What's Shared Hosting?

What's shared hosting? Shared web hosting can be a way to get free web hosting. Deciding between a shared hosting company vs. dedicated hosting company is an important decision, effecting both your wallet and quality of web hosting. Find out what shared hosting is here.

One of the most important things you can do for your business is to get a web site up and running. These days, many people look for products and services online. If you want to be online, though, the easiest way to find space for your website is to make use of a web host. Because the Internet is made up of interconnected computers, called servers, you need to find space on a server that can help others located you online. You can set up your own server, but unless you are quite savvy when it comes to computers and technical matters, it is much easier to rent space on a server from a web host.

Web Hosting

When someone owns a server -- or space on a server -- it is possible for that person to rent it out. This company or person is known as a web host. They are hosting your web site. The web host takes care of the server, and a lot of the back end items that keep your web site on the Internet. You essentially pay that person for room to place your website. In many cases, though, you may not even have to pay for the space. It is possible to find shared web hosting from web hosts that offer free web hosting.

Shared Web Hosting

It is possible to pay for your own dedicated server from a web host. This can get expensive, though. Most small businesses and even medium sized businesses prefer to use shared hosting. Shared hosting is when the server is partitioned, and you get a portion of it. Other web sites have places on the server as well, so you are sharing web space. If you want a little more space on the server, or you want some guaranteed perks and upgrades, you have to pay for your shared hosting. If you don't think that your web site will need a lot of space or bandwidth, you can look into free web hosting on a shared server.

Free web hosting is available for those who do not want to pay for server space. You can set up your web site for free, and receive some limited support without paying for it. However, it is important to understand that shared hosting in this fashion comes with some drawbacks. You need to carefully consider your needs before you decide that free shared hosting is the way you want to go. Some things to consider when searching for the best free web hosting include:

• Less bandwidth: Free web hosting comes with bandwidth restrictions. Additionally, the reduction in resources available means that other web sites can slow the load time of your web site.
• Less space: You still have to worry about web space on the Internet. Because computers are involved, there is only so much space on the servers. With free shared web hosting, chances are that even more web sites are crammed onto one server. This can lead to crashes, restrictions on the growth of your web site and other problems.
• Third party ads: Another consideration with free web hosting is you are likely to have little control over the ads that appear on your website. Also, since you are getting your web hosting for free, the web host makes the money from the advertising that appears on your web site. There are now a few free web hosting companies that allow free webhosting with no ads.

You can reduce some of these problems by using paid shared hosting. Many web hosting providers offer fairly cheap web hosting options.  It usually is not too expensive, and you can get a little more space and greater bandwidth. Plus, you can usually choose which ads you want on your website -- and you get to keep the money from them. Carefully consider the pros and cons associated with free web hosting and paid shared hosting. Shared web hosting can be a great tool that allows you the ability to reach an audience (or customers) without spending an arm and a leg.

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