Shared Hosting is a type of web hosting where a single physical server hosts multiple sites. It allows multiple users, websites, or accounts to be hosted on a single web server. Meanwhile, dedicated hosting is a website hosting environment that provides the highest level of resource allocation, privacy, and control. It is a single server devoted to one user and is completely isolated, so users get full access to configure their server any way they want without affecting another user or being affected by the actions of other users.
Shared Hosting | Characteristic | Dedicated Hosting |
– Good choice for those who do not have much technical skills to manage and control everything – Can have limited administrative access and cannot customize software configuration – Have the access to cPanel which you can: manage files, databases, email accounts, error logs and some server analytics. – If the server is down, the technicians will take care in the shortest time | Management | – Good choice for those who have a technical background and can manage or configure the server on their own – There are few types of dedicated server management: User-Responsible, Basic, and Complete – Root access which is provided with a dedicated server is a huge benefit if you need to make server modification |
– You can never know who your neighbour is and whether the activities they perform have a negative influence on the server – For example, you might receive a spike in traffic due to some issues – Probably will go over the resource limits and might be even suspended to protect other users on the server
| Performance | – May be able to handle the increased traffic |
| – Share resources such as data, CPU time, memory, and disk space | Resources | – Website that receives a massive volume of traffic is suitable for a dedicated server |
– Can have an effective firewall system along with a set of server security applications and programs installed in the shared server – You may block the IP on both shared and dedicated hosting
| Security | – Allows running almost all types of scripts and software – May always install any security software to add the additional layer of reliability to your own server – Eg. You may block the IP on both shared and dedicated hosting while whitelist of an IP address is possible only on dedicated hosting |
| – Cost is less since the server resources are shared among several users | Cost | – Cost more due to it is dedicated solely to one user |