One major trend that turned heads recently was the increasing demand for cloud hosting in the web hosting Dubai sector. Shared hosting still is the most popular hosting plan, but the rapid increase in popularity of cloud hosting could be a precursor to some major changes. This being the case, choosing between a shared hosting plan and cloud hosting can be quite challenging. This article might make it easier to choose. 

Though both are hosting solutions, they have only 3 things in common - service provider, servers, and websites. The difference is in other key factors, namely:

• Uptime
  
• Technical support
  
• Security
  
• Performance
  
• Pricing
  
• Speed
  

In shared hosting, multiple websites owned by different people or businesses are hosted on a single server, where they share the server resources. The key highlight is its cheap cost although it isn’t a great option for websites with high traffic. It’s been around for a very long time.

Cloud hosting isn’t new either. It has been around since 1996, and steadily gained momentum over the years. In cloud hosting, instead of a single server, the website is hosted on a cluster of servers. So an issue in one server wouldn’t be a problem, as the website can be migrated to another server without interruptions. This server presence is a key feature of cloud hosting, granting significant flexibility and speed. 

Features

Uptime

You may have seen hosting providers promising 99.99% uptime for shared hosting plans. It can be quite challenging to deliver that promise considering the nature of shared hosting. As all websites share a single server, a website with high traffic can lead to downtime issues in other websites on the server. 

Since cloud hosting uses dedicated servers, that level of uptime is pretty much guaranteed. Problems on one server won’t affect the website. Moreover, there will not be a lack of resources either. 

Support

Shared hosting does have limitations though most hosting providers generally don’t divulge them. Some providers might suspend a website in a shared server if the website overuses resources. 

Cloud hosting on the other hand can come with unlimited storage, bandwidth, and databases. It is also comparatively more feature-rich. 

Security

Web hosts generally recommend users to keep their own computers safe from cyber-threats by using antivirus tools. If a hacker gets access to the server, it will be easier to hack all the websites in the server. Shared hosting servers are generally considered vulnerable to hackers. 

Cloud hosting security involves security controls in its architecture. The hosting service prioritizes data confidentiality, integrity, and access control. Encrypted algorithms add an extra layer of protection. However, cloud hosting occasionally encounters network eavesdropping and illegal invasions. But because multiple servers are involved, the security team of the web hosts will normally resolve the issues immediately. 

Performance

Even with good hardware components for the hosting server, resources on shared hosting still limits speed. Most web hosts still struggle with constant downtime issues and outages. 

Cloud hosting is fast, scalable, and customizable. The site will be able to withstand a large amount of traffic. So when it comes to performance, cloud hosting clearly takes the prize. 

Pricing

Shared hosting is the cheapest hosting option available as the cost of services are also shared across all websites on the server. 

Cloud hosting requires users to pay only for what they use. So when users aren’t using certain services, they won’t have to pay for them. The cost will be based on the infrastructure. So using a lot of apps can be expensive. Cloud hosts recommend using only the required apps.