Traditionally, websites are hosted on a single server within a company’s data centre. High traffic websites are normally hosted on a dedicated server and smaller websites are hosted on a server with other websites. There is another way to host a website that is becoming more and more popular is cloud hosting.
Digital Ocean provide affordable SSD based cloud servers. They have data centers in New York, San Francisco, London, Amsterdam, and Singapore.
They have a simple interface that allows you to easily create and manage your virtual servers. Linux distributions and applications can be installed at the click of a button. Digital Ocean are proud of this and promote the fact these installations can be live in only 55 seconds.
Their cheapest plan retails at only $5 per month and offers 512MB RAM and 20GB storage. While the most expensive pre-defined package retails at $640.
VPS.net are a respected hosting company that have an uptime guarantee of 99.9%. They support 12 different operating systems and offer over 100 pre-built configurations for your virtual service.
Their services are located in 18 servers locations, which span 4 continents.
Their cheapest plan retails at $15 per month. This will give you 500MB of RAM and 10GB of storage. They also have a WordPress cloud hosting plan for the same price that offers unlimited bandwidth if you do not exceed 5GB of disk space.
GoGrid is a popular cloud hosting company that gives customers managed backups. They also offer server monitoring and security services.
They own three data centers in the USA and one in Amsterdam. Data is backed up by a promise of a 30 minute response time for emergencies.
GoGrid sell four different types of cloud hosting server plans: SSD, dedicated disk, high RAM, and standard. Their standard cloud hosting plans start from just $16.43 per month for 500MB of RAM and 25GB of storage.
Grid is a public cloud hosting package offered by Media Temple. Their two data centers are both located in the USA: Virginia and California. All of their servers use SSD to ensure a faster user experience.
Their service boasts that it is “Reddit Ready” and prepared to handle traffic spikes from Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, and other social media websites.
Media Temple’s Grid hosting platform is one of the most affordable solutions available. For $20 per month you can host up to 100 websites and create up to 1,000 email accounts. 1TB of bandwidth and 100GB of storage is also allocated to you.
Site5 is an affordable website hosting company that has data centers in 22 locations across the world. However, their cloud hosting servers are situated in Dallas and Amsterdam.
Downtime is always kept to a minimum on their cloud hosting packages since they utilize at least two of every component. The back this up with a 99.99% guarantee.
Their cheapest cloud hosting plan retails at $20 per month for 10GB of storage.
Rackspace have a good reputation in the cloud hosting world. Their Public Cloud service can be used to host applications or websites and offers high performance and scalability.
They have three date centers in the USA, and one in London, Hong Kong, and Sydney. Excluding planned maintenance and emergencies, they promise 100% uptime.
Rackspace’s cheapest plan retails at $27 per month for 1GB of RAM and 20GB of storage on an SSD. Their most expensive hosting plans cost thousands of dollars.
What is Cloud Hosting?
The concept of cloud computing has been around since the 1950s. It was founded upon a principle of sharing resources.
Consider a large company. Rather than install an application on thousands of computers, a company could install the application in one centralized infrastructure and then workers could access the application from the network. This removes the need of installing and updating software thousands of times.
Cloud computing is used by many large internet companies. Email services such as Gmail and Outlook (formerly Hotmail) use cloud computing. As do Facebook, Skype, YouTube, Twitter, your bank, and major news websites.
Due to the rise in popularity of backup services such as Dropbox and Google Drive, most internet users have a general understanding of the term “The Cloud.”
But what does cloud hosting refer to?
Like the original concept of cloud computing, cloud hosting is all about pooling resources.
In a cloud hosting setup, customers do not have a specific server assigned to them. Instead, the hosting company creates a cloud infrastructure across multiple servers. Virtualization software is then used to divide these physical servers into multiple virtual servers aka “The Cloud.” Each virtual server would be set up with its own unique software and applications. From an administration (i.e customer) point of view, you will not notice any difference in hosting your website on a cloud server than a dedicated server.
If you host your website on a dedicated server, there will be limitations placed on the server such as 50GB of storage, 4GB of RAM, and a particular CPU. When you outgrow your package, the hosting company needs to either perform a physical upgrade to the server (e.g. more RAM) or transfer your websites to a new server.
Since cloud servers are spanned across multiple physical servers, no such physical limitations are placed on the customer. Your cloud hosting package can be increased and decreased as and when necessary.
While some cloud hosting companies offer pay as you go rates, most still offer pre-packaged plans to customers that allocate a certain number of resources to them. However, the key thing to note is that increasing (or decreasing) a customer’s allocation of resources only takes seconds in cloud hosting as resources are changed using software. In contrast, when a website is stored on a single server, repairing or replacing a component results in downtime.
Cloud hosting is a more practical solution for both parties.
Hosting companies will not have small websites hosted on powerful servers that are only operating at 10% capacity, therefore they can run a more efficient data centre.
Website owners do not have to worry about traffic surges as the cloud is configured to support it. A cloud hosting setup also reduces downtime, too, since websites are hosted across the cloud.
Take a look at the best cloud hosting companies!
The concept of cloud computing has been around since the 1950s. It was founded upon a principle of sharing resources.
Consider a large company. Rather than install an application on thousands of computers, a company could install the application in one centralized infrastructure and then workers could access the application from the network. This removes the need of installing and updating software thousands of times.
Cloud computing is used by many large internet companies. Email services such as Gmail and Outlook (formerly Hotmail) use cloud computing. As do Facebook, Skype, YouTube, Twitter, your bank, and major news websites.
Due to the rise in popularity of backup services such as Dropbox and Google Drive, most internet users have a general understanding of the term “The Cloud.”
But what does cloud hosting refer to?
Like the original concept of cloud computing, cloud hosting is all about pooling resources.
In a cloud hosting setup, customers do not have a specific server assigned to them. Instead, the hosting company creates a cloud infrastructure across multiple servers. Virtualization software is then used to divide these physical servers into multiple virtual servers aka “The Cloud.” Each virtual server would be set up with its own unique software and applications. From an administration (i.e customer) point of view, you will not notice any difference in hosting your website on a cloud server than a dedicated server.
If you host your website on a dedicated server, there will be limitations placed on the server such as 50GB of storage, 4GB of RAM, and a particular CPU. When you outgrow your package, the hosting company needs to either perform a physical upgrade to the server (e.g. more RAM) or transfer your websites to a new server.
Since cloud servers are spanned across multiple physical servers, no such physical limitations are placed on the customer. Your cloud hosting package can be increased and decreased as and when necessary.
While some cloud hosting companies offer pay as you go rates, most still offer pre-packaged plans to customers that allocate a certain number of resources to them. However, the key thing to note is that increasing (or decreasing) a customer’s allocation of resources only takes seconds in cloud hosting as resources are changed using software. In contrast, when a website is stored on a single server, repairing or replacing a component results in downtime.
Cloud hosting is a more practical solution for both parties.
Hosting companies will not have small websites hosted on powerful servers that are only operating at 10% capacity, therefore they can run a more efficient data centre.
Website owners do not have to worry about traffic surges as the cloud is configured to support it. A cloud hosting setup also reduces downtime, too, since websites are hosted across the cloud.
Take a look at the best cloud hosting companies!
Digital Ocean
Pricing: From $5 per monthDigital Ocean provide affordable SSD based cloud servers. They have data centers in New York, San Francisco, London, Amsterdam, and Singapore.
They have a simple interface that allows you to easily create and manage your virtual servers. Linux distributions and applications can be installed at the click of a button. Digital Ocean are proud of this and promote the fact these installations can be live in only 55 seconds.
Their cheapest plan retails at only $5 per month and offers 512MB RAM and 20GB storage. While the most expensive pre-defined package retails at $640.
VPS.net
Pricing: From $15 per monthVPS.net are a respected hosting company that have an uptime guarantee of 99.9%. They support 12 different operating systems and offer over 100 pre-built configurations for your virtual service.
Their services are located in 18 servers locations, which span 4 continents.
Their cheapest plan retails at $15 per month. This will give you 500MB of RAM and 10GB of storage. They also have a WordPress cloud hosting plan for the same price that offers unlimited bandwidth if you do not exceed 5GB of disk space.
GoGrid
Pricing: From $16 per monthGoGrid is a popular cloud hosting company that gives customers managed backups. They also offer server monitoring and security services.
They own three data centers in the USA and one in Amsterdam. Data is backed up by a promise of a 30 minute response time for emergencies.
GoGrid sell four different types of cloud hosting server plans: SSD, dedicated disk, high RAM, and standard. Their standard cloud hosting plans start from just $16.43 per month for 500MB of RAM and 25GB of storage.
Media Temple
Pricing: From $20 per monthGrid is a public cloud hosting package offered by Media Temple. Their two data centers are both located in the USA: Virginia and California. All of their servers use SSD to ensure a faster user experience.
Their service boasts that it is “Reddit Ready” and prepared to handle traffic spikes from Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, and other social media websites.
Media Temple’s Grid hosting platform is one of the most affordable solutions available. For $20 per month you can host up to 100 websites and create up to 1,000 email accounts. 1TB of bandwidth and 100GB of storage is also allocated to you.
Site5
Pricing: From $20 per monthSite5 is an affordable website hosting company that has data centers in 22 locations across the world. However, their cloud hosting servers are situated in Dallas and Amsterdam.
Downtime is always kept to a minimum on their cloud hosting packages since they utilize at least two of every component. The back this up with a 99.99% guarantee.
Their cheapest cloud hosting plan retails at $20 per month for 10GB of storage.
Rackspace
Pricing: From $27 per monthRackspace have a good reputation in the cloud hosting world. Their Public Cloud service can be used to host applications or websites and offers high performance and scalability.
They have three date centers in the USA, and one in London, Hong Kong, and Sydney. Excluding planned maintenance and emergencies, they promise 100% uptime.
Rackspace’s cheapest plan retails at $27 per month for 1GB of RAM and 20GB of storage on an SSD. Their most expensive hosting plans cost thousands of dollars.
SingleHop
Pricing: From $45 per month
SingleHop are an experienced hosting company that have one data center in Amsterdam and three in the USA. Their cloud servers use VMware’s vCloud Suite and can be used with Linux or Windows.
Their cheapest cloud hosting plan costs $45.39 per month. This will give you 1GB of RAM and 25GB of storage.
Amazon’s EC2 service is a cloud hosting service that gives you complete control over your hosting. New server instances can be created and booted in minutes, which allows you to scale your capacity up and down when needed. There are a lot of great security features too.
They have data centers in nine locations across the world: Three in the USA, one in South America, two in Europe, two in Asia, and one in Australia. The service places a big emphasis on reliability; with their agreement promising 99.95% uptime for each of their Amazon EC2 regions.
Amazon only charge for what you use. Their pricing calculator helps you estimate how much your total hosting cost will be. Amazon EC2 is not known for being a cheap solution, though it has a good reputation for providing a reliable hosting service.
Hyve are a UK based hosting company that also have twi data centers in the USA and two in China. They use VMWare’s SecureCloud platform and provide security features such as IPS and DDoS defense.
They specialise in providing cloud hosting for WordPress websites. Large databases can be spread across multiple servers and static files can be served through a CDN.
You can get accurate pricing for your project by requesting a quote directly on the Hyve website.
Firehost is a secure cloud hosting company that has data centers in Phoenix, Dallas, London, Amsterdam, and Singapore. Each data center has multiple power sources and backup systems to ensure that your websites do not go down.
Two of their biggest selling points is their managed support and security features (which costs $250 per month). They offer 24 hour support via ticket, telephone, and online chat.
They also provide daily backups, malware protection, layered network security, unlimited firewall zones, application monitoring, and more.
With such an emphasis on security, it is no surprise that Firehost is used to host important websites in the health industry, banking, and high profile public figures.
SingleHop are an experienced hosting company that have one data center in Amsterdam and three in the USA. Their cloud servers use VMware’s vCloud Suite and can be used with Linux or Windows.
Their cheapest cloud hosting plan costs $45.39 per month. This will give you 1GB of RAM and 25GB of storage.
Amazon EC2
Pricing: No minimum fee. Cost depends on usage.Amazon’s EC2 service is a cloud hosting service that gives you complete control over your hosting. New server instances can be created and booted in minutes, which allows you to scale your capacity up and down when needed. There are a lot of great security features too.
They have data centers in nine locations across the world: Three in the USA, one in South America, two in Europe, two in Asia, and one in Australia. The service places a big emphasis on reliability; with their agreement promising 99.95% uptime for each of their Amazon EC2 regions.
Amazon only charge for what you use. Their pricing calculator helps you estimate how much your total hosting cost will be. Amazon EC2 is not known for being a cheap solution, though it has a good reputation for providing a reliable hosting service.
Hyve
Pricing: From £75 per monthHyve are a UK based hosting company that also have twi data centers in the USA and two in China. They use VMWare’s SecureCloud platform and provide security features such as IPS and DDoS defense.
They specialise in providing cloud hosting for WordPress websites. Large databases can be spread across multiple servers and static files can be served through a CDN.
You can get accurate pricing for your project by requesting a quote directly on the Hyve website.
Firehost
Pricing: From $350 per monthFirehost is a secure cloud hosting company that has data centers in Phoenix, Dallas, London, Amsterdam, and Singapore. Each data center has multiple power sources and backup systems to ensure that your websites do not go down.
Two of their biggest selling points is their managed support and security features (which costs $250 per month). They offer 24 hour support via ticket, telephone, and online chat.
They also provide daily backups, malware protection, layered network security, unlimited firewall zones, application monitoring, and more.
With such an emphasis on security, it is no surprise that Firehost is used to host important websites in the health industry, banking, and high profile public figures.