Planning on starting your own Internet business? Good for you! You’ve probably started looking at hosting solutions for your new site and we guess that you have no idea what all those tech terms mean. If you’ve already bought a domain name, hosting is the next step, and probably the hardest. There are so many different hosting options, ranging from web hosting, DHS, and VPS. Picking the right option is hard for someone without a technical background, but we’re here to make things easier.
What is Web Hosting?
Web hosting is the most popular option due to its low price. It can be shared, clustered or reseller hosting, each of them coming with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. With web hosting, you’re essentially leasing space on a server owned by web hosts. It’s a good solution, but if you want something more powerful, you’ll need a dedicated server.
The problem with dedicated servers is that they tend to be pricy. Although they are intended for power users, they don’t really come for cheap. Enter VPS or Virtual Private Server. This type of web hosting shares many features with dedicated servers but at a lower price.
An up-and-coming web hosting service, virtual private servers are growing by the minute. Recently, the Internet has been flooded with cheap VPS deals you can pick for your new website and watch your business grow.
Cloud Hosting vs. VPS Hosting
Apart from VPS hosting which is highly popular right now, there’s another you might have come across – cloud hosting. Cloud hosting is an excellent choice as it allows multiple physical machines to pool their resources in one. The network shared by multiple cloud servers is known as a cluster and backed by RAID configuration.
There are several advantages of cloud over VPS hosting. First and foremost, any kind of problem with a VPS server will mostly trigger hours of downtime, which doesn’t happen with cloud hosting. Cloud hosting is optimized for optimum performance even during peak hours, making it a better option than VPS.
Additionally, VPS hosting allows only one US to run on each physical server, and the storage space is pretty limited. As soon as you reach the limit, you either need to migrate to new hardware or arrange for additional space. This is a complex process that will take some time, meaning more downtime for your business.
Cloud hosting offers an unlimited supply of resources and optimum performance, unlike VPS. However, it’s also pricier. It probably is the next big thing, but until the prices fall down a bit, people will still choose VPS.
Hetzner CX11
German company Hetzner offers a private VPS for as low as €2,49 per month. Hetzner uses Skylake Xeon CPUs and offers several tiers. The cheapest one, as we mentioned, goes for €2,49, and even that one offers 20 GB of SSD space, 1-core CPU, 2 GB RAM, and 20 TB traffic.
If you’re wondering why Hetzner’s offer is so cheap, it’s because the packages offer only core features. You will have to pay €1 per month for an IP address, and €0,01 per GB per month for backup snapshots. So, in reality, the cheapest package costs closer to €4, which is still as cheap as it gets.
Alibaba Cloud ECS Starter
Don’t be confused about ECS (Elastic Compute Service) – it’s just the Chinese giant’s version of VPS. Alibaba is trying to compete with Amazon’s Lightsail VPS and is doing things right. It offers a package of 40 GB SSD storage, 1 GB RAM, 1-core CPU and 1 TB data transfer for as low as $4,50.
Everything runs on Linux and it’s as cheap as it gets. It’s certainly cheaper than Lightsail or other VPS solutions you can find online.
Ionos vServer VPS M
Backed by one of the world’s best hosting brands, the Ionos vServer M offers great performance on the cheap. For just $5 a month, you get 80 GB SSD storage, 2-core CPU (Xeon), 2 GB RAM, and unlimited traffic.
It’s one of the best value VPS solutions we could find, and you also get to pick your preferred data center location. Ionos has a surefire hit in this package, although with one drawback – the price jumps up to $10 after 6 months. But, hey, you still save $30 during the first 6 months.
Hostwinds
Hostwinds is a great choice for anyone looking for a managed service. The provider offers a $9,89 (currently 10% off) monthly deal for which you get 1 CPU core, 1 GB RAM, 30 SSD storage space, and 1 TB bandwidth. You also get snapshots for free, so even if it Hostwind’s offer is on the expensive side, you get premium performance on the cheap.
The website transfers are free, you get numerous choices of Linux distros, and you don’t have to pay for the essential stuff such as cPanel and WordPress. It’s a no-nonsence offer with a 60-day money back guarantee that is definitely worth giving a try.