Difference between Shared Hosting, VPS and Dedicated Servers in Nigeria
Web hosting plans from various Nigerian web hosting companies is one thing you must take into proper account if you are coming board with a new website.
Different web hosting companies offer different hosting plans that are flexible enough to suit whatever thing that you are doing.
A few days ago, a friend who is interested in starting a profitable online business contacted me for a professional advice on the best hosting plan to go with for his business.
Well, I told him a couple of things but in the end, he decided to end up with a VPS hosting plan from Inmotion. This blog (Entrepreneur Nigeria is currently hosted on In Motion web hosting service. So, I told him my personal experience which I will discuss in my next article about my experiences with different hosting companies including Bluehost, SiteGround, NameCheap, Flywheel, and Inmotion and Web4Africa which is the cheapest.
In this article, I will be discussing the differences between the various web hosting plans and the one recommended to go within your online business.
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In explaining the difference between shared hosting, Virtual private hosting, and dedicated server hosting plan services, you have to understand that SPACE or STORAGE SIZE is one major thing that differentiates them from one another. Other factors include
- Performance and Scalability
- Flexibility
- Price
- Security
The Difference Between Various Web Hosting Plans – Shared, VPS and Dedicated
Web hosting service usually consists of three options:
- Shared hosting
- Virtual private hosting (VPS)
- Dedicated hosting
In general, a web hosting company leases a server (or part of a server) to you for a fixed monthly cost. The web host themselves either owns or leases a data center, which is basically a warehouse of computers, all connected to a network, with one master terminal.
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Shared hosting
In shared hosting, the web host provides you a user account on a web server. Your user account is restricted to certain files, and you have (very) limited access to a small set of functionality — say, FTP and email. Usually, this server runs one web server (usually Apache), which is configured with virtual hosts, mapping requests to your domain(s) that reach the server to files stored in your user directory, which it executes on your behalf. In a simple man language, you and (often many) other users are merged on one physical machine, meaning you have the files of your website stored in a machine/computer where other websites are as well stored. For every machine in Shared hosting, so many users are on the machine, and the web host will send new accounts to a different machine when the machine storage capacity is taken up.
Pros Of Shared Hosting In Nigeria
The advantages of purchasing a shared hosting account are listed below
- it is the cheapest type of web hosting
- Requires less technical skill to manage. E.g. (to install WordPress for instance, you just have to use the 1-2 click install option without going through any many methods.
Cons of Buying Shared Hosting in Nigeria
Below are the disadvantages of buying a shared hosting plan
- You have limits to what you do
- Your account might get suspended if your website begins to consume lots of resources in the server.
- Only for sites with low traffic
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Virtual private hosting (VPS)
For a VPS, it is similar in concept to shared hosting, but it’s much more flexible. You’d use a VPS if you wanted to be economical. With a VPS, you get your own virtual server; that is, you get to connect your terminal to a virtual server and do whatever you want as a privileged user. In VPS hosting you can install your own software on this server and use it for any number of things. The web host takes a physical machine and sets up a Hypervisor; that is, a virtualized operating system. This effectively allows the host to split one physical machine into several servers, each with its own virtual operating system. The host then grants you access to your own virtual machine. Despite this feeling like you have your own dedicated web server, it is still multi-tenant, as other customers will be powered by the same physical server. The hypervisor monitors and manages system resources, such as memory and disk space, and only allows the virtual operating system a specific slice of these resources.
Pros Of Virtual Private Server In Nigeria
The advantages of purchasing a VPS account are listed below
- it relatively cheap although more costly than the Shared host and cheaper than Dedicated server type of web hosting
- you can install and run your own software in this type of hosting.
- Flexible and scalable experience. (Can make your site faster which help you improve your website search engine visibility.
Cons of Buying Virtual Private Server In Nigeria
Below are the disadvantages of buying a shared hosting plan
- Still, don’t have full access to the server
- Not recommended for big websites
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Dedicated Hosting
Dedicating hosting is the purest form of web hosting. In a lay man’s understanding, you lease a physical machine that lives in a data center. The web host manages and maintains it. They give you a terminal that connects to the machine, and you have privileged access to the hardware in its entirety.
- Pros Of Dedicated hosting In Nigeria
The advantages of purchasing a dedicated server hosting are listed below
- it the best and purest form of hosting.
- you have full access and control of the server and can install any software or program in the server.
- Highly Flexible and scalable experience.
- Ideal for large websites like Naij, Pulse NG, linda ikeji, etc.
Cons of Buying Dedicated hosting
Below are the disadvantages of buying dedicated hosting plan
- It is very costly and not open for site on a low budget
- Require technical skill to manage – not ideal for people with 0 web hosting skills like coding, etc.
Recommended Web Hosting to go with
From experiences, having tried s many web hosting companies including all my sites and that of my clients, below are some of the best web hosting companies you have to choose from.
- Web4Africa, which is the cheapest and you can get .ng and .com.ng extension from
- In Notion web hosting services
- Site Ground
- Bluehost
- Fly wheel
- NameCheap
