When web hosting is shared on a server that is used for multiple clients, one machine hosts multiple domains.
Its main advantages:
- It is more economical because a machine is shared among many customers
- The supplier is responsible for the administration of the machine. We just have to upload the files to the server and perhaps properly configure the applications we use
Contrast is the major drawbacks:
- Limitations on us because we can not connect as administrators
- More safety hazards as we have no control over what other clients do.
- Limitations of performance and use of hardware resources. Our website has to use only a fraction of the hardware resource (disk, RAM, CPU) else our supplier will “suggest” that we move to a dedicated hosting.
When choosing the shared hosting right for your web project one has to take into account the following elements:
- Server operating system
- Resource requirements: disk space, data transfer, email accounts, and FTP accounts
- Standard applications included: sending forms, forums, chat, graphical statistics, etc.
- Programming systems available for your own applications: CGI, ASP, PHP, Perl, Java applets, JSP, etc.
- Available databases : Access, MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, etc..