What Is Cloud-Based Hosting, How Is It Different From Traditional Hosting, And What Architecture Does It Work On?
Cloud-Based Hosting Refers To A Special Type Of Storage, And Computing Resource Hosting That Provides Users With The Services And Resources Needed To Host Websites.
In addition, it provides facilities and services for building and maintaining the website. For this reason, it is necessary to choose the right host to increase the speed and security of the website.
There are different types of hosts, the most important of which are traditional web hosts and cloud hosts. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages and provides users with various capabilities.
In this article, we will examine the advantages and disadvantages and the difference between web hosting and cloud-based hosting so that you can find the right option for hosting your website.
What is web hosting?
Web hosting is a service where your files are stored on a single server in a data center. In this case, the web host prepares the physical hardware, software, and network infrastructure to host the websites. So that users can get storage space and IT resources from the service provider according to their needs. The most common web hosts include shared hosting, virtual private server hosting (VPS), and dedicated hosting.
shared hosting
The hosting provider makes a server available to many people in shared hosting. These types of hosting are the least expensive because you share necessary resources like CPU, memory, web server software, and storage space with other websites. In addition, other websites’ problems in shared hosting can affect your website’s security and performance.
Hence, if one of the websites hosted on shared hosting receives unexpected traffic, it may consume the server’s resources simultaneously. As a result, there is a possibility that other websites may experience slowness and performance disruption due to a lack of resources.
Similarly, if a website on a shared host faces a cyber attack, other websites on that host will likely face the risk of attack, Especially if they all use the same infrastructure software. Shared hosting is a good choice for personal blogs and businesses not dealing with sensitive data or financial transactions.
Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting
In virtual private server hosting, websites are stored on a physical machine, which provides a part of the physical server’s resources to the websites in virtual form. A virtual private server gives users more control over resources such as web server software, operating system, etc.
Virtual private server hosting is more expensive than shared hosting, but your website will have better security with this type of hosting. In addition, any security breach or increased traffic on other websites will impact your website’s performance less.
Dedicated hosting
In dedicated hosting, you can access the physical server and its resources. Therefore, you don’t have to share a server with other companies. Dedicated hosting offers more control over the hardware and software components of the server, which means that other websites’ problems will not affect your website’s performance.
Dedicated hosting is more expensive than the two mentioned examples and requires maintenance. To ensure that your server is optimized and secure, you must have in-house IT staff on your team.
Cloud hosting
Cloud hosting is a network of servers that host your website and applications. Unlike traditional web hosting, the website is not hosted on a single physical server; all server resources are available virtually.
There are different types of cloud hosting, the most important of which are public, private, hybrid, and multi-cloud. Cloud hosting offers better availability and scalability than traditional hosting. Also, it allows you to choose the correct option among different cloud computing models according to your business needs.
A significant advantage of cloud hosting is that you don’t rely on a physical data center. Cloud hosting has lower initial setup costs compared to the examples we mentioned. So, instead of renting space on a physical server, you only pay for the resources used. Also, to improve security, you can choose dedicated virtual servers. The load-balancing process is done better and more accurately with multiple server environments.
Comparison of hyper-hosted hosting and regular hosting
Among the essential differences between these two services, the following should be noted:
1. Performance
Website performance is mainly dependent on the server providing the required resources. Hence, a mighty host allows for faster website page load times and improves website performance. The host processes the client requests and provides enough resources for the website to be uptime. So that it enhances the user experience and makes the website appear in higher ranks in search engines.
A traditional web hosting service, such as shared hosting, works well for websites with low traffic. However, websites with high traffic volume should consider cloud hosting. Cloud hosting is flexible in terms of resource allocation. You can quickly increase capacity and balance the server load when traffic increases.
You get consistent performance when using cloud hosting due to its unlimited resources. Therefore, cloud hosting can provide higher performance and availability than standard hosting.
2. Security
Websites can only deal with malicious attacks and information theft if the server security is at the highest possible level. In regular hosting, you risk failure and data loss if there is any hardware failure or cyber-attack. Additionally, you won’t be able to enjoy the benefits of data redundancy and backups on your web hosting.
On the contrary, the hosting provider must ensure the server’s security in cloud-based hosting. For this reason, choosing a quality web hosting provider is essential to maintain website stability. Also, note that if you get a dedicated server, you must manage the server’s security settings yourself.
With cloud hosting, data is stored on multiple servers in remote locations. The hosting provider also keeps copies of data for faster recovery so that in the event of a disaster, data can be recovered quickly using a cloud hosting solution. Overall, your website will be more secure with advanced cloud storage solutions.
3. Scaling and flexibility
As business activities grow, you may need to increase computing resources. In cloud web hosting, you can change hosting plans or service providers. Scaling resources on a dedicated physical server is more challenging.
A physical server has little flexibility to increase main memory, network bandwidth, and real-time services. So, in practice, you have to add another physical server to increase the desired features. Cloud hosting has more flexibility in scaling resources. You can quickly scale up or down resources based on traffic needs.
With a growing business, you need unlimited server resources on a global scale. Adding more capacity to the server in a cloud-based hosting solution is not a difficult task because cloud hosting can provide unlimited server resources and prevent the website from experiencing disruption due to high traffic. Cloud hosting companies also offer autoscaling services.
Also, resources are automatically adjusted based on increased traffic. Auto-scaling is essential because you’ll be sure your service will stay online when traffic unexpectedly spikes.
4. Reliability
Hardware and software problems can cause server crashes and websites to become unavailable. As a result, your website may be down for a few hours until the issue is resolved. For this reason, the web host is responsible for maintaining the host’s health so that the hosted websites are available to users without problems.
The website depends entirely on a physical server in regular hosting, and its reliability is significantly reduced. In contrast, in cloud hosting, a network of servers is used to store website data in different locations. If a server goes down due to hardware failure, it is quickly replaced by another server. That’s why cloud-based hosting guarantees website uptime and offers the highest level of data protection. To be more precise, it provides higher reliability than standard hosting.
5. Resource Allocation
Proper resource allocation ensures that websites perform at their best. In this case, you must specify the resources required for the workload. The web hosting provider usually provides users additional resources and services to meet this need. These services can include automatic backups or free domain registration.
Setting up resources with cloud hosting is simple due to its high flexibility. In a typical hosting strategy, the idle rate of resources is high, so you have to pay a lot for more energy and space, for which you will get little use. Also, it is impossible to dynamically allocate resources on demand and in real-time in regular hosting.
When it comes to cloud resource allocation, we have the following components:
- Resource allocation limit & reservations
- Resource allocation shares
- Policies of Resource allocation
Also, it is possible to dynamically change the amount of CPU usage, memory, and other metrics in real time according to cloud hosting needs.
6. Architecture
In traditional web hosting, designing a scalable architecture is challenging because you host websites on a single physical server. Regular hosting is not a good choice if you want to host a website serving different users. Cloud hosting uses multiple servers to host a single website. Cloud architecture is based on a network; you can expand and internationalize your business.
7. Cost
A typical hosting strategy offers a fixed pricing plan; you have to pay for it anyway, even if you don’t use it. Shared hosting is the least expensive, while dedicated hosting is the most costly. With cloud hosting, you only pay for the resources you use. This issue has made the pay-as-you-go pricing model reduce the total cost of using resources. Some cloud hosting providers allow you to pay by the hour for resource usage.
Hence, cloud hosting can be a cost-effective hosting solution. However, optimizing cloud hosting costs requires knowledge of cloud infrastructure. You must ensure you have an experienced team of IT experts who can handle these things.
last word
Regular hosting and cloud-based services provide users with a lot of computing resources. For this reason, before choosing the type of hosting, you should first analyze the needs of your business. If you don’t have a growing business, but security is essential to you, choose dedicated web hosting. Of course, remember that you need initial capital and trained employees to maintain a physical server.
The standard shared hosting model is cheap, but it creates problems in terms of security and website speed. Typically, shared hosting is best suited for personal blogs and small businesses.
Cloud hosting is a better option if scalability and flexibility are essential to your business. Cloud hosting requires less upfront capital because you don’t have to pay upfront costs for an on-premises physical server or licensing.
Finally, we must point out that the most crucial difference between cloud hosting and regular hosting is in the security and performance that it provides to websites.
Cloud hosting is more secure than regular hosting and offers better performance. In addition, in hyper-hosted hosting, you spend as much as you consume resources.
Unlike physical servers, in cloud hosting, if the server fails, the data is transferred to another server without any problems, and there is no problem for the websites. On the other hand, cloud hosting has better security and can better protect websites against common attacks such as DDoS.