Shared Hosting Package

A shared web hosting package is the most basic form of web hosting offered by most web hosting providers, but because of this a shared web hosting package will also be the cheapest web hosting package that you can purchase from most web hosting providers. Although some may think that a shared web hosting package hasn’t got that much to offer because of how much you are paying, you would be wrong to think so; most web hosting providers offer many extra features with their shared web hosting packages to make them more attractive to consumers – however, you should check that such features will be of use to use prior to purchasing a shared web hosting package since there is no point in paying for something that you aren’t going to use. Windows shared web hosting packages and Linux shared web hosting packages are offered by most web hosting providers which helps to ensure that there is choice available for those who require it – it also means that there is going to be a shared hosting package available to suit your requirements whatever those requirements may be.

A shared web hosting package is the ideal form of web hosting for someone who is new to web hosting simply because you are able to get a lot for a small amount of money, and since most web hosting providers offer money back guarantees on all of their web hosting services you can even claim a refund within a set amount of time if you find that your shared hosting package doesn’t quite suit your requirements. The main problem with shared web hosting is that shared hosting packages are offered by so many web hosting providers, choosing the right web hosting package can be hard; it is important for you to make sure that you avoid web hosting providers who oversell their web hosting services at all costs – even though cheap shared hosting packages offering unlimited resource assignments may be very tempting, in reality they don’t exist and you will never be able to make full use of the resources that you are being ‘promised’. Shared web hosting should never be used for the hosting of a website which you class as important or for the hosting of data which could be classed as confidential; the main reason for this is because there are so many people hosted on a single shared hosting server that it is hard for a website hosting provider to guarantee any high levels of reliability or security.

What are the advantages of using a shared hosting package?

Shared hosting is one of the few forms of web hosting that has advantages to offer everyone, regardless of what your requirements may be or whether you are a business or an individual. The main advantage to be aware of with shared web hosting has to be the price that you are paying for your shared web hosting package, and many see this as the main attraction for shared web hosting; because you are being provided with limited access and relatively small resource assignments, your web hosting provider will be able to host many accounts on a single server – this means that they will be able to lower the price which they charge for their shared hosting packages but at the same time will be retaining a good level of profit from each shared hosting package sold. A shared hosting package can also offer you features which are ideal for a beginner and help to make any shared web hosting package good value for money – such features may include script installers (i.e. Fantastico) or website builders to help you get started with your first website (i.e. RV SiteBuilder); most web hosting providers offer such features for free since customers using shared hosting tend to be first-timers, and because of this they want to make a good impression. The resource assignments offered by a shared web hosting package are normally more in line with what the average consumer requires when compared to the resources offered by other forms of web hosting such as VPS hosting and dedicated server hosting; not only does this help to keep the cost of a shared hosting package down, but it also means that you are only paying for what you are going to need and use. In summary, the main advantages of using a shared web hosting package include:

  • Cost – the main attraction for most with shared web hosting is the price, and although you may think that cheap will mean nasty it can in fact mean the complete opposite if you choose the right web hosting provider to meet your web hosting requirements – the cheapest form of shared web hosting available is going to be a Linux web hosting package and any Linux shared hosting package is going to represent good value for money in terms of reliability and security, but in some situations you may need to consider a Windows shared hosting package and if this is the case then you will need to pay quite a bit for your shared hosting package as using the Windows operating system comes at a premium in any case
  • Features – the features offered with most shared web hosting packages are only designed to be appealing to those who have never used a web hosting package before, simply because they are designed with the idea of making the user’s experience as good as possible by making their web hosting package easy to use – one good example of an extra feature included with a shared web hosting package would be a website building application such as RVSiteBuilder, and this isn’t going to be appealing to an experienced user since the likelihood is that they will be able to design and code their own website anyway whereas someone who is using web hosting for the first time probably can;t and may just be experimenting
  • Resource assignments – most web hosting providers are gradually becoming more generous with their resource assignments for shared hosting users, but for the most part the resources offered with your average shared web hosting package make shared web hosting good value for money and are just enough for what most people require – the problem with more expensive forms of web hosting including VPS hosting and dedicated server hosting is that they are only offered along with large resource assignments which only businesses or power users are going to be able to make the most of, and this means for some that they just don’t represent good value for money since they will be paying for resources that they don’t actually need.

The advantages of using a shared web hosting package show that regardless of your position, a shared web hosting package can offer you good value for money if web hosting is the thing that you’re after. It is important for you to make the right choice between Windows shared hosting and Linux shared hosting since both are very different hosting platforms designed to meet the requirements of different users, but in short if you are after shared hosting then a Linux shared hosting package is going to be more than capable of meeting your needs effectively.

What are the disadvantages of using a shared hosting package?

In some cases a shared web hosting package can be cheap and nasty, although as is the case with most things how good your web hosting package is will depend on the web hosting provider or supplier who you purchase your shared hosting package from. The one main disadvantage which blights many users of shared web hosting packages is the level of reliability that is offered since it can be hard for some web hosting providers to offer any rock hard uptime guarantees due to the number of accounts that they are going to be hosting on a single shared web hosting server; if you are after a reliable web hosting package then you may wish to consider a more substantial form of web hosting such as VPS hosting or dedicated server hosting. Similarly the level of security offered with a shared web hosting package may not be as high as you wish it to be which means that you should be careful with the data that you choose to store under your shared hosting account, and especially emails since you can easily download them to your local computer without needing to keep a copy in your web hosting account; if you are going to be processing or storing personally identifiable information on your visitors then you may wish to consider a more secure form of web hosting or a shared hosting package from a web hosting provider that has gone the extra mile to ensure that their web hosting services are secure. A shared hosting package can prove to be limited for some users who require shell access or Remote Desktop access in order to carry out specific procedures, although the security policies implemented by some web hosting providers have been proven to affect the functionality of their customers’ websites; if you feel that a shared hosting package is going to be limiting for you in any way then it is recommended that you consider a higher form of web hosting, and if the security policies implemented by your web hosting provider are going to affect the functionality of your website then you may wish to consider another web hosting provider for your requirements. In summary, the main disadvantages of using a shared hosting package include:

  • Reliability – you should never come to expect a high level of reliability from any shared web hosting package since due to the sheer number of websites hosted on a single shared web hosting server it won’t take much to crash the entire hosting server, thus taking all the websites that the server hosts down with it – most web hosting providers never advertise their shared hosting packages as reliable although some may offer an uptime guarantee, but regardless of the web hosting provider you choose you should always ignore the uptime guarantee offered unless it is provided alongside an SLA (Service Level Agreement) since then your web hosting provider is agreeing to offer the level of uptime by doing everything possible to make it happen
  • Security – if you wish to use your shared hosting package for the hosting of a website which is going to be holding or processing personal data then you wish to consider a more secure and higher end form of web hosting such as VPS server hosting or dedicated server hosting – this is because you are never really going to know just how secure your web hosting environment is, and if you are going to be processing confidential data then it is a good idea for you to choose a form of web hosting which will allow you to have control over the security of your web hosting environment so that you can make sure that it is going to meet your security requirements effectively
  • Limitations – depending on who your chosen web hosting provider is you could find that you face some limitations with what you are able to do with your web hosting package and because of this it is important for you to fully research any shared hosting package before you go and buy it – in some cases users will require shell access to their shared hosting account so that they can setup specific items, but with most web hosting providers this feature is no longer offered since it was being abused by some and now represents a security risk – security measures themselves can affect your web hosting experience and if you find that the security measures implemented on your shared hosting package affect your usage then you should consider moving web hosting providers.

The disadvantages of using a shared hosting package are only likely to affect those who have demanding hosting requirements and in reality a shared hosting package isn’t going to appropriate for such users – it is important for you to fully review your requirements so that you are able to select the correct form of web hosting for your requirements which will prevent you from over-spending.

In conclusion, a shared hosting package is designed to meet the requirements of those who require a basic web hosting package which can offer them everything that they need to get started with – such as sensible resource assignments, extra features and low cost web hosting. Although there are disadvantages to using shared hosting, in reality you are only going to see these disadvantages if your requirements constitute the need for a more powerful and reliable form of web hosting.