Shared vs Dedicated
When picking a hosting plan, the biggest decision you will make is whether you want shared hosting or a dedicated server.
These factors will determine which option is best for you:
- Traffic - a measure of how much content is delivered to people and is measured in terms of bandwidth
- Webspace - the amount of space you have to store website files online
- Configuration - the required software and hardware setup you need on the server to run your website
At whiteMAKO, you are not locked into one. You can start with a shared plan and upgrade to a dedicated plan or start with a dedicated plan and scale back to a shared plan. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.
Shared Hosting
Shared hosting means that your site is stored on servers along with other sites. That means your site shares the server's bandwidth with every other site hosted on it. This is the standard for smaller websites. If you purchase hosting from anywhere and it isn't explicitly called dedicated hosting, then it is shared hosting.
Reasons to pick shared:
- Small audience (<1,000 people)
- Personal use
- Mostly text content
- Not a lot of pictures & videos
Examples:
- Blog
- Local business website
- Personal portfolio for employers
Dedicated Servers
A dedicated server is a server that hosts only one site (ie: is dedicated to one site). Dedicated servers are the standard for bigger websites. With a dedicated server, you have full control over the server.
Reasons to pick dedicated:
- Large audience (thousands to millions)
- Multimedia-driven sites
- Need special software/hardware configuration
- Need ability to fully customize server (root access)
Examples:
- Video sharing (ex: YouTube)
- Social network
- High-end e-commerce