One of the frequently asked questions when choosing a hosting environment, is whether to opt for a shared, or dedicated server setup. Several factors have to be thought about when making these choices, dedicated servers may be complete overkill for many setups, but shared hosting could mean you don’t get the amount of resources you need to run your website.

The cost for hosting

Possibly the largest feature in choosing business web hosting is going to be your budget . The amount that you can pay for hosting can have huge differences in price for solutions and of course the level of the company. The difference between uk business class hosting and standard shared hosting is massive. Business class web hosts will provide better support and reliability, but at a premium. Shared hosting providers are often working on tight budgets. Are you hosting your website for personal use or business? If it is going to be for business and your business relies on it then find a business class host. If the website is a personal blog with no monetary blog, do you really want to be paying a premium? If not then a shared web host would be more than enough.

Another consideration is whether you require a dedicated server or shared hosting. Will your website need to use a lot of resources? Busy websites are often not suited to a normal shared hosting platform. If your website only has a few visitors a day, a dedicated server will be completely overkill. But with that a dedicated servers command a much bigger price, where as a shared hosting is significantly cheaper.

Managed or unmanaged dedicated servers

With real business class hosting, getting a managed dedicated server is normally the best. A managed dedicated server will be taken care of by your hosting company. The level of management varies from just patching and security updates through to full website tweaking and taking care of it. Expect a price hike if you opt for a managed server. If your experienced in server administration then you are most likely wanting to opt with an unmanaged dedicated server. This is of course a much cheaper option but you are responsible for taking care of the secruity and updates through to OS issues etc. Hardware and network issues are still the responsibility of the hosting company. With a shared hosting, the server level security will be take care of as with any other server issues. However the security of your website will be your responsibility.

Another option- virtual dedicated servers

The other alternative to review is virtual dedicated servers. This option is considered a middle ground. While you don’t have your own dedicated hardware, you will have your own dedicated resources. You are of course separated from other accounts on a virtual server which might give you issues on a normal shared hosting environment. Because of them being middle of the road the price reflects this along with the resources you need and can easily upgrade if necessary.

How do I find a dedicated server or shared hosting provider?

Now you’ve made your choice you will probably be on the look out for a provider to take care of your requirements. Remember you need to do research and ask the host some questions and test them out. . All good hosts will give you confidence in the solution they are offering you.