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A Host provides the infrastructure, space and resources to store data and presents it to the public. It’s the storing and management of websites. You have two option to choose from 1) Managed – Hosting provider takes more responsibility; security, updates, performance and backups or 2) self-managed – You are responsible for plug in updates if auto update isn’t utilized, outdated or a security risk. As well as analyzing security risk and doing manual reviews of plugins.
Different types of hosting include:
- Cloud – A network of interconnected virtual servers to host your site.
- Dedicated – You rent an entire server exclusively for your own website. All its resources are reserved for your business alone. You get full control over everything; Hardware, Operating System also custom server software.
- E- Commerce – Payment gateway integrations.
- Shared – One server running customers hosting packages on one sever. Minimal technical upkeep. Includes what a WordPress site needs to get online.
- Virtual Private Server (VPS) – Single physical server. You have a set amount of compute, storage and data transfer (bandwidth).
- WordPress – Tailored specifically for the WordPress Platform
Words to know
- Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) – Performs all mathematical calculations and logical comparisons.
- Cache – Tiny ultra-fast temporary memory integrated directly into the CPU that stores frequently accessed data.
- Central Processing Unit (CPU) – Primary “brain” of a computer. Dictates how fast your device opens applications, process data, and handles demanding tasks.
- Cloud VM (Virtual Machine) – Hosted on a larger pool of computing resources.
- Control Unit (CU) – Directs the flow of data through the processor and coordinates the actions of the rest of the computer.
- Dedicated Server – Physical, enterprise-grade computer leased to a single client.
- Growth – Traffic flow to website gradual
- Hardware Resources – CPU, RAM, and Storage
- I/O – Input/Output
- NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) – Lets NVMe SSD drives move more data with much higher data transfer speeds and lower latency
- Operating System “Software” – Foundational software that manages computer hardware and provides a platform for software applications to run.
- Random Access Memory (RAM) – ” Desk Space”; Computer short-term memory. SSD or Hard Drive holds all your documents. RAM sits right in front of the processor for quicker access.
- Reliability – Site stays up
Useful words to know
- Security – Safety first always, keep your site and PII secure and protected
- Server “as Hardware” – Physical or Virtual computer designed to process requests and deliver data to other computers over a network. A physical server cannot function without an operating system.
- Server “as Software” – Specific program that provides a service. A computer designed to act as a server usually runs a specialized server operating system.
- Solid State Drive (SSD) – High-performance storage device that uses integrated circuits (Flash Memory) to store data
- M.2 NVMe
- 2.5-inch SATA
- External SSDS – Potable, durable drives that connect to your computer via USB-C
- Hard Disk Drives (HDDS) – Spinning disk drive
- Speed – Drives, maintain and attracts traffic
- Unmetered – You are not charged according to the amount of bandwidth you typically use in a normal operation of a personal or small business website.
- Website – “Content”; data, images and text
Shared Host
Websites reside on one single web server connected to the internet. Additionally, you are not allocated set number of resources. Consequently, sharing space inherently poses a slight security risk. RAM, CPU, and Disk Space are split among all the sites on that server. Also, control is limited you cannot install custom software or change server-level configurations. Another thing to keep in mind is the “Bad Neighbor” effect; if another website on your server experiences a massive traffic spike it can slow down your site. However, your hosting provider manages server maintenance, security patches and software updates. Therefore, you don’t need technical knowledge to manage the server.
Dedicated Host
A service where you lease an entire physical server exclusively for your own organization resources are never shared with other users. In addition, gives you a single-tenant, isolation, firewalling and timely security patches providing maximum security. Also, backups can be used for protection and recovery. Servers entire CPU RAM and Bandwidth are reserved for your applications. Therefore, giving you complete control over a single, dedicated server. Also customize, optimize and manage without limits; install software, configure settings and optimize performance. You gain full root/administration access to choose your operating system. However, with an unmanaged dedicated site, you are fully responsible for the server administration, maintenance and security. Requires specialized IT knowledge. On the other hand, Shared hosting or Virtual Private Server provide a more cost-effective alternative.
Virtual Private Server (VPS) Host
Hybrid between shared and dedicated hosting. Share physical server but have a dedicated portion of resources and own operating system with the power to choose which operating system to use. Runs your virtual server on shared hardware with allocated (virtualized) resources. In addition to your own OS, Server Applications and Root Access control. Also acts as a payment gateway for WooCommerce. A single machine is split into multiple private server environments that share the resources.
However, each server has its own dedicated resources and operating system. You will gain an isolated, virtual environment on a physical server with dedicated CPU, RAM and storage. Also, with VPS you have full control to host websites, run applications, or build private servers. Most important environment is secure and separate from other users on the same physical machine. Operated by a cloud platform or Virtualization Environment. Cloud VPS servers deploy on a cloud infrastructure. Cost-effective balance between the affordability of shared hosting and the power of dedicated servers. But you are responsible for managing the server (Security, Maintenance, and software updates) if unmanaged VPS hosting is used.
Managed Host
IT service where a provider leases you a server infrastructure and assumes full responsibility for its day-to-day technical administration. Provider’s team handles hardware maintenance, operating system patching, security monitoring, and backups. Additionally, the provider owns and maintains the physical or virtual hardware (Shared, VPS or Dedicated). Your responsible for applications, code and business operations. The Site basically runs itself.
Self-managed Host
Finally, let review self-managing a hosting plan. When self-managing a hosting plan, you will have to dedicate time into understanding how plug-ins work with each other how they affect functionality of your theme and what additional subscriptions and/or extensions is needed to meet your desired results. Also, be aware of how to use and access your backups for website recovery reasons. However, if it’s a shared self-managed hosting plan you will have security, website monitoring and backups to aid with the security, monitoring, website recovery and core functionality.
Customization can be done via plugins. If you aren’t IT savvy or don’t have specific reasons for choosing a self-manage plan, then a managed hosting plan is for you. With a managed plan for the most part all you have to worry about is what the public sees and your provider will handle the backend “development” of things, more so the things the public doesn’t see but experience.
When choosing a hosting plan things to consider are 1) The type of hosting plan that’s right for you starting off. Does the hosting provider offer additional hosting plans that allow room for your website to grow as needed. 2) Storage space for content/data and/or software applications and 3) do you have time to self-manage or would you rather delegate security, maintenance and software updates manageability to your hosting provider.
