Server Performance and Web Hosting

Wednesday, 23 February 2011

One of the most important if not the most important factors in web hosting is the performance of the server.  The reason why it is important is because the hosting plan may be generous in terms of storage and bandwidth but if the memory and CPU are poor, the website might as well not use so many resources to be online because fewer visitors will be able to access the site properly.

Performance of the server can be essential to the website depending on what the website's function is.  The function of the server can also be one of the things that require high performance on the server's end.  Generally, the more that the customer is willing to pay, the better the performance of the server will be.  The most important thing to do is look into the various hosting options and chooses one that can perform at the level that is necessary for the website(s), application(s) and service(s) that will be running on the server.  The following are the three most common options that are available for hosting which are chosen by most clients.

Popular web hosting options available

Shared Hosting - Shared hosting is a very simple partitioning of a server to be used by several clients.  This is the type of option that may be offered for free or at a very low price depending on how the server resources are distributed amongst the clients.  Since the server will distribute the resources between several hundreds of clients at a time, the performance of the server may not be very good considering that there are periods of time in which the server may be under heavy strain.

Virtual Private Server Hosting - A virtual private server provides a similar setup to a shared hosting option.  The only difference is the fact that the accounts on the server will have a larger section of resources available to them for better performance.  Security and other important features may also be upgraded with a VPS option but can still have issues with performance when the server usage is up.  The main thing with the VPS is the fact that the hosting company will at least guarantee a certain amount of resources to be available for the client meaning that performance will be better than other options.

Dedicated Server Hosting - The best option and usually the most expensive option for performance is a dedicated server hosting option.  Dedicated hosting provides access to the complete resources of the server to a single client to use for their website(s).  This makes it possible to get the best performance by restricting usage of the server by a single account.
Server performance can also be an issue due to other factors that happen in the background.  It is important for the client to research the available hosting services and look into what other customers experience with the host.  Reviews for most web hosting services are usually available in various locations online, which may help a client decide which hosting company to choose.