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Types Of Hosting
Personal Sites & Blogs
Shared Hosting is where there’s a large web server that hosts thousands of websites on one server. They usually include unlimited features, which is perfect for someone just starting out or on a limited budget. You may not always get the best performance, but for the price you really can’t beat them. This is exactly where I started out hosting my first site and my 3 picks below should give you the best performance and value over all others.
My top 3 picks:
Busy Sites, E-Commerce, Web Design, Programmers
VPS Hosting is where there’s one powerful physical server OR servers connected virtually (Cloud). You can then choose how much processing power , memory, bandwidth, etc.., that you want. These are a great stepping stone from Shared hosting to Dedicated hosting because of the price and performance. Typically people that buy VPS servers are more technically inclined, but the hosting companies have made this extremely easy and offer customized support to help you choose the right one. These usually include specific feature limits (bandwidth, disk space, etc..,) and cost more, but you get far better performance than Shared Hosting for your website.
Very Busy Sites, E-Commerce, Multiple Websites, Reseller
A Dedicated server is a single server that only runs your website(s) and only you have access to. My #1 pick is Hivelocity and where my dedicated server is hosted at (I’ve been with them for over 3 years). These typically start at $75/mo, but give you the ultimate in speed, security, and control. They’re perfect for running a single website at blazing speeds, multiple websites at blazing speeds (with server upgrades), or even Reselling hosting to others (with server upgrades). This is the type of hosting that I use to host my websites (100+).
Resell Hosting To Others or Host All Of Your Own Websites
A Reseller plan allows you to resell hosting to others to make extra money or simply host all of your own websites. Many hosts offer specific plans called Reseller accounts, but you can also use a VPS or Dedicated server to do this with the right software. I still have a Reseller account at Hostgator that I use to host several of my sites on for SEO and redundancy reasons.
WordPress Focused Hosting
A WordPress hosting account only allows you run a WordPress website, but since it’s focused only on that CMS your site runs far faster than hosting it on other types of accounts. The best value for this is Sitepoint, but the absolute fastest is WP Engine and worth every penny.