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Who hates having a villa? Probably no one! So why do most people live in multi-unit apartments? The topic of these articles is shared hosting, but let’s answer this question first.
Buying a villa requires much more money than buying a 60-meter unit in a multi-story apartment.

Many people can’t afford to pay this amount, so they must purchase a cheaper roof and an apartment. On the other hand, the maintenance of a villa property, along with the yard and parking lot, etc., is the owner’s responsibility. Still, in the apartment, this task is the responsibility of the manager, who can use the help of the residents if needed.

Meanwhile, the expenses of an apartment are divided among the units; But in a villa, the owner has to pay all the bills. That is why the maintenance costs in an apartment are significantly lower than in a villa.

Shared hosting is like an apartment, and private hosting is like a villa. Having a dedicated host is sweet, but it is not possible and suitable for everyone. We will examine this issue from the basement to the roof in the following. First of all, you should know the definitions of hosts.

What is a Host?

You need a space to store information to set up the site and make it available through the global Internet network. A host is a space where you can store all your files and information. Note that the host can be a part of a large computer called a server and provide you with the resources you need.

If we compare the site to a building, the host is the land on which the building is built. I think that is enough. To know more about this category, read the article What is hosting?

Understanding shared hosting is not very difficult if you know the definitions of hosting.

What is shared hosting?

It’s simple. Shared hosting is a service that makes it possible to use the same Server for several different users – with different sites or programs!

As we said, sites need a server to host them. Servers are very powerful computers that may be much more powerful than the needs of some sites.

In such a situation, the Server is available to more than one user! The contents of different sites are placed on the same host, and all users use common (and, of course, limited) resources to stay afloat—resources such as data storage space, RAM, CPU, etc.

The number of users who can use shared hosting depends on the type of Server and its resources. A server may only be able to host one user, while another can host hundreds of users simultaneously. The amount of users’ use of resources also depends on themselves, But everyone can use resources to some extent, and they have limitations.

Note: The opposite of shared hosting is Dedicated Server. In this case, a server with all its power is available to a site. The cost of providing a dedicated server is much higher than shared hosting.

What are the benefits of shared hosting?

Using shared hosting has both good and bad! This part is about the good things. The benefits of using these types of hosting are good things.

Cheap and affordable

We said it above! One of the most significant advantages of shared hosting is its low cost compared to dedicated and cloud hosting. Friends, the amounts are significantly different!

The main reason for this cheapness is the sharing of server maintenance costs between subscribers. It’s like living in an apartment building, but your monthly fees are much lower than in a villa. Why? Because the expenses are divided between different units. The same topic that we talked about at the beginning of the article.

Suitable for small and new sites

Does someone who has just learned to drive need a Formula 1 car?!! No really!

Someone new and wanting to set up a website for the first time does not need a dedicated host or resources. So if you want to start a small site that does not have a lot of visitors, go for shared hosting.

Easy management

It would help if you had a control panel to control the resources and access to the host. The positive thing about shared hosting is that the service providers provide their services along with control panels such as Direct Admin. These control panels make your work easy for hosting management.

The possibility of hosting Dynamic sites

Do you know what a dynamic site is? Some sites change their appearance according to their visitors. For example, Facebook, Quora, and Twitter are among these sites. CMSs such as WordPress and Joomla that support PHP, Python, and Perl languages are also dynamic. To host sites, we can use shared hosting.

No need for technical maintenance

You are setting up and maintaining the site on the one hand, taking care of the Server and maintaining it on the other! If you don’t have any knowledge about technical issues related to servers and hosts, don’t worry! One of the advantages of shared hosting is its maintenance by the service provider. Maintenance is part of the package that you have prepared and paid for.

If we want to conclude from all these advantages, we must say that shared hosting is suitable for beginners and novices and meets all their needs; But God is a perfect flower!

What are the disadvantages of shared hosting?

If the partner were good, God would take a partner! You’ve probably heard this phrase before. Most of the disadvantages that exist about shared hosting are caused by this partnership environment. Don’t forget that shared in hosting, resoresources shared between different sites and users.

Decreased site loading speed

Site load speed refers to the time it takes for website pages to load after the browser sends a request. Since resources are shared in this type of hosting, site loading speed can be significantly reduced.

Reduced efficiency when pressured by other partners

What if you are doing something important and the neighbors are busy?! We mean other sites that use shared hosting with you. When other sites put too much pressure on the Server, the smoke may go to your site and affect its performance.

Disruption when traffic increases

As we said, shared hosting is suitable for beginner sites with low traffic; But what to do when your site traffic increases after a while? In this case, these types of hosting will no longer be useful to you, and you should upgrade the package you have prepared.

Remember, it’s a good provider to notify you when traffic increases so you can upgrade your service.

Limited in personalization

There is no possibility of personalization or customization in shared hosting! Because this service is shared, you cannot change it according to your needs. This issue makes you unable to get the maximum performance from your hosting.

Despite all these disadvantages, it can still be argued that shared hosting is the best choice for beginners.

Being in danger from partners

You never know what sites are using the same Server at the same time as you; unfortunately, they can also endanger the security of your site! If hackers can gain access to a server through one site, they can likely affect other sites as well.

It is a good shared hosting service to monitor the activity of sites. This way, it can remove the suspicious site from access in case of a spam-like movement so that it does not threaten the danger of other sites on the host.

If you let me go into this a little bit more.

Site security in shared hosting

Let’s start with a beautiful sentence. The security of a shared hosting site depends on the weakest connection on that Server; That is, if a hacker can access a site on the Server, he has the possibility of disrupting the access of other sites connected to that Server! This work is called Cross-site Contamination.

This problem is more common in WordPress sites; Because the core of this content management system is well-known to most hackers. That’s why they go straight to the site’s wp-config.php file. This file contains data bank information; if a hacker gets access to it, the situation will be messed up!!
To prevent this from happening, there are two solutions in front of you:

1. Make this file unreadable to everyone except the site administrator and the web server process.
2. Disconnect any connections from the external IP to the wp-config.php file

On many shared hosts, there are over thousands of websites. Finally, among all these sites, one is vulnerable and is considered a good gateway for hackers to enter.

In any case, we emphasize again that for beginners, the best choices are shared hosting; But if you still doubt whether this system will work for you or not, in the next section, we will ask four questions, the answers to which will make you sure.

Four questions to determine the suitability of shared hosting

If you want to make sure that the shared hosting is suitable for your work, you should ask yourself the four questions that we will give below.

1) How much budget do you have, and what do you need?

Yes, We have already said that the most important feature of these types is that they are cheaper than other types of hosts. So if you are dealing with limited financial resources, the best choice you can have is shared hosting; But on the other hand, this cheapness comes with limited possibilities; So you must know your site’s needs.

Check the features of the shared hosting you are considering and see what it offers. Do these facilities meet your needs?

2) How much technical skill and server management ability do you have?

If you are new to this, it is best to use shared hosting. Because the maintenance and repair of these types of hosting are with the company providing it, they are obliged to be responsible for possible problems.

Also, another issue that you should check is related to the control panel that comes with the host. You should be well aware of the capabilities of this control panel. Remember that one of the most important features of a good control panel is the possibility of easy upgrading.

3) How big is your site, and what resources does it need?

If you have a large site with a lot of traffic, you should not use shared hosting! Resources in this type of hosting are shared between different sites. This issue makes the server’s full power not available to a site. So if your site has a lot of volume and visitors, avoid these hosts.

4) What are the limitations of shared hosting?

One of the most important pieces of information you need to know about the shared hosting you are considering is the restrictions it applies to the sites on the Server. It is good to know that having some of these limitations is a blessing!

In shared hosting, access to various resources for each site is limited. Hardware resources such as memory, RAM, hard drive, etc., as well as applying restrictions on various files to prevent the penetration of hackers and their malware. Meanwhile, if a site looks suspicious due to spam actions, it will be temporarily or permanently disabled by the host.

If, after answering these four questions, you conclude that you should use shared hosting, in the next section, we will introduce some indicators of good hosting.
Criteria for identifying a good shared host!

If you are sure that you want to use a shared host to host your site, you should also familiarize yourself with the criteria of a good shared host.

• The first expectation from a good host is that the sites on it have high speed and uptime. Also, ideally, the site’s speed should not be affected by the activity of other sites on the Server.
• In terms of traffic, we should not expect much from these hosts, But the more hosting you provide, the better. We have already said that a good host should inform you about the increase in your traffic and suggest hosting upgrades.
• The next issue you should pay attention to is the number of resources available to you and your site. Don’t forget that using more than the allowed limit will disturb other sites, So the moral is to use as many resources as you are allowed to.
• Support Call Center: We have often said that the possibility of personalization in these hosts is very limited. Keep this point in mind and choose the best hosting with the best control panel. In addition, the easier it is to install new programs on the host is considered one of its advantages.
• Number, but the last point! Cheapness is no reason not to expect support. Get a service provider with the best support for peace of mind if something goes wrong.

Conclusion

Considering all the issues we talked about, shared hosting is suitable for the following sites:

• Small business site
• weblog
• Portfolio display sites
• Personal websites

These types of hosts, along with all the advantages and cost-effectiveness, also have problems. Don’t go for shared hosting if your site is large and highly visited. That will only give you trouble.

What is shared hosting?

Shared hosting is a service that allows using a server for several different users – with different sites or programs. Be sure to read additional information in this article.

Is Linux hosting the same as shared hosting?

We call a host with a Linux operating system a Linux host; Now, if this hosting is provided to users in a shared way, it is the same Linux shared hosting.