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Shared Hosting vs VPS, the need for speed.
VPS Hosting will always win over Shared Hosting in terms of speed. Shared Hosting is great for small sites or sites just starting out, VPS Hosting is best for larger websites where factors like speed and performance are critical, especially when you are really looking to scale your website(s) to the next level.
However, increased speed and performance also comes with higher costs. So while VPS does offers higher speeds, Shared Hosting comes at lower prices when compared to VPS Hosting.
The reason why VPS Hosting comes with higher speed and performance levels when compared to Shared Hosting is because there are less websites sharing disk space and resources with VPS (Virtual Private Server) Hosting than with Shared Hosting.
With VPS Hosting a website is allocated a guaranteed amount of server space and resources every month, whereas with Shared Hosting, there are no guaranteed server space or resources.
Shared Hosting plans can pile in as many websites on a single server as they wish. In fact, the more websites a Web Hosting Provider can host on a single server, the more profit they make.
In other words, it’s all about economies of scale with Shared Hosting when compared to VPS Hosting.
If you’ve ever worked with a website, you can understand the importance of speed. Other than your branding and SEO efforts, the speed at which your site is able to load has a big impact on revenue and user experience. But, there’s more!
This post is going to focus on Shared Hosting vs VPS (Virtual Private Server), and why you might need to move from a Shared Hosting environment to a VPS if you’re looking for speed.
Shared Hosting is a great option for many websites, but it would come with some downsides in terms of performance and security. Most notably, the lack of speed.
Shared Hosting provides multiple users on a single server, which can be great for small to medium sized businesses with lower traffic demands.
The problem is the multiple users sharing resources on a single server, which is exactly why you need Shared Hosting in the first place.
What makes this worse is that if your website starts getting more traffic (and subsequently performance issues) there’s little you can do to increase performance besides upgrading to a VPS (Virtual Private Server) or Dedicated Hosting, which can be costly.
With the increased amount of users on your Shared Hosting environment, you’re also running into more security vulnerabilities with each additional user that joins your server.
Even if your site is secure, there’s always the possibility of an exploit in some other website’s code which can lead to having your own website compromised.
Being hacked is never a good thing, and with the extra users in a Shared Hosting environment you’d be more prone to security issues than in a VPS or dedicated host.
A virtual private server, sometimes referred to as VPS hosting, uses software (like VirtualBox) to emulate a computer.
With this emulation software, you are able to allocate the VPS server’s resources just like you would on dedicated hardware, but with an added layer of protection between your website and other websites being hosted on the same machine.
This means that if one website starts getting performance issues or becomes compromised, it will have no effect on the other websites hosting on the same machine.
You can also increase server resources with a VPS without any major problems, which is why you need VPS when it comes to speed.
Why is VPS hosting faster than shared?
Virtual private servers have been around for a long time now.
In the past, VPS hosting was much faster than Shared Hosting because of limitations with disk access speeds, as well as your applications being limited to being able to use only a portion of the entire server’s resources.
It has even been said that a virtual private server is still faster than a Shared Hosting plan, even in the age of SSDs.
How are VPS servers faster than Shared Hosting servers?
The real answer to this question is very technical. For starters, most virtual private servers are not severely burdened by dozens or hundreds of other websites that are hosted on the same server as it is very likely that only a small fraction of the websites on a VPS will be actively receiving traffic at any given time.
This means that a virtual private server will very likely have more resources available to it than a Shared Hosting plan, which can lead to many benefits regarding speed and performance from your end.
In addition, virtual private servers are much better equipped for advanced caching mechanisms, allowing for lightning fast speed when your resources are under low demand.
This is due to the fact that VPS hosting providers can purchase high-quality caching hardware for use with virtual private servers, whereas shared hosts must spread these benefits across their entire user base in order to provide competitive pricing in the marketplace.
Another advantage of virtual private servers is that they are not as associated with the resources they are given.
For example, a managed WordPress hosting plan from SiteGround is not going to have its speeds hampered because of a lack of available RAM or CPU space, whereas on a shared platform it will be problematic if too many websites are using up all of the resources on the server.
In addition, virtual private servers are much easier to upgrade than traditional Shared Hosting plans.
Because of their separation from other websites on the same server, you are only sharing the resources required for your own website with the resources that are required for your website alone.
With that being said, it should be noted that there are several providers out there that will not allow you to upgrade your virtual private server to a higher plan, so be sure to read the fine print before making a purchase.
In a nutshell, virtual private servers are likely much faster than Shared Hosting plans for many reasons.
But in all honesty it really depends on which specific providers you are comparing with each other. Some Shared Hosting plans use caching mechanisms and high-quality hardware that can be on par with most VPS hosting plans.
In fact, these Shared Hosting Providers can often provide a slightly cheaper solution for professional users.
In the end it will always come down to what you need from your web host. If you are operating a business website or an eCommerce store, using managed WordPress hosting is probably going to be the right choice for you.
Whereas if you are just a personal blogger, it might be in your best interest to use a virtual private server that gives you the freedom to install the CMS or web applications that is right for you.
Is getting a VPS worth it just for speed?
The answer to this question is often no, depending on how much traffic your website receives. VPS plans are usually around $20 USD for a decently powerful one, whereas Shared Hosting starts at around $3 USD per month and scales up from there.
If you only need 1 or 2 GB of RAM and 100-200GB of storage space, a VPS will be way more expensive for you to use every month.
In addition, some Shared Hosting plans use powerful caching mechanisms and high quality hardware that can really speed up your site, whereas other providers on the same physical server might have terrible speeds because of problems on their end.
In the end, it’s going to come down to what you need from your website. If you are operating a business website or an eCommerce store, using managed WordPress hosting is the cheapest way to go.
However, if you are running a personal blog where all of the content can be pulled dynamically through RSS feeds, it might be better to use a virtual private server that gives you more freedom to install any CMS or web application you want.
Of course, always be sure to research any providers you are interested in and find the right solution for your budget and requirements!
Is Shared Hosting any good?
Shared Hosting can be a great choice for personal sites, small businesses and other websites that don’t receive a tremendous amount of traffic.
There are several different Shared Hosting plans out there that provide unlimited bandwidth and storage for under $10 USD per month, which really makes it an attractive and affordable option. Especially when compared with VPS hosting.
For lower budgets, Shared Hosting is the way to go. But for more complex sites with huge traffic spikes, it can be problematic.
When Shared Hosting was first introduced some years ago, the quality of the service providers varied greatly.
You could find some excellent hosts that truly went above and beyond what they needed to do. Then you could also find some horrendous hosts that simply had terrible service and infrastructure.
In a way it was a bit like a lottery. You never knew what you were going to get until after they started servicing your account, and then it might be too late to do anything about it.
These days things have changed for the better.
Most Shared Hosting providers now use automation tools to make sure their users get the maximum performance out of their websites.
It’s also probably true to say that most shared providers are on par with or even better than some virtual private servers.
Of course, there are still some bad eggs in the mix, but by doing proper research you can find a solution that is right for your budget and requirements.
Is VPS hosting even worth it?
VPS, or virtual private servers are somewhat distinct from Shared Hosting. VPS hosting is like having your own dedicated server, but you share the physical machine with other users.
It’s also cheaper than a dedicated server, but you get more power and control over your allocated virtual server space instance.
A VPS usually has its own IP address which makes it seem like an individual machine.
However, the main difference is that while with VPS hosting you can get root access to your machine (or server), with Shared Hosting it’s not possible.
This main feature of Virtual private servers hosting is what makes them worth paying for.
Running several sites simultaneously on one web-server requires a certain amount of space and resources which will be wasted if you’re not using all the sites at the same time.
This is where VPS hosting comes in.
Again, it allows running multiple sites through a single IP address, which gives you not only much better performance, security and speed, but more control over the server as well.
Shared Hosting vs VPS and speed. Summary.
In short, VPS hosting is usually much faster than Shared Hosting because of the speed at which data can be accessed on the virtual private server, which is aided by caching mechanisms that are not available to you on Shared Hosting accounts.
The separation of your website from other websites hosted on the same server also leads to better performance for your websites, allowing you access to more resources than was previously possible.
However, many providers may not allow customers to upgrade their plans, so it is important to read the fine print when making a purchase.
In the end, it really comes down to what you need from your Web Hosting account, and which providers have plans that are right for you.
