, and there is a pretty good reason for that. Since shared ones are doing precisely that – sharing all the resources among numerous users, the price for maintaining is also divided, so it is much lower. If you choose to use the first option, it is all yours, and you are the only person that paying all the costs. Because of that, the first solution may be up to 40 times cheaper than the second one, depending on which provider one chooses. That doesn’t mean that the first option is worse than the second, and it is up to each of us to decide what we actually need and what we will actually get for that certain price. The price cannot be the only reason to choose some option because it is necessary to be sure of what you need for your website, and there are more things to check besides the costs.

Which one has better cyber and network security?

One of the first problems when creating a site is about safety and security. Unsecured websites can cause a lot of problems for each person that visits them, but also for the owner because it is much easier to hack them. No matter which option one chooses, they will ensure you that the site will be secure, but of course, there is some difference.

Dedicated software will always provide more protection because you are the only user of it, and there is no possibility that somebody else will have access to the data stored on it. On the other side, shared servers don’t mean that every user can have access to everything. Each user can only see their data, and all the data from other users is perfectly safe, but the difference is that it is easier to hack a shared server, and that is why many companies are deciding to go with the other option.

What about resources and performances?

Besides security and costs, there are even more things to consider while deciding on the server option, and it depends on the traffic volume on the website. First, you need to consider how many resources the website requires, and regarding that, which option is better. Shared servers offer fewer resources, and they can be perfect for websites with low traffic volume because adding more resources requires upgrading to the next plan, and that means more costs. On the other side, dedicated servers offer more bandwidth once you use the limit, and that is the best option for websites with high traffic volume. More traffic on the website also means that it needs to have better performance and response time to avoid losing clients due to unnecessary waiting. Again, a better option for these websites is dedicated servers because they are much faster and have fewer bugs.

The bottom line

Hopefully, everything mentioned above cleared things up and answered all your questions about the differences between these two hosting types. Now, the only remaining thing to do is select the one that suits you and your website the most, the one that covers all the options you may need or want. Luckily you will not have to search for too long as some of the most renowned and trustworthy providers like BudgetVM offer both hosting types. With all this said, the decision should be easy, and you can dedicate all the attention to the website itself and its users.