Cloud hosting presents a contemporary and innovative approach to website and application hosting. Unlike the conventional practice of relying on a single server, cloud hosting capitalizes on an interconnected web of cloud servers. Choosing to host your website or app in the cloud has lots of benefits. You also often get extra features along with the main hosting service that can make it even better.
The term “cloud hosting” comes from how the servers work in this method. They are completely virtual and different from regular physical servers. But how does this actually work? And what are the benefits of using cloud hosting? We will go over this in the following sections!
How Does Cloud Hosting Work?
In regular hosting, your website lives on its own server, which can be shared or private. This is simple and usually affordable. But what if that server has a problem? Or if your website gets too much traffic, overwhelming the server?
This is where cloud hosting comes in – it’s the solution to these problems and more!
Imagine this change: instead of relying on just one server, your website is spread across a bunch of connected cloud servers. Even though there are still physical servers in the background, the important difference is how they’re set up. Cloud hosting adds another layer on top of these physical servers. This layer is made up of virtual servers also called virtual machines or VMs.
These VMs don’t only use one physical server’s power. Instead, they use the power of lots of different machines all together.
What happens when a server goes down?
If your current hosting setup follows the traditional arrangement, unfortunately, the scenario is quite uncomplicated: Unless you’ve implemented a complex multi-server configuration that incorporates failover protocols or load balancing, your website remains vulnerable to periods of inactivity. Clearly, this situation is anything but optimal.
What happens if your server can’t handle all of your traffic?
Regardless of the hosting setup you use, a predefined set of resources will be at your disposal. However, the crux lies in the fact that in a cloud-based arrangement, these physical servers are interlinked. In the event that your website suddenly demands more resources than are currently allocated, you have the ability to swiftly add to them by increasing the quantity of physical servers linked to your virtual framework.
This process unfolds rapidly, allowing adjustments on-the-go, especially during instances of surging web traffic. The best part? Once your website’s traffic normalizes, you can subsequently downscale, ensuring that you’re not bound to pay for unutilized server resources.
What Are Some Of The Benefits Of Cloud Hosting?
Now that we’ve gone over the functioning of cloud hosting, next we will get into a more detailed look of its benefits. Listed below are the 5 primary benefits to consider:
1. Reliability
What happens in the scenario where you’re using conventional hosting and the physical server experiences an outage? In this situation, your website also becomes unavailable. This situation creates a single point of failure, wherein the entire system is affected by the server’s downtime.
However, with cloud hosting, this problem is avoided as your website operates across numerous physical servers. If one server encounters an issue and goes offline, there are alternative servers prepared to seamlessly take over the workload.
Though you can mitigate this concern in traditional hosting by maintaining a backup server in case the primary one malfunctions, this typically involves an additional expense through your hosting service.
2. Flexibility
Most web hosting providers strive to offer server solutions that cater to a wide range of technical specifications such as memory, storage, and processing power.
However, what if these solutions don’t align with your specific hosting requirements? In such a situation, you could find yourself in a dilemma of trying to make an incompatible solution work, leading to potential overpayment.
As you may have already guessed, this isn’t the typical scenario with cloud hosting. Opting for a virtual server setup means that creating a tailored solution becomes much more feasible. This approach eliminates the need to consider the constraints of physical server construction, allowing for a more precise fit to your requirements.
3. More scalability when needed
In conventional server hosting, there exists a definite limitation on the extent of available resources, as everything hinges upon a single physical server and its computational capabilities. When resource utilization reaches its peak, the process of acquiring more resources becomes intricate, typically demanding either a server upgrade or the introduction of an extra server into a load-balanced arrangement.
Contrastingly, in cloud hosting, the process of scaling is notably simpler due to the interconnected array of physical servers that collectively empower the virtual server responsible for your website’s operation. Operating within the realm of the cloud, which is entirely virtual in nature, facilitates a more uncomplicated procedure for supplementing additional resources to a server already fully engaged in resource consumption.
Ultimately, this translates into significantly enhanced scalability, enabling prompt responsiveness to surges in web traffic and thereby guaranteeing the retention of precious business opportunities.
4. Security
One of the advantages of cloud hosting that we’ve previously discussed pertains to security. The vulnerability of a single physical server is significantly mitigated. In the unfortunate event of a physical server being compromised, your website’s functionality will remain uninterrupted. Instead of the entire website going offline, the compromised server is removed from the server pool, allowing other servers to seamlessly take over, ensuring your website’s continuous operation with the same set of resources.
This aspect of cloud hosting is especially advantageous when it comes to server maintenance. It allows the hosting provider the ability to conduct maintenance on individual servers without causing any downtime for websites.
With traditional hosting, security is generally established across two layers:
- Security protocols to safeguard the data center from potential breaches.
- Security measures to protect the integrity of the physical server from unauthorized access.
In contrast, cloud hosting introduces an additional layer of security through measures that safeguard the virtual server network.
5. Flexible pricing
In the context of traditional hosting, your payment is a fixed monthly amount, unchanging in nature.. This translates to spending more throughout the year to ensure your server can handle occasional traffic spikes that might only occur a few times annually.
If you want server redundancy as a safety net, an additional cost is incurred to ensure readiness in case your primary server experiences downtime.Cloud hosting, on the other hand, offers a significantly higher level of flexibility. The inherent scalability and adaptability of cloud hosting setups make them better suited to address unexpected traffic surges and server redundancy requirements.
The most appealing part is the prevalence of pay-as-you-go pricing plans in cloud hosting. This means you exclusively pay for the specific resources you utilize, presenting a cost-effective approach to managing your hosting expenses.
The Different Types Of Cloud Hosting
Similar to conventional web hosting, cloud hosting also encompasses various categories. Determining the best choice for your needs remains subjective. However, our assistance lies in outlining the advantages and disadvantages of each option, offering you valuable insights for your decision-making process.
1. Shared cloud hosting
Let’s begin with shared cloud hosting, which is also recognized as the public cloud. This hosting arrangement bears a strong resemblance to the shared hosting configuration provided by conventional hosting service providers.
Under this arrangement, your website will reside on servers that are jointly utilized by other websites, resulting in a shared cost distribution.
For the majority of standard websites without particular demands, this presents an ideal arrangement. Also, as the virtual servers are already operational, your setup process will be swift, ensuring you’re promptly prepared to embark on your online journey.
2. Private cloud hosting
Imagine private cloud hosting as similar to possessing a personal server exclusively for hosting your website. In the realm of private cloud, many of the physical servers operate solely to fuel your virtual server, providing a dedicated and robust network.
This configuration proves invaluable for ensuring server redundancy and fortifying your security measures, as you won’t need to divide resources with other websites. If you’re looking for near impeccable uptime, coupled with the priority of safeguarding your data to a greater extent than what shared hosting can offer, then this solution is an excellent fit for your needs.
3. Managed cloud hosting
Managed Cloud hosting closely mirrors the experience of private cloud hosting, although a pivotal distinction lies in the custodial responsibilities for server upkeep. Within a private cloud framework, the weight of managing servers rests with you, irrespective of their physical location within a data center.
However, with managed cloud hosting, professionals shoulder the task of tending to your servers. This care encompasses tasks such as implementing security patches, conducting maintenance tasks, and vigilantly overseeing the performance of your arrangement.
While this service might come with a higher financial investment compared to private cloud hosting, the value lies in the peace of mind achieved. Freed from the need to personally sustain the system and expend resources on upkeep, the pay outs could very well be justified.
Conclusion
The landscape of web hosting has been dramatically transformed by the use of cloud technology. As we’ve covered in this article, cloud hosting offers a dynamic and flexible solution that caters to a diverse range of website needs. Whether it’s the cost-effective sharing of resources in shared cloud hosting, the enhanced security and control of private cloud hosting, or the convenience of managed cloud hosting, each approach brings its own advantages to the table.
Cloud hosting’s underlying principle of distributing computing power across a network of servers not only ensures reliability but also adapts seamlessly to the demands of the digital world. As technology continues to evolve, cloud hosting stands at the forefront of innovation, promising scalability, efficiency, and accessibility. By understanding its various facets and mechanisms, you are better equipped to make informed decisions for your online presence, ensuring a hosting solution that aligns with your unique requirements.
