The advantages and disadvantages of shared hosting

Blog provided by Electric Kitten

Shared hosting is the most likely recommendation anyone would get when starting out with their first website. With shared web hosting, a single server resource is shared amongst several users. In this article, we look at the pros and cons of such services:

Advantages

The primary benefit is in the cost of the service, or lack thereof, since you can find shared hosting accounts for as little as $1, with the upper end around $15 a month. This is also why most websites online, are on shared hosting services. Shared services run platforms like Plex making WordPress installations easy to upgrade and maintain.

The other advantage is ease of use. Systems like Plex make it trivial to install and uninstall everything from publishing platforms like WordPress to forum software. The process is easy, informative, and not too technical for novices. You will also see where you stand in terms of resource usage and your limits.

Disadvantages

The first and main disadvantage that you will come across is on resource restriction. Although the services advertise large capacities for that same monthly cost, the moment the site hits anything close to those limits, your site can get shutdown. Your site is then offline until you upgrade your package or move to another host.

The other disadvantage that users are likely to encounter later is the lack of customizability and administration. Installation of plugins, extension, etc can be limited.

Despite these cons, shared web hosting is still the most compelling choice for anyone first starting out on hosting their pages.

If you need LA colocation or dedicated server provider you can trust, contact Electric Kitten today. They’ve provided reliable web hosting services for almost two decades. If you are located in the Southern California area, give them a call at 877-821-HOST or email them at sales@electrickitten.com.