Here’s a question I get all of the time: How much server space
and bandwith does my website need? The quick and honest answer is that
it varies widely from one website to another and each website should be
evaluated on a case-by-case basis for it’s server requirements. For most
simple websites, 10 GB of storage is more than adequate. However, large
ecommerce websites will require much more storage. Websites that only
get a handful of visitors each day will not require as much bandwidth as
a high-traffic website getting millions of hits each day.
The advantages of shared hosting is that it’s cheap, readily available, east to setup, and usually monitored and managed by your hosting company. Shared hosting plans can be purchased from almost any hosting provider for under $10 a month, with most companies offering plans starting at just a couple of dollars. Shared hosting plans are easy to setup and you can start serving up webpages within just a few minutes.
The disadvantages include that the fact that your website could be hosted with hundreds or even thousands of other websites on the same physical machine in a data center. Some web hosting companies practice “overselling,” which is when they sell more server space than what it can actually hold. Their anticipation is that the majority of website owners will not utilize all of the space they have purchased, thus they will sell that unused space to additional customers. Basically, they’ll try to pack as many websites onto a server as they possibly can.
This can create a couple of its own problems. First, too many websites on a single server can cause the website to bog down when serving up webpages, especially if some of the websites on that server are application-intensive. The performance of your website will most certainly be affected if another website on the server is using up all of the resources. Secondly, storing secure data on a shared hosting server isn’t recommended. If a shared hosting server becomes compromised, every website on that server can potentially become compromised. Storing credit card information in a shared hosting environment is a big no-no in the eyes of the credit card companies.
Even with the various disadvantages, shared hosting is still a very popular option for website owners – especially those that are starting out on the internet. I use shared hosting for most of my websites with virtually no problems. For most websites, shared hosting is the way to go.
One of the advantages of virtual private servers is the control you have over the server. Most VPS hosting companies will allow you to load different operating systems and virtually any program on the machine and have full control over what features are enabled. VPS’s are cheaper than dedicated servers while maintaining many of the same features. The biggest advantage of a VPS over shared hosting is in the resources. VPS hosting companies will not only allocate a certain amount of server space to your website, but they will typically allocate a specific amount of RAM and CPU cycles.
The primary disadvantage of a VPS is that it can be too much for a regular website owner to manage if they don’t have the proper knowledge or experience. The price is also much more than typical shared hosting. Some VPS hosting plans can easily cost as much as 10 times that of shared hosting. VPS’s typically offer less disk space and lower amounts of bandwith than shared hosting plans.
The biggest advantage of a dedicated server is that all of the server’s resourced are allocated to the websites you have hosted on the machine – you don’t have to share RAM or CPU cycles with another customer. This allows for application-intensive scripts to run without hindrance on your machine. In addition, you’ll have full control over your web server – everything from hardware to the software installed on the machine. Dedicated servers often provide the most secure platform from which to operate an ecommerce website.
The biggest disadvantage is that dedicated servers are generally relegated into the dominion of IT professionals. There are plenty of ways to screw up a dedicated server if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Most people would really be surprised at how little bandwidth their websites actually consume in a typical month. A typical HTML webpage that I design is usually only 10-20 KB in size (not included scripts or images). Even if that typical HTML webpage is served up 100,000 times in a month, that’s only about 1 GB in traffic. I looked up a VPS package from a major hosting company and they offer 500 GB of bandwidth with their economy package – which is enough serve up a typical webpage 50 million times in a month. Their ultimate package include 4,000 GB of bandwidth or enough to serve a typical webpage about 400 million times. As you can see – unless your website is getting millions of visitors each month or serving up large files, bandwidth is usually not an issue for most small websites.
So which hosting solution will be best for your website? I will default my answer with the old adage, “to each his own.” Every website is different and will have different server requirements beyond the scope of this article. It’s always best to talk with your web designer, hosting company or IT professional to help you make a decision that is in the best interests of your website.
Types of Web Hosting Servers
There are several types of website hosting server configurations, but for our purposes, we’ll focus on three: shared hosting, virtual private servers, and dedicated servers.Shared Hosting
Shared hosting servers are by far the most common type of web hosting available on the internet. Basically, a web hosting company will allocate a certain amount of space to one or more of your websites. I’m not sure what percentage of websites on the internet use shared hosting, but I feel pretty confident in guessing that it’s close to 90%, if not more.The advantages of shared hosting is that it’s cheap, readily available, east to setup, and usually monitored and managed by your hosting company. Shared hosting plans can be purchased from almost any hosting provider for under $10 a month, with most companies offering plans starting at just a couple of dollars. Shared hosting plans are easy to setup and you can start serving up webpages within just a few minutes.
The disadvantages include that the fact that your website could be hosted with hundreds or even thousands of other websites on the same physical machine in a data center. Some web hosting companies practice “overselling,” which is when they sell more server space than what it can actually hold. Their anticipation is that the majority of website owners will not utilize all of the space they have purchased, thus they will sell that unused space to additional customers. Basically, they’ll try to pack as many websites onto a server as they possibly can.
This can create a couple of its own problems. First, too many websites on a single server can cause the website to bog down when serving up webpages, especially if some of the websites on that server are application-intensive. The performance of your website will most certainly be affected if another website on the server is using up all of the resources. Secondly, storing secure data on a shared hosting server isn’t recommended. If a shared hosting server becomes compromised, every website on that server can potentially become compromised. Storing credit card information in a shared hosting environment is a big no-no in the eyes of the credit card companies.
Even with the various disadvantages, shared hosting is still a very popular option for website owners – especially those that are starting out on the internet. I use shared hosting for most of my websites with virtually no problems. For most websites, shared hosting is the way to go.
Virtual Private Servers
Virtual private servers or VPS’s are similar to shared hosting in that there are a few websites hosted on one physical machine, but are similar to dedicated hosting in that there is a greater level of control over the server. A VPS is made up of several virtual machines, each with its own IP addresses, root access, and operating system. VPS’s fill the gap between shared hosting and dedicated hosting.One of the advantages of virtual private servers is the control you have over the server. Most VPS hosting companies will allow you to load different operating systems and virtually any program on the machine and have full control over what features are enabled. VPS’s are cheaper than dedicated servers while maintaining many of the same features. The biggest advantage of a VPS over shared hosting is in the resources. VPS hosting companies will not only allocate a certain amount of server space to your website, but they will typically allocate a specific amount of RAM and CPU cycles.
The primary disadvantage of a VPS is that it can be too much for a regular website owner to manage if they don’t have the proper knowledge or experience. The price is also much more than typical shared hosting. Some VPS hosting plans can easily cost as much as 10 times that of shared hosting. VPS’s typically offer less disk space and lower amounts of bandwith than shared hosting plans.
Dedicated Servers
Dedicated servers are perhaps the pinnacle of website hosting environments. Dedicated servers are typically utilized for high-traffic websites or enterprise-level hosting.The biggest advantage of a dedicated server is that all of the server’s resourced are allocated to the websites you have hosted on the machine – you don’t have to share RAM or CPU cycles with another customer. This allows for application-intensive scripts to run without hindrance on your machine. In addition, you’ll have full control over your web server – everything from hardware to the software installed on the machine. Dedicated servers often provide the most secure platform from which to operate an ecommerce website.
The biggest disadvantage is that dedicated servers are generally relegated into the dominion of IT professionals. There are plenty of ways to screw up a dedicated server if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Server Space
Server space is the amount of storage allocated to your website on a server. Regardless of the type of hosting solution you have, you are limited to the physical storage capacity of the server’s hard drive. But don’t be alarmed! A small website won’t take up that much room on a server. A shared hosting account from a popular hosting company I examined included 10 GB of storage in their economy package. That is enough storage space to house more than 1 million typical HTML documents or 3,000 high-resolution photos. This is usually more than enough for virtually any small website. Larger websites that contain dynamic content or huge number of photos (as would typically be found on ecommerce websites) obviously require additional storage space.Bandwidth
Bandwidth refers to the amount of traffic between your web server and the internet. A small website with a limited number of daily visitors will not take up that much bandwidth. Webpages typically are the smallest files on your webserver, followed by images, audio files, and videos. However, be forewarned that most shared hosting companies will not allow you to stream audio or video files from their server since those files consume a large amount of bandwidth, even if you have purchased a hosting account with “unlimited” or unmetered bandwidth. If you need to stream audio or video files, make sure you’re not in violation of your hosting company’s terms of use policy or else your website could be shut down.Most people would really be surprised at how little bandwidth their websites actually consume in a typical month. A typical HTML webpage that I design is usually only 10-20 KB in size (not included scripts or images). Even if that typical HTML webpage is served up 100,000 times in a month, that’s only about 1 GB in traffic. I looked up a VPS package from a major hosting company and they offer 500 GB of bandwidth with their economy package – which is enough serve up a typical webpage 50 million times in a month. Their ultimate package include 4,000 GB of bandwidth or enough to serve a typical webpage about 400 million times. As you can see – unless your website is getting millions of visitors each month or serving up large files, bandwidth is usually not an issue for most small websites.
The Best Hosting Solution
For most of my clients, shared hosting is more than adequate to serve up their websites. Some websites only have a dozen or so webpages with limited traffic, so the resources required do no justify the cost of a VPS or dedicated server. On the flip side, some of my clients have huge dynamic ecommerce websites with thousands of products and thousands of daily visitors. These type of websites obviously take up more resources and a dedicated server is in order.So which hosting solution will be best for your website? I will default my answer with the old adage, “to each his own.” Every website is different and will have different server requirements beyond the scope of this article. It’s always best to talk with your web designer, hosting company or IT professional to help you make a decision that is in the best interests of your website.
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