A shared web hosting service is where one physical web server connected to the Internet, hosts multiple websites. This type of hosting is usually the most affordable hosting service available to website owners. Its cost is low because the expenses of running and maintaining the server is spread out among all the clients being hosted on a single server.
How Shared Web Hosting works
A shared hosting service usually has a system administrator because the resources on the server are shared among many hosted sites. This can be beneficial to a client who has no idea how to deal with matters a system administrator can effectively handle. But at the same time, this takes away a lot of control from clients who have the skill and want more administrative control.
Shared hosting is less beneficial for clients who would like more access than the service provider can deliver. But on the other hand, a shared web hosting service is much more affordable than other web hosting options, especially dedicated server hosting.
There are usually usage limits attached to Shared web hosting, but the service provides basic features such as; email and web mail services, web statistics support, updated PHP and MySQL, auto script installations, as well as technical support. There’s also access to a web-based control panel system. Examples of such control panel systems include; DirectAdmin, Plesk, cPanel, InterWorx, H-Sphere, and so on. But more advanced hosting companies provide their own unique control panel.
The provider of a shared hosting service is normally responsible for installing server software, managing servers, installing security updates, providing technical support, and generally ensuring clients are catered for. A typical server is based on an operating system (OS) from Linux and LAMP. Certain providers prefer offering a Windows-based OS from Microsoft or a FreeBSD-based solution.
Currently, thousands of shared hosting service companies are available in the United States and in the UK. These service providers can either be large multimillion-dollar companies that have been in business for years and have a huge customer base or small upcoming companies with specialised services.
Shared web hosting can also be provided in the form Cooperative hosting. This is done privately and is implemented by sharing server running and maintenance costs in a colocation centre.
How shared hosting is utilised
Any of the two following ways can be used to implement shared web hosting; Name-based and IP-based. But some control panels allow users to access a combination of both IP-based and name-based on a single server.
