Shared Web Hosting
A form of web hosting service where multiple web sites are hosting on a single web server server. This is generally the most economical option for hosting a single domain as many people share the overall cost of server maintenance and licenses. The users will use a web based control panel (WBCP) to manage their domain's web hosting, email hosting, etc.. Files are generally uploaded to the server with the use of a standard FTP client or can be uploaded by the use of a WBCP.
In shared hosting, the provider is generally responsible for:
- The installation of the server software
- The availablity of the network
- The security updates and other aspects of the services
- Hardware maintenance and upgrades
The majority of shared hosting servers are based on the Linux operating system since most WBCPs were first designed on Linux and hence they have the larger market share, but some providers offer Microsoft Windows-based solutions as well. For example, the Plesk (which VPSit uses) and Ensim control panels are both available for both Linux and Windows.
Usually the OS that the WBCP is based on does not matter and they both offer the same functionality. However there are some exceptions in regards to some OS-specific hosting. For instance APS.NET or Microsoft SQL Server is generally only offered under a WBCP that is hosted on an Microsoft OS.
This service is often "over-sold" meaning that users are given large disk, process, and bandwidth quotas but the providers know that most users will not come close to using all of the resources. There are thousands of shared hosting providers in the United State alone. They range from mom-and-pop hosting companies to large multi-million-dollar providers with hundreds of thousands of customers.
Most of all shared hosting is done by virtual (also called name-based or shared IP) hosting. This means that multiple domains will resolve to the exact same IP but based upon the name passed in the URL (by the web client to the web server) the web server will know what information to return.
Sometimes a shared hosting account can come with it's own IP (this is almost all of the time a paid upgrade). In a dedicated IP shared environmentIP-based virtual hosting, also called dedicated IP hosting, each virtual host has a different IP address. The web server is configured with multiple physical network interfaces, or virtual network interfaces on the same physical interface. The web server software uses the IP address the client connects to in order to determine which web site to show the user. The primary reason for a site to use a dedicated IP is to be able to use its own SSL certificate rather than a shared certificate.
When users outgrow the shared hosting environment they generally move to the VPS hosting environment.
Advantages
- Low cost for hosting a few number of domains. Hosting can start as little as a few dollars per month.
- No setup of the server or initial services.
- Low commitments (can go as low as a month at a time).
- You do not need an experienced staff or a lot of knowledge in hosting to get going.
- You have the ability to export and re-import your hosting environment as long as you stay within the say WBCP.
Disadvantages
Upgrades (to more powerful servers) are not the simplest to accomplish. It often involves an export and import into another system which can sometimes be error prone and takes changing the DNS (changing your IPs in your authoritative name servers). There is generally a little bit of downtime when these upgrades are done.
Because shared web hosting does do name-based virtual hosts it does have some disadvantages such as it will not work with browsers that do not send the hostname as part of requests. This is true for older HTTP/1.0 browsers that have not retrofitted the host field feature from the HTTP/1.1 protocol. (The "Host" header that distinguishes between various DNS names sharing a single IP address was optional in HTTP/1.0; it is mandatory in HTTP/1.1, issued in 1999 as RFC 2616.) This is generally "NOT" an issue since most browsers are at least HTTP 1.1 compliant.
Shared hosting do not properly support secure websites (HTTPS) since all of the domains using the name-based virtual hosts using the same IP . Since all of the domain names that share the same IP they must share the same digital certificate. This is because the SSL/TLS handshake (the thing that makes it "secure) takes place before the hostname is sent to the server. There has been some advances and changes to this but it is not widely implemented yet by all web servers.
You do have root access (this means that you do have the ability to do everything) with the server. You are confined to the ability and quotas given to you by the WBCP. This is not a problem for inexperienced users, but most system administrators will eventually want a little more control.
You are sharing the memory, processor, and network resources with all of the other domains on the hosting environment. So if any domain on that server gets attacked or uses all of the possible resources then all of the domains on that environment will suffer. This is the most often cause for downtime among shared hosting. The upgrade (and still economical) to this option is the use of VPS.
Popular shared hosting platforms are:
Plesk offers many advantages over other control panels:
- Logical, easy to learn interface based on our expert understanding of industry best practices
- Professional look and feel with a number of different skins to choose from
- Advanced capabilities and features easily implemented with a single mouse click
- Integrated website creator and editor
- Complete localization for working in different languages, including allowing you to work in different languages simultaneously across all user levels
- High levels of reliability assuring you the piece of mind you need to effectively run your business
- Stable and secure – effectively utilize your system resources, ensure you are running at high performance levels, and stay away from threats and vulnerabilities
- Intelligent error-handling and trouble-shooting, ensuring you will be able to stay productive and complete your tasks with minimal delays
Key features include:
- User-Friendly Interface
- Plesk’s interface gives you the option to create and manage your own skins in the browser-based interface. In addition the Admin can act as the default client for the entire server making shared hosting setup even easier.
- Anti-Virus by Dr.Web
- The award winning Dr.Web Anti-Virus filtering program will be included with Plesk and offers leading frequency of updates and a comprehensive database of viruses containing more than 100,000 viruses. The heuristic virus scanning technology that detects new and unknown viruses without traditional virus fingerprints makes Dr Web an effective anti-virus solution.
- Automated Key Update
- Update your license directly from your Plesk immediately upon upgrading. With the touch of a button receive the status of your license keys and update them directly from the Plesk interface. In addition leased keys will be able to renew automatically without owner interaction.
- Auto Upgrade
- You can automate software updates and upgrades directly from the Plesk interface. Now you will have the security of knowing that you are running the newest and most secure version of Plesk. New features, patches, hot fixes and more will be upgradeable from their control panel interface.
- Migration Manager
- Modular in architecture and employing different plug-ins the Migration Manager allows users to quickly migrate accounts from cPanel, Ensim, Cobalt, old Plesk versions, In-house systems, or any other system to their new Plesk server.
- International Domain Names
- Complete support for the International Domain Naming conventions and their characters. Plesk will fully recognize characters from Japan, Korea, China, Denmark, Switzerland, Norway, Austria, China, Arabic countries and any native language of the user's choice.
- Professional Website Editor
- You can use Plesk’s add on, SiteBuilder, to manage and create web-sites with the browser-based WYSIWYG HTML editor. The new development tool is the easiest way for customers to create, modify and update their own website eliminating the need for technical HTML knowledge.
- Chrooted Shell Access
- You can add Chrooted shell accounts as an option to the list of shells allowed for clients. When selected the client will be jailed in the domain's directory when accessing the server and his domain via SSH.
- Application Vault
- Plesk includes a new customizable repository of site applications with the ability to add, deploy, configure and remove applications for any domain on the system (CMS, forums, counters, chat software) with one click.
- AntiSpam* SpamAssassin
- Popular "SpamAssassin" application is used to eliminate most of the spam from users' mailboxes. Plesk has GUI controls for SpamAssassin.
- Firewall
- Windows 2003 RRAS (Routing and Remote Access Service) packet filtering capabilities enable system administrators to protect servers quickly.
- Auto-updater
- "Plesk Update" utility checks the internet for, downloads and installs updated Plesk software and included third-party components and patches.
What is VPS?