Web hosting can seem full of buzzwords with few simple explanations for those who are not yet experienced. Terms for server types such as dedicated, managed, virtual and virtual dedicated seem to in constant use but without consistent definitions. Before any level of service can be chosen in web hosting, the server type has to be selected.
Any website must have a server that hosts its address. Most businesses choose to employ a professional web host to take care of the security and host their site. In turn they pay the company for the space and the bandwidth. This arrangement lets the business do what they do best and leaves the technical end to the professionals.
However not all types of servers will meet all needs. The individual who simply wants a small personal site, who plans on few visitors and who needs little in the way of specialized scripting and server resources will have far different requirements from a business that sells widgets online or serves videos. This is where choosing the right server type can result in satisfaction or frustration or a lot of wasted money.
Dedicated server types are often the most expensive but they are also the options which provide the most freedom. Saying that a server is dedicated means that the website or websites will be hosted on a machine that is leased only to them. They will not share space, server resources or internet protocol addresses with any other site. Naturally the cost is more but the business which owns multiple sites, has high traffic or has high storage needs for a website may well find this the best option.
Dedicated servers can be managed, which means that the web hosting company takes care of all technical changes, updates, upgrades and additions such as domains or sub-domains. Unmanaged dedicated servers will often carry a little smaller price to lease but the management of domain additions, security settings and other technical matters are left to the site owner.
Virtual dedicated servers are similar to dedicated in that these servers have their own operating system, a control panel and a lot of the server functions can be changed to suit the site owner. However, with a virtual dedicated server the site is hosted on a machine that is shared by several others. This allows a medium sized site to have some of the freedom of a dedicated server without the full cost. It does have some drawbacks though in that if someone overuses machine resources all owners sharing the machine may find their site slows down.
Virtual web hosting packages are the most common and the most economical. Many sites share the same machine. This means that the cost of web hosting is often substantially less as it is shared among multiple users but also the resources available to a website are shared. A low traffic or starter site may find this option works for them.
While there are also packages for each of these server options the basic server types are what determine how configurable any hosting package will be. When a business or individual selects a server option they are usually balancing their needs now against their budgets. Many hosting companies will also allow a growing business to upgrade their type of service without moving their website which allows for growth spurts and bandwidth and server space as needed.