When looking for web hosting, you’ll quickly find that that there are 3 basic kinds of services: shared, dedicated, and managed. Some web hosting providers offer only one of these, others offer all three. Finding the right web hosting service for you and at the right price depends primarily on understanding which of these will best fulfill your needs without giving you more than you need.

These 3 delineations of web hosting all relate to the server – a computer that runs 24/7/365 and holds all the files and applications that keep your website up and running. Unless you plan to run your own server, which you can but probably should not do, you’ll be using your web host’s server(s). The 3 types of web hosting differ in the amount of administrative control you, the user, will get over the server on which you’re renting space and, likewise, how much responsibility you must take in maintaining it.

Shared Web Hosting is the most commonly used type of web hosting. Here, many people and businesses share web hosting services – that’s both disk space and bandwidth – on the same server(s). Shared web hosting is usually the least expensive web hosting option – with most shared web hosting providers offering various tiered “plans” so that websites of every size can pay for what they need, no more no less.

Shared web hosting is very much do-it-yourself web hosting with the onus on you to build, manage, and maintain your website. The server, conversely, is maintained by the web hosting provider. They make sure the server stays online – ensuring a supply of uninterruptible power with backup sources, environmental/climatic controls, emergency protections, fire suppression technology, repairs, and security over your data and the physical property on which it is stored. You don’t have to deal with any of it.

That’s definitely a bonus for most of us who’d have no clue (and less means) to properly maintain a web server.

But nor do you have any say in how or when it’s done.

The downside of shared web hosting is that it’s shared. There are other individuals, organizations, and businesses renting disk space and bandwidth on the exact same physical piece of equipment as you, and for a lot of people – especially owners of small, mid- and large-size businesses – that leaves too much open to going wrong.

Questions of security, uptime/downtime, upload/download speeds and other administrative and server maintenance concerns arise. And the solutions are totally out of your hands.

Now, if you’ve got the knowledge (or don’t mind getting it) and you don’t mind maintaining the physical equipment that serves their website in exchange for the peace of mind of knowing that you are the only one using that server, then Dedicated Web Hosting might what you’re looking for.

Dedicated web hosting is the next step up from shared web hosting. With dedicated web hosting you either lease or own the actual physical equipment running your website – server and all. And only you can use it. You share bandwidth and disk space with no one. You get your very own IP address and all the security that it bestows.

That also means, of course, that anything that goes wrong with it will only get fixed if you fix it yourself. It means you’re solely responsible for all installations, repairs, installations, and all server administration.

But what if you don’t have the skills or resources to maintain a dedicated server, yet still you desire (or require) the autonomy, security, and control of a dedicated server?

Enter Managed Web Hosting. With this type of web hosting service, you still own or lease your server and all related equipment, and you still maintain 100% control over its operation and administration. The only difference is, with managed web hosting, you get a little help from a “friend”.

If you can afford it, and you think you need it, nothing can give your web presence (or your business’s web presence) a bigger boost than the assistance of a team of qualified experts committed to nothing but serving your web hosting needs.

Often varying greatly in the breadth of services offered, managed web hosting providers offer an array of:
technical services – system monitoring, security updates, advice, testing and troubleshooting, and more; plus customer support options – administration, account management, upgrades, and more.

With managed web hosting, you get the same freedom and control that you do with dedicated web hosting but with much less responsibility. Consider it outsourcing those tasks that require specialized knowledge and/or extensive time and labor. Ultimately you’re still the boss.

Now, in the rare case where even managed web hosting leaves too much out of your own control for your personal tastes, there is the option of hosting your own server, however it is usually more expensive, involved, and time-consuming than most people realize.

For one, to host your own server you need a whole lot more than the dedicated computer that you leave on 24/7/365 and use exclusively as a web server and nothing else. You will also need:

• a Network Interface Card (NIC)
• a broadband connection
• server-capable OS (Operating System) for your server
• Internet Service Provider (ISP)

Running your own server only makes sense if you’ve already been running multiple websites successfully for enough time that they’re generating an ample and steady flow traffic. Then running your own server could be right for you, but even then, it’s not a given. Research it fully before deciding to run your own server.

If there’s one point this article aims to have made clear, it’s that there are numerous web hosting options available for individuals, organizations, and business of all sizes, with all sorts of unique needs, whatever the budget.